Jacquelyn Melinek

<div id="highlights-block_621907007df90" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Luna Foundation Guard raised $1 billion in a private token sale, while Amber Group closed a $200 million extended Series B round</li>
 <li>Amid the massive rounds, there were more modest raises too, including a $33 million Series B for InfStones and a $34 million raise for Aligned</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



As February comes to an end, cryptocurrencies are showing signs of recovery and capital is continuing to roll into crypto.



Over the past 24 hours, the cryptocurrency market was up 9.7%, according to <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/prices/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">prices</a>. The two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, bitcoin and ethereum, were up 9.9% and 11.35%, respectively, as of 9:45 am ET Friday.



Over $1.3 billion in investments poured into the crypto sector this week. This is in part due to some major funding rounds including Luna Foundation Guard’s <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/nonprofit-raises-1b-to-create-bitcoin-reserve-support-terra-ecosystem-growth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$1 billion</a> private token sale, which is one of the largest raises in the crypto sector, and Amber Group’s <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/crypto-trading-platform-amber-group-eclipses-3b-valuation-with-latest-raise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$200 million</a> extended Series B round.



Amid the massive rounds, there were low to multi-million dollar raises, too, including a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/blockchain-infrastructure-provider-infstones-closes-33m-series-b/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$33 million Series B</a> closed by blockchain infrastructure provider InfStones and a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/aligned-raises-34m-to-grow-defi-and-web3-infrastructure/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$34 million</a> raise by a DeFi and Web3 infrastructure platform Aligned.&nbsp;



Total value locked on DeFi (decentralized finance) protocols has surged in the past 12 months, from $52 billion to $196 billion, according to <a href="https://defillama.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a> from DeFi Llama. With that hike in TVL, demand has also increased for the sector, Aligned founder Sam Cassatt told Blockworks on Thursday.



“Demand will continue to grow,” Cassatt said. “I don’t see this slowing down, it’s getting larger day by day.”&nbsp;



Web3 and DeFi dominated the emerging technology investment landscape in Q4 2021, with $2.4 billion invested across 26 deals during that time frame, according to a PitchBook report on Thursday. The two sectors accounted for about 13%, or $4.3 billion of the <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/report-vcs-invested-33b-in-crypto-and-blockchain-startups-in-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$33 billion</a>, invested capital in crypto last year.



Other notable capital raises this week include:&nbsp;



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>DeFi protocol Teller served up a <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/now/teller-closes-6-85m-strategic-170000480.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$6.85 million</a> strategic raise</li><li>Blockchain-based game Cradles closed a <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/cradles-closes-5-million-private-140000428.html#:~:text=GEORGE%20TOWN%2C%20Cayman%20Islands%2C%20Feb,round%20led%20by%20Animoca%20Brands." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$5 million</a> private round led by Animoca Brands</li><li>DeFi app Catalog logged $7.5 million to help create a cross-chain and multichain future</li><li>Emerging Web3 startup Fast Break Labs filled a <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fast-break-labs-announces-6-million-seed-round-co-led-by-patron-and-pantera-capital-301488191.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$6M seed round</a> led by Patron and Pantera Capital&nbsp;</li><li>Binance-backed fantasy strategy game Heroes of Mavia roped in $2.5 million, led by Crypto.com Capital.</li></ul>



Check back next week for more funding news.



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Aligned

Funding Roundup: Major Raises of $1B and $200M Join Startup Spree

<div id="highlights-block_6217c2b4a546f" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The capital raised will be used to grow its core products for Ethereum-compatible blockchains like layer-2 networks</li>
 <li>Aligned&#8217;s founder is the former chief strategy officer at ConsenSys</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Aligned, a DeFi and Web3 infrastructure company, has secured $34 million in funding, the company announced on Thursday.



Investors include GSR, Altium Capital and Cavalry Fund, as well as individual investors like film producer Happy Walters. This is the firm&#8217;s first funding round, founder Sam Cassatt told Blockworks.



Cassatt, a former chief strategy officer at ConsenSys, said he formed Aligned to provide products for mining, high performance computing and staking and liquidity provisioning through an immutable, full-stack infrastructure for DeFi (decentralized finance).



“[We’re taking] a deep and thoughtful look at what the next generation infrastructure looks like for Web3,” Cassatt noted. “Web3 will have different architectures than Web2, and for us, we’re not just buying commodity hardware or renting it from AWS, we’re building custom hardware.”



In the past 12 months, demand for DeFi has grown astronomically. The total value locked in DeFi protocols has risen 237% from $55.36 billion to $186.55 billion year-over-year, <a href="https://defillama.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a> from DeFi Llama shows. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“Demand will continue to grow,” Cassatt said. “I don’t see this slowing down, it’s getting larger day by day.”&nbsp;</blockquote>



The capital raised will be used to grow its core products for Ethereum-compatible blockchains like layer-2 networks.



“My background is very devoted to Ethereum, and we help get it to market,” Cassatt said to Blockworks. “However, we would be remiss to only focus on the Ethereum network.”



Overall, liquidity needs to be deployed across many new architectures and frameworks, and Cassatt said the company works as much as possible to be agnostic to tokens and networks themselves.



Going forward, the firm plans to continue growing Web3 architecture to create more opportunities for crypto companies building in the space, Cassatt said.



“Our hope is that we can help secure networks and help companies get off the ground faster because we have infrastructure they can use.”



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