Paradigm Shows VC Strength With $850M Fund

Hi NoRamp Community,

Daily News:

1) South Korea Announces $14.5M Blockchain Support Program

2) Waka Flocka Flame Token Launch Faces Insider Trading Allegations

3) Paradigm Shows VC Strength With $850M Fund

4) Paytm Reportedly Explores Sale of Ticketing Unit to Zomato

5) Blockchain Infra Platform Paxos to Reportedly Cut 20% of Workforce

South Korea Announces $14.5M Blockchain Support Program:

• The South Korea Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) have launched a blockchain support project with a total budget of 20 billion won (approximately $14.5 million). This program will promote six public sector projects for public services and eight private sector projects to support commercialization.

• Public sector initiatives include a CBDC-based digital voucher management platform by the Bank of Korea, an integrated employment support service by the Korea Employment Information Service, and the digitalization of the electronic notarization process by the Ministry of Justice. These projects aim to enhance digital payments, streamline job matching, skill verification, and improve legal procedure efficiency.

• The private sector will see support for projects like a blockchain support portal platform by CP Labs, financial management support services for small business owners by Oasis Business, an electronic wallet service by AhnLab Blockchain Company, and a token securities issuance platform by Nonghyup Bank. The initiative aims to discover and support innovative blockchain services that can be experienced by the public and introduced to the global market.

Waka Flocka Flame Token Launch Faces Insider Trading Allegations:

• Rapper Waka Flocka Flame launched his cryptocurrency, FLOCKA, on June 17, quickly followed by insider trading allegations. Suspicious activity was flagged involving a wallet that acquired about 40% of the coin's supply and distributed it to multiple wallets shortly after launch.

• Blockchain investigator ZachXBT highlighted this suspicious wallet activity, revealing that the wallet swiftly dispersed around 40% of the coin’s supply to various addresses, suggesting deliberate market manipulation. Bubblemaps, an onchain visual analytical platform, also cited "huge insider activity" after 40% of the supply was "sniped" before Flame’s announcement.

• Bubblemap CEO Nicolas Vaiman criticized the trend of celebrities entering the crypto space, noting that one wallet held 40% of the supply at 8:00 am CET, only to distribute it across 60 wallets 30 minutes later. ZachXBT also noted Flame’s previous involvement in promoting dubious crypto projects. Despite Flame’s claim of studying crypto since 2001, one X user pointed out that Flame didn’t post the contract address for FLOCKA until the coin’s market cap hit "$5MM," raising questions about the influence of crypto influencers.

  

  Source: Blockworks

Paradigm Shows VC Strength With $850M Fund:

• Paradigm announced it raised $850 million for its third fund, marking a significant step forward for the crypto venture capital landscape. Bloomberg had previously reported in April that Paradigm aimed to raise between $750 and $850 million.

• Despite venture capital still being below 2021 and 2022 levels, this new fund indicates crypto is recovering after a challenging winter, as noted by Michael McSweeney in the Empire Newsletter. However, the $850 million is a significant drop from the $2.5 billion fund raised by Paradigm in 2021.

• Paradigm highlighted the growth and adoption of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as the ongoing scaling of blockchains and global adoption of stablecoins. The firm also mentioned its previous investments in Uniswap and Optimism as examples of the early-stage projects it plans to focus on with the new fund.

Paytm Reportedly Explores Sale of Ticketing Unit to Zomato:

• India's Paytm is in advanced discussions to sell its movie and event ticketing business to Zomato. Zomato confirmed the talks in a regulatory filing, though no binding decision has been made yet.

• The proposed sale comes as Paytm faces declining revenues and reported its first-ever sales drop last month. The sale would allow Paytm to focus on expanding its merchant base through travel, deals, and cash backs, while enabling Zomato to enter a new high-growth area.

• Paytm has been struggling with a declining share in the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) market, accounting for 8.1% of total UPI transactions last month, down from 13% in January. The Reserve Bank of India suspended operations at Paytm Payments Bank in January due to persistent noncompliance issues and potential conflicts of interest, further complicating Paytm's business outlook.

Blockchain Infra Platform Paxos to Reportedly Cut 20% of Workforce:

• Blockchain infrastructure platform Paxos plans to lay off 20% of its workforce, impacting around 65 positions, leaving the company with 200-300 employees. Despite claiming a healthy balance sheet, this decision is described by CEO Charles Cascarilla as necessary to focus on opportunities in tokenization and stablecoins.

• The layoffs follow Paxos' recent launch of Lift Dollar (USDL), a yield-bearing stablecoin, through its UAE-based affiliate, Paxos International. Cascarilla emphasized the company's strong financial position with over $500 million on the balance sheet.

• Affected employees will receive 13 weeks of severance pay, three months of subsidized health insurance, outplacement support, a two-year extension to exercise vested options, second-quarter bonuses, and additional benefits for select employees. Paxos did not comment on the layoffs when requested by FinTech Futures.

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