Blockchain Mainnet FNCY to Collaborate with Web3 Community Platform GALXE

United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based crypto market maker and Web3 investment firm DWF Labs has launched a $250 million fund for investment in mid to large-cap crypto projects. The company, which recently switched its administrative base from Singapore to Abu Dhabi, asserts that the fund will contribute towards the real-world adoption of Web3 technology. Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashUp to $50M per projectTaking to X, DWF Labs Managing Partner Andrei Grachev announced the $250 million fund. He added:”Single ticket size ranged from 10 to 50M$ per a project. Cash + comprehensive support = Moon” In a statement published to the company’s website, DWF Labs outlined that the Liquid Fund initiative aligns with the firm’s commitment to contributing towards real growth within the broader crypto market. It stated: “The fund will provide strategic crypto venture capital and ecosystem support, ensuring sustainable growth for projects that drive real-world adoption and help promote change in the industry.” Initial dealsWork on the fund is already in motion. The company confirmed that it has already invested $11 million into promising blockchain projects as part of the initiative. Furthermore, DWF Labs confirmed that it is on the verge of signing two major investment deals with ticket values of $10 million and $25 million respectively. Beyond those deals, the firm asserts that other investment deals are in the pipeline. It clarified that the nature of the investment differs from traditional investments insofar as each deal incorporates a full-scale ecosystem growth strategy, devised specifically for the particular needs of each project. Grachev stated that the company believes “that strategic capital, coupled with hands-on ecosystem development, is the key to unlocking the next wave of growth for the industry.” Key aspects being considered by the company when formulating ecosystem growth strategies relative to targeted blockchain projects include public relations (PR) and brand amplification, a comprehensive go-to-market (GTM) strategy, lending markets development and a focus on stablecoin total value locked (TVL), with supporting liquidity and DeFi activity relative to layer-1 and layer-2 projects. Focus on ‘usability and discoverability’Grachev told Cointelegraph that emphasis will be placed on investing in blockchain projects that stand out in terms of “usability and discoverability.” He added that “good technology and utility alone isn’t sufficient,” asserting that "users first need to discover these projects, comprehend their value and develop trust." The DWF Labs managing partner suggested that strategic capital, together with hands-on ecosystem development, is paramount relative to efforts to realize the next iteration of growth within the crypto sector. Up until the end of last year, DWF Labs was headquartered in Singapore and still maintains a presence there. Besides Abu Dhabi, it also has a physical presence in Dubai. Hong Kong, Switzerland, South Korea and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) account for the locations of the remainder of its international offices. While Grachev and his firm can be assumed to have a positive broader view on the cryptocurrency sector given the launch of this latest fund, the DWF Labs managing partner recently pointed to a more immediate potentially bearish trend in the market.

Aave v3 Launches on Metis Scaling NetworkMetisDAO confirmed on Tuesday that leading decentralized liquidity protocol Aave has been deployed on the layer 2 Ethereum-centric scaling platform.Photo by Joshua Sortino on UnsplashGiven the distributed nature of the teams behind decentralized networks and projects, it can be difficult at times to determine where project teams are based, albeit in the case of MetisDAO, according to LinkedIn, its primary location is Singapore despite having a Canadian Co-Founder and CEO.Aave’s move to ZK networksThe move comes following a vote taken by Aave’s user community, who voted in favor last month of a proposal to deploy the liquidity protocol on zero knowledge-based networks. In a social media post, the Metis team referred to the decentralized lending market going live on the network as “a new era of Decentralized Finance.”The development is significant for Metis, given that Aave is the third largest project in crypto based on the total value locked (TVL) metric. Within DeFi lending, it’s the biggest project in the sector, holding a TVL of $5.4 billion.One of the keys of Aave’s dominance is its multi-chain strategy. Metis marks the eighth network upon which it has been deployed. The others include Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Fantom, Harmony and Avalanche.Metis technical roadmapWhile there’s a lot of uncertainty as to how various crypto projects will pan out over the longer run, most agree that Ethereum is here to stay. Metis stands a good chance of contributing to that ecosystem over the long term as layer two scaling networks are likely to be part and parcel of the Ethereum environment for some time to come.Last month, the project set out a technical roadmap, detailing what the project has in store, while claiming that in general, 2023 would be a great year for Ethereum. Metis is a layer two network based on Optimistic Rollup architecture. It has grown into the third largest scaling network relative to Ethereum.The project plans to roll out Bedrock, a technical upgrade that will enable improved network security. Furthermore, it plans on bringing about consensus and execution separation. Also in its sights are faster deposit times, which the project claims, will enable better UX.Many DeFi networks are under scrutiny in terms of the centralized elements that they incorporate. Metis plans to make improvements in this regard, with the intention of decentralizing the sequencer pool. The project claims that “Metis Andromeda will be decentralized to the core.”Hybrid rollupsDemonstrating further ambition, Metis is aspiring to bring about hybrid rollups, combining the features of optimistic rollup architecture with zero-knowledge proofs. In a tweet, Head of Marketing and MetisDAO Co-Founder Kevin Li said that “by combining the best traits from both schemes, hybrid rollups will offer the unmatched scalability and EVM-equivalence of optimistic rollups, together with the censorship resistance and fast finality enabled by zero-knowledge proofs. The best of both worlds.”MetisDAO believes it adds value for users of its network through Aave’s offering, enabling them to borrow assets with less collateral via Aave’s High-Efficiency mode. Furthermore, the deployment makes for improved risk management through supply and borrow caps, and siloed borrowing, reducing the risk in the event of market contagion.

