Last week in the blockchain industry, fundraising was quite active. According to PAnews's tally, during the week from April 27 to May 3, 17 investment deals were announced, totaling over $176 million. The fact that cryptocurrency-related projects are raising funds at this pace indicates market resilience.

In the DeFi sector, notable activity was observed. Derivatives trading platform Liquid completed a $18 million Series A. It was founded by a former quantitative analyst from Two Sigma, starting with crypto perpetual contracts, and has since expanded to handle stocks, foreign exchange, and even pre-IPO company shares. They reportedly offer leverage of up to 200x. While major players like Coinbase and Robinhood are venturing into non-crypto assets, Liquid seems to aim for a unified interface covering diverse risk assets.

In the RWA (Real-World Asset) space, Nuva Digital raised $5.2 million. They are building a yield platform for real-world assets, where users deposit USDC to receive nvAsset tokens. Initially, they plan to offer on-chain asset-based products from Figure Technologies. Solana’s yield trading platform Exponent also raised $5 million and plans to launch a new version next month. Since its public beta in December last year, it has processed over $2 billion in transactions.

The infrastructure and tools sector also saw significant developments. Startup Fence, which provides asset-backed financial infrastructure, raised $20 million. Using blockchain and smart contracts, they automate traditional forms, PDFs, and email processes. They are already partnered with major financial institutions like BBVA, BlackRock, and Fortress, managing approximately $1.5 billion in assets on their platform.

Squads, part of the Solana ecosystem, completed an $18 million equity round. They have expanded from a multi-signature protocol to a stablecoin payment platform called Altitude. Since their public beta in December last year, they have processed over $200 million in payments. They also incorporate sanctions screening and anti-money laundering measures, ensuring strong compliance.

In stablecoin-related news, UnblockPay raised $4.5 million in seed funding. The funds will be used to develop compliant financial products and build cross-border payment solutions.

In the CeFi space, crypto trading startup Fun raised $72 million in a Series A. They provide infrastructure for crypto-to-fiat transactions and process over $18 billion in payments annually. Their clients include Polymarket, Lighter, and Aave. Latin American digital wallet Belo also completed a Series A of $14 million, led by Tether, with participation from multiple investors including Titan Fund. They serve over 3 million users across Latin America and are promoting the adoption of stablecoin payments.

In prediction markets, XO Market raised $6 million in seed funding. They focus on user-driven market models, and since their mainnet launch, they have attracted over 30k users and more than 600 active markets. They plan to launch XO Vaults, a market-making vault, aiming for an annual return of 8-10%.

In other areas, Chance Studios, a trading card game platform, raised $3.2 million. They enable transparent transactions for TCG collectors. DeSci project NanoVita completed strategic funding to build health research infrastructure combining nanotechnology and AI biotech intelligence. Blockchain data platform Blockworks closed a Series A at a valuation of $192 million, with founders from over 20 projects including Solana, LayerZero, and Pyth participating as individual investors.

On the institutional side, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund raised $6 billion, the largest in the fund’s history, targeting growth-stage companies. Seeing such large fundraisings suggests that institutional investors’ interest in the crypto industry remains strong. Overall, the market shows ongoing development in infrastructure and compliance measures.