BlockByBlock | Are Crypto Deals [Finally] Back?
Bahrain's real estate opens up to cryptocurrency, the UAE's Venom Foundation complete another round of investment and the global crypto VC cohort finalizes up to 20 deals worth $185 million.
In This Week’s Issue
⚡ The Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) launches a metaverse accelerator program, considering up to 500 candidates for investments and strategic partnerships.
💰 Venom Foundation invests $5 million into Everscale, a premier blockchain platform that aims to solve blockchain’s scalability issues.
🚀 The U.S. Federal Reserve Committee slows down its interest rate hikes for the second time in a row, triggering bullish price action across the crypto space.
💥 EXCLUSIVE: A report by Blockworks finds that investors are bidding on crypto again 🚀
Local Developments
Blockchain Movements In The GCC 👇
The Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) launches a metaverse accelerator program, considering up to 500 candidates for investments and strategic partnerships.
Bin Faqeeh Real Estate, a Bahraini real estate developer, begins accepting cryptocurrency for payments using EazyPay ($EZPAY) point-of-service terminals and Binance.
Binance reports that their MENA clients rose 34% in Q4 of 2022, the highest growth for a region for the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
“The development of the integrated DIFC Metaverse Platform will accelerate the achievements of Dubai’s aspirations in this sector. The initiative is a natural extension of our Innovation Hub proposition that has shaped the technology and innovation landscape in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region,” says DIFC CEO Arif Amiri.
Key Industry Development
Funding Roundup: Investors Are Bidding On Crypto Again 🚀
A report by Blockworks shows that blockchain startups locked down a total of $185 million from investors last week — a large decline from the $578 million seen last year during the same period.
Despite the cumulative decline in funding amount, the report outlines that the number of crypto deals are actually increasing. Around the same time last year, only three startups were said to have landed outside capital: Dune Analytics, Phantom and FTX.
“Now,” Blockworks writes, “20 different startups managed to land funding albeit under smaller raises.” Here are some of the lucky founders:
SIMBA Chain — a project that connects government agencies with Web3 tech — raised $30 million.
Block Joy — a Web3 infrastructure developer — landed a $12 million Series A from investors including Draper Dragon and Gradient Ventures.
Pow.re — a Canadian crypto mining company — raised $9.2 million in a Series A round led by Haru United.
Hypernative — a crypto security company — secured $9 million in seed funding from IBI’s tech fund.
Sovereign Labs — a blockchain scaling and development platform — raised $7.4 million from a funding round led by Haun Ventures.
Sec3 — a crypto security startup — collected $10 million in a seed funding round led by Multicoin Capital.
Addressable — a Web3 marketer — landed $7.5 million from Fabric Ventures and Viola Ventures.
The presence of security-and-infrastructure-based Web3 projects in this sample is consistent with external reports that found VCs were highly interested in these two nascent Web3 fields.
Startup Action
Updates From The Startup Ecosystem 💸
The UAE’s Venom Foundation invests $5 million into Everscale, a premier blockchain platform that aims to solve blockchain’s scalability issues.
WEMIX, a leading blockchain ecosystem developer in South Korea, expands to the UAE via the Abu Dhabi Global Market.
Blockchain Trends
Global Trends 📉
The UK Treasury publishes a long-anticipated paper discussing a framework for crypto regulations.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reiterates the company’s commitment to the metaverse strategy despite hemorrhaging $13.7 billion in 2022.
The U.S. Federal Reserve Committee slows down its interest rate hikes for the second time in a row, triggering bullish price action across the crypto space.
Local Trends 📈
The global centralized cryptocurrency exchange Kraken closes its office in Abu Dhabi amidst plans to offload a third of its workforce.
Abu Dhabi University and 5ire, a fifth-generation blockchain ecosystem, partner to strengthen blockchain education, research and entrepreneurship.
Upcoming Events
Events By AgoraGroup 🔴
AgoraGroup will host the Global Blockchain Congress (11th Edition) on March 6th and 7th in Dubai, the UAE.
Events Across The UAE 🔵
Crypto Expo Dubai will be hosted on March 8th and 9th in Dubai, the UAE.
The Future Blockchain Summit will be hosted between May 10th and May 12th in Dubai, the UAE.