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Liquid, a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, announced the completion of its $18 million Series A funding round, co-led by Neo and Left Lane Capital.
According to Fortune, cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Liquid has announced the completion of an $18 million Series A funding round, co-led by Neo and Left Lane Capital, with participation from Haun Ventures, K5 Global, SV Angel, AntiFund, and Sunflower Capital. This comes less than six months after its $7.6 million seed round, which was led by Paradigm.
JackYi: The past wave of failures among crypto VCs and projects stemmed from incorrectly benchmarking against Web2; AI + finance represents the new opportunity.
JackYi, founder of Liquid Capital, posted on X: “The recent wave of failures among crypto VCs and projects had one core cause: funding was largely spent on maintaining teams that built useless Web3 products. The biggest misconception was trying to replicate Web2 products. In essence, Web3 is a financial industry—it doesn’t require re-creating Web2 products. Historically, the most successful crypto companies have all been financial products: stablecoins, exchanges, payment solutions, etc. Now, with the AI era arriving, two things are clear: first, massive fundraising and large teams are no longer necessary; second, AI + finance presents a new opportunity. We believe exceptional founders, backed by just a few elite team members, can build world-class companies—this represents the single largest opportunity in today’s primary market.”
Yi Lihua: The current cryptocurrency market rally is relatively weak, exhibiting characteristics of a bear-market rally.
Yi Lihua, founder of Liquid Capital (formerly LD Capital), stated that the current cryptocurrency market rally is still ongoing. However, compared to the U.S. stock market’s S&P 500 hitting new highs and MicroStrategy’s continued aggressive Bitcoin purchases, this Bitcoin rally is relatively weak overall and exhibits clear characteristics of a bear-market rebound. He noted that his team has recently focused on analyzing MicroStrategy’s risks, concluding that its strategy of aggressively raising funds to continuously buy Bitcoin may be effective in the short term but poses medium-term risks—especially amid broader macro-financial risks. JackYi also said the team is preparing for potentially major opportunities, adding that such opportunities in the crypto space often emerge during bear markets.
Yi Lihua: Progress in peace negotiations may drive a market rebound, testing Bitcoin’s safe-haven attributes
Liquid Capital founder Yi Lihua posted on X, stating that two of the world’s three largest countries are at war, while the third is facilitating peace negotiations; once an agreement is reached, there will be no justification for continued conflict, and markets are poised for a rebound. He noted that, over the medium to long term, global investors are watching for a potential financial crisis—Buffett and others are hoarding cash, and countries are increasing their gold reserves. If a crisis erupts, Bitcoin’s (BTC) safe-haven properties will be tested, yet it may also present a buying opportunity. Additionally, JackYi remarked that artificial intelligence (AI) technology is creating new opportunities for exceptional founders: small teams can now develop globally scalable products without requiring substantial funding or management overhead. He advised experienced entrepreneurs to actively seize the AI wave.
Paystand Launches USDb, a Stablecoin Built on the Bitcoin Ecosystem
According to Businesswire, Paystand, a blockchain-based B2B payment network, has announced the launch of USDb, a stablecoin built on the Bitcoin ecosystem. USDb is backed 1:1 by U.S. dollar reserves and is natively deployed on the Bitcoin sidechain Rootstock, while also being compatible with the Liquid Network and the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Notably, USDb is primarily designed for traditional corporate finance use cases, including accounts receivable/payable, cross-border payroll, and treasury management.
Polygon Launches Native Liquid Staking Token sPOL
Polygon has officially launched its native liquid staking token, sPOL, designed to enhance returns for POL token stakers. As Polygon’s native liquid staking token, sPOL unlocks approximately 3.6 billion staked POL tokens and grants stakers priority access to transaction fee revenue sharing. Currently, only about 4%–5% of POL is liquid; sPOL addresses the issue of idle capital being unable to participate in DeFi yield opportunities. Users can migrate existing stakes to sPOL via the Polygon Staking Portal—without waiting periods and with uninterrupted rewards—while new stakes will automatically receive sPOL. The initial sPOL redemption ratio is 1:1, increasing as staking rewards accrue. sPOL supports liquidity provision, collateralization, and yield-boosting DeFi strategies, and can be redeemed at any time for POL plus accumulated rewards. The token was initially launched by Polygon Labs and audited by ChainSecurity and Certora; official liquidity will be seeded through an on-chain liquidity pool. Polygon cautions that sPOL carries smart contract risk, validator misbehavior penalty risk, and market volatility risk.
