Category: CeFi

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CeFi Crypto News DeFi NFTs

Despite Downturn, Crypto Fundraising Outpaces All of 2021

The cryptocurrency sector has generated over US$30 billion in fundraising in the first half of the 2022 fiscal year – more than the entire year of 2021, according to a report from crypto firm Messari.

The report says US$30.3 billion was raised through 1199 funding rounds across centralised finance (CeFi), decentralised finance (DeFi), Web3 and NFTs (non-fungible tokens ). At least US$25.9 billion came from crypto funds and US$10 billion from traditional funds.

Centralised Exchanges Attract Wide Capital Influx

Moreover, centralised exchanges have attracted a wide influx of capital despite some brokers filing for bankruptcy: US$4.6 billion in the first quarter of H1 and US$5.6 billion in the second quarter of H1. This represents 108 percent more than H1 2021 and more than a third of total fundraising:

DeFi Sector Falls Behind

Web3-related startups have also attracted considerable capital. However, it seems the DeFi sector fell behind with barely US$1.8 billion raised. Astar Network was one of the stellar protocols in terms of fundraising. On April 5, the protocol announced it had secured over US$22 million in a fundraising round led by several crypto companies and angel investors.

Moreover, blockchain game GOALS netted US$15 million in seed funding led by Northzone, a venture capital firm, and the CEO of Sorare.

Bear Market Out to Two Years?

After the fall of several cryptocurrency companies following the collapse of Terraform Labs, combined with global inflation and other macro economic factors, selling pressure has been widening across the crypto market. Some crypto analysts even predict a two-year-long bear market. But institutions and big investors are still betting on blockchain technology and crypto assets, the report notes.

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CeFi Crypto News Terra

Contagion Spreads as Crypto Lender ‘Vauld’ Freezes Withdrawals

Crypto lending platforms are increasingly under the microscope and the latest evidence of “tragic contagion” is Singapore-based crypto lending firm Vauld, who just became the latest to suspend all withdrawals, trading and deposits on its platform.

The blowback has been swift and brutal:

Contagion in Market Motion

In a prepared statement, Vauld’s co-founder and CEO Darshan Bathija outlined the reasons for the decision to suspend services:

This is due to a combination of circumstances such as the volatile market conditions, the financial difficulties of our key business partners inevitably affecting us, and the current market climate which has led to a significant amount of customer withdrawals in excess of $197.7m since 12 June 2022 when the decline of the cryptocurrency market was triggered by the collapse of Terraform Labs’ UST stablecoin, Celsius network pausing withdrawals, and Three Arrows Capital defaulting on their loans.

Darshan Bathija, co-founder and CEO, Vauld

Just weeks ago, the firm announced cuts to its staff complement, suggesting it may have foreseen pain on the horizon:

Tellingly, within a matter of days, a suite of other crypto businesses followed suit including BlockFi, Crypto.com, Coinbase and, most recently, Banxa.

Advisory Firm to Assist with Corporate Restructure

Vauld, which raised US$25 million last year, has now enlisted an advisory firm to assist with its corporate restructure, claiming that management is “fully committed” to achieving the best outcome for all stakeholders.

In the interim, the company has made the “difficult decision” to suspend all services and has committed to providing an update to its customers in due course. Many influencers have been called out for promoting Vauld, while others appeared to take a more sanguine approach:

Given the recent market downturn coupled with the drama at Terra, Celsius, BlockFi and Three Arrows, it’s no surprise to see depositors flee for safety. As the ‘Oracle of Omaha’, Warren Buffett, once opined:

It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked.

Warren Buffett
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CeFi Crypto News Crypto Wallets DeFi Ledger

Ledger Partners with Alkemi to Enable DeFi Lending to its 1.5 Million Users

Alkemi Network, a crypto lending platform that combines centralised finance (CeFi) with decentralised finance (DeFi), has announced a partnership with hardware wallet maker Ledger.

The integration with Alkemi Earn means that Ledger’s 1.5 million users will be able to earn yields with their ETH, wBTC (wrapped Bitcoin), or USDC directly on their wallets’ interfaces:

Bridging CeFi with DeFi

Since launching in April 2021, Alkemi Network claims it has received over US$50 million in gross deposits, and the integration with Ledger is expected to boost those numbers significantly.

Alkemi Network’s co-founder, Brandon Mahoney, highlighted the importance of allowing users to keep full control of their assets, adding that this integration differed from other products in the market.

