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Good Morning.

Kraken just made a $1.5B power move, acquiring NinjaTrader to fuse crypto with TradFi and stake its claim in the US futures market, while Uniswap unlocked a hefty $165.5M war chest to fuel v4, Unichain, and—most intriguingly—the long-awaited fee switch

In Today's Email:

• What Matters: Kraken to Acquire NinjaTrader for $1.5B 👀 

• Founders Highlight: Alex Dolesky of Uranium Digital 👨 

• Deal Flow: TON Surges as VCs Invest $400M 📈 

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TOGETHER WITH

Nillion Token Model: Fueling the Future of Private Computation

$NIL is the backbone of Nillion’s decentralized infrastructure, designed to power secure, scalable, and privacy-preserving computation. With a fixed supply of 1B tokens, $NIL plays a crucial role in governance, security, and network utility.

Token Allocation & Distribution

• 29% – Ecosystem & R&D: Driving innovation and long-term protocol growth

• 20% – Community: Airdrops, rewards, and user participation incentives

• 10% – Protocol Development: Enhancing Blind Compute and network scalability

• 21% – Early Backers: Supporting key contributors and strategic partners

Core Functions of $NIL

• Network Coordination: Used for transactions, resource access, and computational settlements

• Security & Governance: Incentivizing node participation and decentralized decision-making

• Staking & Rewards: Encouraging long-term network alignment and sustainability

At launch, $NIL enters circulation with an initial 19.52% supply, strategically unlocking through airdrops and community rounds. 

This ensures gradual adoption, minimized inflation, and a robust decentralized economy.

$NIL is more than a token, it’s the foundation of a privacy-first internet.

WHAT MATTERS

Kraken to Acquire NinjaTrader for $1.5B

State of play: Crypto exchange Kraken has agreed to acquire US retail futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5B, marking the largest-ever merger between crypto and TradFi.

• This strategic move advances Kraken’s multi-asset-class ambitions, including plans for equities trading and payments.

• With this acquisition, Kraken aims to become a 24/7 trading platform for crypto and traditional futures markets.

• Kraken will integrate NinjaTrader’s advanced trading tools and CFTC-registered futures brokerage services with its global crypto liquidity.

• The also grants Kraken access to US crypto futures and derivatives markets while expanding NinjaTrader’s reach in the UK, EU, and Australia.

• NinjaTrader will continue operating as a standalone platform under Kraken’s ecosystem, joining Cryptowatch, CF Benchmarks, and Staked.

What’s next: The acquisition, expected to close in the first half of 2025, follows Stripe’s $1.1B purchase of stablecoin platform Bridge, surpassing it as the largest crypto acquisition to date.

For builders and investors: Kraken’s acquisition of NinjaTrader reinforces the trend of crypto exchanges evolving into multi-asset trading platforms, incorporating traditional asset classes like equities and derivatives.

• This aligns with Coinbase’s push into perpetuals and Binance’s ongoing diversification efforts.

BUILDER-INVESTOR HIGHLIGHT

Alex Dolesky of Uranium Digital

Intro: Alex Dolesky is the founder of Uranium Digital, the first 24/7, institutional-grade spot uranium trading platform on Solana.

Previous background: Alex was a Managing Director at Capital Y Management. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of British Columbia.

The big idea: Alex through Uranium Digital aims to "financialize" the sleepy uranium spot market, he predicts that it would be a hit as nuclear energy stages a global comeback.

Take a peek at our referral reward at the bottom of this issue. Share this newsletter and receive our list of 500 crypto VC individuals 👇

INSIGHTS

UNI Holders Approve $165.5M for Expansion, Advancing Fee Switch

State of play: Uniswap governance approved $165.5M to fund the Uniswap Foundation, boost Uniswap v4 and Unichain Layer 2, and lay the groundwork for the long-awaited fee switch.

• Funding includes $95.4M for grants, $25.1M for operations, and $45M for liquidity incentives, with 7.5M $UNI (~$52M) deployed in an Aera vault.

• The fee switch, if fully activated, would direct a share of Uniswap’s $1B+ annual fees from liquidity providers to UNI holders.

• Uniswap v4’s "hooks" enhance developer flexibility, while Unichain, built on Optimism, expands the protocol’s reach.

DEAL FLOWS

TON Surges as VCs Invest $400M

Deal flows soared this week - we saw $4.5B in deals 💼 

Toncoin ($TON) jumped 8% before retracing gains after The Open Network Foundation announced that VC firms invested $400M in the token. Investors include Sequoia, Ribbit, Benchmark, Kingsway, CoinFund, Vy Capital, Draper Associates, and others.

• Unlike a typical fundraising round, these firms acquired TON directly, signaling confidence in the blockchain’s growing ecosystem and utility within Telegram.

• Despite the surge, TON remains down 54% from its June peak, partly due to Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s arrest in France over moderation concerns.

• Durov has since regained his passport, which previously led to a 20% price rally.

Deal flows in the past week:

• ORO, $1.5M Pre-Seed Round

• Manifest, $2.5M Pre-Seed Round

• Templar Protocol, $4M Pre-Seed Round

• O.LAB, $5M Pre-Seed Round

• Kamigotchi, $1.3M Seed Round

• Aura, $5.5M Seed Round

• Uranium Digital, $6.1M Seed Round

• Pluralis Research, $7.6M Seed Round

• Ephyra, $10.5M Series A Round

• Utila, $18M Series A Round

• RedotPay, $40M Series A Round

• Via Science, $28M Series B Round

• World Liberty Financial, $250M Public Token Sale

• Solv Protocol, $10M Bitcoin Reserve Offering

• NinjaTrader, $1.5B M&A Round

• Level, $2.6M Undisclosed Round

• Stable Sea, $3.5M Undisclosed Round

• HOPR, $4.8M Undisclosed Round

• PoPP, $6M Undisclosed Round

• Yeet, $7.75M Undisclosed Round

• Privy, $15M Undisclosed Round

• Slingshot, $16M Undisclosed Round

• Crossmint, $23.6M Undisclosed Round

• Walrus, $140M Undisclosed Round

• The Open Network (TON), $400M Undisclosed Round

• Binance, $2B Undisclosed Round

QUICK BITES

• LG to shut down NFT platform.

• OCC ends reputation risk examinations.

• Pump.fun launches DEX called PumpSwap.

• MoonPay lands $200M credit line from Galaxy.

• Crypto venture deals drop 60% since October.

• Total stablecoin market cap surpasses $230B.

• TON Foundation says VCs buy over $400M of Toncoin.

•  Bithumb is under investigation by South Korean authorities.

• UNI token holders approve $165.5M in new foundation funding.

• Kraken to acquire US retail futures platform NinjaTrader for $1.5B.

• Bitcoin-focused Metaplanet appoints Eric Trump to advisory board.

• SEC says proof-of-work mining does not implicate US securities laws.

• Trump administration proposes renaming USAID and using blockchain.

• Senate hearing for SEC Chair nominee Paul Atkins scheduled for March 27.

NOTEWORTHY READS

• Taiki Maeda’s read on Birds of a Feather.

• Caesar’s read on Your token sucks (and everybody cares).  

• Threadguy’s read on Embrace Your Delusional Obsessions.

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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.