IDG Capital is an investment firm that funds early- to growth-stage companies in the technology sector. Today they work with private equity and venture capital fund managers, investment advisors, and business entities from around the world. Their limited partners include many internationally reputable investors, including sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, institutional investors, major charities, university endowments, family offices, and business luminaries. IDG Capital brings a powerful combination of global perspective and local experience to investment management. As long-term value investors, they are highly skilled at mobilizing global resources to address local needs, especially for Inbound and outbound opportunities in China and the rest of Asia. Their highly skilled team has an in-depth understanding of the Chinese market and enjoys close relationships with many influential business leaders.

IDG Capital

DHVC is a venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, California. We invest in Enterprise, Consumer, FinTech, and Healthcare sectors. Our team brings together decades of combined experience in entrepreneurship, operations, investment, and research to serve our portfolio companies in growing and achieving success.

DHVC

Alumni Ventures Group provides high-quality, diversified venture portfolios to individual investors who previously haven't had access to VC. It helps accredited alums from top entrepreneurial schools invest together in the ventures of fellow alums. The firm backs companies with an alumni connection and an institutional lead investor with expertise in the space. AVG also offers focused funds that allow any accredited investor access to a venture portfolio, diversified by type, sector, stage, and geography. Beth Obermiller, Michael Madden, and Mike Collins co-founded the firm in Manchester, New Hampshire in 2013.

Alumni Ventures

Continue Capital excels in investments on digital currency Startups , Private Equity and HFT Funds, focus on strategic sectors including Blockchain industry, innovative science and  technologies. We continue to invest in breakthrough technologies. We are long term believers in the blockchain industry, witnessed and deeply involved in the booming revolution of the whole industry. Our core team members are early Bitcoin community members, including professional Developer, Venture Capitalist and global Community Leader, who are decentralized located in China, Japan, and USA.  We continue to be the catalyst of innovation technologies and blockchain industry. We help those legendary teams, from idea to prototype and beyond, bring industry value-add resources to our portfolio partner. For startups in early stage, we focus on providing continue support on world wide community management and Operation，Liquidity Supporting，Executive Coaching. Taking uncertainty together with founders is unique to our spirit and how we add value.

Continue Capital

Exponential is a global financial firm providing access to capital and investments

Exponential Ventures

Breyer Labs we back technical teams pursuing novel and out-of-the-box opportunities. We thematically invest in multidisciplinary

Breyer Labs

Frontiers Capital focus on the frontier technologies of the future.

Frontiers Capital

Breyer Capital is a premier global venture capital and private equity investor focused on catalyzing high-impact entrepreneurs in the United States and China. Founded by Jim Breyer in 2006, Breyer Capital makes long-term, idea-driven strategic investments in its chosen core areas: social media, entertainment/media, digital health, and financial technologies.  Breyer Capital actively partners with a diverse set of companies including early-stage startups building breakthrough technologies, fast growing companies, and established worldwide leading corporations. Its team enjoys helping to frame strategic investments anchored by the passion of founders and owner/operator teams, the insights of its network of world-class investors, and a conviction that artificial intelligence, machine learning, and virtual reality will transform technology and investment opportunities globally.

Breyer Capital

The emergence of bitcoin and subsequent blockchain technologies has generated a new digital asset class in which scarcity is based on mathematical properties. Through cryptographic verification and game-theoretic equilibrium, blockchain-based digital assets can be created, issued, and transmitted using the software. Polychain Capital is committed to exceptional returns for investors through actively managed portfolios of these blockchain assets.

Polychain

Hack VC is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in the cryptocurrency, fintech, and marketplaces sectors. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States.

Hack VC

They are a venture capital firm focused exclusively on public blockchains. They invest in infrastructure and application companies that will enable these transformative protocols to power services for the next billion users.

Castle Island Ventures

IOSG Ventures is a pioneering crypto fund founded in 2017 that invests in the future of Web3. As a thesis-driven firm, we assist founders in developing community-driven protocols that are primed to transform the crypto landscape. Our portfolio comprises a wide range of innovative and high-potential investments, including ZKRU (Scroll, StarkWare, Arbitrum, zkSync), Security Auditing(Runtime Verification, Hexens), MEV (Flashbots, Blocknative), DeFi/NFT-Fi (1inch, MetaMask), FOG (Big Time, Illuvium), and a number of industry leaders including Arweave, Cosmos, Celestia, EigenLayer, Scroll, zkSync, Nil Foundation, and Mina, etc. We are passionate about investing in crypto-native paradigms that have the potential to transform the future of the industry, whether you’re building infra, middleware, security, gaming, or social platforms.

