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Uniswap Labs, the main developer of the Uniswap decentralized exchange protocol, has launched a new venture unit.

Uniswap Labs Ventures will invest in web3 projects across categories, focusing on startups building blockchain infrastructure, developer tools and consumer-facing applications.

The size of Uniswap Labs Ventures’ fund was not disclosed, but Matteo Leibowitz, the firm’s ventures lead, told The Block that investments will be made directly from the Uniswap Labs balance sheet. He declined to comment on the size of the balance sheet.

Uniswap Labs has invested in 11 startups and projects before launching its venture arm, including MakerDAO, Aave, Compound Protocol, PartyDAO, LayerZero and Tenderly, an Ethereum developer platform.

When asked how Uniswap Labs decides to invest in a project, Leibowitz, a former research analyst at The Block, said the firm places “a lot of emphasis on the tenacity and vision of the founders.”

“Beyond that, we look for projects that will advance the benefits of Web3 and user adoption. In all cases, we seek to support teams that can benefit from our experience and expertise as a fast-growing crypto-native company,” he added.

Uniswap Labs Ventures aims to help startups build and scale across strategy, product, partnerships, engineering, and design. To that end, the firm said it will also actively participate in on and off-chain governance of projects — an aspect more venture firms are interested in, including giants Sequoia Capital and Bain Capital Ventures, which both recently launched their crypto-dedicated funds.

As for Uniswap Labs Ventures, it plans to participate in the governance systems of the MakerDAO, Aave, Compound and Ethereum Name Service protocols.

The firm will invest in both equity and token deals, said Leibowitz, who will manage the ventures unit alongside Uniswap Labs chief operating officer MC Lader.

Uniswap Labs’ venture unit launches as more crypto funds tied to corporate entities and protocols launch, including FTX Ventures and Cake DeFi Ventures. Commenting on the trend, Leibowitz said “the growth of Web3 companies supporting each other through venture investments reflects the principles of collaboration that are so fundamental to the industry’s open-source ethos.”

“The Uniswap ecosystem has benefited enormously from third-party contributions, and we’re excited to pay it forward by sharing our experience and expertise with our peers,” he added.

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Ryan Salame, co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, has launched a new political action committee. 

First reported by Politico’s Stephanie Murray, the American Dream Federal Action PAC aims to support “forward-looking conservative leaders who understand the urgency of advancing smart policies that set America up for success.”

“We believe that public policy solutions should have a positive impact on people’s lives and play a vital role in protecting Americans’ freedoms, biosecurity and system of free enterprise,” the PAC’s site says. 

In keeping with that push, Salame is said to be putting $4 million into the new initiative. Federal Election Commission data shows the PAC’s registration date as March 14 but has not reflected any first wave of donations. PACs are limited to donating $5,000 to any particular candidate but can spread those donations across a vast range of local, state and federal politicians and affiliate committees in any given election year.  

FTX Digital Markets is a subsidiary of FTX Trading, the crypto exchange’s global operation. Salame joined the firm in September as it received licensing to set up shop in the Bahamas, leaving a role at linked trading firm Alameda Research. 

FTX’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was one of the largest contributors to then-candidate Joe Biden’s 2020 run for the presidency. The firm, and Bankman-Fried in particular, have become notably visible in Washington, DC as representatives of the cryptocurrency industry. 

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Quick Take

• A subsidiary of the Digital Currency Group, Foundry provides various institutional-grade services within the digital asset mining and staking industry
• Foundry has put in tremendous effort in fostering the North American mining ecosystem, deploying close to $500 million into the North American mining space and managing the Foundry USA pool which currently has the largest market share based on the Bitcoin hash rate
• Foundry plans to continue building out its proof of stake infrastructure and utilize Foundry Labs to expand into application layer development

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Fabric Ventures is in the final stages of completing an early-stage web3 fund and on track to close another focused on later-stage investments.

The pair will be worth more than €225 million ($245 million) combined, Richard Muirhead, managing partner at the London-based venture capital firm, told The Block.

