Deal Corner 93: Walrus Foundation Raises $140 mn to Bolster The Decentralized Data Storage Protocol Walrus
By Shikha Singh
The number of crypto venture deals significantly dropped in February, with only 116 private deals tracked, a 60% decrease from over 300 deals in October 2024.
Despite the decline in deal volume, the total investment value remained stable at around $1 billion. However, March saw a notable exception, with over $2.3 billion invested, including Binance’s $2 billion deal with Abu Dhabi’s MGX, marking Binance’s first institutional investment. This investment, made via stablecoin, focuses on advancing AI, blockchain, and financial innovation.
As traditional venture deals slow down, new investment models are emerging, such as Coinbase Ventures’ investment group on the Echo platform, which allows individual traders to pool resources for web3 projects.
The overall venture landscape in crypto is cooling across various sectors, signaling a maturation phase where investors focus on sustainable business models rather than speculative ventures.
Furthermore, in notable deals, Australian crypto broker Swyftx is set to acquire New Zealand crypto exchange Easy Crypto, while Kraken plans to acquire futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion, a move that will expand Kraken’s asset offerings and user base. This acquisition is expected to be finalized in the first half of 2025.
Now let’s have a look at the deals of the day ….
Walrus Foundation Raises $140 mn to Bolster The Decentralized Data Storage Protocol Walrus
The web3 data storage infrastructure organization Walrus Foundation raised $140 million from a private token sale.
The venture firm Standard Crypto led the financing, which included additional support from a16z crypto, Electric Capital, Creditcoin, Lvna Capital, Protagonist, Franklin Templeton Digital Assets, Karatage, RW3 Ventures, Comma3 Ventures, and The Raptor Group, according to a company release.
Wallet Infrastructure Provider Privy Raises $15 mn to Develop Crypto Onboarding Rails
Privy, a provider of cryptocurrency wallet infrastructure, raised approximately $15 million in a funding round led by Ribbit Capital.
The company offers APIs that help developers manage user data and integrate crypto services, enabling users to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrency.
Privy’s total funding now exceeds $40 million, having previously raised $26.3 million in earlier rounds.
The round also saw participation from existing investors Sequoia Capital, Paradigm, BlueYard, and Coinbase. However, Privy’s valuation in this round was not disclosed.
Uranium Digital Raises $6.1 mn to Speed Debut of Crypto-Powered Spot Market
Uranium Digital, a startup led by Alex Dolesky, raised an additional $6.1 million to create a crypto-powered spot trading platform for uranium.
The platform aims to be the first institutional market for uranium, a critical clean-energy commodity, amid the global resurgence of nuclear power.
The financing, led by Framework Ventures, will help accelerate the platform’s development, which seeks to address the lack of a robust uranium spot market due to high regulations and low demand.
Aura Raises $5.5 mn Seed Round To Accelerate AI Model Validation & Rental Marketplace
Aura, a platform for testing, validating, and accessing on-chain AI models, successfully raised $5.5 million in a seed financing round.
The round was led by Daxos Capital, Manifold Trading, and Selini Capital, with additional support from Hermeneutic Investments and industry leaders.
The funding will help Aura address key challenges in the on-chain AI industry, including fragmented model discovery, limited monetization, and model selection complexity.
Aura aims to create the first decentralized on-chain AI model ecosystem, capitalizing on the growing global AI market, projected to reach $1.4 trillion by 2030.
Stable Sea Secures $3.5 mn Funding to Provide Global Stablecoin Offramping
Stable Sea, a stablecoin liquidity and orchestration company that facilitates stablecoin offramping to global markets, today announced a $3.5 million funding round led by Kindred Ventures with participation from Ludlow Ventures, DFS Lab, The Venture Dept. and The Fintech Fund.
The funding will be used to further Stable Sea’s mission of providing efficient, cost-effective, and compliant stablecoin offramping solutions.
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