Aave’s Lens Protocol raises $15M to build the decentralized social web

Aave’s Lens Protocol raises $15M to build the decentralized social web

Lens Protocol, a web3 product aimed at creating a decentralized social networking ecosystem, has raised $15 million, its team told TechCrunch exclusively. The protocol is being built by Aave, a web3 technology firm, that allows users to lend and borrow crypto tokens from one another, among other things (Aave has raised a known $49 million […]

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Success with Rihanna’s music rights helps web3 marketplace raise fresh VC round

Success with Rihanna’s music rights helps web3 marketplace raise fresh VC round

Normally in the music industry, it’s more or less impossible for ordinary investors to buy music rights. Thus, web3 startups saw an opportunity to tokenize music assets, allowing fans access to music rights in a wholly new fashion. Of course, this garnered a lot of interest during the crypto boom a couple of years ago. […]

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Nexon takes 20-year-old MapleStory into web3 with Haechi’s help

Nexon takes 20-year-old MapleStory into web3 with Haechi’s help

Nexon, one of the biggest gaming companies in the world, is wading into web3 like some of its peers in Asia. The developer of MapleStory is creating a blockchain-powered ecosystem based on the twenty-year-old massively multiplayer online game, where players can trade in-game assets like outfits, equipment and virtual pets in the form of non-fungible […]

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As the US cracks down on crypto, Hong Kong extends a warm welcome

As the US cracks down on crypto, Hong Kong extends a warm welcome

On a balmy day in mid-April, thousands of people queued in line to enter the Hong Kong Convention Center where the city’s inaugural web3 festival was underway. Most had flown in from mainland China, but many others had trekked from Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and even the U.S. to see what the city had to […]

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Ring ring, Solana’s web3-focused Saga phone is calling

Ring ring, Solana’s web3-focused Saga phone is calling

About 10 months ago, Solana’s co-founder and CEO, Anatoly Yakovenko, announced the launch of Saga, a web3-focused Android smartphone. The phone is now being rolled out, and we got to test one ahead of its launch. Solana says Saga was launched to make crypto products and services more accessible for users by offering them through […]

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Trading-focused blockchain Sei raises $30M, bringing valuation up to $800M

Trading-focused blockchain Sei raises $30M, bringing valuation up to $800M

Sei, a layer-1 blockchain focused on trading, has raised $30 million at a valuation of $800 million, Jayendra Jog, co-founder of Sei Labs, exclusively told TechCrunch. While many Layer-1 blockchains provide general-purpose networks that developers can build on top of, Sei focuses on the crypto trading network through its chain. Its team is made up […]

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Blockchain messaging protocol LayerZero raises $120M, hitting $3B valuation

Blockchain messaging protocol LayerZero raises $120M, hitting $3B valuation

LayerZero Labs, a web3 messaging protocol, has closed a $120 million Series B round, raising its valuation to $3 billion from $1 billion, the company said on Tuesday. Unlike Web 2.0 messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram, this messaging protocol lets users send different types of messages between blockchains, like cross-chain interactions, eliminating the need […]

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