Panama City, Panama, October 16th, 2024, Chainwire

Hermetica, the creator of USDh, the first Bitcoin-backed, yield-bearing synthetic dollar, is thrilled to announce the successful close of its $1.7 million seed funding round.

Key Backers

UTXO Management led the round, with additional support from prominent investors including CMS Holdings, Ethos Fund, Trust Machines SPV, Newman Capital, Silvermine, and strategic angels such as Tycho Onnasch (Founder & CEO, Zest Protocol), Robin Obermaier (Founder & CEO, Liquidium), Mithil Thakore (Founder & CEO, Velar), Matt Maduno (Founder & CEO, Arch Network), and GM Chung (Founder & CEO, DeSpread).

Fueling USDh’s Expansion

The capital will accelerate the growth of USDh. USDh is natively issued on Bitcoin Layer 1 through Runes and Layer 2 through the Stacks network and is available to purchase on decentralized exchanges.

With the global stablecoin market expanding over 100% year-over-year to now exceed $160 billion – accounting for 50% of all on-chain transactions – USDh is well-positioned for rapid growth. Despite Bitcoin’s $1.3 trillion market cap, only 1% of its value is locked in DeFi, leaving an untapped $1 trillion market for USDh to unlock.

Hermetica aims to empower Bitcoin users to hold and transact with a stable, liquid dollar asset redeemable for Bitcoin (1 USDh = 1 USD worth of Bitcoin), enabling Bitcoin market participants to securely hold dollars without exiting the Bitcoin ecosystem or converting to fiat.

“We believe stablecoins are a foundational building block for a decentralized financial system. USDh is the ideal Bitcoin-backed stablecoin—capital efficient, independent of the fiat system, and yield-generating.” said Hermetica Labs CEO Jakob Schillinger.

Looking Ahead

The capital raised will fuel the further development of USDh’s integrations across the Bitcoin ecosystem, including enhanced liquidity, institutional-grade custodial partnerships, and scalable off-exchange settlement solutions. Hermetica is building on Bitcoin’s foundational strengths to offer a decentralized, secure alternative to traditional fiat-backed stablecoins.

Testimonials by some of our Investors:

“USDh represents a breakthrough for Bitcoin-backed stablecoins. Hermetica’s innovative approach to delta-hedging positions USDh as a key player in the evolving stablecoin landscape. We’re excited to support Hermetica as they continue to lead the charge in Bitcoin DeFi.” – Tyler Evans, Managing Partner, UTXO Management

“We are excited about Hermetica because they are unlocking significant value within the Bitcoin ecosystem with the creation of USDh. We believe their ability to seamlessly integrate stablecoins into Bitcoin’s Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks presents a massive opportunity. USDh will become a fundamental tool for Bitcoin users seeking a reliable dollar asset without leaving the ecosystem.” – Simon Shin, Managing Partner, Ethos Fund

About Hermetica

Hermetica is a crypto-native team with deep expertise in financial technology, bringing together experience from major institutions such as Kraken and State Street. Hermetica is focused on creating innovative financial products that leverage Bitcoin’s security and transparency.

Earn up to 25% APY on app.hermetica.fi.

About Stacks

Stacks is a Bitcoin L2 that enables smart contracts and decentralized applications to use Bitcoin as a secure base layer. The 2024 Nakamoto and sBTC releases will bring faster speeds and transactions backed by 100% Bitcoin finality. ‍Stacks is the current leading Bitcoin L2 by developer traction and market cap and is poised to help unlock Bitcoin and its $500B in passive capital as a fully programmable, productive asset. The Stacks (STX) token, used as gas on the L2, was the first to undergo an SEC-qualified sale in the United States. The project explicitly decentralized with the mainnet launch in 2021. In the Stacks ecosystem, there are currently 30+ contributing entities including a non-profit Stacks Foundation, a developer tooling company Hiro, Xverse, Trust Machines, Mechanism, Bitcoin L2 Labs, ALEX, Bitcoin Frontier Fund, and more. 

Contact

Jakob Schillinger
jakob@hermetica.fi

Gros Islet, Saint Lucia, October 15th, 2024, Chainwire

SingularityDAO, Cogito Finance, and SelfKey have announced a strategic token merger to launch Singularity Finance, an EVM Layer-2 for tokenising the AI economy’s Real World Assets (RWA).

Combining the trio’s complementary technologies will power a platform optimised for Artificial Intelligence tokenisation that will accelerate Web3. Tokenising AI assets such as GPUs and integrating them into existing DeFi applications will create new onchain primitives, enabling more efficient funding sources for AI-driven innovations.

Singularity Finance will bring RWAs onchain using Cogito’s tokenisation framework, creating decentralised markets where users can easily participate with the support of SelfKey’s compliant identity solution. Singularity’s Layer-2 will offer AI-powered financial tools services that enhance and automate analysis, portfolio, and risk management leveraging SingularityDAO’s AI-driven DynaVaults and other technologies.

