News linked to both this project and an event.
According to Bloomberg, cryptocurrency-focused venture capital firm Paradigm announced on July 8, 2026, the completion of a $1.2 billion new fund raise, which is the firm's third venture capital fund to date. This fundraising marks Paradigm's formal expansion of its investment landscape beyond the cryptocurrency sector, with new investments in the artificial intelligence and robotics technology sectors.
Paradigm, a venture capital firm focused on the crypto space, has raised approximately $1.2 billion, planning to increase its investment layout in projects related to Artificial Intelligence (AI).According to sources familiar with the matter, this fundraising will primarily focus on AI infrastructure, AI Agents, and the convergence of AI and blockchain technology. Paradigm aims to capture the next wave of technological innovation through this new fund and expand its investment footprint in emerging technology sectors.Founded in 2018 by Matt Huang and Fred Ehrsam, Paradigm is one of the leading venture capital firms in the crypto industry, having invested in numerous blockchain projects including Coinbase and Uniswap.This fundraising indicates that after adjusting to the previous market cycle, crypto capital is refocusing on the intersection of AI and blockchain. With the rapid development of areas such as AI agents, decentralized computing, and on-chain data infrastructure, an increasing number of crypto investment firms are viewing AI as a significant growth opportunity for the next phase. (Bloomberg)
tokenized sovereign debt startup M1X Global has completed a $5.5 million seed funding round, led by Paradigm, with participation from Breed VC and others.It is understood that M1X Global previously collaborated with the Republic of the Marshall Islands to assist in the issuance of the on-chain sovereign debt instrument USDM1. This product is a dollar-denominated tokenized sovereign debt instrument, 1:1 backed by U.S. Treasury bonds, and natively issued on a public blockchain by a sovereign nation. USDM1 was initially issued on Stellar and is now also available on Canton and Solana.Jordan Goldman, President and COO of M1X, stated that sovereign debt is one of the largest asset classes globally, but prior to USDM1, it did not exist in a native on-chain form. The company aims to establish USDM1 as on-chain sovereign collateral and expand its use within regulated financial markets.The initial application scenario for USDM1 is domestic government aid distribution. Citizens of the Marshall Islands can receive funds via the Lomalo wallet, with payments settling in seconds, bypassing the need for traditional correspondent banking networks. M1X also indicated that its recent integration with Bank of Guam, a U.S. FDIC-insured bank, further connects USDM1 to regulated banking infrastructure. (The Block)
According to The Block, Paradigm has led a $9 million Series A funding round for El Dorado, a Latin American cross-border payment application, with participation from Coinbase Ventures and Verda Ventures.
: Latin American cross-border payment app El Dorado has completed a $9 million Series A funding round, led by venture capital firm Paradigm, with participation from Coinbase Ventures and Verda Ventures. The company stated that its current key growth paths include "non-mainstream payment corridors" such as Brazil and Bolivia. It is already operating in 12 countries, covering markets including Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia, with over 100,000 active users and 5 million processed transactions.Additionally, El Dorado has launched a cross-border payment product for enterprises, incorporating multi-signature and multi-organization architecture, and integrating stablecoin and fiat channels. It operates on a Layer 1 network supported by Tempo, primarily serving real trade scenarios such as electric vehicle imports. (The Block)
DeFi lending protocol Morpho has announced the completion of a $175 million funding round, led by a16z Crypto, Paradigm, and Ribbit Capital, with participation from Apollo Funds, Circle Ventures, VanEck, and other institutions.The report states that this funding round was priced based on the average price of Morpho tokens over the past month, corresponding to a valuation of approximately $2 billion for the protocol. Morpho allows institutions to customize lending markets and risk parameters on-chain and has already attracted adoption by institutions such as Coinbase, Kraken, Anchorage Digital, and Galaxy Digital.Data shows that Morpho's current Total Value Locked (TVL) is approximately $6.6 billion. The company stated that it will continue to expand its institutional-grade DeFi lending business and strengthen competition with lending protocols like Aave. (Fortune)
sources revealed prediction market platform Kalshi has raised an additional $200 million from Baillie Gifford and Layer Global, further expanding the $1 billion funding round previously led by Coatue Management, while maintaining a company valuation of $22 billion.Earlier this month, Kalshi announced the completion of a $1 billion Series F round, with participants including Sequoia Capital, a16z, IVP, Paradigm, Morgan Stanley, and ARK Invest.Data shows that Kalshi's monthly trading volume in April exceeded $14 billion, with annualized revenue surpassing $1.5 billion. (Bloomberg)
the smart contract auditing platform Code4rena has announced it will gradually cease operations. All ongoing audit contests and bug bounty programs will still be completed as normal.Web3 security platform Immunefi subsequently stated that it will collaborate with Code4rena to take over its bug bounty clients and security researchers, assisting in the migration of bounty scope, rules, and reward structures.Code4rena was known for its "competitive audit" model, allowing independent security researchers to earn rewards by discovering smart contract vulnerabilities. The platform secured $6 million in funding from Paradigm in 2023 and was acquired by blockchain security firm Zellic in 2024.
Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan stated that privacy is becoming a core infrastructure direction for the next phase of the crypto industry. Recently, three institutional-grade blockchains focused on stablecoins and asset tokenization—Arc, Canton, and Tempo—have accumulated over $1 billion in total funding, indicating a rapidly growing demand from institutions for "privacy-friendly on-chain financial systems."Among them, stablecoin issuer Circle contributed $222 million in funding for Arc, giving it a valuation of approximately $3 billion; Digital Asset’s Canton blockchain is reportedly seeking $300 million in funding at a $2 billion valuation; and Tempo, backed by Stripe and Paradigm, has previously completed $500 million in funding at a valuation of $5 billion.Hougan noted that this funding wave reflects three major trends: the gradual clarification of the U.S. regulatory framework, increased institutional demand for on-chain privacy, and intensified competition among new blockchain networks supported by large enterprises. Current public blockchains still face structural trade-offs between speed, cost, security, and privacy. However, scenarios involving stablecoins and RWA tokenization require systems that simultaneously offer high performance, compliance, and privacy, making “verifiable privacy” a critical prerequisite for institutional adoption of on-chain finance.Hougan further stated that, for enterprises, “all transactions being publicly broadcast” is not an advantage but a potential flaw. In the future, users and institutions may find it increasingly difficult to accept a fully transparent on-chain financial environment. He believes that privacy capabilities could become the “killer app” driving the crypto industry into its next phase of mainstream adoption. Additionally, following the passage of the U.S. Genius Act in 2025, regulatory certainty has significantly increased, providing a clearer policy foundation for institutional funds to enter the crypto infrastructure space. (CoinDesk)
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.
According to The Block, Visa, Stripe, and Zodia Custody—a digital asset custody firm backed by Standard Chartered Bank—have become the first validators on the Tempo payment blockchain. Tempo is an Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 blockchain designed specifically for high-throughput payments and stablecoin settlement, primarily targeting large institutions. Validators are responsible for verifying, ordering, and finalizing on-chain transactions, and are typically mature organizations with global operational capabilities. Tempo was incubated by Stripe and Paradigm, launched its private testnet in September 2025, and closed a $500 million Series A funding round in October at a valuation of approximately $5 billion. Recently, Tempo introduced its “Agent Payments” protocol—executed by AI agents—and has attracted infrastructure integrations including RedStone.