Crypto Daily Digest - January 21st

DeFi

The 1inch Network Expands to Avalanche and Gnosis Chain

On-chain aggregation exchange 1inch announced that 1inch Aggregation Protocol and the 1inch Limit Order Protocol have been deployed on Avalanche and Gnosis Chain formerly known as the xDai Chain. It aims to provide users with more low-cost trading options. Source

cBridge Announced Support for Perpetual Protocol ($PERP)

cBridge, a cross chain payment network launched by Celer Network, announced support for decentralized Perpetual Protocol ($PERP). Users can now use cBridge to fully unmanage, high-speed and low-cost cross chain bridging of $perp between Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum and Optimism. Source

Binance Listed API3 ($API3) 

Binance launched API3 ($API3) at 18:30 on January 21, Beijing time, and opened $API3 / $BTC, $API3 / $BUSD, $API3 / $USDT trading pairs. Users can now deposit to prepare for transactions. It is reported that the withdrawal will be open at 18:30 Beijing time on January 22. API3 is a data Oracle, which enables the API to provide data directly to blockchain applications without third-party intermediaries. Source

SEC Rejects First Trust SkyBridge's Spot Bitcoin ETF Proposal

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected the proposal to list a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) by investment advisory firm First Trust and hedge fund SkyBridge Capital. First Trust and SkyBridge first filed an application for a bitcoin ETF with the SEC in March last year under the full name "The First Trust SkyBridge Bitcoin ETF Trust," but the SEC extended its review of the ETF in July and November. Source

Yuga Labs, The Development Team of BAYC Launched a Mobile Game Called Apes vs. Mutants

Yuga Labs, the development team of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), launched a mobile game called Apes vs. Mutants in Apple and Google App Stores at 8 a.m. Beijing time this morning. It is reported that ordinary users can play as tourists, while Bored Ape or Mutant Ape holders in the discipline group of BAYC can get additional rewards. Source

NFT

Twitter Launches NFT Profile Picture Verification

Twitter Blue, the Twitter paid subscription service, has introduced an NFT profile pictures verification for its subscribers, which allows users to display NFT in their Twitter profile pictures by connecting to an Ethereum wallet. The profile picture verification is supported by wallets including Argent, Coinbase Wallet, Ledger Live, MetaMask, Rainbow and Trust Wallet. Source

Meta Plans to Launch the NFT Market, Allow Users to Create and Display NFT in Their Profiles

According to the Financial Times, people familiar with the Meta development plan disclosed that the teams of Facebook and Instagram are preparing to launch NFT verification and display services, allowing users to display their NFT on their social media materials, and are developing a market to help users forge and trade NFT. Source

Fundings

STEPN Closed $5 million Seed Round Led by Sequoia Capital and Folius Ventures

Solana ecosystem Move to Earn application STEPN closed $5 million seed round, led by Sequoia Capital and Folius Ventures, and participated by Solana Capital, Alameda Research, 6th Man Ventures, etc. The raised funds will be used to develop new functions in the next few months, including social elements, NFT achievement system, NFT sneaker rental system, etc. STEPN is the world's first M2E running app, where users equipped with NFT Sneakers can run to earn tokens. Source

Stader Labs Closed $12.5 Million Private Placement at a $450 Million Valuation Led by Three Arrows Capital

Staking Protocol Stader Labs closed a $12.5 million private placement at a valuation of $450 million. The round was led by Three Arrows Capital, with participation from Blockchain com, Accomplice, DACM and others. Stader Labs is a staking platform for PoS network, a protocol that allows users to participate in PoS staking and receive rewards. It is reported that there are currently over 15,000 unique wallet addresses participating in pledges on Stader Labs with a TVL of approximately $500 million. The protocol is currently only deployed on the Terra chain, with plans to expand to multiple chains including Solana, Ethereum, Fantom, Hedera and Polygon. Source

Soma.Finance Closed $6.5 Million Seed Funding Round Led by Animoca Brands

Decentralized exchange Soma.Finance closed a $6.5 million seed round led by Animoca Brands with participation from Kenetic Capital, Gate Ventures, 0x Ventures and others. Soma.Finance is a decentralized exchange for trading digital assets and compliant digital securities. It aims to be a fully compliant DEX and product suite for institutions and retail investors. Its proposed services include built-in KYC and AML functionality. Source

Cyber Closed $6.7 Million Seed Round Led by Variant

Cyber, a start-up company of Metaverse, closed $6.7 million seed round led by Variant. Three Arrows Capital, TCG Capital Management and others are participating in the investment. The raised funds will be mainly used for recruitment, while maintaining the original intention of being product-oriented, and further improving the space module that allows people to be immersive. Cyber is a start-up company of Metaverse, which aims to create a virtual exhibition hall for NFT art. Source

Folks Finance Closed $3 Million Seed Funding Round with Coinbase Ventures and Others

Folks Finance, a lending protocol on Algorand, closed a $3 million seed round led by Borderless Capital with participation from Jump Crypto, ParaFi Capital, Coinbase Ventures and others. It is reported that the protocol is currently in its smart contract security verification phase, after successfully completing a protocol design review, and early this year is planning the official launch for Folks Finance on the Algorand TestNet, along with the release of Folksy Guys, the official NFT collection dedicated to the Folks Finance community. Source

01 Exchange Closed $2.2 Million Seed Round Led by Multicoin Capital and Alameda Research

01 Exchange, a Solana-based decentralized derivatives trading platform, closed a $2.2 million seed round led by Multicoin Capital and Alameda Research, with participation from Solana Ventures, Ledger Prime and others. 01 Exchange plans to launch its mainnet and perpetual contracts with deep liquidity on January 27th, supporting 100 different derivatives markets and 50 different collateral types. It will also launch SQUOL, the first Power Perps product in a limit order book model. Source

The Graph Closed $50 Million Round Led by Tiger Global

Decentralized indexing agreement, The Graph closed $50 million round led by Tiger Global and invested by FinTech Collective, Fenbushi Capital, Reciprocal Ventures, etc. The raised funds will be used to acquire other developers and expand brands in Asia and Europe. The Graph is a decentralized indexing protocol whose vision is to enable Internet applications driven entirely by public infrastructure. Source