NFT/Metaverse Resurgence and Funding Funds

Venture Capital Deals

Espresso Systems is a new layer 1 blockchain protocol that uses Proof-of-Stake consensus with zero-knowledge rollups in order to maintain user privacy while also improving transaction speed and costs. The project raised $32 million in a seed round led by Greylock Partners and Electric Capital, with Sequoia Capital, Blockchain Capital, and Slow Ventures also participating in the round. Espresso’s differentiator is its smart contract application that allows developers to customize the level of privacy that they offer to users while also supporting wrapped ERC-20 tokens at launch and NFT capability as the next step in the roadmap. (Espresso Systems Raises $32M to Bring Scaling and Privacy to Web 3)

Blockmetrix is a Bitcoin mining startup that is using joint ventures in acquiring mining sites in order to share development and power costs with its partners in each location. The company raised $43 million in a Series B round that will be used to purchase 5,000 new mining rigs for a co-location facility in Texas. The expansion will multiply their current mining fleet by 6x from their first deployment of 1,000 rigs in June 2021. Because share of network hashrate plays a major role in calculating mining revenue, Blockmetrix is attempting to rapidly outscale ...