Binance Limits Its Services in Russia, New Crypto Investments, Kadena’s Grants + More News

 

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Exchanges news

• Binance announced that, due to restrictive measures being placed against Russia, it is required to limit services for Russian nationals or natural persons residing in Russia, or legal entities established in Russia, that have cryptoassets exceeding the value of EUR 10,000 (USD 10,900). Customers are required to complete their proof-of-address verification, while accounts that classify under the restrictions will be placed in withdrawal-only mode, and will be given 90 days to close out their positions, the exchange added. (Learn more: As More Russians Support Massacre in Ukraine, Here’s How Some Big Crypto Companies Respond)

Investments news

• Clean computing infrastructure provider Crusoe Energy Systems announced it has closed a USD 350m Series C equity offering led by climate technology venture capital firm G2 Venture Partners, in addition to closing credit facilities expandable up to USD 155m with investment firms SVB Capital, Sparkfund, and Generate Capital to provide additional debt capital. The funding will enable them to deploy large-scale Bitcoin (BTC) mining and cloud computing infrastructure, they added.
• Cricket-based NFT platform Rario raised USD 120m in Series A funding from venture capital firm Dream Capital. The platform already has partnerships with six international cricket leagues, while the Dream Capital partnership will enable them access to Dream Sports’ users who will be offered fiat-only products in India, they said.
• Veteran game investor Jon Goldman raised a USD 50m venture capital fund dubbed Tower 26 to invest in extended reality startups like metaverse projects, according to VentureBeat.
• Web identity and data project Spruce said it has raised USD 34m in a Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz. With the new funding, they aim to continue privacy research, grow their product teams, and work on partnerships within the ecosystem.
• Venture capital firm Decent Labs said it has raised USD 10m in an initial on-chain investment to launch a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that will act as an incubator and seeding ecosystem for the crypto industry.
• Crypto financial service provider Bitcoin Suisse announced it has launched its first DeFi offering, where select clients can now lock ethereum (ETH) as collateral in the decentralized borrowing protocol Liquity and mint their own liquity dollars (LUSD), the protocol’s stablecoin. At present, the offering is in a pilot stage and only available to a “very small number” of select Bitcoin Suisse clients with borrowing needs above USD 500,000, they added.
• Blockchain ecosystem Klaytn Foundation announced the onboarding of principal trading firm Alameda Research as a strategic partner and investor. The partnership means further investments that Alameda will make into early-stage projects built on the Klaytn blockchain, they added.

Adoption news

• Layer 1 blockchain Kadena (KDA) announced it has launched a USD 100m Grant Program for developers building on their blockchain network. For applicants who pass the review process and fulfill the requirements, Kadena Eco will commit to engineering mentorship, office hours, and community leadership in addition to monetary support, they added.

Mining news

• Bitcoin miner Bit Digital filed a prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the sale of up to USD 500m in equity from time to time. The company said the proceeds would be used for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures, buying new mining equipment, other potential acquisitions and general working capital.