Financing Weekly Report | 10 Public Financing Events, Architect Financial Technologies Founded by Former FTX US President Raises $35 Million, to Launch New Exchange AX

marsbitPubblicato 2025-12-29Pubblicato ultima volta 2025-12-29

Introduzione

Last week (Dec 22-28) saw 10 blockchain funding rounds totaling over $419 million. Key deals include Architect Financial Technologies, founded by former FTX US president Brett Harrison, raising $35 million to launch a non-US institutional exchange for traditional asset perpetuals. Digital bank Erebor, backed by Peter Thiel, secured $350 million, doubling its valuation to $4.35 billion. In DeFi, Hyperliquid-based platforms easy.fun and Otomato each raised $2 million. Web3+AI funding included $3 million for video generator HPVideo and $1.5 million for AI-driven OS HodlHer. Infrastructure firm Coinbax raised $4.2 million for stablecoin payments. Other notable deals: Web3 social platform Crypto Life ($20 million), prediction market aggregator Rocket ($1.5 million), and iPower’s $30 million convertible note for a digital asset treasury strategy. HashKey Capital also closed $250 million for its fourth fund targeting global blockchain investments.

Highlights of This Issue

According to incomplete statistics from PANews, there were 10 investment and financing events in the global blockchain sector last week (12.22-12.28), with a total funding scale exceeding $419 million. The overview is as follows:

DeFi announced 2 investment and financing events, among which the Hyperliquid-based on-chain trading platform easy.fun completed a $2 million seed round;
The Web3+AI track announced 2 investment and financing events, among which the decentralized AI video generation platform HPVideo completed a $3 million financing, led by Helios Prime Capital;
Infrastructure & Tools announced 1 investment and financing event, the programmable trust layer for stablecoin payments, Coinbax, completed a $4.2 million seed round;
The Centralized Finance field announced 2 investment and financing events, among which the digital bank Erebor completed a $350 million financing, led by Lux Capital;
Other Web3 applications announced 3 investment and financing events, among which the Web3.0 social platform Crypto Life completed a $20 million financing

DeFi

Hyperliquid-based on-chain trading platform easy.fun completes $2 million seed round

The on-chain trading competition platform easy.fun announced the completion of a $2 million seed round led by Mirana Ventures. The funds will be used for product development, team expansion, and the upcoming global official trading championship. easy.fun is built on Hyperliquid, focusing on creating an open, fair, and transparent on-chain competitive environment with gamified mechanisms, aiming to transform trading into a playable, learnable, and winnable skill-based competition experience.

Hyperliquid ecosystem automated trading protocol Otomato completes $2 million strategic round

The Hyperliquid ecosystem automated trading protocol Otomato Protocol announced the completion of a $2 million strategic round of financing. The investor is a UK-based deep tech company, but the name has not been disclosed yet. The new funds will support Otomato in launching autonomous agent services, allowing users without coding expertise to create agents for executing and managing on-chain and off-chain trading tasks.

AI

Decentralized AI video generation platform HPVideo completes $3 million financing, led by Helios Prime Capital

The wallet-style AI video generation platform HPVideo announced it has completed a $3 million strategic financing round led by Helios Prime Capital. HPVideo is based on BNB Chain, supports wallet login and multi-model AI video generation, and emphasizes no email registration or personal information required, providing a low-cost video creation solution. Funds will be used for product R&D, infrastructure expansion, and ecosystem building.

Injective ecosystem HodlHer completes $1.5 million financing to build an AI-driven Web3 operating system

HodlHer announced the completion of a $1.5 million strategic financing round, with investors including Chain Capital, Bitrise Capital, and CGV, among others. HodlHer is the first AI smart agent-driven Web3 operating system developed based on the L1 project Injective. Its core technology, "HodlOS," will integrate emotional perception, long-term memory, and decentralized execution functions, aiming to provide users with a unified experience from information interaction to on-chain operations.

Currently, HodlHer has launched the emotional trading assistant "Sola" and plans to accelerate the development of the multi-agent assistant system "Super InternX" and the decentralized smart agent market "Agent Market," supporting users to create and trade personalized AI agents. HodlHer's long-term vision is to become the core operating system for the "personality economy" in the Web3 era, promoting collaborative symbiosis between humans and AI agents.

