ClayStack expands into Ethereum restaking ahead of token launch

Nomura’s Laser Digital Expands Crypto Venture Capital Arm with New PartnerLaser Digital, the cryptocurrency subsidiary of Nomura, one of Japan’s leading financial services companies, is strengthening its venture capital business with the appointment of industry veteran Florent Jouanneau as a new partner.Despite a decline in funding levels across the industry, Laser Digital aims to expand its venture capital arm, according to a report published by The Block on Tuesday.With Jouanneau joining the team, Laser’s venture team now consists of seven members, according to Olivier Dang, the company’s General Partner and Head of Ventures. Laser Digital, launched in the fall of last year, currently employs about 65 people and offers asset management and trading services alongside its venture capital activities.Jouanneau’s previous experience includes positions at White Star Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in Web3 and DeFi startups. He also served as a structured credit and ABS trader at Bank of America, and held sales and trading roles at UBS and BPCE Group’s Natixis.Photo by Markus Winkler on UnsplashCrypto venture business expansionThe decision to expand the venture business comes at a time when VC investments in Web3 are declining. In the first quarter of this year, Web3 venture funding dropped by 80% compared to the same period last year, as reported by data from K33 Research. VC investment in Web3 totaled $2.8 billion in Q1 2023, a significant decrease from $13.5 billion in Q1 2022.Jouanneau acknowledged the market slowdown in 2022 and highlighted the current opportunity for investment. He stated: “We are seeing a lot of valuations being dragged down by effectively the lack of capital to be deployed.” This sentiment aligns with the perspective of many crypto venture capitalists who view the current bear market as a favorable time to invest, given the risk-reward dynamics and the potential for institutional participation.Crypto sector maturationDang expressed optimism about the maturation of the crypto industry, pointing to the increasing interest of traditional financial institutions, including BlackRock, in spot Bitcoin ETFs. Dang believes that as more institutions enter the space, the quality of deal flow and transactions in the venture capital sector will improve.He also emphasized the importance of robust institutional-grade infrastructure to support these institutions, noting that Laser’s association with Nomura has helped instill trust among investors.While Laser’s fund is currently backed exclusively by Nomura, Dang mentioned that they have started raising third-party capital. The fund has invested in early-stage startups focusing on areas such as DeFi, CeFi, Web3 tooling, and infrastructure. Among its portfolio companies are DeFi protocol Infinity Exchange and crypto trading firm CrossX.Dang disclosed that the team aims to make an additional ten investments throughout the rest of this year, prioritizing projects with institutional use cases. However, they remain cautious about ventures primarily focused on gaming and NFTs due to their limited expertise in those areas.As the industry continues to mature and attract institutional interest, it’s clear that Laser is attempting to position itself as a trusted player in the space, leveraging its expertise and partnerships to drive growth and generate value for its investors.

OSL Group, a publicly-listed digital asset and blockchain platform company headquartered in Hong Kong, is set to acquire Indonesia’s Evergreen Crest Holdings.Photo by Kelly Sikkema on UnsplashAs the proposed acquisition of Evergreen Crest, a business that includes a virtual assets exchange platform, will involve a share transaction, OSL filed details of the acquisition with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on June 2. OSL will take a 90% stake in Evergreen Crest in return for $15 million worth of consideration shares, which will be issued by OSL to the seller. This share issuance will account for 1.48% of the total issued shares in the company. Once the acquisition goes through, Evergreen Crest will become a subsidiary of OSL Group, with Evergreen’s financial results consolidated into the overall financial statements of OSL going forward.  ‘Strategic benefits’The filing suggests that OSL management believe that the acquisition “will bring substantial strategic benefits to the Group,” as it opens up access for the company to the Indonesian digital asset market. The company is optimistic about the outlook for the Indonesian crypto market. It stated: “Indonesia possesses key attributes conducive to growth in this sector, including a substantial and youthful demographic, robust economic growth fundamentals, and a rapidly increasing rate of cryptocurrency adoption.” Acquiring licensesOne interesting aspect of the acquisition is that Evergreen Crest has acquired the requisite licensing to operate within the Indonesian market. Those cryptocurrency and futures trading licenses are likely to be of significant value to OSL as it means that through the acquisition, OSL can now enter the Indonesian market in a fully compliant manner. Using the existing compliant platform, OSL intends to expand the range of services offered within the Indonesian market. It indicated that it would do so in respect of payment finance (PayFi) and tokenized real-world asset (RWA)-related products and services, subject to acquiring the necessary licensing. OSL is encouraged by the opportunity that exists within Indonesia as far as tokenized RWAs are concerned. It claimed that the country has already demonstrated significant tokenized RWA-related activity. PT Multikripto Exchange Indonesia (also known as Koinsayang), the exchange business owned by Evergreen Crest, was awarded a virtual asset trading license by the Indonesian regulator, the Financial Services Authority (OJK), in March. At the time, the exchange outlined that it intended to expand its service reach, while creating a better trading experience for users located within Indonesia and overseas. In September 2024, the exchange was awarded a license to offer crypto asset perpetual futures contracts by Indonesia’s Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency (Bappebti).  OSL expanding its reachOSL appears to be making a concerted effort to expand beyond its Hong Kong base. In February it acquired CoinBest, a Japanese crypto exchange, rebranding the business as OSL Japan. At the time it was reported that the company was also looking at opportunities to expand in European markets. OSL was amongst the first digital asset exchange platforms to be licensed in Hong Kong, receiving Type 1 and Type 7 licenses from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in December 2020.