The first of the two — a fund focusing on early-stage companies — was described by Muirhead  as “significantly oversubscribed” and has extended its hard cap to close at €125 million in order to introduce additional investors. Fabric is also in the process of raising a second fund, focused on investments in companies at Series B stage and onwards, which is set to be capped at €100 million. 

The later-stage fund — which is pushing for its first close in April — will support the ideation stage “Fabric X program,” according to a pitch deck seen by The Block. Fabric has backed “open economy founders from concept to scale,” it says. 

The new capital follows a $130 million raise in July, which included ​​around €25 million from the European Investment Fund (EIF). 

It was the first EIF-backed fund mandated to invest in digital assets and blockchain technology. At the time, it received backing from 33 founders, partners and executives from Ethereum, Wise, PayPal, Square, Google, PayU, Ledger, Raisin, Ebury, PPRO, NEAR, Felix Capital, LocalGlobe, Earlybird, Accelerator Ventures, Aztec Protocol, Raisin, Aragon, Orchid, MySQL, Verifone, OpenOcean, Claret Capital and more.

Muirhead said the firm anticipates raising again in spring 2023. 

Fabric has previously backed projects across the spectrum of digital assets including Ramp, Axie Infinity parent Sky Mavis and Ledger. 

It’s the latest example of new capital flowing into the space. Earlier in April, Pantera also said it is raising a new fund, targeting a $200 million close at the start of May. In March, blockchain-focused venture capital firm gumi Cryptos Capital (gCC) also said it has raised $110 million to invest in early-stage startups.

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Gaming giant Ubisoft has backed White Star Capital’s second crypto-focused venture fund as an anchor investor.

The French game developer — famed for its Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry franchises — is the lead investor among a group that has committed roughly $60 million to White Star’s new Digital Asset Fund. The funding represents the ‘first close’ for a vehicle through which White Star ultimately expects to oversee $120 million.

Other investors in the new fund include family offices and wealthy individuals, and conversations with institutional investors about a “second close” are ongoing.

This is the second dedicated crypto fund launched by White Star — a technology investment firm founded in 2014 and managing around $1 billion in total. Its first Digital Asset Fund launched in 2020 with $50 million to invest in crypto firms, and has backed 20 startups including Ledn, Alex, Multis, Paraswap, Exlusible, and Rally.

Ubisoft also backed White Star’s first crypto fund but is doubling down on the latest vehicle as part of a broader plan to accelerate its blockchain-based gaming plans.

“They’re always looking at this space in a very strategic manner and that’s why they’re partnering with us on this fund,” White Star general partner Sep Alavi told The Block.  

Mass adoption cycle

Besides being larger, Alavi said that the second Digital Asset Fund will target startups working towards the “mass adoption cycle” of crypto technologies, with a focus on DeFi and gaming.

“It’s going to be more about how we bring the next billion people into crypto with daily use cases on applications,” he said. “We’re going to have the majority of our investment in infrastructure and applications.”

White Star’s crypto funds invest in both equity and tokens. The second fund will deploy between $1 million and $7 million at a time, with the goal of backing 20-25 companies across North America, Europe and Asia.

Of the 36 employees at the venture capital firm, six are focused on crypto full time, spread across New York, Toronto, London and Paris.

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

BitMEX co-founder and former CEO Arthur Hayes said the ailing state of global stock markets might lead to a crypto crash in the second quarter — and he’s buying put options as protection.

In his latest blog post today, the former investment banker claims crypto is moving in tandem with US technology stocks and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will damage them both. While he remains bullish on crypto prices over the long term, he puts forward the view that they’re standing on the precipice of a “calamitous outcome.”

The premise is based on the idea that if the Nasdaq 100 drops, it will drag down crypto with it. He puts forward a range of charts showing the correlation between traditional markets and crypto to back up this suggestion.

