Crypto: No Longer a Security?

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Good Morning,

Crypto markets remain cautiously optimistic. Chris Dixon wrote a web3 book, 3AC is backed as a new venture firm, and apparently Elon might be doing a cage fight with Zuck. It has been an eventful week.

I’ve recently been more active on Twitter! Follow me on Twitter for more quick takes on crypto, startups and venture capital.

In Today's Email:

• What Matters: US House crypto bill vote 🗳️

• Founders-Investors Highlight: Alex of Nansen 🐧

• Deal Flows: Dtcpay $16.5M Series A 💸

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WHAT MATTERS

US House to Vote on Crypto Bill

State of play: In July, the US House Financial Services Committee will vote on a bill that will reclassify digital assets as commodities instead of securities.

• The bill will establish a framework to regulate stablecoins.

• House Financial Services Committee Chair, Patrick McHenry, and House Agriculture Committee Chair, Glenn 'GT' Thompson, are the persons behind the bill.

• In the July session, committee members can propose changes to the text, the final version will be voted on for favorable reporting.

Why it matters: If passed, the law will have lower reporting and regulatory requirements, along with other market structure-related provisions.

For builders and investors: The bill might just be the beacon of hope for crypto regulatory clarity in the US.

• It still needs support from Democrats in the senate and the President’s signature.

• It is still a long way for the bills to become law.

• A fierce debate between the Democrats and Republican are expected to happen in the process.

BUILDER-INVESTOR HIGHLIGHT

Alex Svanevik, Co-Founder & CEO of Nansen

Alex Svanevik is the Co-Founder and CEO of Nansen, a blockchain data analytics company that enriches on-chain data with millions of wallet labels.

• In 2021, Nansen raised a $75M Series B led by Accel, with participation from GIC, a16z, Tiger Global, SCB 10X, and others.

• Nansen is primarily used by crypto investors and on-chain sleuth to discover opportunities and analyze blockchain activities.

• Alex Svanevik is also a part of Pudgy Penguins Advisory Board.

Previous backgrounds: Alex earned his Masters Degree in AI in 2010 from the University of Edinburgh.

• He co-founded his first data analytics company, Codeus Ltd in 2010. Prior to Nansen, he was also involved with CoinFi, The Data Science DAO, and WalletConnect.

The big idea: Nansen is actively labelling wallets to identify on-chain activities, enabling users to see where funds are moving to, identify new projects or tokens, and trace transactions down to the most granular level.

• It has the data of 250M+ labeled addresses across 10+ chains.

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INSIGHTS

MakerDAO Boosts Treasury Holdings by $700M

MakerDAO bought another $700M US Treasurys, making the total in its DAI stablecoin reserve to $1.2B.

• This is a part of the “Endgame Plan”, Maker’s strategy to diversify the assets by increasing the role of other TradFi assets.

• A proposal approved in March to increase the upper limit of a RWA vault that invests in short-term government bonds to $1.25B.

• “The vault” that ensures DAI keeps its $1 price peg, is managed by asset manager Monetalis.

DEAL FLOWS

Dtcpay $16.5M Pre-Series A

Deal flows continue to slow down 📉 — we saw $65M+ in deals.

$16.5M for a digital payments platform. dtcpay provides seamless conversions of fiat and digital currencies under a single platform by a regulated trusted provider (by the MAS).

• The round was led by Kwee Liong Tek, a Singapore billionaire and the chairman of luxury real estate developer Pontiac Land Group.

• The funding will be used for product development, operations, infrastructure as well as expanding its global presence.

• Kwee aims to integrate his international portfolio of leading hospitality brands (which is worth $7 billion+) into the web3 economy.

Deal flows in the past week:

• Rádius, $1.7M Pre-Seed Round

• Northstake, $3M Pre-Seed Round

• Anichess. $1.5M Seed Round

• Earn Network, $2.7M Seed Round

• Concordia, $4M Seed Round

• TapiocaDAO, $6M Seed Round

• Neutron, $10M Seed Round

• Kaito, $5.5M Series A Round

• dtcpay, $16.5M Pre-Series A

• Maverick Protocol, $9M Venture Round

• INX, $5.25M Investment from Republic

• zkPass, Undisclosed $ Seed Round

• dappOS, Undisclosed $ Seed Round

• Kryptoskatt, Undisclosed $ Seed Round

• Vertex, Undisclosed $ Strategic Round

• Animoca Brands, Undisclosed $ Strategic Round from Mitsui

QUICK BITES

• FTX sues K5 Global for $700M.

• Japan’s MUFG in talks to issue global stablecoin.

• Prime Trust has shortfall of customer funds.

• OPNX files defamation lawsuit against Mike Dudas.

• WisdomTree, Invesco & Blackrock gunning for a Bitcoin ETF.

• Singapore proposes standards for ‘purpose-bound’ digital money.

• 3AC return as a VC firm.

• BitGo cancels plans to acquire Prime Trust.

• Ripple gains in-principle payments license in Singapore.

• Vitalik Buterin has ties to the company Prometheum.

MEME & NOTEWORTHY READS

• Chris Dixon’s read on read write own, the power of blockchains.

• Crypto Koryo’s read on appchains (deep dive).

• Finish’s read on what you need to know about opBNB.

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Disclaimer: All the information presented in this publication and its affiliates is strictly for educational purposes only. It should not be construed or taken as financial, legal, investment, or any other form of advice.