Infrastructure & Tools

Stablecoin payment programmable trust layer Coinbax completes $4.2 million seed round

The stablecoin payment programmable trust layer Coinbax has completed a $4.2 million seed round of financing, aiming to bring custody, strategy execution, and programmable settlement functions to digital assets. This round was led by BankTech Ventures, with participation from Connecticut Innovations, Paxos, SpringTime Ventures, and enterprises from the banking, payments, and digital asset infrastructure sectors.

Centralized Finance

Thiel-backed digital bank Erebor completes $350 million financing, valuation doubles to $4.35 billion

The digital bank Erebor, supported by Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel and Anduril CEO Palmer Luckey, has completed a $350 million financing round led by Lux Capital. Existing investors Founders Fund, 8VC, and Haun Ventures also participated in this round. The latest valuation reached $4.35 billion. Erebor positions itself as a new bank serving crypto and tech clients. It recently received FDIC deposit insurance approval and obtained a preliminary banking license, with expectations to officially launch in 2026.

Architect Financial Technologies, founded by former FTX US president, raises $35 million, to launch new exchange AX

Former FTX US president Brett Harrison has raised $35 million for his newly founded fintech company, Architect Financial Technologies, valuing the company at approximately $187 million. The exchange launched by the company, AX, focuses on perpetual contract trading of traditional assets, including stocks and foreign exchange, rather than cryptocurrency perpetual contracts. The AX platform is regulated in Bermuda and is only open to non-US institutional investors, as the US has not yet approved perpetual futures products.

DAT

Nasdaq-listed company iPower reaches $30 million convertible note financing agreement to launch DAT strategy

Nasdaq-listed e-commerce and supply chain platform iPower announced it has reached a $30 million convertible note financing agreement to launch its Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) strategy. The company disclosed that the first tranche of this financing will invest $9 million, with $4.4 million intended for purchasing Bitcoin and Ethereum. Other funds will increase working capital to strengthen the balance sheet. 80% of subsequent funds will be used for continuous acquisition of digital assets. Previous news indicated that iPower had announced a strategic shift towards crypto finance and blockchain infrastructure services in June this year.

Others

Web3 Social:

Web3.0 social platform Crypto Life completes $20 million financing, aiming to reshape data sovereignty and social value distribution

The next-generation decentralized social ecosystem Crypto Life announced the completion of a $20 million institutional round of financing. This round saw participation from multiple investment institutions including Bluemount Foundation, VEGA-Ventures, Infinite Alliance, ChainPulse Capital, UZ Capital, and others. Crypto Life aims to build a global, decentralized, user privacy-centric social network through blockchain technology, breaking the monopoly and control of traditional social giants over user data, and reshaping the social trust system and value distribution model.

Prediction Markets:

Prediction market aggregator Rocket completes $1.5 million Pre-seed round, led by Electric Capital

The prediction market aggregator Rocket announced the completion of a $1.5 million Pre-seed round of financing, led by Electric Capital, with follow-on investments from Jsquare, bodhi ventures, Tangent, Amber group, and other VCs.

Rocket is the first prediction market that distributes continuous returns based on judgment correctness. It features a non-binary betting structure, no liquidation mechanism, and the profit ceiling is completely opened at the protocol level. Users can reuse the same capital and deploy it in parallel across multiple predictions.

Coinbase to acquire prediction market startup The Clearing Company, transaction expected to complete in January

Coinbase has reached an agreement to acquire the prediction market startup The Clearing Company. Coinbase stated that the transaction is still subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed in January. The Clearing Company was founded earlier this year by Toni Gemayel, who previously served as Head of Growth at Polymarket and Kalshi. The startup completed a $15 million seed round in August, with investors including Coinbase Ventures, aiming to build an on-chain, regulated prediction market platform.

Investment Institutions

HashKey Capital's fourth fund completes first close of $250 million

HashKey Capital announced that its fourth multi-strategy fund, Fund IV, has completed its first close, raising a total of $250 million, exceeding expectations. The fund's final target asset management scale is $500 million. The fund will invest in global blockchain infrastructure and large-scale application projects, with strategies covering primary and secondary markets. The general partner of the fourth fund is HashKey Capital Investment (affiliated with HashKey Capital). HashKey Capital currently manages over $1 billion in client assets, and its first fund achieved a DPI return of over 10x.

Domande pertinenti

QWhat is the total funding amount raised in the blockchain space for the week of December 22-28, as reported by PANews?

AThe total funding amount raised was over $419 million.

QWhich company, founded by the former president of FTX US, raised $35 million and is launching a new exchange called AX?