IOSG Ventures

They are a team of technologists, researchers and investors who buy assets of, who build for, and who participate in open crypto networks. At its core, Framework is a technology company, building products and services to support the open blockchain networks that they invest in. Framework was started in 2019.

Framework Ventures

Finality Capital Partners is an investment firm.

Finality Capital Partners

Symbolic Capital is a thesis-driven investment firm focused on identifying and accelerating the best blockchain companies.

Symbolic Capital

OKX Ventures focuses on exploring the best blockchain projects on a global scale, supporting cutting-edge blockchain technology innovation, promoting the healthy development of the global blockchain industry, and investing in long-term structural value. Through its commitment to supporting entrepreneurs who contribute to the development of the blockchain industry, OKX Ventures helps build innovative companies and brings global resources and historical experience to blockchain projects.

OKX Ventures

Polygon Ventures is an investment firm that focuses on early-stage Web3 startups.

Polygon Ventures

Geekcartel is a research-oriented venture fund that invests in Web3 startups. We back visionary founders in building disruptive decentralized technologies by specializing in research, marketing, security, and tokenomics. With the investments in top-tier portfolios, including Eth Storage, Babylon, Solv Protocol, Go Plus, Salus, Lifeform and Space ID, we embody a dedication to cultivating creativity and propelling progress.

GeekCartel

BabylonChain

Disrupting the traditional financial system using blockchain

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

Lombard offers a Bitcoin staking protocol built on top of Babylon’s Bitcoin staking infrastructure, which enables users to earn yields by leveraging their staked Bitcoin holdings. Lombard aims to introduce a native “liquid Bitcoin” token (LBTC), which offers liquidity for staked Bitcoin deposits on Babylon’s platform. LBTC enables users to leverage their staked assets to help secure other proof-of-stake networks and earn additional rewards.

Corn is an Ethereum Layer 2 network that aggregates opportunities for users to earn yields on their Bitcoin holdings. The platform operates via a two-token model, offering BTCN (a tokenized version of Bitcoin) to allow users to pay transaction fees, and CORN, which can be staked to earn yields or be used to vote on governance proposals. Notably, the protocol extends the minting rights of BTCN to include multiple custodians, smart contracts, and bridging protocols.Users can also earn rewards for voting in favor of directing yields to specific protocols or dApps via a native bribe marketplace.

Corn is a new Ethereum Layer 2 network that aims to be the best platform for utilizing Bitcoin.

Lombard is committed to leveraging Bitcoin's potential as a dynamic financial tool by integrating it to DeFi collaborating with technological and infrastructural partners on a common, ecosystem-driven aim to bring Bitcoin to DeFi.

Babylon builds security protocols to enhance the security of decentralized systems by leveraging Bitcoin's established security. The company's solutions include timestamping data on the Bitcoin blockchain and enabling Bitcoin holders to stake their coins on Proof-of-Stake blockchains without needing a custodian.

Babylon is a Stanford-incubated blockchain protocol that lets users earn yield from staking their Bitcoin holdings. Built using the Cosmos software development kit (SDK), the protocol offers a non-custodial way for users to use Bitcoin to validate proof-of-stake chains. The protocol also offers fast unbonding and scalable restaking features to provide users with improved liquidity and yields.

Co-founder discusses how Babylonchain improves security on ...

Corn

Offchain Labs

Bullet Labs

Binance Labs

ABCDE

HTX Ventures

Relayer Capital

Steakhouse Financial

Organizations and protocols that allow individuals to lend their crypto assets and take out collateralized or uncollateralized loans from to/from these projects

Lombard

Franklin Templeton

dao5

Bybit

Bitget

Robot Ventures

Mirana

Foresight Ventures

Nomad Capital

Mantle Network

Babylon is a Stanford-incubated blockchain protocol that lets users earn yield from staking their Bitcoin holdings. Built using the Cosmos software development kit (SDK), the protocol offers a non-custodial way for users to use Bitcoin to validate proof-of-stake chains. The protocol also offers fast unbonding and scalable restaking features to provide users with improved liquidity and yields.Moreover, the platform provides slashable security for proof-of-stake chain developers and enables them to configure the amount of bitcoin stake to accept as well as rewards to be distributed. The company planned to launch its testnet in January 2024, aiming for mainnet deployment by April.Funding and financialsIn May 2024, Babylon <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29926">raised USD 70 million</a> in a new funding round led by Paradigm.

