Crypto Venture Capital Funding to Rise This Year, Won’t Hit Previous Highs: JPMorgan

Crypto venture capital (VC) funding is expected to recover this year as regulatory clarity and more crypto-friendly policies emerge during the tenure of President Donald Trump, JPMorgan (JPM) said in a research report Wednesday. The Wall Street bank noted that venture funding for the industry has been subdued in recent years. This may have been … Read more

TRUMP, MELANIA Memecoins Made Millions for Some, Less Than $100 for Many

Donald Trump’s official memecoin has been extremely profitable for early buyers and likely unprofitable for many, a Chainalysis finding shows. An estimated 60 whales — a colloquial term for influential token holders — have realized profits exceeding $10 million each. However, a majority of retail investors were at break-even as of Thursday. “After 1B $TRUMP … Read more

Tata acquires 60% stake in Apple partner Pegatron’s India unit

Tata Electronics has acquired a 60% controlling stake in the Indian arm of Apple assembly partner, Pegatron, as the conglomerate expands its iPhone manufacturing capacity in the country. Taiwan-based Pegatron operates an iPhone production plant near Chennai in India’s sourthern state of Tamil Nadu. The deal comes less than a year after Tata Electronics acquired … Read more

Vitalik Buterin Calls for Added Focus on Ether as Part of the Network’s Scaling Plans

Ethereum scaling plans and network applications should start supporting the network’s native ether (ETH) to further bump value for the asset, co-founder Vitalik Buterin wrote in a post on Friday. “We should pursue a multi-pronged strategy, to cover all major possible sources of the value of ETH as a triple-point asset,” Buterin said as part … Read more

RUNE Plunges 30% as THORChain Pauses Bitcoin, Ether Withdrawals

Interblockchain settlements protocol THORChain paused bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) withdrawals on its lending and savers programs to prevent a potential insolvency risk. Network node operators proposed and implemented a 90-day pause in early Asian hours on Friday, to formulate a plan to resolve debts, messages from THORChain’s Telegram channels show. THORChain’s lending program only … Read more

Madrona just announced its biggest fund ever, closing on $770M as other venture funds grow smaller

Seattle-based Madrona Capital is celebrating its 30 years in business by raising $770 million in fresh capital. This is the firm’s largest fundraise to date, exceeding $690 million across two funds Madrona closed in 2022.  While an 11% capital pool upsize may not seem significant, any increase at a time when many venture outfits are … Read more

Bitcoin Steady Near $104K After Bank of Japan Delivers Hawkish Rate Hike

Bitcoin (BTC) held steady during Friday’s Asian hours after Bank of Japan (BOJ) lifted the benchmark borrowing cost to the highest in 17 years while raising inflation forecasts. “If the outlook presented in the January Outlook Report will be realized, the Bank will accordingly continue to raise the policy interest rate and adjust the degree … Read more