Bitget & Foresight Ventures Announce $20M TON Ecosystem Fund

Hi NoRamp Community,

Daily News:

1) Bitget & Foresight Ventures Announce $20M TON Ecosystem Fund

2) Covalent Raises $5 Million in Strategic Funding

3) PancakeSwap Launches AI-Powered Prediction Market on Arbitrum

4) FundPark Gets $250 Million for Chinese Working Capital Projects

5) iBusiness Funding Snaps Up Funding Circle’s US Business For £33M

Bitget & Foresight Ventures Announce $20M TON Ecosystem Fund:

• Bitget, in collaboration with Singapore-based investment firm Foresight Ventures, is launching a $20 million TON Ecosystem Fund to support early-stage projects within the Telegram Open Network (TON). The fund aims to drive innovation and facilitate project development, including providing liquidity on the Bitget platform.

• The TON blockchain has been experiencing rapid growth, consistently outperforming Ethereum in daily active addresses this month. The total value locked (TVL) within the TON ecosystem has surged over fivefold to $600 million, with new projects and assets contributing to this growth. Toncoin, the native cryptocurrency of TON, has also seen a significant rise in value, reaching an all-time high of $8.17 on June 14 and generating returns of over 400% since the start of 2024.

• Bitget's initiatives to support the TON ecosystem include launching Bitget Wallet, a non-custodial wallet with comprehensive support for TON, and introducing the Telegram Signal Bot to enhance trading efficiency. Additionally, Telegram has launched a new digital payment feature called “Telegram Stars,” and various Telegram mini apps and channels, such as Hamster Kombat and Pixelverse, have seen significant user growth and capital raises.

Covalent Raises $5 Million in Strategic Funding:

• Blockchain data infrastructure firm Covalent raised $5 million in strategic funding led by RockTree Capital, with additional investments from CMCC Global, Moonrock Capital, and Double Peak Group. The funds will be used to expand into Asia and promote long-term data availability in countries like China and Singapore.

• Covalent provides infrastructure for accessing historical blockchain data through its "Ethereum Wayback Machine." The company has raised over $20 million from token sales. Co-founder Ganesh Swami highlighted this funding as a milestone for delivering robust data infrastructure to users and developers in Asia.

• Arthur Hayes, founder of BitMEX, joined Covalent as an advisor in June and received CQT tokens as compensation. Covalent's native token, CQT, traded at $0.17 after a 12.67% increase, with a market capitalization of $123.1 million. In March 2021, Covalent raised $2 million in strategic funding from investors including Hashed Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Binance Labs, and Delphi Ventures.

  

  Source: Cointelegraph

PancakeSwap Launches AI-Powered Prediction Market on Arbitrum:

• PancakeSwap, a multichain decentralized exchange (DEX), has partnered with Allora Network to launch an AI-powered Prediction Market on Arbitrum, featuring AI-driven price feed data sourced through Allora.

• Allora's machine-learning capabilities allow PancakeSwap users to forecast Ether (ETH) price movements on Arbitrum (ARB). Allora’s AI price prediction models will predict the likelihood of different crypto asset price changes, with users making predictions based on these models. The payout process will adjust over time according to the AI's performance.

• Chef Gyoza, Product Manager at PancakeSwap, stated that AI predictions are issued after rounds are locked to prevent manipulation. PancakeSwap is also preparing to launch CupcakeHop, an AI-powered portfolio management tool by Bril Finance, in August, designed to offer tailored investment strategies and real-time risk management.

FundPark Gets $250 Million for Chinese Working Capital Projects:

• Hong Kong-based FinTech FundPark has secured a $250 million private loan led by HSBC, marking its second investment of this type this year.

• The loan is part of HSBC’s $3 billion “new economy” facility, focused on technology and healthcare in Hong Kong and mainland China. Most of the loan, $200 million, comes from HSBC, with the remainder from other partners. This follows a similar $250 million loan from Goldman Sachs and other partners in January.

• FundPark provides working capital to small- and medium-sized eCommerce firms in China. The need for innovative working capital solutions is driven by current macroeconomic conditions, offering companies the cash flow flexibility required for day-to-day operations and long-term growth.

iBusiness Funding Snaps Up Funding Circle’s US Business For £33M:

• Small business lending platform Funding Circle has agreed to sell its US business to iBusiness Funding for £33 million. The deal includes the entire loan portfolio and is expected to close by the end of June.

• Funding Circle's decision follows a challenging financial year, with the US division contributing to losses of £23 million in 2023. CEO Lisa Jacobs highlighted that while the US business offers long-term growth potential, it requires significant cash and capital, which is not the best course of action for the Group.

• The new owner, iBusiness Funding, specializes in lending solutions for SBA-guaranteed loans and has processed over $6 billion in SBA loans since 2013. This acquisition aligns with their expertise in providing loans to enterprises that may not qualify for traditional commercial loans.

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