MakerDAO is a DAO (governed through the MKR token) that manages the Sky protocol (formerly known as Maker).&nbsp;Developed on the Ethereum blockchain, the protocol allows users to place their funds (through cryptocurrency) as collateral in exchange for its stablecoin DAI, which is pegged to the USD. DAI can be used like any other cryptocurrency and even as savings since holders of DAI are entitled to a return based on the DAI Savings Rate (DSR). The DSR is determined by members of the DAO using a mix of public and proprietary market data.Sky offers access to investing and borrowing DAI through the Oasis app which was developed by some of the creators of protocol. In addition, the protocol is available for developers of DeFi apps who can build apps to facilitate earning, investing, and borrowing DAI. As of May 2024, Sky had integrated with over 400 applications ranging from payment systems to gaming platforms. It generates revenue through stability fees (akin to interest payment on borrowed DAI) and liquidation fees which is an additional charge that occurs when the value of the submitted collateral falls below a set liquidation amount.&nbsp;In April 2022, the protocol announced that it was bridging to StarkNet, a reportedly cheaper and faster zero-knowledge (ZK) overlay chain built by StarkWare. Along with its expansion on Ethereum, the DAO had planned to move toward a multi-chain offering with this rebuild. It planned to roll out this offering in four phases, beginning with a simple bridge between the main blockchain and StarkNet’s Layer 2.&nbsp;In February 2023, the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16269?industryIds=64">launched a new lending platform</a> named Spark Protocol, to enable users to borrow, lend, and stake DAI, the protocol’s stablecoin. The platform, which is a fork of Aave's version 3 (v3), will be built by Phoenix Labs, a research and development company formed by the DAO. Additionally, the company also announced the deployment of etherDAI, a liquid staking derivative for Ethereum that will be pegged to the value of ETH. Furthermore, in March, the protocol went on to<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17322"> approve several new proposals </a>that make changes to both its governance structure and the investment of its treasury. These changes divide the DAO’s current structure into smaller self-governed and self-sustained units named SubDAOs, which will also have their own tokens in the MakerDAO ecosystem. Moreover, the proposal also planned to increase the protocol’s revenues by investing a part of its reserves (worth USD 7 billion) into real-world assets and money-market funds.&nbsp;The platform outlined its plans for a major update (named Endgame) in May 2023. The launch was proposed to take place in five phases and will ultimately lead to the creation of a new blockchain. The road map is as follows: 1) launching new branding and website as well as upgraded versions of Dai and MKR tokens; 2) launching six Maker SubDAOs, specializing in user acquisition, decentralized frontends, and collateral allocation; 3) introducing new AI tools to assist governance, including tools for summarizing, interpreting, and generating governance proposals; 4) enabling rewards for governance participation; and 5) deploying a new blockchain to house backend logic for SubDAO tokenomics and governance security. The first phase of the update is expected to be rolled out in the summer of 2024.&nbsp;In August 2024, the protocol followed through with the first phase of its plans by <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32993">rebranding itself under the new name "Sky"</a>, and launching new versions of DAI and MKR tokens named the USDS and SKY.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsIn September 2024, Sky<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33252"> partnered with Aave Labs</a>, to launch the “Sky Aave Force” initiative. The initiative featured key proposals such as integrating the newly launched USDS and sUSDS stablecoins on Aave’s V3 protocol, introducing an incentive program for sUSDS suppliers and deploying a direct deposit module for USDS into the Aave Lido Market. Additionally, the partnership will enable the companies to distribute SPK tokens, the native token of Sky’s lending protocol Spark, to create a market for sUSDS on Aave. Collectively, these initiatives enable users to earn yields on their sUSDS deposits from the revenues generated by Sky’s protocol and mint USDS directly on Aave without meeting the usual collateral requirements.

