<div>
  <ul>
    <li>
      <p>
        Quasar Finance, a decentralized asset management protocol, raised USD 5.4 million in fresh funding led by Shima Capital with participation from Polychain Capital, Blockchain Capital, HASH Capital, Sunny Aggarwal, and others. This round brings the company&rsquo;s total funding to USD 11.5 million and gives it a valuation of USD 70 million.&nbsp;
      </p>
    </li>
    <li>
      <p>
        The company plans to use the funding for product development and to expand its employee base. One of the first products the company plans to launch is a rebalancing index of the Cosmos ecosystem, which will be capable of staking included assets.
      </p>
    </li>
  </ul>
  <p>
  </p>
</div>


<div>
  <p>
    <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/01/11/cosmos-based-defi-protocol-quasar-raises-54m/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=rss&utm_campaign=headlines">
      Coindesk&nbsp;
    </a>
  </p>
  <p>
    <a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/200795/defi-startup-quasar-finance-raise">
      The Block
    </a>
  </p>
</div>


Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

Quasar Finance raises USD 5.4 million in funding

<div>
 
 <p>The DeFi infrastructure provider, INFINIT, has successfully procured USD 6 million in a funding event. This round of funding was spearheaded by Electric Capital and Mirana Ventures, with contributions from other entities such as Hashed, Lightspeed Faction, Robot Ventures among others.</p>

 <p>INFINIT provides a unique DeFi abstraction layer to facilitate the creation and expansion of decentralized applications across unified blockchain networks. This layer allows users to create a variety of DeFi applications, such as decentralized exchanges, yield protocols, and perpetual platforms. It also simplifies the development process by removing the need to code in intricate languages like Solidity or Rust. Instead, users can utilize TypeScript to add new features to existing applications or even create brand new applications.</p>

</div>

INFINIT raises USD 6 million in funding to enhance infrastructure

<div>

<p>Huma Finance, a DeFi payment financing protocol, secured USD 38 million in funding, including USD 10 million in equity and USD 28 million in RWA investments. Distributed Global led the funding round, whilst Hashkey Capital, Folius Ventures, Stellar Development Foundation, and TIBAS Ventures also contributed.</p>
<p>Huma Finance will utilise the funding to broaden its platform to the Solana blockchain and Stellar's Soroban smart-contract network in the future months.</p>

</div>

Huma Finance raises USD 38 million in funding to further develop platform

<div>
 
 <p>Binance Labs, the venture capital arm of Binance, has invested an undisclosed amount in Blum, a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange. </p>
 <p>Blum plans to launch a new feature called memepad, which will allow users to mint and trade new tokens directly on its platform. </p>
 <p>Functioning as a Telegram Mini App, Blum offers a unique gamified exchange platform where users can buy and sell different cryptocurrencies. By offering features like “tap-to-earn”, Blum encourages users to earn points through interaction within the app. It also allows users to connect their wallets, partake in games, and complete tasks to earn cryptocurrency from associated projects. </p>
 
</div>

Blum raises undisclosed amount in funding from Binance Labs

ANALYST_QUICK_TAKE

<div>

 <p>Ammalgam, a decentralized lending exchange (DLEX) platform, has secured USD 2.5 million in seed funding. The round was co-led by Lightspeed Faction and Framework Ventures, and also included contributions from Robot Ventures, Bodhi Ventures, NGC Ventures, DeWhales, Blockchain Founders Fund, and a number of angel investors.</p>
 
<p>The funds raised are intended to be used for developing its protocol further, hiring additional staff, performing audits, and investing in their go-to-market strategies.</p>
 
<p>Ammalgam provides a DeFi platform that aims to increase capital efficiency by integrating lending and trading into one unified platform. This platform allows users to utilize their idle assets and earn returns through three different lending methods: Trading pools, traditional DeFi lending and borrowing, and impermanent gain to offset loss.&nbsp;</p>