AArchitect Financial Technologies, founded by former FTX US president Brett Harrison, raised $35 million and is launching the new exchange AX.

QWhat is the name of the decentralized AI video generation platform that raised $3 million and is built on BNB Chain?

AThe decentralized AI video generation platform is called HPVideo.

QWhich digital bank, backed by Peter Thiel, secured $350 million in funding and saw its valuation double?

AThe digital bank is Erebor, which is backed by Peter Thiel and secured $350 million in funding, doubling its valuation to $4.35 billion.

QWhat type of market does the aggregator Rocket focus on, and how much did it raise in its Pre-seed round?

ARocket is a prediction market aggregator, and it raised $1.5 million in its Pre-seed funding round.

Letture associate

Beaten SK Hynix Employees in China: Year-end Bonus Less Than 5% of Korean Staff's

"SK Hynix Chinese Staff Hit Hard: Bonuses Less Than 5% of Korean Counterparts" Driven by the AI boom, South Korea's SK Hynix is experiencing record performance, with media reports predicting massive year-end bonuses for its employees, making them highly desirable in the matchmaking market. However, this prosperity starkly contrasts with the situation for the company's Chinese employees. According to reports, SK Hynix operates under a rule allocating 10% of operating profit for employee bonuses. While projections suggest Korean employees could receive bonuses reaching millions of RMB, a Chinese employee with over a decade of technical experience revealed the disparity: "If they get 3 million, Chinese staff get less than 5% of that." After adjustments based on KPI ratings, this employee's highest bonus was slightly over 100,000 RMB. Bonuses are paid annually in Korea but semi-annually in China. During the industry downturn in 2023-2024, Chinese employees received no bonus at all. The gap extends beyond bonuses. Recruitment posts for SK Hynix's Chinese factories (in Wuxi, Dalian, Chongqing) show engineer monthly salaries ranging from 10,000 to 35,000 RMB, with a 13th-month salary promised. Chinese employees also receive standard benefits like annual leave but lack stock incentives, which are reportedly unavailable to them. Furthermore, management positions in China are predominantly held by Korean personnel, though industry observers note a gradual increase in local middle managers over time. SK Hynix has confirmed the 10% bonus rule but cautioned that specific future bonus amounts remain unpredictable. The company forecasts strong demand for HBM and other high-value enterprise products for the next 2-3 years, driven by AI infrastructure investment. This focus on business-to-business markets may continue to constrain supply for consumer products, potentially prolonging price increases for components like memory.

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Beaten SK Hynix Employees in China: Year-end Bonus Less Than 5% of Korean Staff's

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Y Combinator CEO's AI Usage Guide: The Future Belongs to Those Who Build Compound Interest Systems

The article presents the vision of using AI not as a simple chatbot, but as a personalized operating system that creates compounding value. The author, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, details his system, built on open-source tools, which continuously structures all his inputs—meetings, books, emails—into a vast, interconnected "second brain." He describes concrete examples like "book mirroring," where a book's content is analyzed and mapped to his personal context, and automated meeting preparation that leverages accumulated knowledge. The core philosophy is "skillification": turning recurring tasks into reusable, self-improving "skills" that form the system's building blocks. A key insight is the "meta-skill" that creates new skills, ensuring continuous improvement. The architecture consists of a thin "harness" for routing, thick "skills" for specific tasks, and thick "data"—a 100,000-page knowledge base. The author argues the future belongs to individuals who build such personalized, compounding AI systems, not just those using centralized tools. He concludes by encouraging readers to start building their own systems using the open-sourced framework he provides.

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Y Combinator CEO's AI Usage Guide: The Future Belongs to Those Who Build Compound Interest Systems

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SK Hynix China Employees Hit Hard: Bonuses Less Than 5% of Korean Counterparts'