MakerDAO

Founded by former executives of Qualcomm, Solana Labs is the developer of the Solana blockchain, which uses the native cryptocurrency SOL. The company enables developers to create decentralized applications in its blockchain and is capable of carrying out 50,000 transactions per second (TPS) with a theoretical upper limit of 710,000 TPS for the architecture. As of May 2024, the blockchain averaged around 2,400 TPS. This is in contrast to Ethereum’s average of between 13 to 15 TPS. In addition to transaction speed, Solana also has other advantages such as lower transaction fees and improved scalability, given its proof-of-stake consensus mechanism and underlying architecture. The mechanism also enables users to stake their SOL and earn yields for validating the network. Solana provides the ability to create specialized tooling and programming functionality to tokens through <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25910">Token Extensions</a>. This allows developers and businesses to establish rules for tokens, such as dictating their functionality and determining their holders, as well as embed features like whitelisting, automatic transfer fees, and confidentiality provisions for transfers.Solana also provides guides and a content aggregator website for developers to discover tools to create dApps on its blockchain. As of May 2024, more than 440 dApps were created on Solana, ranging across use cases such as DeFi, NFTs, and gaming. It also <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18094">launched a ChatGPT </a>(a chatbot built on OpenAI's GPT model) plugin to allow developers and users to query the blockchain for on-chain data. The plugin works through the ChatGPT interface and allows users to perform various tasks such as checking wallet balances, transferring tokens, and purchasing NFTs.Key customers and partnershipsWeb browser developer Opera partnered with Solana in December 2021 to integrate the blockchain and create a built-in crypto wallet onto the Opera browser to improve accessibility to dApps hosted on the blockchain.As of May 2024, the company served several enterprise clients such as Shopify, Asics, Helio, and Tiplink.Funding and financialsThe total value locked (TVL) in DeFi projects across the Solana blockchain amounted to USD 4 billion as of May 2024. The company raised USD 314 million through an initial coin offering (ICO) of SOL. The ICO was co-led by Polychain Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. The funding was to be used to create a venture investing arm, a trading desk, and support the development of new applications in its blockchain.

Solana

Swiss-based Eidoo is a developer of a wallet that supports cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, along with tokens such as DAI, MKR, AAVE, and UNI, among others. In addition, Eidoo provides a DeFi marketplace that integrates with its wallet, allowing users to trade any tokens that they hold. Eidoo also offers a debit card that allows the conversion of digital assets into fiat currencies, such as the GBP and EURO, and spending or even withdrawing cash from ATMs.Eidoo began with the proprietary token EDO, which it also used to raise USD 27.9 million in an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2017. The token was then upgraded following its merger with blockchain oracle provider Provable Things to establish pNetwork, the infrastructure that facilitates cross-chain interactions between multiple decentralized apps, governed by the token PNT. To obtain an Eidoo debit card, users are required to stake PNT ranging from 20 to 200,000 for various service tiers.Eidoo had several applications such as virtual account numbers to deposit money and obtain a tokenized representation of their deposit as well as features to buy, hold, and trade NFTs in the roadmap as of December 2021.

Eidoo

Synthetix is a DAO (governed by holders of its native token SNX) that offers a platform on which users can trade and vote on the creation of on-chain synthetic assets, which are derivatives based on real-world assets. These synthetic assets enable traders to capture the price movements of assets such as cryptocurrencies, fiat currencies, stocks, and commodities, among others, with zero slippage. The protocol allows users to stake SNX as collateral for the debt pool and earn weekly rewards. As of April 2022, Synthetix had USD 642 million in total value locked (TVL).Additionally, Synthetix also offers the opportunity for developers to build on top of the platform to tap into its liquidity as well as develop decentralized perpetual futures, options markets, deal coordination markets, and more. As of December 2021, the protocol served large DeFi platforms including 1inch, Curve Finance, Yearn Finance, and Paraswap.In February 2023, Synthetix <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16609?industryIds=64">deployed version 3 (v3) of its platform </a>on the Ethereum mainnet. V3 reportedly offers more efficient architecture that enables developers to create products that offer a liquid market for any financial derivative, as well as more complex decentralized applications. Additionally, the solution also offers staking and differentiated debt pools, to enable stakers to earn fees from supplying collateral to specific asset pools. The company went on to deploy its protocol on Base, an Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain developed by Coinbase, in April 2024. Moreover, the company announced plans to launch a new perpetual futures exchange named Infinex in the following months.Funding and financialsIn March 2023, Synthetix <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17267">received an investment of USD 20 million </a>from DWF Labs, a Web3 venture capital company. Synthetix plans to use this investment to drive volume for its protocol across both centralized and decentralized exchanges and invest in product development.

