Crypto Research

FIGURE: ANCHOR CELEBRATING ITS ONE-YEAR BIRTHDAY Source: TradingView Fellow Yield Farmers, I hope the previous issues of DeFi Digest have laid some foundation in this fast-moving space that is Decentralized Finance. We’ve covered concepts such as money markets, decentralized exchanges, and yield sources/flows, teeing up this week’s analysis of Anchor Protocol nicely. Today also coincides with Anchor’s one-year anniversary of launching on Terra on March 17th, 2021. _For a recap...

VENTURE CAPITAL DEALS Hexa Wallet is a self-custody Bitcoin wallet that gives users the ability to control their own private keys without being a simple non-custodial wallet that isn’t as private as a custodial one. The fintech startup raised $1 million in pre-seed investments from Fulgur Ventures and Brad Mills with Bank To The Future and Plan B Ventures as crowdfunding partners. The fresh capital will help Hexa onboard more...

WEEKLY RECAP For the first time since December 2018, the Fed announced a benchmark interest rate hike of 25 bps and signaled for six more hikes this year. It is apparent that the market had priced this in (discussed further below) and is content with the lack of increased hawkishness despite rampant inflation. Bitcoin and ether increased in lockstep with equities but remain largely range-bound, currently straddling $40k and $2.6k,...

Sean Farrell, Head of Digital Asset Strategy, provides an overview of the recent headlines surrounding cryptocurrency and how, if any, his 2022 outlook has shifted. THE ROLLERCOASTER RIDE CONTINUES 2022 DIGITAL ASSETS OUTLOOK WITH SEAN FARRELL

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...