What’s more complicated is why he argues the Nasdaq 100 will go down. Part of the reason is the impact caused by the Russian invasion. Hayes writes, “Global growth will decline on higher commodity prices driven by the continuation and possible escalation of the Russia / Ukraine war.” He adds that this will hurt the price of stocks.

The second argument is that falling interest rates tend to support the Nasdaq 100, while the world is currently seeing higher interest rates in response to inflation.

The third element is based on looking at the chart for the Nasdaq 100. Hayes says that the tech index failed to bounce significantly on a key technical level, suggesting that it may go lower.

Put together, he’s bearish in the short term. Hayes estimates that bitcoin could go as low as $30,000 before the end of June, with ether falling to $2,500. 

Looking beyond bitcoin, Hayes says he’s been accumulating some other cryptocurrencies as they’re at much lower prices. But he remains concerned that they will drop lower during this year. “Even though some of these coins are already down 75% from their all-time high, I don’t believe even they can escape the coming crypto carnage,” he says. As a result, he’s hedging his bets by buying put options that would perform well if the market crashes this quarter.

Hayes accepts that this analysis may not play out fully. “I will be wrong if the correlation between Bitcoin / Ether and [Nasdaq 100] starts dropping before a crash in risk asset markets,” he says. But he acknowledges that he’s fine with that since he maintains a long position on crypto over the longer term.

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

The Middle East’s largest alternative asset manager is raising a new fund for investing in startups developing blockchain technology. 

According to a post on Investcorp Holdings’ website today, the eLydian Lion fund will be based in Abu Dhabi and will have a global investment mandate. Investcorp is Bahrain-based. 

The fund will enable investors to gain early exposure to the rapid growth of the blockchain ecosystem, the post said. It will mainly back early-stage companies operating in areas such as blockchain infrastructure, platforms and exchanges, decentralized finance and data analytics.

Investcorp moved to delist from the Bahrain stock exchange last year, after nearly 40 years as a publicly traded entity. At the time, it said the move would give it the agility to expand faster.

The new fundraise follows a flurry of activity in the Middle East as it seeks to solidify its place as a crypto-friendly region. In March, Dubai unveiled a new agency tasked with virtual asset regulation — a framework which crypto exchange giant Binance helped it to establish.

Over the weekend, Binance received in-principle approval from Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to operate as a broker-dealer in digital assets.

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Elon Musk has decided not to join Twitter’s board, a move that would have prevented him from increasing his stake in the social media firm beyond 14.9%. 

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced the change of heart in a tweet late Sunday. Agrawal didn’t explain Musk’s decision, but said he believes it’s “for the best.”

The news comes five days after Agrawal said Musk was joining Twitter’s board, following the billionaire’s purchase of a 9.2% stake in the company.

“We were excited to collaborate and clear about the risks,” Agrawal said on Sunday. “We also believed that having Elon as a fiduciary of the company where he, like all board members, has to act in the best interests of the company and all our shareholders, was the best path forward. The board offered him a seat.”

Musk’s appointment was subject to a “background check and formal acceptance” on April 9, but Musk informed Twitter of his decision on the same day.

Musk remains the biggest shareholder of Twitter and Agrawal said the company will remain open to Musk’s input.

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Binance received in-principle approval from Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to operate as a broker-dealer in digital assets, Bloomberg reported on Sunday.

The world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume must now complete the application process, according to Richard Teng, Binance’s head for the Middle East and North Africa and a former ADGM executive.

If the licensing for Abu Dhabi — the UAE capital — is successful, Binance will offer services to clients across the MENA region through its subsidiary Binance (AD). It has been expanding its presence in the Persian Gulf, including a license approval from Dubai, the commercial capital of the UAE.

It received the Dubai virtual asset license last month, The Block reported. Binance said at the time that it would be permitted to extend limited exchange products and services to pre-qualified investors and professional financial service providers.

In addition to expanding its exchange operations, Binance will anchor a blockchain technology hub in the Dubai World Trade Centre to seed new talent, it said.

Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s co-founder and CEO, said last month that Dubai would be his base for the foreseeable future and by “any common interpretation,” the company’s headquarters, Bloomberg reported.

