News linked to both this project and an event.
Arthur Hayes stated that U.S. policymakers may support the AI industry and government debt financing through money printing, driving cryptocurrency prices higher; if China shifts from limited tightening to large-scale monetary stimulus, it could also boost demand for scarce assets. He is also monitoring financial stress in France, including BNP Paribas-related credit default swaps and French government bond spreads.Catrina Wang, General Partner at Portal Ventures, said that banks and asset management companies have advantages in on-chain financial markets thanks to their existing client relationships. Todd McDonald, co-founder of R3, pointed out that public blockchains can help institutions reach clients beyond their own networks; Justin Kugel, Executive Vice President of Growth at World Liberty Financial, said that user demand for asset management and investment evaluation still leaves room for intermediaries.Chetan Karkhanis, Senior Vice President of Digital Asset Client Relationships at Franklin Templeton, said the company has no intention of issuing its own stablecoin and hopes tokenized money market funds will provide investment returns. Haonan Li, co-founder and CEO of Codex, said that trade routes connecting Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia are driving demand for stablecoin payments; buyers pay eastward for goods, while manufactured products flow westward.Ilya Podoynitsyn, co-founder and CEO of FinHarbor, said that before allocating to crypto assets, companies need to confirm they have long-term idle funds that will not affect daily operations. Michael Camarda, Chief Development Officer of Ethereum treasury company SharpLink, said that both buying back shares and increasing ETH holdings can raise ETH per share; the company has adopted both methods to meet the preferences of institutional and retail investors. (Cointelegraph)
Odaily News — Crypto market data provider Kaiko has secured a new round of investment led by S&P Global, bringing the latest funding round's total size to $110 million. DRW Holdings, Susquehanna, Royal Bank of Canada, Nasdaq, BNP Paribas, Bpifrance, Broadridge, Canton Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Stellar also participated. Previously, crypto market data provider Kaiko completed a $53 million Series B funding round in June 2022, led by Eight Roads (a venture capital firm backed by Fidelity), with participation from French venture capital firm Revaia and existing investors Alven, Point Nine, Anthemis, and Underscore. (Bloomberg)
According to BusinessWire, Alpaca announced the completion of $135 million in financing, led by Peak XV with participation from Elefund, and new and existing shareholders also include Opera Tech Ventures and Unbound under the BNP Paribas Group. The company stated that the new funds will be used to accelerate the development of its agent-oriented brokerage infrastructure and API-centric prime brokerage business to support the development and expansion of investment products for traditional and on-chain markets.
Alpaca, an AI and tokenized financial infrastructure provider, has announced the completion of a $135 million new funding round, led by Peak XV, with participation from Elefund, BNP Paribas' venture capital arm Opera Tech Ventures, and Unbound. To date, its total funding has reached $435 million. The new capital will be used to accelerate the development of its AI-native brokerage infrastructure and API-first prime brokerage services, helping fintech companies, banks, brokerages, wealth management institutions, and crypto financial platforms build investment products in traditional and on-chain markets, while also gaining access to more global crypto exchanges, asset tokenization platforms, and financial institutions. (Businesswire)
Strategy's newly launched Bitcoin Banking Adoption Index shows Fidelity leading at 71%, followed by BNY at 46% in second place, and Goldman Sachs at 45% in third. JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup each stand at 43%. The index evaluates the adoption of Bitcoin-related services across trading, custody, digital asset products, financing, and corporate participation among 25 major global institutions, with an overall adoption rate of 32%.The remaining institutions scored between 13% and 38%, with Wells Fargo at 38%, Banco Santander and Société Générale both at 35%, Charles Schwab and TD Bank both at 32%, BNP Paribas, HSBC, Crédit Agricole, and UBS each at 30%, Bank of America, Barclays, and Standard Chartered each at 28%, State Street at 27%, Mizuho and Deutsche Bank both at 22%, MUFG at 18%, Lloyd’s at 17%, and SMBC and Royal Bank of Canada both at 13% (Bitcoin.com News).
According to CoinDesk, Digital Asset, the blockchain developer behind Canton Network, has announced a $355 million funding round led by a16z crypto, with participation from global institutions including ABN Amro, Apollo Funds, BNP Paribas, Citadel Securities, HSBC, SBI Group, and a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. The round exceeded its original target of $300 million, valuing the company at $2 billion. Canton Network is designed specifically for large financial institutions and enables the issuance and trading of tokenized real-world assets—such as bonds, loans, and funds—on a shared ledger, while maintaining privacy and meeting regulatory compliance requirements. In addition to financial support, a16z crypto will provide specialized assistance in development, policy, and research.
According to Odaily, Digital Asset, the developer of the Canton network, has announced the completion of a $355 million equity funding round, led by a16z crypto. Participating investors include subsidiaries of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Apollo Funds, BNP Paribas, Citadel Securities, CME Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, HSBC, S&P Global, SBI Group, SoFi, Tradeweb, and others. The project's primary business is developing the Canton blockchain network designed for institutions. The funds will be used to accelerate partnerships with institutional players, pursue mergers and acquisitions, and participate in related projects. (The Block)
: According to sources, London-based digital bank and financial super app Revolut is quietly seeking a round of secondary equity transactions, targeting a valuation of $115 billion. If successful, this valuation would surpass Barclays and Deutsche Bank, and approach the scale of BNP Paribas.Founded in 2015 and led by CEO Nik Storonsky, Revolut plans to conduct multiple rounds of secondary transactions before its IPO to provide liquidity for internal shareholders while gauging the market's tolerance for its valuation. Storonsky has stated that an IPO is still at least two years away.Based on current revenue of $600 million and profits of $2.3 billion, the $115 billion valuation would give it a price-to-earnings ratio similar to high-growth technology companies. If the transaction goes through, Storonsky's stake would be worth at least $36 billion, placing him among the world's wealthiest fintech founders.Previously, Revolut was already Europe's most valuable private technology company at a valuation of $75 billion. A $115 billion valuation would now propel it into the ranks of top global financial institutions, setting a high bar for its future IPO and signaling investors' optimistic outlook on the company's valuation. (Bloomberg)