</div>
 <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> The DeFi lending space has seen a large influx in investor interest within the last three months, with some startups raising funding. This includes <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/companies/3738389"> Echelon </a> , <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/companies/3730807"> Credbull </a> , <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/companies/2601166"> Arch Lending </a> , <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/companies/2177294"> Morpho </a> , and <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/companies/2609087"> Liquidium </a> , which raised <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/32994"> USD 3.5 million </a> , <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/32868"> USD 5.2 million </a> , <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/32864"> USD 75 million </a> , <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/32244"> USD 50 million </a> , and <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/31720"> USD 2.75 million </a> , respectively. Ammalgam differentiates itself by allowing users to assess potential payout positions via payout charts and a visualization tool that displays the effects of price fluctuations and fees on liquidity providers throughout their position.</p>

Ammalgam raises USD 2.5 million in seed funding to develop protocol

<div>
 
 <p>Decentralized exchange platform Uniswap has agreed to pay USD 175,000 to settle charges levied by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The CFTC accused Uniswap of offering unauthorised leveraged and margined commodities transactions through its third-party token marketplace. With Uniswap not being registered as a designated contract market with the CFTC, it was barred from providing leveraged trading products.</p>
 <p>As part of the resolution, Uniswap has also initiated measures to prevent users from trading leveraged tokens.</p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> Uniswap has undergone a series of regulatory battles with multiple US government agencies over this past year. This news comes just over four months after it received a <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/28456"> Wells notice from the SEC </a> stating its intent to pursue an enforcement action on allegations that the exchange was offering unregistered securities. Notably, the company has fought back against all charges thus far, even claiming that the SEC's legal arguments were "weak" and that it did not meet the commission’s definition of an exchange.</p>

Uniswap settles charges with CFTC for USD 175,000

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>
 
 <p>DeFi lending platform Aave Labs has collaborated with Sky (previously MakerDAO) to start the Sky Aave Force initiative. The project aims to promote DeFi adoption and bridge the gap between DeFi and traditional finance. Key proposals include integrating recently launched USDS and sUSDS stablecoins on Aave’s V3 protocol, introducing an incentivising scheme for sUSDS suppliers, and implementing a direct deposit module for USDS into the Aave Lido Market.</p>
 <p>The partnership also plans to distribute SPK tokens, the native token of Sky’s lending protocol Spark, to create a market for sUSDS on Aave. Users will then be able to earn yields on their sUSDS deposits from the revenue produced by Sky’s protocol and brew USDS directly on Aave, bypassing the typical collateral requirements.</p> 

</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> This news comes just a week after MakerDAO <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/32993"> rebranded under the new name Sky </a> and announced the launch of new versions of its stablecoin and governance token, named the USDS and SKY. This initiative comes as the first of five phases in a major overhaul to the protocol (named Endgame) announced in <a href="https:<br>
//forum.makerdao.com/t/the-5-phases-of-endgame/20830"> May 2023 </a> . The following phases include:<br>
 1) launching six Maker SubDAOs, 2) introducing new AI tools, 3) implementing rewards for governance participation, and 4) deploying a new blockchain.</p>

Aave partners with Sky to launch the Sky Aave Force initiative for DeFi adoption

<div>

<p>Penpie, a SubDAO of a yield aggregation platform called Pendle Protocol, was hacked and lost around USD 27 million in crypto assets. This includes staked ether tokens, Ethena's sUSDE, and wrapped USDC stablecoin. As safety measures, Pendle has secured investors' funds and temporarily paused all contracts.&nbsp;</p>

</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> This attack adds to the growing list of DeFi lending protocols targeted by hackers within the past few months. Penpie joins the likes of <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/companies/1585954"> LI.FI </a> , <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/companies/513726"> Loopring </a> , <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/companies/3592782"> Sonne Finance </a> , <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/companies/1622681"> Dolomite </a> , and <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/companies/1741657"> Unizen </a> , which have suffered hacks that led to losses of <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/31559"> USD 11 million, </a> &nbsp; <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/30275"> USD 5 million </a> , <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/29430"> USD 20 million </a> , <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/27820"> USD 1.8 million </a> , and <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/27462"> USD 2.1 million </a> , respectively. Notably, crypto protocols have <a href="https:<br>
//decrypt.co/238668/bitcoin-exchange-hack-leads-surging-crypto-stolen-2024"> lost over twice as much </a> in the first half of 2024 (USD 1.38 billion) as last year's (USD 657 million).</p>

