Cryptocurrency
Following 3 Unicorns in 2 Years, Web3 Accelerator Beacon Launches Its Largest Cohort to Date
[PRESS RELEASE – New York, New York, September 12th, 2024]
Leading web3 accelerator program Beacon has announced the launch of its fourth and largest cohort to date. Beacon, which finances projects from pre-seed to Series A, has selected 17 promising companies for its latest three-month program, marking a significant expansion from previous cohorts.
The latest group is composed of the highest-profile firms in the history of Beacon, which was launched by Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal in 2022. Featuring multiple Series A companies backed by heavyweight VCs firms like Pantera, Founders Fund, Framework, and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), the cohort spans multiple web3 sectors including DeFi, infrastructure, and AI. Among the notable participants are Stakestone, EXO, Nubit, Aligned Layer, and eoracle.
“We’re thrilled to welcome our largest and most diverse cohort so far,” said Sandeep Nailwal, Co-Founder of Polygon and Beacon. “The caliber of companies joining us in the latest program is truly exceptional, and we’re excited to see how, with the aid of our mentorship and resources, they’ll go on to shape the future of web3 and beyond.”
The announcement comes on the heels of the graduation of Beacon’s highly successful S23 cohort which consisted of 10 companies, many of whom have made a major mark since being selected. S23 alumni included scalable data availability layer 0G and verifiable oracle protocol ORA, both of whom have achieved unicorn status since graduating.
While ORA secured $20 million funding in a round led by Polychain Capital, Inco, a universal confidentiality layer, closed a $4.5 million seed round led by 1kx, with participation from dao5 and Robot Ventures. Ethereum L2 solution Fluent, meanwhile, raised $7.5 million in a seed round co-led by Polychain Capital and dao5.
These success stories have set the bar high for the latest cohort, particularly given the impressive background and early traction of the participating companies. Both Aligned Layer and Nubit have already conducted Series A rounds, raising $20 million and $12 million respectively. The full list of companies in Beacon’s Cohort S24 are as follows:
- Aligned Layer – Aligned Layer is a decentralized network that verifies zero-knowledge/validity proofs and posts the results to Ethereum. It is designed to provide high throughput, cheap proof verification with low latency.
- Avantis – Avatnis’ infrastructure provides traders access to up to 100x leverage for major cryptocurrencies, forex and commodities pairs.
- Compute Labs – Compute Labs leverages its self-developed Compute Tokenization Protocol to financialize AI, enable direct exposure to compute assets, and create compute derivatives, empowering investors to effortlessly yield from compute, the currency of the future.
- Crynux – Founded by ex-Google engineers and scientists, Crynux is building a permissionless and trustless protocol for truly decentralized AI.
- eoracle – eoracle is a programmable data layer that extends Ethereum Proof of Stake to connect smart contracts with real-world data.
- EXO – Exo allows you to run your own AI cluster at home using everyday devices.
- EZKL – EZKL is a developer-friendly system for verifiable AI and analytics. With tens of millions of proofs computed every month, it powers a variety of delegated and decentralized systems
- Lorenzo – Lorenzo is the Bitcoin Liquidity Finance Layer, designed to meet the growing global demand for Bitcoin liquidity across L2s, DeFi, and trading platforms. It enables Bitcoin holders to efficiently invest in top yield opportunities through its premier DeFi ecosystem.
- Nodekit – NodeKit is building Javelin, the first superbuilder restoring composability to rollups.
- Nubit – Nubit is a scalable, cost-efficient, data availability layer secured by Bitcoin for the Bitcoin community. Nubit enables the scaling of Bitcoin’s data capacities, empowering applications like Ordinals, Layer 2s, and price oracles, thus broadening the scope and efficiency of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
- Othentic – Othentic provides infrastructure to build distributed services. Their infra simplifies AVS development on Eigenlayer, with over 30 projects leveraging the Othentic stack.
- PADO – PADO is a Decentralized zkAttestation and Computation Network with the vision of liberating locked Internet data to Web3.
- Pallet – Pallet Exchange is the hub for digital culture, community, and ownership on Sei.
- Pin AI – PIN AI is The Open Platform for Personal AI. Built on open source AI, leveraging crypto for data ownership & privacy.
- Stakestone – StakeStone is an omni-chain Liquid Staking Token (LST) protocol enhancing staking yields and liquidity on Layer 2s. Its architecture supports multi-chain liquidity with its native token, STONE, and introduces the Optimizing Portfolio and Allocation Proposal (OPAP) for transparent and optimized yields.
- TAC – TON App Chain (TAC) is an interoperability layer for TON blockchain and EVM-based applications.
- Warlock – Warlock is building new primitives to disrupt and disintermediate the MEV landscape.
“With the level of talent and innovation we’re witnessing in this new group, we are entirely confident that they can emulate, if not surpass, their predecessors,” said Nailwal.
Beacon’s biannual three-month program runs provides startups with mentorship, resources, and capital to accelerate their growth and development, with the program having established itself as a premier launchpad for web3 innovation.
About Beacon:
Beacon is an early-stage web3 accelerator program for promising startups. Launched by Polygon and Symbolic Capital co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, the program supports DeFi, gaming, infrastructure, AI, and other web3 ventures with financing, mentorship and resources, with the aim of identifying projects that serve real-world needs. The 12-week program runs twice per year.
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Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin (BTC) Pushes Toward $100K Again, Ripple (XRP) Goes Beyond $1.5 (Market Watch)
Following a few days of retracements and consolidation during the weekend, bitcoin seems to be preparing for another charge toward the coveted $100,000 target.
Many altcoins have also turned green today, with AVAX skyrocketing to almost $50 and XRP reclaiming the $1.5 level.