OKX collaborates with Polygon Labs on layer-2 network launchSeychelles-incorporated OKX, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has collaborated with blockchain development firm Polygon Labs to unveil the testnet for its latest zero-knowledge layer-2 network, named “X1.”Photo by Shubham Dhage on UnsplashIntroducing “X1”The company announced initial details on X1 via a press release published on Tuesday. This Ethereum-based ZK network has been constructed using the Polygon Chain Development Kit (CDK), with OKX playing a pivotal role as a core contributor to the CDK. Substantial engineering resources are being invested by OKX to strengthen the Ethereum scaling solution.The new network will serve to bolster the utility of OKX's native token, OKB. OKB will be used for X1’s gas fees. There has been a lot of chatter about the utility of exchange tokens following the collapse of FTX, as that platform was over-reliant on its native token in propping up the exchange. Similarly, critics are speculating that a comparable dynamic may be at play at Binance, relative to its native token BNB.Likely buoyed by news of this development, OKB observed a 10% unit price increase on Tuesday. However, that move has retraced downwards in the meantime.ZK proof technologyX1 has been designed with ZK proofs, a method through which one party can convince another that a particular claim is true without disclosing details of the claim itself. In this way, X1 ensures high security and scalability while mitigating transaction costs. The network seamlessly aligns with Ethereum, facilitating the secure deployment of EVM-based dApps and connectivity with a wide array of smart contracts, wallets and tools. OKX underscores X1’s status as its new native network.Chief Innovation Officer of OKX, Jason Lau, expressed optimism about X1, deeming it integral to the firm’s efforts in guiding users into the realm of Web3. Lau emphasized the scalability and accessibility of X1, especially for developers who can leverage it to construct user-friendly Web3 applications while maintaining interoperability with other networks.The collaboration with Polygon Labs marks another milestone in the evolution of Polygon’s CDK. Launched in August, the CDK enables the development of layer-2 blockchains on Ethereum, emphasizing zero-knowledge proofs. Networks deployed using the CDK gain the ability to connect to a shared ZK bridge, fostering interoperability.Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon, underscored the significance of X1’s adoption of Polygon CDK technology, envisioning a future where CDK-deployed chains interoperate and coexist within a larger network of ZK-powered layer 2s in the Polygon CDK ecosystem. The CDK has gained traction, with various Layer 2s, including Immutable zkEVM, IDEX, Palm Network and Astar zkEVM, currently in development using this technology.Industry trendA trend is developing among crypto exchange platforms and their involvement in establishing layer two networks. Earlier this year, U.S. crypto platform Coinbase introduced the Base network, an Ethereum layer-2 network that focuses on offering a safe, low-cost and developer-friendly mechanism to build on-chain.Last week, it emerged that another leading U.S.-based crypto platform, Kraken, is on the lookout for a development partner to enable it in building out its own layer-2 blockchain network. According to those reports, it’s understood that Kraken is considering partnering with Polygon Labs, Matter Labs or the Nil Foundation.As this OKX-Polygon Labs collaboration progresses, the industry will continue to observe how X1, with its innovative technology stack and seamless integration with Ethereum, contributes towards broader Web3 development.