Cogito Finance CEO Cloris Chen said: “The rapid growth of the AI sector is creating significant opportunities for both institutions and retail participants. However, barriers still exist on both the demand and supply sides, limiting broader participation in the AI economy. By developing our own Layer-2 solution democratising AI-Fi, we can overcome these challenges and remain agile in adapting to an evolving regulatory landscape.”

SingularityDAO co-founder Mario Casiraghi added: “We stand at the intersection of AI and DeFi, where much of the innovation currently taking place within the Web3 space is occurring. AI-Fi harnesses the immense potential of the AI economy by tokenising the AI value chain, creating unprecedented opportunities to access, exchange and monetise these assets.”

As part of the merger, the three existing tokens—SDAO, CGV, and KEY—will be converted into a unified token, SFI, which will serve as the network token for Singularity Finance. Initially, the SFI token will be available on Ethereum and BNB Chain, with mainnet released planned for the first half of 2025 and with the conversion ratios between SDAO, CGV, and KEY set as follows:

• SDAO migration to SFI at a ratio of 1:80.353 (1 SDAO = 80.353 SFI)
• CGV migration to SFI at a ratio of 1:10.890 (1 CGV = 10.890 SFI)
• KEY migration to SFI at a ratio of 1:1 (1 KEY = 1 SFI)

The pricing is based on the 200 days moving average of each token in the period up to 20th August 2024. 

Upon closing of the merger, a leadership council for Singularity Finance will be established to oversee and guide the operations of the newly merged financial ecosystem. The council will be led by Dr. Ben Goertzel, CEO of SingularityNET and the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance; Cloris Chen, CEO of Cogito Finance; and Mario Casiraghi, CFO of SingularityNET and Co-Founder of SingularityDAO. Following the merger announcement, the community will have the opportunity to participate in a governance vote, which will run from 21 to 31 October.

The merger will address the significant challenges currently faced in the ownership and accessibility of AI-related assets and yield. By leveraging SFI compliant tokenisation infrastructure users will be able to access yield opportunities from compute and AI agents; in addition, AI market participants will be able to foster extra liquidity for their assets thereby making AI and hardware-backed high-quality yield more accessible. Singularity Finance will solve these challenges through its Layer2 including built-in legal frameworks, distribution channels, marketplace, and AI-driven asset management tools.

About SingularityDAO

SingularityDAO is a decentralised Portfolio Management Protocol designed to democratise access to sophisticated crypto asset management tools. The upcoming DynaVaults, multi-asset, multistrategy vaults leveraging AI-enhanced analytics and risk management tools, provide the much needed infrastructure in the volatile world of DeFi.

Learn more: https://singularitydao.ai/

About Cogito Finance

Cogito’s mission is to bring traditional assets onchain for increased liquidity, security, and transparency. It offers a suite of carefully-engineered, fully transparent, and institutional-grade investment products. Led by a team of finance and technology experts, Cogito is pioneering the future of onchain finance.

Learn more: https://www.cogito.finance/

About SelfKey

A blockchain-based identity platform that enables individuals and organisations to securely manage and control their digital identities, enhancing compliance with KYC requirements through decentralised technology. With a team experienced in decentralised identity since 2014 across major companies, SelfKey aims to revolutionise the KYC onboarding process by lowering costs, improving security, and upholding the principles of self-sovereign identity.

Learn more: https://selfkey.org/

Contact

Avishay Litani
pr@marketacross.com

Bangalore, India, October 14th, 2024, Chainwire

India Blockchain Week (IBW), the country’s flagship series of blockchain and web3 events held in Bangalore, is set to return for 2024 after an enormously successful 2023 edition. Spanning from November 30th – December 8th 2024, the web3 festival will feature an array of 100+ web3 events, including flagship events such as IBW2024 Conference, ETHIndia, IBW Demo Day and many other side-events hosted by Indian & global blockchain industry stakeholders.

The IBW2024 Conference, the two-day headline event anchoring India Blockchain Week (IBW), will be held on 4-5 December 2024, 9am-6pm, at the Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield Hotel & Convention Center. It’s the first-ever platform for Indian Web3 builders and innovators to explore collaboration opportunities with global industry leaders. The main conference is hosted by Hashed Emergent, a web3 venture capital firm dedicated to accelerating the mass adoption of web3 in India and other emerging markets. 

India has ranked #1 in crypto adoption for two consecutive years, as per Chainalysis. The country is playing an increasingly important role in the global web3 ecosystem, accounting for over 12% of the global web3 developer base. It is also home to over 1,000 web3 startups, according to a joint report by Hashed Emergent, KPMG in India, Devfolio, Coinswitch, and Kratos Gaming Network (KGeN). These achievements highlight India’s resilience and enthusiasm for digital assets despite the perception of stringent regulations.

