This Week In DeFi – August 19

This week, CoinFund raises $300M for a new Web3 fund, Tether takes back the spotlight and Unstoppable domains launches as app for managing yourWeb3 identity.

Aug 19, 2022

This week, web3 investment company CoinFund has announced a new $300 million fund with backing from institutional investors, family offices and crypto founders. Managing partner David Pakman says he has “never seen a bigger opportunity” in his 30-year tech career than crypto and web3.

The fund, named “Ventures 1”, will continue to back CoinFund’s portfolio companies as they aim to raise Series A funding, while also seeking out new investments.

CoinFund @coinfund_io

Ventures I seeks to back the most ambitious founders in crypto sub-sectors demonstrating early traction and large potential market sizes.

blog.coinfund.ioCoinFund Announces New Early-Stage $300M Web3 Venture FundComplements CoinFund’s existing and successful strategies

Stablecoin leader Tether has regained some traction following USDC’s token freezes amidst the Tornado Cash saga, as its market cap rose $2 billion since the controversy. Tether is also attempting to clear up its own image, recruiting BDO Italia to provide periodic attestations for its USDT reserves. The company has also stated it aims to obtain a “complete audit” in the future.

Paolo Ardoino 🕳🥊 @paoloardoino

Ahem... And now what? #tether attestations will be completed by BDO Italia, part of BDO global, top 5 accounting firm. First one tomorrow. Next step: monthly attestations. https://t.co/eLci2x0siN

Tether @Tether_to

Tether Announces Alignment With Top Five Accounting Firm And Confirms Attestations Will Now Be Completed By BDO Italia https://t.co/2vO7F2c3b2

Unstoppable Domains has launched a new app to enable users to manage their Web3 identity on-the-go. iOS users can now mint and manage decentralized domains on their mobile device, as well as build a profile card to share their digital identity.

The app also supports WalletConnect for easy connections to 180+ DApps, as well as its own “Login with Unstoppable” service that controls the sharing of your data.

eddiee.nft @eddiee_nft

Introducing the @unstoppableweb mobile app! 📱✨ Your identity and login for Web3, securely managed at your fingertips Thread 👇 (1 of 23)

Dogecoin has rallied this week following the launch of Dogechain, a smart-contract compatible network based on Polygon Edge. The platform, powered by wrapped DOGE, is already home to multiple decentralized exchanges and dog-themed tokens.

Many users have already bridged their tokens to the new chain, in hopes that they will receive an airdrop of Dogechain tokens.

Dogechain💜 (Giving away a Tesla) @DogechainFamily

230 Million $DOGE and climbing currently bridged over at #DogeChain ...

Ethereum’s potential proof-of-work fork appears to be losing hype, as price crashes on BitMEX futures and Poloniex. Token markets fro ETHPOW are now forecasting a price of around $50 – representing a relatively insignificant fraction of the current $1865 market price.

Despite a very strong ideology behind retaining the proof-of-work algorithm, it looks like the market and ecosystem participants have made a very clear, unanimous choice to back the proof-of-stake upgrade.

Meanwhile, the stablecoin market remains at war. Huobi’s HUSD has drifted significantly from its $1 peg, despite supposedly being fully-backed by reserves. Acala’s aUSD also had its own troubles, fighting off a smart-contract exploit to get back to its own peg. It seems almost no stablecoin is 100% safe right now – especially following USDC’s freezing of tokens last week.

Tether has capitalized on the stablecoin ecosystem mess, making a push for greater transparency as competitors struggle. Monthly attestations from BDO may not be enough for Tether naysayers, however it will be one step in the right direction for the infamous company.

Can they make good on renewed promises of an audit, though? It will be a pleasant surprise indeed, if so.