Chapter One Ventures is an early-stage seed fund created by Jeff Morris Jr.

Chapter One Ventures

North Island Ventures is a cryptocurrency investment company. The company believes that the emergence of new enabling technologies creates the best technology investment opportunities. Enabling technologies are innovation platforms; they provide a set of new capabilities that entrepreneurs can use and combine to create applications and experiences that did not previously exist.

North Island Ventures

We are crypto engineers and builders who have been exploring crypto since 2012 when we successfully built Colored Coins – the world’s first digital assets protocol on top of Bitcoin.   Node is a thesis-focused, long-term cryptocurrency fund investing in pre-market/market token-based projects.  As well as providing capital, we take the role of founding participants in new protocols and networks.  We help teams bootstrap the network, solve token economic challenges and provide liquidity when it is most needed.  We add technical value to support our entrepreneurs and networks as they go to market and continue growth.

Node Capital

Version One Ventures backs mission-driven founders at the earliest stages. Full thesis here: https://versionone.vc/updated-thesis/

Version One Ventures

Purpose Investments is an asset management firm inspired by the belief that all investors should have access to great investment products along with low fees. Purpose believes in focusing first on managing risk and creating value that is currently missing from the marketplace, thus empowering all Canadians to be better investors. Purpose has over $3.3 billion in assets under management and currently offers 33 exchange traded funds and mutual funds and 6 closed-end funds across multiple asset classes and both traditional and alternative investment strategies.

Purpose Investments

Arrington XRP Capital is a digital asset management firm in blockchain-based capital markets. The company was founded in 2017.

Arrington XRP Capital

Maelstrom invests in cool shit with a focus on crypto and digital assets.

Maelstrom

Backing Web 3 companies who are evolving our lives into a borderless censorship resistant society with ownership rights and financial independence at its core

Kommune.one

Legends Group is an investment firm focused on bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3. They assist users in transitioning by supporting them with running nodes, participating in testnets, and engaging in various crypto activities. Over 4,000 people are already using our products. They also operate as a VC firm, investing $200-400k in promising early-stage crypto projects at the Seed and Series A stages.

Legends Group

CoinFund is a private cryptoasset investor and blockchain research and advisory firm that focuses on crypto and blockchain investments. The firm was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Brooklyn, United States.

CoinFund

Bullish Global is a new blockchain-based cryptocurrency exchange designed to combine the performance, user privacy, and compliance offered by central order book technology with the vertically integrated user benefits of decentralized finance (DeFi) market architecture.

Bullish Global

White Star Capital is a global venture capital fund and multi-stage technology investment platform investing in North America, Europe and Asia. It backs exceptional entrepreneurs globally, leveraging their extensive experience and networks to help them scale their businesses internationally. Operating out of New York, London, Montreal, Toronto, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong, its presence, perspective and people enable it to partner closely with Founders to help them scale internationally from Series A onwards.

White Star Capital

ConsenSys is an Ethereum software web3 company. ConsenSys enables developers, enterprises, and people worldwide to build next-generation applications, launch modern financial infrastructure, and access the decentralized web. ConsenSys' product suite, composed of Infura, Quorum, Truffle, Codefi, MetaMask, and Diligence, serves millions of users, supports billions of blockchain-based queries for its clients, and has handled billions of dollars in digital assets. Ethereum is a programmable blockchain in the world, business adoption, developer community, and DeFi activity. On this trusted, open-source foundation, ConsenSys is building the digital economy of tomorrow.

ConsenSys

Amber Group is a crypto finance service provider that provides liquidity provision, trading, and asset management services. Amber Group was founded in 2017 by a group of finance professionals from Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Bloomberg. Amber Group operates around the world and around the clock with a presence in Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul, and Vancouver. The company provides services to 200+ institutional clients, cumulatively trading over $200 billion across 60+ electronic exchanges, with an average daily trading volume between $100-200 million. Amber Group is committed to serving clients around the globe by combining the best-in-class technology with sophisticated quantitative research to offer a streamlined crypto finance experience. Its goal is to optimize investment flexibility, maximize investment returns, and provide long-lasting value for its clients. In 2019, Amber Group raised $28 million in a Series A funding round led by global crypto heavyweights Paradigm and Pantera, with participation from Polychain Capital, Dragonfly Capital, Blockchain.com, Fenbushi Capital, and Coinbase Ventures.

