[PRESS RELEASE – San Jose, Costa Rica, December 23rd, 2024]

Winna.com, a crypto-focused casino gaming platform launched in the summer of 2024, has successfully raised $15 million in a seed funding round, as first reported by Crunchbase.

The investment will support Winna.com in enhancing its product offerings and accelerating its growth. The platform already boasts a thriving community of over 10,000 active players, signaling strong early traction in the competitive online gambling space.

Transforming Online Gambling Through Crypto

Paul Martens, CEO and Co-Founder of Winna.com, highlighted the growing appeal of crypto casinos. “More and more players are recognizing the significant advantages that crypto and Bitcoin casinos offer over traditional online platforms. Privacy and the ability to gamble anonymously are key drivers for this shift,” he said.

Martens also praised the platform’s commitment to transparency through its provably fair gaming system. “Provably fair games give players a unique opportunity to gamble with confidence, knowing the outcomes are not only fair but also verifiable by anyone,” he added.

Winna currently features a range of provably fair crypto games, including Mines, Plinko, Roulette, Blackjack, Keno, and Dice. Martens revealed plans to leverage the recent funding to expand their portfolio, particularly in player versus player (PvP) games.

“We aim to develop more innovative crypto games that continue to deliver an industry-low house edge of just 1%,” he said.

Diverse Offerings for Every Player

In addition to its original crypto games, Winna.com offers over 4,000 slots, live casino games, and game shows from leading providers such as Pragmatic Play, Hacksaw Gaming, Evolution, and more. The platform also operates a crypto-first sportsbook, featuring live coverage of over 10,000 events across 100+ tournaments, including major leagues like the NFL, NBA, UFC, MLB, and the Premier League.

Building Trust and Speed in Online Gambling

When asked why players choose Winna.com, Martens emphasized the platform’s commitment to trust and user satisfaction. “Trust is at the core of our brand. Players know they’ll receive their winnings within seconds, and every game round is fair and verifiable. We prioritize our users’ privacy and avoid unnecessary procedures that are common with some of our competitors,” he stated.

VIP Excellence and Industry-Leading Rewards

Winna.com’s team includes four VIP hosts with extensive experience in physical gaming establishments like MGM in Las Vegas.

Elias Platzer, Head of Player Development, explained the importance of their VIP program. “Our VIP program is a cornerstone of our identity. We’re committed to offering the most rewarding experience, with unmatched bonuses and rewards through our Rakeback program,” Platzer said.

A Vision for the Future

Martens concluded by sharing his vision for Winna.com’s future. “We are set to transform the online gaming experience by developing unique games, delivering a one-of-a-kind VIP program, and setting new standards for trust and transparency in the industry,” he said.

With its innovative approach, commitment to fairness, and focus on user satisfaction, Winna.com aims to contribute meaningfully to the crypto gambling industry.

Winna.com is the source of this content. This Press Release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest.

About Winna.com

Launched in the summer of 2024, Winna.com is a cutting-edge crypto casino and sportsbook with offices in Costa Rica and Switzerland. Backed by a team of seasoned professionals from the traditional iGaming and crypto industries, Winna.com offers provably fair crypto games, thousands of slots and live casino options, and a crypto-first sportsbook. Focused on trust, fast payouts, and exceptional VIP experiences, Winna.com is redefining the online gaming experience for crypto enthusiasts worldwide.

Days after Binance introduced its pre-listing token selection pool, Binance Alpha, it launched 29 tokens with mixed performances.

Data shared by crypto analysts Sankin shows that out of the listed cryptocurrencies, 17 have seen their values increase while 12 experienced declines.

Small-Cap Tokens Lead the Pack

In a December 23 post on X, Sankin noted a trend where smaller market-cap assets generally performed better than their larger counterparts.

Those with fully diluted valuations (FDVs) below $20 million dominated the leaderboard, with assets like Shoggoth (SHOGGOTH), Frodo the Virtual Samurai (FROG), Bob (BOB), Terminus (TERMINUS), and Numogram (GNON) all achieving gains of more than 100%.

Shoggoth, a Solana-based meme coin that is part of the AI agent sector, took the top spot, skyrocketing 134.66% since its launch on the platform on December 20. Two other meme coins, FROG and BOB, followed with gains of 123.19% and 122.08%, respectively, although FROG has enjoyed an extra day of listing, having been launched on December 19.

Other notable performers included Solana AI agent GNON, whose value went up 104.93%, and Ethereum-based meme coin Terminus, which jumped 104.15%.