“As a host of India Blockchain Week Conference, we are committed to amplifying India’s thriving web3 landscape on the global stage,” said Tak Lee, CEO & Managing Partner of Hashed Emergent. “Our goal is to foster collaboration across the Indian ecosystem by bringing together local innovators and global stakeholders. We’re excited to return with the second edition of IBW, continuing our work to nurture and grow the web3 community in India and other emerging markets.”

The government of India itself has taken initiatives to leverage blockchain technology for better governance. Its National Blockchain Framework (NBF) aims to secure digital governance with blockchain technology. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)’s Vishvasya-Blockchain Technology Stack offers Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) with a geographically distributed infrastructure designed to support blockchain-based applications.

Moreover, a panel led by the Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) is reportedly working on a consultation paper seeking inputs from stakeholders including industry experts, companies, and the public, on how cryptocurrencies should be regulated in India. In the backdrop of evolving regulations, the IBW Conference will offer attendees insights into the country’s regulatory landscape and its impact on the future of crypto and web3 in India.

The full list of confirmed speakers will be revealed later, but it will include prominent global and local leaders of the blockchain industry such as Aptos Co-founder & CTO Avery Ching, Polygon Co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, Monad CEO Keone Hon, Startale Labs CEO Sota Watanabe, and BitGo COO Chen Fang.

Avery Ching, the Co-founder & CTO of Aptos Labs, commented, “India is home to incredibly talented developers and leaders who are advancing web3 in remarkable ways. It’s inspiring to see the impact builders in India have had on the entire Aptos ecosystem, and I hope to see more builders after our activation at IBW this year.”

Hailed as India’s first and biggest world-class, multi-chain web3 conference with a pan-industry agenda, the IBW Conference will feature 100+ innovators, entrepreneurs, policy makers and thought leaders across the entire spectrum of the blockchain industry engaging in keynote speeches, panel discussions, fireside chats, and moderated debates.

“I am honored to be participating in India’s flagship blockchain and web3 conference. India is at a unique inflection point in web3 adoption, with its thriving developer community, commitment to entrepreneurship, and pace of economic activity. I am excited to speak about opportunities for Monad Labs to collaborate with the local web3 ecosystem in advancing blockchain innovation,” said Monad CEO Keone Hon.

Last year’s IBW Conference featured Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum), Mo Shaikh (Aptos), Emin Gün Sirer (Avalanche), Jesse Pollak (Base), Sandeep Nailwal (Polygon), Sebastien Borget (Sandbox) and others as speakers. The 2023 event was sponsored by Avalanche, Near, Aptos, Polkadot, ICP, Ledger, Sui, dYdX, Berachain, CoinDCX, and Transak.

Some of the key highlights of the gathering include:

• IBW2024 Conference: Held on 4-5 December 2024 at the Sheraton Grand Whitefield, it features keynote speeches and panel discussions on the latest developments and opportunities in the web3 space, and examining the policy landscape. It will also feature stage events and workshops by Aptos, Starkware, and other companies.
• IBW Hackathon: Taking place from 30th Nov – 2nd Dec at the Fortune Select Trinity, Whitefield, the hackathon is expected to see the participation of over 250 enthusiastic individuals. The ten finalists of this chain-agnostic hackathon will get to present their innovative solutions at the conference. Other rewards for participants include bounty prizes and free tickets to the IBW Conference.
• IBW Demo Day: The Demo Day will be held alongside the main conference on the 4th of December. It will spotlight 15 notable Indian web3 startups at the IBW2024 Conference venue. The Demo Day will cater to the broad audience  including investors, founders, builders and others.
• ETHIndia: Organized by Devfolio from Dec 6-8, it is one of the world’s largest Ethereum hackathons, hosting over 1,500 builders and 25+ workshops.

The IBW organizers would like to thank the sponsors for their help in making it the most important event in the country for conversations about crypto, blockchain, web3, and policymaking. The key sponsors include Aptos, Polygon, Starkware and Starknet Foundation, with many more in the process of joining the list to support the event.  

About India Blockchain Week (IBW)

India Blockchain Week (IBW) is a movement unifying the Indian web3 ecosystem and a platform to connect with the global community. It is India’s biggest pan-industry series of blockchain and web3 events, spanning from November 30th- December 8th 2024 across Bangalore, India. IBW is a week-long array of 100+ web3 events, including flagship events such as the headline IBW Conference, ETHIndia, FILBangalore and many other side-events, networking events, workshops, parties etc hosted by Indian & global blockchain industry stakeholders.

The IBW Conference is the two-day headline event anchoring India Blockchain Week (IBW) on 4-5 December 2024 at the Sheraton Grand, Bangalore and hosted by Hashed Emergent – a web3 venture capital firm dedicated to accelerating the mass adoption of web3 in India.