Hong Kong and Israel Collaborate to Expand CBDC Access Beyond BanksIn a collaborative effort, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Bank of Israel (BoI), and the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub have jointly released a comprehensive report on Project Sela, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiative.Photo by POURIA 🦋 on UnsplashBroadening the role of intermediariesThe report was published to the BIS website on Tuesday. In keeping with the trend of many CBDC projects, Project Sela is characterized by a robust public-private partnership. However, its particular focus lies in broadening the spectrum of intermediaries, aiming to offer retail CBDC services through a more diverse array of service providers, thereby reducing dependency on traditional banks and major payment providers.Andrew Abir, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Israel, emphasized the importance of fostering a dynamic and open ecosystem with a wide variety of service providers. He stated:“Competition and innovation require a flourishing and open ecosystem with many different types of service providers. This was our initial goal in Project Sela as a proof-of-concept, and the project proved the feasibility of the model we had in mind.”Involving retail banksIn a previous model explored through Hong Kong’s Project Aurum, retail banks were entrusted with customer-facing tasks while maintaining the central bank’s operation of the wholesale ledger for the eHKD. In contrast, Project Sela introduces a novel approach where the central bank operates the retail ledger — a model akin to Israel’s digital shekel.The primary actors in Project Sela, known as Access Enablers (AEs), notably do not have control over CBDC balances, distinguishing them from conventional payment providers. Moreover, AEs are not required to maintain liquidity to support CBDC services. Their role encompasses facilitating user onboarding and CBDC access, fulfilling know-your-customer (KYC) and compliance obligations, and routing payments. The role of banks and other “funding institutions” primarily revolves around enabling the conversion of cash and deposits into CBDC.The rationale behind this approach is rooted in the emergence of technological advancements in open banking and DeFi, which have demonstrated the potential to disentangle financial services by granting users greater access to their financial data and control over their own funds.Enabling participation among the unbankedProject Sela envisions the unbanked population utilizing ATMs to convert cash into CBDC. A similar approach has recently been taken by the Chinese authorities. In the resort city of Sanya, authorities have introduced e-CNY ATMs in order to enable e-CNY access for foreign tourists.However, it is noteworthy that in many countries, the primary function of ATMs is to dispense cash rather than accept it. Consequently, the inclusion of AEs could pose challenges to traditional banking institutions, as CBDC adoption could potentially impact bank deposits.Privacy and cybersecurity considerations are implicated within Project Sela. As the central bank operates the retail ledger, ensuring the confidentiality of personal information becomes imperative. To safeguard privacy, AEs employ a hashing mechanism to obfuscate personal identifiers, although the report does not delve into the subject in detail.While Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron admitted that a CBDC can never be anonymous, he claimed that “if we choose to issue a digital cash shekel, it will provide at least as much privacy as other digital means of payment.”