Penpie loses USD 27 million in hack

<div>
 <p>Blockchain technology company, Solayer Labs, has successfully raised USD 12 million in a funding round. The round was primarily led by Polychain Capital and HackVC, but also saw participation from firms such as Binance Labs, Big Brain Holdings, Nomad Capital, Race Capital, ABCDE, and Maelstrom. Due to this funding round, the company's valuation has now reached USD 80 million.</p>
 <p>Solayer Labs intends to utilise this funding for further development of Solayer, a Solana-based restaking protocol, in order to enhance its scalability and security. The company also has plans to tackle issues related to spam and congestion, alongside launching AVS clients and general asset restaking.</p>
 <p>Functioning as a enabling platform for users to stake and restake their Solana (SOL) tokens and other related assets, Solayer helps its users earn rewards whilst also ensuring liquidity. It carries out this process by distributing staked assets across a network of validators, elevating its system's security and decentralisation. Users who stake SOL are afforded sSOL, a liquid restaking token native to the protocol, which can be utilised for participation in other DeFi activities or delegated to endogenous AVSs to yield additional rewards.</p>

</div>

Solayer Labs raises USD 12 million in funding round led by Polychain

<div>
 
 <p>Fordefi, an institutional-grade DeFi wallet provider, has formed a partnership with Sui, a layer-1 blockchain. The objective of this collaboration is to implement Fordefi's multiparty computation (MPC) technology into the Sui Network.</p>
 <p>This integration will provide a secure environment for institutional users on the Sui platform, permitting them to self-custody their private keys and connect to numerous decentralized applications (dApps) across different blockchains through Fordefi's wallet and Web3 gateway.</p>
 
</div>

Fordefi partners with Sui to offer institutional-grade MPC on network

<div>
 
 <p>Echelon, a DeFi lending protocol, has garnered USD 3.5 million in a seed funding round. Amber Group led the funding, accompanied by Laser Digital, Saison Capital, Selini Capital, Interop Ventures, and Re7 alongside. Echelon intends to allocate the raised funds towards introducing new products and enhancing its engineering and marketing teams. More specifically, the firm aims to establish new treasury and RWA-backed strategies and to set up vaults for cross-chain deposits.&nbsp;</p>
 <p>The Echelon protocol is a decentralized lending platform that functions to assist the borrowing and lending of cryptocurrency assets through non-custodial asset pools. The platform, constructed through the "Move" programming language, caters to institutional-grade markets on Movement, Aptos, and other Move-based blockchain platforms. Noteworthy features of Echelon's protocol include an increased borrowing capacity for correlated assets, isolated pools for long-tail asset markets, and direct in-wallet integration.</p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> The DeFi lending space has seen a large influx in investor interest within the last two months, with many startups raising funding. This includes Credbull, <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/companies/2601166"> Arch Lending </a> , <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/companies/2177294"> Morpho </a> , <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/companies/2609087"> Liquidium </a> , and <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/companies/2708190"> Term Labs </a> , which raised USD 5.2 million, USD 75 million, <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/32244"> USD 50 million </a> , <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/31720"> USD 2.75 million </a> , and <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/31288"> USD 5.5 million </a> , respectively. Echelon differentiates itself from its competition by allowing users to leverage Aptos-based liquid staking derivatives as collateral, enabling rehypothecation for higher yields.</p>

All Updates

Quasar Finance raises USD 5.4 million in funding

INFINIT raises USD 6 million in funding to enhance infrastructure

Huma Finance raises USD 38 million in funding to further develop platform

Blum raises undisclosed amount in funding from Binance Labs

Ammalgam raises USD 2.5 million in seed funding to develop protocol

Uniswap settles charges with CFTC for USD 175,000

Aave partners with Sky to launch the Sky Aave Force initiative for DeFi adoption

Penpie loses USD 27 million in hack

Solayer Labs raises USD 12 million in funding round led by Polychain

Fordefi partners with Sui to offer institutional-grade MPC on network

Echelon raises USD 3.5 million in seed funding to introduce new products and expand team

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

Quasar Finance raises USD 5.4 million in funding

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