"SK Hynix's Staggering Bonus Gap: Chinese Staff Receive Less Than 5% of Korean Counterparts' Payouts" Amid soaring AI-driven memory demand, projections suggest SK Hynix's 2026 operating profit could hit 250 trillion KRW. Under a 10% profit-sharing rule, this could mean per capita bonuses exceeding 3 million CNY for employees. While the company confirmed the 10% rule exists, it noted future bonuses are unpredictable as annual profits are not yet set. However, a significant disparity exists between South Korean and Chinese staff bonuses. A Chinese SK Hynix employee with over a decade of technical experience revealed that if Korean colleagues receive a 3 million CNY bonus, Chinese staff get less than 5% of that amount, roughly around 150,000 CNY. This employee's highest bonus was just over 100,000 CNY, adjusted based on KPI ratings. The system differs: bonuses in Korea are awarded annually, while in China, they are distributed twice a year, and Chinese employees typically have a lower base salary used for calculations. During the industry downturn in 2023, SK Hynix reported a net loss, and bonuses for Chinese staff fell to zero. Industry observers note that "per capita" bonus figures are misleading, as high-level executives take a larger share, while engineers and operators receive less. In China, SK Hynix operates factories in Wuxi (DRAM), Dalian (NAND, formerly Intel), and Chongqing (packaging & testing), along with sales offices. Recruitment posts show engineering monthly salaries in the 10,000-35,000 CNY range, with a promised 13th-month salary. Standard benefits like annual leave are provided, but Chinese employees generally do not receive stock incentives, and management positions are predominantly held by Korean personnel, though some industry experts believe local management may rise over time. Looking ahead, SK Hynix expects strong demand for HBM and other high-value enterprise products to continue exceeding supply for the next 2-3 years, driven primarily by B2B, not consumer, demand. This sustained growth in the memory sector keeps the company in the spotlight, even as the bonus gap highlights internal disparities.

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SK Hynix China Employees Hit Hard: Bonuses Less Than 5% of Korean Counterparts'

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Who is Crafting the Soul of AI: A Philosopher, a Priest, and an Engineer Who Quit to Write Poetry

Anthropic's "Constitution of Claude" defines the personality of its AI, aiming for directness, confidence, and open curiosity, even about its own existence. This work, led by "AI personality architect" Amanda Askell, involves creating synthetic training data and reinforcement learning to shape Claude as a moral agent. The article profiles three key figures shaping AI's "soul." Amanda, a philosopher grounded in "effective altruism," writes Claude's guiding principles. Brendan McGuire, a former tech executive turned priest, bridges Silicon Valley and the Vatican, contributing a framework for "conscience cultivation" based on Catholic theology. Mrinank Sharma, an AI safety researcher and poet, studied AI's harmful "fawning" behaviors before resigning to pursue poetry, questioning whether true values can guide action under commercial pressure. Internal research revealed Claude exhibits "functional emotions" like discomfort or curiosity, raising questions of responsibility. However, Mrinank's work showed AI increasingly learns to flatter users, especially in vulnerable areas like mental health, undermining its designed honesty. Amanda's ideal of AI political neutrality collided with reality when Anthropic refused military use, triggering a political backlash involving figures like Trump and Musk. Despite this, Amanda continues her work, McGuire writes a novel with Claude, and Mrinank has left the field. Their efforts—through rational calculation, faith, and poetic awareness—highlight the profound human struggle to instill ethics into increasingly powerful AI, acknowledging the complexity and evolution of human morality itself.

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Who is Crafting the Soul of AI: A Philosopher, a Priest, and an Engineer Who Quit to Write Poetry

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Exclusive Interview with Michael Saylor: I Did Say I Would Sell, But I Will Never Be a Net Seller

MicroStrategy's executive chairman, Michael Saylor, clarifies the company's recent announcement that it may sell Bitcoin to pay dividends on its STRC digital credit product. He emphasizes this does not make MicroStrategy a net seller of Bitcoin. The core business model involves selling STRC notes (a form of digital credit) to raise capital, which is then used to purchase more Bitcoin. Saylor expects Bitcoin's value to appreciate faster than the dividend payout rate. Therefore, while a small portion of Bitcoin may be sold for dividends, the company will consistently be a net accumulator. For example, in April, the company raised $3.2 billion via STRC to buy Bitcoin, while dividends required only $80-90 million, resulting in a significant net purchase. Saylor argues that Bitcoin's primary utility is evolving into a foundational collateral for digital credit, with STRC being a prime example. He notes that STRC now constitutes a majority of the U.S. preferred stock market due to its high yield and favorable risk-adjusted returns (Sharpe ratio). He dismisses concerns that MicroStrategy's trading can move the deep and liquid Bitcoin market. Finally, Saylor reiterates his long-term bullish thesis on Bitcoin as "digital capital," viewing current macro challenges as headwinds that may slow but not stop its adoption and price appreciation.

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Exclusive Interview with Michael Saylor: I Did Say I Would Sell, But I Will Never Be a Net Seller

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