# Funding Related Articles

HTX News Center provides the latest articles and in-depth analysis on "Funding", covering market trends, project updates, tech developments, and regulatory policies in the crypto industry.

$50 Million Funding Ignites Airdrop Anticipation, Variational Becomes New Focus of Perp DEX

Variational, a perpetual decentralized exchange (Perp DEX) on Arbitrum, has become a focal point in the crypto community after announcing a $50 million Series A funding round led by Dragonfly Capital, with participation from Bain Capital Crypto and Coinbase Ventures. This news caused a significant pre-listing price surge and increased predictions of a high fully diluted valuation (FDV) upon launch. A key feature of Variational is its zero-trading-fee model. It differentiates itself by aggregating multi-source liquidity, including traditional and crypto-native market makers, to address on-chain liquidity challenges. According to DefiLlama, it ranks fourth among Perp DEXs by open interest and is notable as the only top-five platform yet to issue a token. The primary way for users to engage is through its "Trade-to-Earn" Omni Points program. Points are awarded weekly based on trading activity, with bonuses for early users and a tiered reward system that incentivizes higher trading volumes. The program also includes a referral system offering USDC rewards and extra points. The design emphasizes organic trading over mere volume farming. While an exact Token Generation Event (TGE) date for the VAR token is not confirmed, official documentation states the points program will run at least until the end of Q3 2026. Community and prediction market sentiment generally expects the TGE to occur in Q3 or Q4 of this year.

Odaily星球日报05/21 02:01

$50 Million Funding Ignites Airdrop Anticipation, Variational Becomes New Focus of Perp DEX

Odaily星球日报05/21 02:01

Morning Brief | Deloitte Acquires Crypto Infrastructure Firm Blocknative; Stablecoin Firm Checker Raises $8M; a16z Likely Becomes Largest External Holder of HYPE

ChainCatcher Daily Update - May 21st Major headlines include Deloitte's acquisition of crypto infrastructure firm Blocknative, signaling further traditional finance adoption. In funding news, stablecoin infrastructure company Checker secured $8 million, while decentralized derivatives platform Variational raised $50 million in a Series A round led by Dragonfly Capital. Significant corporate moves saw Tether acquire SoftBank's entire stake in Twenty One Capital (XXI), and Mastercard pivot its strategy by investing in BVNK for stablecoin payments after abandoning Zerohash. VC giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is reported to be a major external holder of HYPE, with positions exceeding $356 million. On the institutional front, MicroStrategy's CEO noted that 13 of its top 15 institutional shareholders increased their $MSTR holdings in Q1 2026, with aggregate positions growing 27%. Meanwhile, the parent company of the NYSE, ICE, announced plans to launch a futures market for AI computing power ("hashrate"). The report also features a "Meme Hot List" ranking trending tokens on Ethereum, Solana, and Base networks, and highlights several key articles. These include an analysis of renowned investor Duan Yongping's first crypto investment in Circle, concerns over talent drain and institutional selling pressure at the Ethereum Foundation, the growing business of crypto asset recovery, and an examination of the trillion-dollar potential and remaining hurdles for the tokenized asset market.

链捕手05/21 01:32

Morning Brief | Deloitte Acquires Crypto Infrastructure Firm Blocknative; Stablecoin Firm Checker Raises $8M; a16z Likely Becomes Largest External Holder of HYPE

链捕手05/21 01:32

Agents Capital Markets: How Will Autonomous Agents Get Funded?

"Agents Capital Markets: How Autonomous Agents Will Raise Capital" Within a decade, specialized capital markets will emerge for AI Agents—software entities with legal personhood that perform work, earn revenue, and need capital. Unlike today's AI companies (like Sierra or Harvey) backed by traditional VC, these future *Agent companies* will be autonomous, legally-recognized entities (e.g., Wyoming memberless LLCs) that directly own assets, sign contracts, and incur liabilities. The driving forces are fourfold: 1) **Overwhelming economics** (Agent companies can deliver services at 85-90% lower cost than human firms); 2) **Proven demand** (current Agent operators already generate billions in revenue); 3) **Existing legal frameworks** enabling algorithmically-managed companies; and 4) **Massive, yield-seeking capital pools** (e.g., private credit) looking for new, uncorrelated assets. Agent capital markets won't rely on one model but a multi-layered "stack" matching different growth stages: 1) VC equity for early human-led builders; 2) Programmatic working capital advances (like Stripe Capital); 3) Revenue-based financing (RBF); 4) Slate financing (pooled funds for many Agents, similar to Hollywood); and 5) Tokenization as a secondary settlement layer, not a primary funding source. The ultimate shift is from funding constrained by human decision-makers to capital flowing algorithmically based on an Agent's auditable performance, contract book, and cash flows. This transition will be enabled by standardized infrastructure—rating methodologies, contracts, indices—turning Agents from software experiments into a foundational, financeable sector of the economy. The constraints are loosening; the opportunity is here.

链捕手05/19 05:15

Agents Capital Markets: How Will Autonomous Agents Get Funded?