• Buy Tickets 
• Discover Sponsors 
• Check out FAQ  

For more information about IBW, visit:  Website  |  Twitter  |  LinkedIn  |  Telegram

About Hashed Emergent

Hashed Emergent is the venture capital arm of Hashed, backing builders from India and emerging markets shaping the on-chain frontier. It invests at the earliest stages of a web3 startup’s journey, using its expertise, experience, and network to amplify their growth and success. The team is rooted in the cultural hubspots of web3 in emerging markets, spanning across Bangalore, Seoul, Singapore, Lagos and Dubai. Hashed Emergent drives web3 focused ecosystem and community expansion in these markets through its purpose-built initiatives. 

For media queries, please contact: Irshad Ahmed, gm@indiablockchainweek.com

Contact

Irshad Ahmed
gm@indiablockchainweek.com

San Francisco, USA / California, October 10th, 2024, Chainwire

Constellation Network’s “HyDef ‘24” conference will take place on Thursday, October 24, 2024, featuring a free daylong virtual event combined with a live in-person event for a nominal fee at 1 Hotel in San Francisco.

Constellation Network is a unique Web3 framework with new open-source tooling that empowers companies and individuals to build blockchain networks for Big Data, creating trust and transparency around data collection, validation, and transacting. Nicknamed “America’s Blockchain,” Constellation Network actively works with entities such as the U.S. Military, The Digital Chamber, the Texas Blockchain Association, Space ISAC, and the National DigiFoundry. Constellation has been validated and approved by the U.S. Department of Defense through the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) as a, “Scalable, Secure and Defense-Approved Blockchain technology.” 

“So much work has been going on behind the scenes which is why HyDef is a great forum to bring it to the forefront around one action packed event. Since the launch of Metagraphs, it’s been hard to keep up with all the inbound interest from federal, enterprise and academia. We are excited to not only give updates on what has matured but also unveil new expressions that truly separate Constellation apart in the Web3 industry.” – Benjamin Diggles, Constellation Co-founder and CSO

Constellation’s HyDef ‘24 conference will deliver a jam-packed day of ground-breaking insights. Conference sessions cover secure information-sharing in a zero-trust world, the future of finance and blockchain, the evolving regulatory environment, government and blockchain, and much more.

Hackathon-winning projects will be showcased at the event where developers have leveraged Constellation’s big data transaction and validation capabilities to build apps that gather and validate data at scale. These apps feed the data into AI or causal models to give businesses and individuals insights based on more input than we’ve heretofore been able to process.

Another HyDef highlight will be the long-awaited reveal of the details of the working relationship between Constellation and Panasonic. The work the two companies are doing together has the potential to bring Constellation’s technology and blockchain-secured edge computing to the world en masse in a meaningful way.

“The Constellation Community is the backbone to our ecosystem. HyDef is a time for us all to come together, celebrate the progress in our ecosystem, give visibility to our partners, and gear up for the future of Constellation. By bringing together thought leaders, builders, and new product development we paint a picture for new opportunities in distributed networks and the communities that build them.”- Ben Jorgensen, Constellation Co-founder and CEO

The in-person event will be held at the 1 Hotel in San Francisco and will require a nominal $150 fee. Attendees include representatives from Panasonic, the Greer Institute at Intel, Forward Edge AI, venture capitalists, The Digital Chamber, the Constellation leadership team, along with Stardust Collective community leaders.

The virtual event is free to attend with access via livestream to all keynote speeches, panel discussions, and hackathon showcases in real time. Virtual attendees can engage directly with speakers and panelists through Q&A and live chat features, and may connect with other attendees in virtual event spaces.

“Our metagraph application layer just released to the public, and this is the perfect time for us to showcase our Hackathon winners, our partners, and our progress. I’m excited for the chance to bring the industry together in this unique format and share ideas and ways we can work together and build together.”- Altif Brown, Constellation co-founder, Head of Community, and conference organizer

To find out more about the event and register, users can visit stardust’s event site at https://stardust-collective.org/HyDef-Conference

About Constellation Network

Constellation Network, founded in 2017, is a Blockchain ecosystem powered by the Hypergraph Transfer Protocol (HGTP), designed to secure, validate, and process data for Web3 applications. HGTP enables seamless and secure Blockchain communication, akin to how HTTP functions for the web. Constellation’s tools support building Blockchain networks for big data, fostering trust and transparency. Validated by the U.S. Department of Defense via the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Constellation is recognized as a scalable and secure Blockchain solution.

Website: www.constellationnetwork.io

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Conste11ation

Telegram: https://t.me/constellationcommunity

Contact

Constellation co-founder, Head of Community, and conference organizer
Altif Brown
Constellation Network, Inc.
altif@constellationnetwork.io