Among larger capped coins, the decentralized finance (DeFi) project Odos (ODOS), with a listing FDV of $193 million, recorded the best performance, gaining 65.88% over the weekend. It was followed at 54.77% by another Solana meme coin, Luce (LUCE), and AICell (AICELL), an AI token on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), whose worth increased by 32.10%.

On the flip side, Apx (APX) and Griffain (GRIFFAIN), respectively boasting FDVs of $708.73 million and $242.64 million, suffered the steepest declines. The former blew 28.12% of its value, while the latter followed closely with a 25.41% drop.

A couple of popular Solana tokens, ai16z (AI16Z) and Fartcoin (FARTCOIN), also performed poorly, losing 18.53% and 16.38% in that order.

Fartcoin, which last week hit a new all-time high (ATH), initially had the biggest FDV of all the tokens listed on Binance Alpha at $862.63 million, with ai16z second at just under $800 million. However, the weekend dips mean they are currently worth $721.36 million and $651 million respectively.

Diverse Performances Across Chains and Sectors

The 29 tokens were distributed across four public blockchains: BSC, Solana, Ethereum, and Base. Per Sankin’s findings, BSC dominated the listings, accounting for more than 41% of all the assets, while Solana followed with 27.6%. Ethereum and Base split the remaining 31% of listings between them, with the former claiming 17.2% of the projects and Base accounting for 13.8%.

The performance also varied significantly by sector. Most of those labeled as AI agents emerged as the top category, representing 31% of the listings, with DeFi and meme tokens tied for second at 27.6% apiece. The remaining 13.8% consisted of smaller categories like decentralized science (DeSci) and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), represented by tokens like Rifampicin ($RIF) and Koge (KOGE).

[PRESS RELEASE – Paris, France, December 23rd, 2024]

Usual, the decentralized stablecoin protocol, announces a $10M Series A funding round led by Binance Labs and Kraken Ventures, with participation from Galaxy Ventures, Guy from Ethena, Ondo, Coinbase Ventures, IOSG Ventures, OKX Ventures, Wintermute, Echo, Fasanara Digital, Symbolic Capital, Amber, GSR, Psalion, Hypersphere Ventures, Avid3, FunFair Ventures, Leadblock Partners, Phaedrus, JPEG Trading, White Loop Capital, and Krypital.

This funding milestone follows Usual’s achievements:

• Surpassing $1.4B in Total Value Locked.
• Ranking among the Top 5 stablecoins.
• Usual is the first fiat-backed stablecoin to demonstrate sustained hypergrowth since Circle.

Pioneering a New Era for Stablecoins and leading DeFi

Usual aiming to stand out with a DeFi-first spirit and an innovative model of redistributing ownership to its users. It represents a turning point for fiat-backed stablecoins, blending the security of real-world assets (RWAs) with DeFi’s composability and liquidity.

This summer, Usual became the fastest-growing stablecoin on Ethereum, achieving the first-ever hypergrowth for a fiat-backed stablecoin. By embracing synergies with projects like Ethena and Securitize (BlackRock BUIDL tokenizer), Usual is driving a new era of mature stablecoins that create meaningful opportunities for users beyond simple yield.

Notably, Usual has unlocked new avenues for collaboration with RWA tokenization platforms, as demonstrated by USYC’s growth via Usual’s ecosystem, showcasing the potential for creating real-world financial bridges in DeFi. More recently, Usual also adopted M^0 as an alternative collateral structure for its stablecoin, USD0.

Community-First Token Launch

Usual continues to push boundaries by committing 90% of its token allocation to the community. Already live on Binance’s spot market and following a successful community airdrop, Usual is now setting its sights on becoming one of the top 5 stablecoin projects.

Leadership Statements

Pierre Person, CEO and Co-Founder of Usual Labs commented on the news; “We are proud to announce this funding round, which cements Usual as one of the most promising projects of 2024 in both the stablecoin and DeFi ecosystems. This milestone will propel Usual’s expansion from DeFi into CeFi, with the support of backers who are committed to reshaping the stablecoin landscape.”

Adli Takkal Bataille, DEO and Co-Founder of Usual Lab commented on the news; “Over the past five months, Usual has demonstrated its robustness through an innovative model of value redistribution. We are bringing fiat-backed stablecoins into the DeFi era, and the next phase of our journey will accelerate this transformation, creating unprecedented opportunities for users.”

About Usual

Usual is a secure and decentralized fiat-backed stablecoin issuer that redistributes value and ownership through the $USUAL token

For more information, users can visit their website and X.