链捕手05/19 05:15

Morning Post | Digital Bank Fasset Completes $51M Series B Funding; Jane Street Increases Holdings in Ethereum ETFs and Galaxy Digital in Q1; SATA to Pay Cash Dividend Starting June 16

"ChainCatcher" News Summary: **Key Developments:** - **Jane Street**: Q1 saw significant reductions in Bitcoin ETF holdings alongside increased positions in Ethereum ETFs and Galaxy Digital. - **Morgan Stanley**: Substantially boosted Bitcoin ETF exposure in Q1, with holdings in BlackRock's IBIT surging 174%. The bank also initiated positions in a Solana ETF and increased Ethereum ETF holdings while exiting XRP ETF positions. - **CME Group**: Plans to launch Nasdaq CME Cryptocurrency Index Futures (subject to regulatory review) on June 8th, offering exposure to a basket of top cryptocurrencies. - **Fasset**: The stablecoin-focused digital bank completed a $51 million Series B round with investors including SBI Group. It facilitates over $32 billion in annual transactions across 125 countries. - **SATA Dividend**: Strive's perpetual preferred stock (SATA) will begin paying cash dividends daily starting June 16th, a first for a U.S.-listed security, offering an effective annualized yield of ~13.88%. - **Consensys**: Has delayed potential IPO plans until autumn due to unfavorable market conditions. - **CLARITY Act**: Bipartisan negotiations stalled, with Democrats remaining divided over specific provisions. **Market Trends:** - **Meme Tokens**: GMGN data shows top-traded tokens on ETH, Solana, and Base chains over the past 24 hours, including HEX, SHIB, PEPE, TROLL, and others. **Featured Analysis:** Articles explore Kraken's acquisition of payment infrastructure company Reap, how the proposed CLARITY Act could uniquely benefit Ethereum, the rapid valuation growth of AI firm Anthropic, and the strategic rationale behind Circle's new ARC token alongside its public stock (CRCL).

链捕手05/15 01:40

Morning Post | Digital Bank Fasset Completes $51M Series B Funding; Jane Street Increases Holdings in Ethereum ETFs and Galaxy Digital in Q1; SATA to Pay Cash Dividend Starting June 16

链捕手05/15 01:40

Bitwise: Why Are Top-Tier Capitals Frenziedly Betting on New Public Blockchains? The Answer Lies in These Three Points

Recently, a wave of major funding announcements for new public blockchains like Arc, Canton, and Tempo signals a significant industry shift. This article analyzes the driving forces behind this surge. Firstly, regulatory clarity is a key catalyst. These massive investments, including Circle's Arc ($222M), Digital Asset's Canton ($300M), and Stripe's Tempo ($500M), all followed the US passage of the *Genius Act* in July 2025. This suggests that clear legislation is unlocking institutional capital. The anticipated, broader *Clarity Act* could further accelerate growth, particularly in tokenization and compliant infrastructure. Secondly, built-in privacy is emerging as a critical design feature. Unlike Ethereum or Solana, these new chains natively support confidential transactions. This directly addresses real-world business needs, where public transparency can be a liability for corporate dealings or personal salary data, making privacy a potential killer application. Finally, the entry of traditional giants marks a new competitive phase. These projects are backed by major firms: Arc by Circle, Canton by a consortium including Goldman Sachs and Nasdaq, and Tempo by Stripe with partners like Visa. While crypto-native projects remain strong contenders, this institutional involvement brings substantial capital, execution capability, and operational rigor. In conclusion, the convergence of regulatory progress, demand for privacy, and competition from established financial and tech players is rapidly reshaping the blockchain landscape, pushing innovation and expanding the industry's boundaries.

marsbit05/14 09:20

Bitwise: Why Are Top-Tier Capitals Frenziedly Betting on New Public Blockchains? The Answer Lies in These Three Points

marsbit05/14 09:20

Tian Yuandong Announces Startup Venture After Leaving Meta

After leaving Meta, Tian Yuan Dong has announced his new venture. The startup Recursive_SI has officially launched with a list of founders including Tian Yuan Dong. The founding team also comprises Richard Socher (CEO), Tim Rocktäschel, Jeff Clune, Tim Shi, Caiming Xiong, and Alexey Dosovitskiy, among others. These members have experience building AI research labs at companies like Salesforce and Uber, and have held leadership roles at OpenAI, DeepMind, Google Brain, and Meta. Recursive_SI aims to develop artificial intelligence capable of conducting experiments autonomously and safely improving itself through an open-ended, automated scientific discovery process. This is seen as a promising path toward superintelligence. The company has raised $650 million at a valuation of $4.65 billion, led by GV (Google Ventures) and Greycroft, with significant investments from AMD Ventures and NVIDIA. The team has grown to over 25 members, including new additions like Zhuge Mingchen. Zhuge, a Founding Member, holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from KAUST under Professor Jürgen Schmidhuber. His research focuses on Coding Agents, Recursive Self-Improvement (RSI), and next-generation machine paradigms, with contributions including early RSI systems like GPTSwarm and work on agentic AI frameworks. The founders shared their vision on X: building AI that can automatically discover knowledge and recursively self-improve, fundamentally changing the way science and technology advance. The team is recognized as a leader in core areas of recursive self-improving AI, with past breakthroughs in open-ended algorithms, AI-generated algorithms, automated testing, world models, Vision Transformers, RAG, and AI scientists. There is high anticipation for Recursive_SI's future research.

marsbit05/14 00:26

Tian Yuandong Announces Startup Venture After Leaving Meta

marsbit05/14 00:26

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