Synthetix

Compound is an open-source lending protocol built on Ethereum that allows developers to build DeFi applications for functions such as deposits and lending. Compound offers adjusted money market interest rates based on asset-specific supply and demand and supports a number of Ethereum-based assets for users to take collateralized loans and lock-up assets without borrowing. Locked assets are automatically liquidated if an independent oracle determines that the price has dropped too low. Additionally, since assets are stored in a shared pool, even users with liquidated collateral can claim tokens if they are able to repay the general pool. Compound also <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13038">offers borrowing services</a> for institutional clients that allow them to borrow USD or USDC at a fixed annual percentage rate of 6% using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ether as collateral, with a loan-to-value of 90%.As of April 2024, Compound had a total value locked (TVL) of USD 2.3 billion. The protocol is governed by its native-token COMP, which along with a variety of other digital assets that are a part of the Compound ecosystem, are supported by Coinbase Custody, a crypto asset custodian. In August 2022, Compound launched a version of its protocol named “Compound III” which features a single borrowable asset. Users can supply collateral that can never be withdrawn by other users (except during liquidation) and borrow USDC.In May 2022, Compound<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10267"> received a B- credit rating from S&amp;P Global Ratings</a> on its enterprise credit facility which offers 4% annually on deposits of the stablecoin USDC. Notably, Compound claims that this is the first time an "institutional DeFi" product has been scored by a major credit rating agency.Funding and financialsCompound’s last funding round was in November 2019 where it raised USD 25 million in a Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z crypto fund to help the company further decentralize the protocol by enabling crypto exchanges and custodians such as Coinbase to maintain the protocol going forward.

Compound

Organizations that allow individuals to invest in tokenized financial and real assets

Organizations that provide fully decentralized insurance products

Organizations that apply NFTs across areas of finance such as documentation and non-fractionalized ownership records for assets

Decentralized exchanges that help connect buyers and sellers of DeFi tokens without the need to rely on an intermediary

Organizations that provide digital wallets for users to take custody of DeFi tokens

Blockchains and related protocols that allow developers to build DeFi apps

All companies within this industry are either blockchain-based platforms or offer blockchain-centric services

Promotes financial inclusivity, allowing those that won't traditionally have access to credit to raise funds

Companies with the infrastructure segment offer solutions for users to build decentralized applications

ANALYST_QUICK_TAKE

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>

Lombard, a Bitcoin restaking protocol, has secured USD 16 million in new funding. The round was led by Polychain Capital in collaboration with Babylon and saw participation from BabylonChain, dao5, Franklin Templeton, Foresight Ventures, Mirana Ventures, Mantle EcoFund, and Nomad Capital.
 
Lombard has developed a Bitcoin staking protocol that operates via Babylon’s Bitcoin staking infrastructure. The protocol allows users to generate yields from their staked Bitcoin holdings. Lombard's goal is to launch a proprietary "liquid Bitcoin" token (LBTC) that will facilitate liquidity for staked Bitcoin deposits on Babylon’s platform. LBTC empowers users to leverage their staked assets to bolster the security of other proof-of-stake networks and earn additional rewards.

</div> Analyst QuickTake: 
 The Bitcoin layer-2 space has seen a large influx in investor interest, with companies such as <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/companies/3568018"> Arch Labs </a> , <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/companies/3573611"> ZKM </a> , and <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/companies/2977566"> Botanix Labs </a> raising USD <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/updates/29312"> USD 7 million </a> , <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/updates/29217"> USD 5 million </a> , and <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/updates/29218"> USD 8.5 million </a> , respectively, within the past three months. Moreover, <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/companies/1930376"> Babylon </a> , which partnered with Lombard to support this fundraise, also raised a majority of its total funding within the last six months across back-to-back funding rounds; it <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/updates/24745"> secured USD 18 million </a> in seed funding last December, an undisclosed amount in <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/updates/27094"> strategic investment from Binance Labs </a> in February, and <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/updates/29926"> USD 70 million </a> in March. Notably, Lombard aims to support Babylon’s Bitcoin layer-2 ecosystem by offering restaking services similar to what already exists on the Ethereum blockchain via startups such as <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/companies/3410981"> Renzo </a> and <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/companies/2708185"> Ether.fi </a> on the <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/companies/2569524"> EigenLayer </a> ecosystem.

BabylonChain

EDGE Insights

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless