Sera Antonia’s Post

Very happy to announce the closing of a $4M priced equity round led by AlbionVC with participation from existing investors a16z crypto CSX and CMCC Global. This brings our total seed funding this year to $7.2M. I'm also honoured to have Jay Wilson and Shiau Sin YEN joining the board of directors. Both bring a wealth of experience to our team. The announcement is timely. Stablecoin market cap has reached an all-time high today of over $190B. Stablecoin transaction volumes more than doubled that of Visa in the first half of 2024. And they are increasingly not just a crypto product for crypto users. Over 1/3 of consumers in Latin America have made a purchase using a stablecoin. That is ASTOUNDING. It's clear that the next generation of financial services and markets will be built on internet-native, permissionless digital dollars (i.e. stablecoins). I expect the market cap to reach several trillion by 2030. Our role at OpenTrade is to build critical components for this burgeoning ecosystem; stable, secure, compliant stablecoin lending and yield products that can be embedded directly in the digital wallets and apps businesses and individuals use to manage their financial lives. Over the past year we have seen our business perform very well and expect to see that accelerate in 2025. Almost weekly now, new customers and partners of OpenTrade products are being launched. Whether we’re powering USD and EUR savings products for hundreds of thousands of consumers in Colombia via our partnership with Littio, enabling compliant retail access to the risk free rate through our partnership with WOO X, powering institutional yield products for investors in the EU and APAC through our partnerships with SCRYPT, Trakx, and InvestaX, it’s all part of the same mission, the same mega trend, the same future. Q2 and Q3 were our first two quarters in full production. Over that time we’ve grown total outstanding loan principal over 100% and have processed over $100M in transaction volumes. Customers report that they love the product and their usage is growing. The pipeline has more than doubled and its growth rate is accelerating as we’ve gone from pure founder led sales to a growing team of rock stars. We've also launched several new products and support for a new network ( Avalanche). The platform continues to function extremely well, with zero major production incidents, withdrawal times averaging less than 24 hrs and most processed same day, and more and more customers fully integrating via our improved API. Our network of financial counterparties continues to grow; we are now in production with some of the largest Financial Institutions in the world, enabling us to offer same day liquidity, access a huge range of off-chain assets to expand our product suite, and build trust and credibility with customers. Needless to say, the future is extremely bright.

State of Fintech report for Q2 2024! 🚀💰 🔍 1/10: Fintech Funding on the Rise Funding hit $8.9B, up 19% QoQ, driven by major deals with Stripe ($694M) and AlphaSense ($650M). Without these, funding would’ve stayed flat. Deals, however, dropped 16% 📉. 🌎 2/10: Regional Leaders The US led with $4.8B, while LatAm saw a 22% boost to $442M. Globally, mega-rounds (deals >$100M) were back in a big way! 💵 📈 3/10: Deal Size Trends 2024’s average deal size is down to $12.8M from 2023, but median deal size rose 29% to $4M. Small fintechs are on the rise! 🌱 💼 4/10: Late-Stage Confidence Mid- & late-stage deals jumped to 20% of YTD total, a signal of investors’ growing confidence in established players, especially in payments & lending sectors 🏦💳. 🔐 5/10: Crypto Comeback Digital asset fintechs are back! 30% of early-stage deals in Q2 went to crypto/blockchain. Is the “crypto winter” finally over? ☀️ 🇺🇸 6/10: US Still Dominant The US grabbed 45% of global funding & led in mega-rounds. 9 out of the 10 biggest US deals were over $100M—levels unseen since Q2 2022 📊. 🌐 7/10: Unicorn Watch Q2 saw 2 new unicorns! Altruist & Pigment are now in the billion-dollar club 🦄. With valuations surging, who’s next? 💸 8/10: Banking & Payments Banking deals reached $600M, while payments soared to $2.2B. Demand for digital transformation in these sectors is hotter than ever 🔥. 🚀 9/10: Key Investors Top investors? OKX Ventures with 11 deals, followed by Amber Group. The fintech investor landscape remains competitive! 🏆 🔮 10/10: Looking Ahead Fintech’s future is promising but cautious. Investors are selective, focusing on crypto, payments, and digital lending. What’s your next big move in fintech? 👀 #Fintech #Investing #Crypto #Payments #Blockchain Dive deeper into the numbers, and let’s talk about where fintech is headed next! 🧵👇

IX Swap Q2 Recap: 7 Key Pillars of Progress — Quarter 2 of 2024, was undoubtedly one of the busiest quarters for the IX Swap team. To help you paint a better picture of what went down, we'd like to present you a recap of significant milestones and achievements, showcasing why IX Swap is the world's leading real-world asset tokenization platform. 📜 Listings and Activity To kick off April, IX Swap listed on Poloniex. Our CKGP Sprint attracted over 900 participants and a surge in KYC signups. 🤝 Partnerships We forged partnerships with Kima Network, Hyve, RealtyX DAO, Tiamonds, AlphaX, Cygnus Finance, Thovt.io, QuillAudits ➡️ EthCC 🥷🛫, Cogito Finance, and ElectroWizy. Plus, new clients: 1 Asset Exchange, Treasurer, VMIC AVIATION, Socialerus, and Nanuhm Angels. ✔ Deals Launched & Successful Raises New deals: Sangamithra and Kumar Unbanned - Movie IP Tokenization. Treasurer's Tokenized Wine Collection unveiled (Public sale live). IX Swap also announced the successful 500K USDT raise for CKGP. 🌐New Markets Unlocked IX Swap enters the Philippines with the acclaimed Tokenization event series co-hosted by the leading Philippines exchange, PDAX, including a stronger presence in South Korea with new partnerships unlocked. 🏦 New LP Announcements: IX Swap's group receives backing from The Spartan Group, UOB Venture, and Signum Capital 📰 IXS Featured Reports: Recognized by Greythorn Asset Management, KPMG Singapore, Singapore FinTech Association (SFA), The Tokenizer, IMIR Market Research Pvt. Ltd., and Hubbis We'd like to take this time to thank our partners, clients, and supporters. It is with your support and trust that IX Swap continues to make strides and innovations in the real-world asset market. With Q3 officially underway, IX Swap is excited to unveil our upcoming developments in the following months to come. Read more in our full Q2 report here ⬇ https://lnkd.in/g5tbg6RF #web3 #blockchain #blockchaintechnology #tokenization

Fiat Republic secures its EMI license and a $7M Seed extension to bridge the gap between banking and web3. The London-based Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform brings together crypto friendly banks, making it easier to easily create accounts in multiple currencies as well as access local payment rails and FX via a single API. Already operational in the UK, Fiat Republic is now being granted a full electronic money institution (EMI) license by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), meaning it will be able to provide payment services and issue e-money to crypto platforms across the entire European Economic Area. We’re joining the latest round alongside fellow existing investors Credo Ventures and Seedcamp and welcoming new investments from Kraken Ventures, Fabric Ventures, Arca, Inovo.vc and Pretiosum Ventures. Co-founders Adam Bialy, Sophie GUIBAUD and Martyna Lewinska have earmarked the new funds for exciting key initiatives, including expansion. Find out more in Silicon Canals - European Technology News👇 https://lnkd.in/eR3Vm3_u

💥 Strongly Recommended Post & Perspective: This is a colossal shame for the entire crypto industry—its current state is unsustainable, and a reckoning feels inevitable. It might even be time for VCs to face accountability for fueling an industry fraught with fraud, where retail investors lose significant money. Real change in crypto requires rigorous compliance reform or, as I've previously suggested, a sharp BTC drop to around $3,500. My own view is that after the U.S. election, assuming a Trump win, there may be a brief market rally. But beyond that, I anticipate a systemic correction of at least 30% across major indexes through 2025, possibly extending to a 50% correction by 2027. This kind of market correction could pave the way for much-needed reform and a cleanup of the crypto space, expelling bad actors and creating space for ethical, value-driven growth. If Harris wins, however, the outlook for crypto may be even bleaker, and VCs invested in questionable projects should be worried. Crypto holds immense technological potential, but it’s too often in the hands of “pimps and robber barons.” Unless civilization itself is ending, change is coming, and it will hopefully set the industry on a path to genuine, sustainable growth for the broader good. 🤓 Morpheus thinks 🌿 very differently 🌿 Learn more about 4IRGPT.com: Discover knowledge trading for your professional growth, creativity, productivity, or business advantage. Explore how it can benefit your organization with Perplexity AI. Click here to see why: https://lnkd.in/dY5MmsGh 🪴 Follow the progress of our 4IR "Utility" Token: Built for the 4th Industrial Revolution, our 4IR Utility Token stands out as one of the few ICO-approved utility tokens by the leading EU Regulator, the AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers) in France. Learn more at 4IRToken.com. 💥 Watch 15,000+ videos on intelligence in tech, finance, and geopolitics. Keep yourself and your family informed and ahead of the curve. Watch here: https://lnkd.in/dHJ8i_Q5 Steven Bartlett Linas Beliūnas Jason Calacanis Chamath Palihapitiya Salim Ismail Yinka Adegoke FCA Steven George-Hilley Brian Armstrong Anessa Allen Santos, David O. Sacks Arthur Hayes Kemi Badenoch C.F.R Chris Dixon John Hargrave Tom Bilyeu Lex Fridman Greg Brockman James Caan CBE Max Chafkin Caroline Hyde Edward Ludlow Andrew Ross Sorkin Mark Cuban Catherine Wood Richard Branson Craig Pearce Alvin Foo Clara Shih Dr. Martha Boeckenfeld Peter H. Diamandis Dr. Jeffrey Funk Tucker Carlson Emily Chang Nicholas Thompson Vusi Thembekwayo Iyinoluwa Aboyeji Jeffrey Sachs

Solid discussion here. This has been going on for long now and while we are all wondering where retail is on the utility coins, and when they will come, the real question is - how many times do people have to be burnt before they start buying frogs and cats?

A super short but deep dive into the mechanics of token launches on crypto exchanges. Crypto projects, crypto VCs, and crypto market makers all play to gain access to retail customers' pockets. Centralized Exchanges are the gatekeepers. 💡 It is important to find a good gatekeeper, but how? I wonder if and how this process will be regulated with Mica. #Mica #CryptoExchanges #CryptoCompliance

You’re the Exit Liquidity for Crypto VCs Time to call out irony in crypto industry. VCs are complaining about Binance’s listing fees, but there’s more here than meets the eye. Top-tier crypto VC complained about Binance asking for 15% of a project’s token supply, in exchange for a listing. VC said it’s “unaffordable” and harms token prices. Here's the truth: Binance’s is making right decision here! Why? Because Binance isn’t keeping all those tokens. They’re forcing projects to airdrop to retail, allowing everyday users to share the upside. Here’s truth about VC that nobody wants you to know - YOU are the exit liquidity for crypto VCs! Here’s how it works: 1. VCs pump billions into crypto projects with ZERO track-record 2. Projects list their token on exchanges at insane multi-billion $ valuations 3. Market makers keep prices high temporarily – creating an illusion of success. 4. Retail jumps in, buying up these overvalued tokens 5. You are the exit liquidity for VCs & insiders selling and price collapses 6. Rinse and repeat. Now you know why there is no altcoin season and why retail is not back. As my friend Frederik Lund explains, all liquidity is soaked up by VCs. People don’t want to be exit liquidity of insiders and slowly, they are waking up to this nonsense. What’s the solution? ➡️ More Retail Airdrops and Screening on Listings: Centralized exchanges (CEXs) are catching on. CEXs are demanding projects airdrop tokens directly to retail – giving YOU a return instead of letting VCs control all upside. ➡️ Opportunities for Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs) DEXs can step in here, offering transparent listings and letting users avoid inflated valuations. This is opprotunity for decentralization – no middlemen demanding millions, no exit strategies that leave you in losses. 💡 Here’s the thing: Crypto VCs and some exchanges have twisted market dynamics to prioritize their profits over the entire ecosystem. I've been in crypto industry for 10+ years and I have built a crypto exchange and a crypto market maker. I have seen it all. I have the responsibility to call out bad players and say the truth. It’s time for transparency. 👉 What do you think? Will this trend change as retail gets more informed, or are we in for another cycle of overpriced listings? Follow 👉 Anton Golub & share ♻️ – the truth needs to be heard!

Excellent post, one which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should have keen interest in. Why? It is obvious that this is an abuse of the entire process, and a complete perversion of what listing is truly to represent. Listing on a DEX or a CEX primary function is not for profit, but for consumers who wish to acquire tokens for projects they wish to participate in whatever goods and services that are being offered that require token access. Token access does not necessarily must see a project having their own platform token, or any token at all, but can if they choose offer a meme token that is not tied to the project platform or performance of the project. Truth be told, the gate keepers see CEXs and DEXs as existential threats to their BS legacy financial system, that is rigged against the consumer, and also worse rigged against investors. The fact of the matter is, the legacy financial system and its gate keepers do not want anything that can act or is an alternative, which is why no matter if a token is not a securities, the SEC will still try to destroy it, and all on ramps and off ramps, which technically is sabotage in favour of creating a monopoly and restricting consumer and investor options. With 99.9% of all projects making the SEC job super easy, is why the industry is in the position it is right now, as the bitcoin cult think the industry belongs to them alone, and now the Circle mafia aka USDC. There are several innovations that can come on stream, but VCs are also playing their role in controlling the narrative by driving BS projects with funds to drive FOMO, in a rinse and repeat cycle.

Lots of news about stablecoins in the past weeks, sheding light on the rationale behind the $1bn acquisition. The Castle Island Ventures and Brevan Howard report on Stablecoins role in emerging markets comes to the same conclusion as a16z crypto 2024 State of Crypto report: stablecoins and crypto market cycles are not correlated 📈 The report highlights the growing range of non-crypto and non-speculative use cases: if stablecoins were merely utilized as a collateral or a form of settlement between traders and crypto exchanges, as is commonly alleged, you would expect the settlement volumes, transaction counts, and monthly active addresses to largely correlate with the crypto market cycles. However, the divergence that appeared throughout the cooling off period in 2022-23 suggests that stablecoins have meaningful usage outside of mere speculative uses, examples for USD-backed stables with similar applications for other currencies: 💵 Access to dollar banking, saving money in dollars and earning a yield 💱 Currency conversion – better rates and 24/7 availability 🛍 Paying for goods and services 🌍 Cross-border transactions 💸 Receiving a salary Notably, the report uses an adjustment methodology to estimate aggregate stablecoin settlement - the so-called denoising and deduplication through assessing transactions 'intent' to remove the duplicative impact of complex arbitrage and lending transactions. Even after the adjustments, estimate that stablecoins in the aggregate conservatively settled $3.7 trillion in 2023, and $2.62 trillion in the first half of 2024, at an annualized pace of $5.28 trillion. Stablecoin settlement volumes have grown steadily throughout the market cycle, despite the selloff in cryptoassets and declines in exchange volume evident in 2022 and 2023. This is another indication that stablecoins have reached a new set of users that are not solely interested in using them for exchange settlement. In the spirit of the above, other market signals are strong: Stripe acquiring Bridge is huge not only because of the deal size and Bridge's startup to unicorn fast track 🦄, but because it is capable of rewiring the whole merchant payments and financial system. Full report here: https://lnkd.in/eKW94u2D #stablecoins #crossborderstractions