The company’s American affiliate, Binance.US, closed an inaugural funding round last week, The Block reported. It raised more than $200 million in a seed round at a pre-money valuation of $4.5 billion.

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

The mining stage at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami this past week hosted business leaders from across the mining industry.

Here is a look at some of the ideas discussed during the three days of panels.

No middle ground for miners

Many of the largest mining companies are scaling up at an increasingly fast pace. At one of the panels, speakers pointed out that miners will have a very hard time keeping up if they aren’t extremely cost-competitive and using the latest and most efficient machines.

“All of us are moving full speed ahead, guns blazing,” said Marathon CEO Fred Thiel.

Mike Levitt, chairman and CEO of Core Scientific, said that capital markets have tightened up in the past few months, making it harder for anyone in between a very small or large scale miner. He said that at this point you can either be “scaled and efficient” or make a little bit of money by being “very small [and] nimble.”

“I wouldn’t want to be trying to start to build a scale business today. It’s just not easy to do that,” he said.

According to Levitt, getting the cost of goods (including power and equipment) and the productivity level balanced by building a well-designed operation are crucial factors.

Jason Les, CEO of Riot, added that the biggest barrier to entry to the industry is know-how.

Decentralization at geographical vs. ownership level

What does decentralized mining look like? Is it all about the geography or the ownership of the machines? This topic came up a few times during the conference, with a few speakers pointing towards the latter as the most crucial aspect.

“Historically, we’ve looked at decentralization as just purely physical locations,” said Ben Gagnon, chief mining officer at Bitfarms. “But if you’re looking at that vulnerability on a 51% attack, it’s not the physical distribution of mining equipment that matters. It’s the ownership of that mining equipment that matters. I can control 51% of hashrate all throughout the world. I don’t need to control it all in one location.”

Stephen Barbour, the owner of Upstream Data, also pointed to ownership of hashrate as the most important factor.

“[Hashrate] can be jurisdictionally spread out. If it’s the same owner it’s not a huge difference if it’s distributed geographically,” he said.

CEO Barefoot Mining Bob Burnett said that decentralization should be looked at from other perspectives, such as power sources and ASIC technology.

“There’s all kinds of different places in which centralization can occur and I honestly think we’re becoming more centralized. I don’t think we are dangerously centralized right now, but I think there are some vectors that worry me,” Burnett said, pointing at the move from China to the US.

“I am concerned that most of the mega-site development is also public companies. I think that’s a really, really dangerous place,” he said. “That is a cultural change for a company and I frankly think it can be a very fiat move, that it takes a Bitcoin-centric company and forces a fiat mindset into it.”

A consumer-product approach future to home mining?

There was no shortage of praise and encouragement for home mining during the conference. At one point, many hands in the audience shot up as one speaker asked how many attendees had done any sort of mining at home.

Some of the speakers shared their perspectives on how future products could make it easier for people who are not as tech-savvy to have miners at home, combining that main function with heat applications.

On a different scale, Jonathan Yuan, owner of Coin Heated, is already using the wasted heat from bitcoin miners as a product, partnering with other companies.

“I’m working with a whiskey Distillery and they want to preheat all their water. (…) So you’re cooling your ASICs, you’re getting your warm water. It’s a win-win,” Yuan said. “Everywhere I’m looking now for industrial applications, anywhere there’s heat I’m like ‘ooh, I can heat that.’”

Yun also shared that he has heated a whole pool in the cold weather using only heat from miners.

Miners are looking for stability

China’s crackdown on mining and, more recently, the exodus of miners from Kazakhstan, has deeply changed the landscape of the industry.

Marathon’s CEO Fred Thiel indicated during a panel that stability was a major factor in finding new mining locations.

“You’re putting a lot of capital to work in a place and it takes you a few years to get that money back. And the last thing you want is a bunch of people with AK-47s pulling up in the Jeep saying ‘thank you for building such a wonderful facility, you’re no longer needed, goodbye.’”

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.