Amber Group

Selini Capital is a multi-strategy trading firm and liquidity provider specializing in crypto assets.

Selini Capital

First private investment fund specialized in crypto-assets in France.  Accompanying those who dare.

White Loop 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

Foresight Ventures is a venture capital firm that focuses on blockchain technology and the cryptocurrency industry. They invest early and make quick judgments, and their ecosystem, which includes the crypto-exchange Bitget and the crypto-wallet BitKeep, provides extensive assistance. They are committed to identifying disruptive innovation prospects for the future decades in the Web3.0 space, while maintaining transparency, multidisciplinary collaboration, internationalization, and long-termism, and offering a complete spectrum of assistance for initiatives from zero to one till success. Foresight Ventures was founded in 2021 and is based in Singapore.

Foresight Ventures

Bankless Ventures is an early-stage Web3 fund empowering pioneers to explore the frontier of Web3.

Bankless Ventures

ether.fi

RISE Labs is revolutionizing the Blockchain landscape with unprecedented performance.

EtherFi is a non-custodial decentralized ETH staking method that distributes staking to node operators in exchange for rewards.

Ether.fi offers a protocol that leverages smart contracts on EigenLayer, an Ethereum staking platform, to enable users to earn yields from restaking Ethereum. Users can stake Ethereum to receive “eETH,” the platform’s native liquid staking token, and use the token as collateral in other DeFi protocols or earn yields from restaking. As of April 2024, the platform had a total value locked of USD 3.9 billion.&nbsp;

Disrupting the traditional financial system using blockchain

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

SSV Network and Ether.fi Collaborate on Learn & Earn Campaign to Drive Decentralized Restaking Adoption

RISE Labs

Finality Capital Partners

Digital Asset Capital Management

MH Ventures

Orange DAO

Polygon Ventures

Public Works

Ether.fi offers a protocol that leverages smart contracts on EigenLayer, an Ethereum staking platform, to enable users to earn yields from restaking Ethereum. Users can stake Ethereum to receive “eETH,” the platform’s native liquid staking token, and use the token as collateral in other DeFi protocols or earn yields from restaking. As of April 2024, the platform had a total value locked of USD 3.9 billion.&nbsp;Moreover, the platform provides two options for running a node on its network. Users can choose between using existing hardware to stake a 2 ETH bond or using their own hardware and using distributed validator technology (DVT), forgoing the 2 ETH bond requirement.Key customers and partnershipsAs of April 2024, the company had entered deals with Redstone (a blockchain-based data feed technology provider) and Omni Network (an Ethereum blockchain infrastructure provider) worth USD 500 million and USD 600 million, respectively. As per the agreement, Ether.fi stated that it would provide the companies access to its validator network to support their protocols.&nbsp;Funding and financialsIn March 2024, Ether.fi <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27099">secured USD 23 million </a>in a Series A financing led by Bullish Capital and CoinFund to support its continued expansion.

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

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

<div>

Ether.fi, a DeFi staking protocol, has received $23 million in a Series A funding round. Leading the investment were Bullish Capital and CoinFund, with others, including OKX Ventures, Foresight Ventures, Consensys, and Amber, also participating. This investment has taken the total funding of the company to over $32 million.
With this funding, Ether.fi plans for further expansion.
Ether.fi operates a protocol that makes use of smart contracts on EigenLayer, an Ethereum staking platform. This allows users to stake Ethereum and generate yields through restaking. On staking Ethereum, users receive “eETH,” the platform's native liquid staking token. This token can be used as collateral in other DeFi protocols or can be restaked to earn more yields. The total value locked on the platform at present stands at $1.8 billion.

</div> Analyst QuickTake: 
 The Ethereum staking space (particularly the EigenLayer ecosystem) has seen a recent boom in investor interest, with Ether.fi becoming the second startup to raise funding in the last two months alongside <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/companies/3410981"> Renzo </a> , which <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/updates/25539"> raised USD 3.2 million </a> in January. Notably, just last week, <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/companies/2569524"> Eigen Labs </a> , the company behind developing the EigenLayer protocol, also <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/updates/26893"> raised USD 100 million </a> in Series B funding.&nbsp;

ether.fi

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