Crypto Research

Funding was on par with last week’s levels, with the total amount rising modestly to $224 million from $222 million. Infrastructure deals claimed the lion’s share of deals and amount raised, representing 36% of deals and 71% of total funds raised. The majority was raised via two $70 million deals from Ramp and TRM Labs. Ramp Network is a crypto payments solution looking to make purchasing cryptocurrencies easily available via...

A FLOCK OF BLACK SWANS Unless you have been off the grid for the past week, you likely are familiar with the shockingly abrupt implosion of FTX. For those just entering the fold, to make a long story short – Sam Bankman Fried (SBF) allegedly stole an estimated $4 billion of customer deposits for Alameda, the fund in which he has a significant ownership stake. Alameda subsequently lost these funds,...

SBF VS. CZ As we addressed in our daily note on Monday, one thing few can argue is that crypto always keeps things interesting. As many know by now, two industry giants, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), sparred over the weekend following circulating rumors that FTX was on the verge of insolvency. _TO RECAP RECENT EVENTS:_Rumors initially emerged from a COINDESK REPORT last week implying that...

IDIOSYNCRATIC OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND The euphoric part of the bull market for crypto was largely about finding the fastest horse paired with one’s relative risk appetite. Unfortunately, in a bear market, most horses, notably the weaker or tired ones, no longer want to race. However, the past few months have revealed that ample opportunities exist to find the few horses that have some giddy-up in them. The two environments require fundamentally...

This week, funding increased to $191 million from a measly $105 million last week. The bulk of fundraising came from the infrastructure and gaming sectors. Infrastructure has been the strongest category for most of the year, but gaming saw a notable increase, rising to $51 million from $15 million last week. Other categories, such as NFTs, Web3, DeFi, and CeFi have been consistent with the amounts raised over the previous...