‘Not your keys, not your coins’, as the saying goes. With this native integration into Ledger Live, Alkemi Earn unlocks a protocol-powered cash management experience for Ledger’s community. This is what bridging CeFi to DeFi is all about.

Brandon Mahoney, co-founder, Alkemi Network

Ledger Holding Firm Despite Market Downturn

Despite a bleeding crypto market, Ledger continues to work on behalf of the community. Last month, it launched an NFT-focused wallet to allow users to securely store their NFTs and install up to 100 apps.

In December last year, Ledger launched the Crypto Life card, a debit card that allows users to spend crypto on goods and services or use it as collateral for cash purposes.

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CeFi Celsius Crypto News FTX

Claims Surface ‘Celsius’ Sent $320 Million to FTX Before Halting User Withdrawals

Before halting all withdrawals this week, crypto lending platform Celsius is alleged to have quickly transferred over US$320 million worth of cryptos to Bahamian exchange FTX. Rumours are now running rampant that Celsius may be heading to zero.

Celsius token (CEL) fell nearly 70 percent since the firm announced on June 13 it was pausing all withdrawals to “stabilise liquidity”. It now finds itself in troubled waters as the company is rumoured to have unstaked US$247 million in Wrapped Bitcoin from AAVE and sent it to FTX.

Transactions commenced over the weekend, with the first batch of 3,500 Wrapped BTC and 50,000 ETH, and continued to increase in subsequent hours. Celsius has yet to comment on the transfers, with the only communication coming from an announcement halting all users’ services, including withdrawals.

Twitter Accusations of Mismanagement

While the firm has not yet addressed the transfers to FTX, the crypto community is up in arms on Twitter and speculation runs wild that there are associated issues of liquidity.

Users have also criticised the platform for how they believe the project has mismanaged its funds following the collapse of the Anchor Protocol on the now-renamed Terra Classic blockchain. Celsius has been surrounded by scandal since its chief financial officer was arrested in December 2021 on charges of money laundering.

Some believe that if Celsius were to fail, it would precipitate a sell-off of its significant stack of staked ETH, which could cause it to depeg further from ETH.

While it is still unclear what the team at Celsius plans to do with the crypto it has moved, there is a real possibility that it could sell the assets it sent to FTX. Another option might be that it intends to stake the tokens it is sending to the exchange to earn yields. At this early stage, there appear to be more questions than answers. Hopefully some clarity will emerge shortly, particularly for those users who funds remained locked up.

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CeFi DeFi

Milestone: Total Assets Locked in Decentralized Has Surpassed $15 billion

Binance Australia Tops BTC Market in Bitcoin and Ether 24-Hour Volume

Interest in the decentralized finance (DeFi) market is still growing gradually, although the industry hypes seem to have calmed down lately. According to the information on DeFi Pulse today, the market valuation of assets locked in DeFi protocols has surpassed another milestone record of US$15 billion. 

DeFi market is considered as the next big thing in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, as it provides high-interest earning opportunities for participating investors.

DeFi TVL Reaches New ATH at US$15B

This year holds the largest and most profitable record for the decentralized finance market, although there were also losses from hack. There are currently US$15.291 billion assets locked in DeFi, making another all-time high in the TVL. More than US$1.8 billion worth of assets were added since the past month. 

Also, the market is up by more than 2000 percent on the year-to-date (YTD) chart, as there was only US$691 million in assets locked around January this year.

The decentralized lending protocol, Maker, is ranked as the largest in terms of total assets locked. DeFi Pulse showed that US$2.69 billion in assets had been locked in Maker protocol, giving it a market dominance of 17.6 percent. The Bitcoin tokenization protocol, Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) holds the second-largest asset valuation at US$2.33 billion. WBTC is followed by Compound, Aave, Uniswap, etc., all of which has an asset valuation of around $1.7 billion. 

CeFi vs DeFi

The growth of the decentralized market was once a concern for many centralized players in the crypto industry, especially exchanges. The recent yield farming craze in DeFi had caused a massive outflow of coins like Ether (ETH) from crypto exchanges to DeFi protocols. Evidently, decentralized exchange Uniswap posted more trading volume than most popular CeFi trading platforms during these times.

However, CeFi exchanges are beginning to show support for DeFi by offering trading support for the native tokens from protocols and other related services.