0G Labs launches with whopping $35M pre-seed to build a modular AI blockchain

As the crypto space heats back up, so has funding for new startups. 0G Labs, a web3 infrastructure firm,” has raised $35 million in a pre-seed round, the team exclusively told TechCrunch. If $35 million sounds like a lot for a pre-seed round, it really is. “In order to build the basic technology, we wanted […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

A new web3 network is being built right now that wants to end Big Tech’s control of your data

Many of the people building Web3 feel like the traditional web ecosystem has taken advantage of users and their data. While it benefits a number of businesses, data miners and even AI models, some see it as an overreach. Some of the problems with the web that exists today, which some web3-focused people call web2.0, […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Former web3 gaming founders raise $2.5M for their NFT marketplace to retain users even when there ‘isn’t money to be made’

Even though NFT sales volume is still down 88% from 2022 all time-highs (and down 38% year-to-date), Pallet Exchange is building a new type of NFT marketplace focused on user retention. And it’s doing it on a blockchain less known for NFT trading: Sei. Co-founders Kelvin Wang and Davy Li have convinced investors that there’s […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Solana’s price rises to $160, highest level since January 2022 as memecoin mania rises

The token behind Solana, a layer-1 blockchain that’s competitive with the Ethereum blockchain, has been through the wringer after it plummeted from a high of about $260 in late 2021 to a low around $8 in early 2023. But like every good movie with a character redemption arc, Solana has one too. The cryptocurrency passed […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Blockchain startup Sei Labs creates an interesting solution to make Ethereum faster

Sei Labs, a startup co-founded by a former Robinhood engineer and a former VC from Coatue, has launched a new open sourced project that offers a novel, and exciting approach to make Ethereum faster and less expensive for developers. On Wednesday, Sei launched The Parallel Stack, a public good project – meaning free for any […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Ready Player One creator debuts ‘Open,’ a metaverse battle royale experience

Earlier this year, Readyverse Studios – co-founded by blockchain tech company Futureverse and Ernest Cline, the mind behind the sci-fi franchise Ready Player One – announced “The Readyverse,” an interactive platform for metaverse games and experiences. Readyverse Studios partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to help bring the popular novel to the metaverse across web3. […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Zama’s homomorphic encryption tech lands it $73M on a valuation of nearly $400M

Homomorphic encryption, a complex technique that uses cryptographic algorithms to keep data secure as it travels around networks and to third parties, continues to elude mass-market scalability and thus adoption — not least because currently, the complexity that makes it so effective also makes it slow and hard to use widely. But in a world […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

OpenSea’s partnership with Coachella is a sign that NFTs can be more than profile pictures

The NFT sector has not yet returned to the glory of its 2022 heydays but that hasn’t stopped the evolution of the tech. For instance, OpenSea has partnered with the music and arts festival conglomerate Coachella to release three NFT collections that offer both virtual and tangible real-life VIP experiences and merchandise. The partnership will […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Bitcoin hits new all-time high passing $69,000 for first time since November 2021

It’s been a busy year so far for bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, and it’s only March. The digital currency hit a new all-time high for the first time since November 2021 when it passed $69,000 on Tuesday morning, as demand surged in recent weeks following the spot bitcoin ETF approvals in the […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Taiko raises $37M to build web3 infrastructure for a censorship-free internet

Amid the speculation and volatility in the casino-like crypto land, there remains a subset of individuals who espouse blockchain’s potential to decentralize various aspects of human activities for the greater good. Taiko‘s founder Daniel Wang is one of these idealistic founders. A serial entrepreneur, Wang initially wanted to bring decentralization to social platforms. Decentralized networks […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.