Is BTC Aiming at $100K Again?
It was a highly positive trading week for BTC as the asset started last Monday at around $90,000 but quickly resumed its bull rally and shot up to a new all-time high at the time on Wednesday of $94,000. After a minor pullback, it went on the offensive again, and broke above $95,000 on Thursday.
The gains continued on Friday when bitcoin came agonizingly close to $100,000. In fact, it was just $200 away from it on Friday evening, but the bears managed to defend that level and didn’t allow it to break.
The weekend went with some retracements, as the cryptocurrency slipped to $98,000 on Saturday and below $96,000 on Sunday evening. Nevertheless, it managed to bounce off and has neared $99,000 once again now. This has put the $100,000 speculations back on the table for today.
For now, BTC’s market cap has risen above $1.950 trillion on CG, but its dominance over the alts is down again, this time to 55.3%.
AVAX Shoots Up
The altcoins also registered some notable price declines on Sunday evening, but most have managed to reverse the trend. ETH is up by 2.5% and now sits above $3,450. SOL has climbed above $250 after a 1.4% daily increase. DOGE, ADA, TON, SHIB, and SUI have marked minor price gains as well.
Ripple has jumped above $1.5 once more after adding 6% since yesterday. LINK, DOT, NEAR, ICP, and BCH have also increased by substantial percentages in a day.
Avalanche’s native token is the top performer today, gaining over 14%. As a result, AVAX now sits close to $50.
The total crypto market cap has recovered most of the Sunday losses and is up to $3.550 trillion on CG.
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Cryptocurrency
Did Ripple Win the SEC Lawsuit? CLO Alderoty’s Mystic Tweet Sparks Rumors
TL;DR
- While Ripple has secured key partial victories in its lawsuit with the SEC, a complete resolution has yet to be officially announced.
- The company’s CLO, Stuart Alderoty, praised the resilience of the team and the support of the XRP community, hinting at a potential turning point in the battle.
Is the Case Over?
The legal tussle between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is one of the hottest topics in the cryptocurrency space. It dates back to December 2020 when the watchdog sued the firm, accusing it of raising over $1.3 billion through an unregistered securities offering by selling its native cryptocurrency, XRP.
The case underwent countless developments over the years, with Ripple securing some vital partial court wins. Most recently, the company’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, shared a post on X, hinting at a complete victory and fueling huge enthusiasm across the XRP community.
He praised the “courage” and “resilience” of Ripple’s team, which “provided the blueprint to defeat Gary Gensler’s inexplicable war on crypto.”
“We kept the door open long enough for the industry to survive and seize this incredible moment. The faith and support of the XRP Army provided much-needed hope in the darkest days. Thank you,” the post reads.
While no official announcement signals that the case has been officially settled, numerous X users assumed that Alderoty could have inside information that the upcoming Trump administration may propel a faster resolution.
Gensler Has Less Than 2 Months Left
The XRP army had a cause for celebration recently. As CryptoPotato reported last week, the SEC’s Chairman Gary Gensler confirmed he will step down on January 20. During his tenure, the agency filed numerous lawsuits against crypto businesses (such as the aforementioned versus Ripple).
His departure was somewhat expected since Donald Trump promised to fire him on day 1 after assuming office. We have yet to see who Gensler’s successor will be, and the indications are that the new Chairman might have a pro-crypto stance.
Despite the SEC’s leadership change, the case against Ripple remains ongoing. It will be interesting to see if a potential resolution announcement will follow Alderoty’s mystic post or if we will have to wait until next year to witness more drastic developments.
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Cryptocurrency
This Viral Meme Coin Soars by 50% Daily Amid Speculations About Binance Listing: Details
TL;DR
- CHILLGUY’s price headed north in the last 24 hours, outperforming DOGE, SHIB, and other leading meme coins.
- While investing in meme coins might sound quite intriguing, it carries high risks, especially for inexperienced traders, and can lead to significant losses.
Pumping Again
The meme coin niche has started recovering from the latest correction, with numerous assets charting mild gains in the past 24 hours. However, there are some whose prices have exploded by double digits for the same period.
One evident example is the recently launched Solana-based meme coin – Just a chill guy (CHILLGUY). Its valuation is up almost 50% on a daily scale, currently trading at around $0.44. Its market cap briefly exceeded $500 million before slightly retracing to $440 million.
The exact reason behind the asset’s rally remains unknown. However, multiple market participants have recently speculated that the token might be listed on Binance. Support from such a major exchange will increase CHILLGUY’s accessibility and boost its liquidity, potentially leading to another price explosion.
The asset saw the light of day last week, quickly capturing the crypto community’s attention. Among the people touching upon its progress was El Salvador’s BTC-loving president – Nayib Bukele. He posted a picture of the smirking dog (the logo of CHILLGUY) on his official X account, sparking a flurry of reactions.
Still Far Away From the Top
Despite its solid pump as of late, CHILLGUY has yet to catch up with the sector’s leaders. Dogecoin (DOGE) remains the biggest meme coin, with a market capitalization of over $63 billion. Shiba Inu (SHIB) follows next with $15.3 billion, while Pepe (PEPE), Bonk Inu (BONK), and dogwifhat (WIF) are below the $10 billion mark.
Memes have become one of the highlights of this bull cycle, offering the chance of impressive profits to people who jump on the bandwagon at the right time and cash out before it’s too late.
On the other hand, the niche could be quite dangerous to inexperienced and overleveraged traders and might lead to crucial losses.
Those about to enter the ecosystem should follow some key rules, such as investing only as much as they are ready to lose and conducting proper research beforehand.
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