Related news
Liquid, a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, announced the completion of its $18 million Series A funding round, co-led by Neo and Left Lane Capital.
According to Fortune, cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Liquid has announced the completion of an $18 million Series A funding round, co-led by Neo and Left Lane Capital, with participation from Haun Ventures, K5 Global, SV Angel, AntiFund, and Sunflower Capital. This comes less than six months after its $7.6 million seed round, which was led by Paradigm.
Paystand Launches USDb, a Stablecoin Built on the Bitcoin Ecosystem
According to Businesswire, Paystand, a blockchain-based B2B payment network, has announced the launch of USDb, a stablecoin built on the Bitcoin ecosystem. USDb is backed 1:1 by U.S. dollar reserves and is natively deployed on the Bitcoin sidechain Rootstock, while also being compatible with the Liquid Network and the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Notably, USDb is primarily designed for traditional corporate finance use cases, including accounts receivable/payable, cross-border payroll, and treasury management.
JackYi: The past wave of failures among crypto VCs and projects stemmed from incorrectly benchmarking against Web2; AI + finance represents the new opportunity.
JackYi, founder of Liquid Capital, posted on X: “The recent wave of failures among crypto VCs and projects had one core cause: funding was largely spent on maintaining teams that built useless Web3 products. The biggest misconception was trying to replicate Web2 products. In essence, Web3 is a financial industry—it doesn’t require re-creating Web2 products. Historically, the most successful crypto companies have all been financial products: stablecoins, exchanges, payment solutions, etc. Now, with the AI era arriving, two things are clear: first, massive fundraising and large teams are no longer necessary; second, AI + finance presents a new opportunity. We believe exceptional founders, backed by just a few elite team members, can build world-class companies—this represents the single largest opportunity in today’s primary market.”
Yi Lihua: The current cryptocurrency market rally is relatively weak, exhibiting characteristics of a bear-market rally.
Yi Lihua, founder of Liquid Capital (formerly LD Capital), stated that the current cryptocurrency market rally is still ongoing. However, compared to the U.S. stock market’s S&P 500 hitting new highs and MicroStrategy’s continued aggressive Bitcoin purchases, this Bitcoin rally is relatively weak overall and exhibits clear characteristics of a bear-market rebound. He noted that his team has recently focused on analyzing MicroStrategy’s risks, concluding that its strategy of aggressively raising funds to continuously buy Bitcoin may be effective in the short term but poses medium-term risks—especially amid broader macro-financial risks. JackYi also said the team is preparing for potentially major opportunities, adding that such opportunities in the crypto space often emerge during bear markets.
Yili Hua: Key to the Crypto Industry Lies in Direction, Timing, and Risk Management
Odaily News: Yili Hua, founder of Liquid Capital, shared insights summarizing his experience since entering the crypto industry in 2015, emphasizing that industry development requires a focus on strategic direction, market entry timing, and risk management.He pointed out that selecting the right sector (such as exchanges) is particularly crucial, and entering during a bear market helps build long-term confidence. He also stressed the importance of avoiding high-risk contract trading, carefully choosing partners, maintaining physical and mental health, and continuously learning about new technologies and opportunities.
ether.fi: LayerZero Bridging Functionality for weETH and eETH to be Restored Within 24 Hours
Odaily News ether.fi posted on X platform stating that, following guidance from security partners, the LayerZero bridging functionality for weETH and eETH will be restored within the next 24 hours. ether.fi previously confirmed that its Liquid vault was not directly exposed to the Kelp rsETH incident risk, but as a precautionary measure, decided to suspend the LayerZero cross-chain bridging functionality for weETH and eETH until the root cause of the Kelp rsETH incident was clarified.Meanwhile, for the Liquid (ETH, BTC, USD), sETHFI, and eBTC products, the relevant Teller contracts have been suspended to block the LayerZero OFT bridging path. Deposit and withdrawal functions for the related assets have also been suspended accordingly. The team is currently working closely with security partners.