pLawmakers in El Salvador made history last Tuesday when they voted to adopt Bitcoin as a new form of legal tender Congress approved President Nayib Bukeles proposal to embrace the cryptocurrency withnbsp out of possible votesnbspThe historic announcement garnered praise from leaders of other South American world leaders including Argentina Paraguay Brazil and Panama Most of which are now frantically trying to organize a plan to make their country the next to adopt favorable cryptocurrency legislationnbspppThe bill passed by El Salvador lawmakers explicitly referred to Bitcoin as a means ofnbspcircumventing hostile actionsnbsptaken by Central Banks such as the FED and the ECB In a tweet shortly before the bill was passed President Bukele said quotIt will bring financial inclusion investment tourism innovation and economic development for our countryquotnbspBukele also instructed stateowned geothermal electric firm LaGeo to develop a plan to offer bitcoin mining facilities using renewable energy from the countrys volcanoesppIn El Salvador around percent of the population do not use or have access to banking services This is particularly concerning for El Salvador considering remittances representnbspa hrefhttpsapnewscomarticlesansalvadorcoronaviruspandemicelsalvadorcddcaafabcbtextRemittancesaccountforpercentandbenefitaboutChouseholds targetblankroughly anbspof their annual GDP Using the traditional financial system sometimes up to of a remittance payment can be taken as fees by the various intermediaries that touch the transaction In a country where th of the GDP comes from foreign remittance the importance of a peertopeer monetary network like Bitcoin can not be understatednbspppnbspppstrongWhat This Means for CryptostrongppThis may be the biggest news for Bitcoin ever The adoption of Bitcoin on a national scale has long been the goal of Bitcoiners but few suspected that day to come so soon Similar to how Microstrategys Bitcoin announcement set off a chain reaction of corporations holding Bitcoin on their balance sheet this announcement will surely lead to a tidal wave of developing nations racing to adopt Bitcoin as a means of paymentnbspppnbspppstrongCurrency is a Game of PowerstrongppThe dominance of the United States on a global stage has largely stemmed from two factors their military and their currency With most developed nations now setting their sites on central bank digital currencies it seemed almost inevitable that power would continue to consolidate towards the largest governments in the world However announcements like these may change everything Now that the example has been set for countries to adopt a decentralized and nationless currency we are less beholden to the powers of our own Central Bank Decentralization always follows the path of least resistance and in doing so it has become the answer for the developing world The place that needs it the mostnbspnbspppFinally now that El Salvador has declared Bitcoin as legal tender in their country other countries must now view it as a foreign currency This means it will no longer be able to be taxed as an asset and must instead be thought of as a foreign investment incomenbspnbspp

pMiami is quickly ascending as one of the most forwardthinking cities in the world when it comes to quickly That was put on display last week for Bitcoin Week in Miami Conference organizers estimated that over people attended the twoday event Crypto investors including the industrys best and brightest minds came together alongside everyday investors and enthusiasts making it the biggest Bitcoin event of all time The event was packed with toptier industry experts gaming stations VR and fun brand activations like a ceremonial quotcash is trashquot fiat bonfire They even toilet paper printed with bills on each rollppOur team made the trip and it did not disappoint Here is a recap of some of our highlights from the weekpulliOpening Remarks from MiaminbspMayor Francis Suareznbspsaid he wants Miami to become the crypto capital of the worldliliMichael Saylor and Max KaisernbspFireside Chat Bitcoin emerging as the alpha asset of the human race How Michael Saylors Bitcoin purchase revitalized his career his company morale and his balance sheetliliFormer Presidential CandidatenbspRon Paulnbsp quotEverybody wants monetary freedom I would hope buthellipI want to clarify that because some people want free money and thats different Theres a lot of free money circulating out there these days and its all fake and its all political corruption that goes in hellip It makes the country poorer no matter how many people get richer in the meantimequotliliJack Dorseynbsp Talking about his life work shifting to growing the adoption of Bitcoin quotWhatever I can do mdash whatever my companies can do mdash to make Bitcoin accessible to everyone that is what I will do for the rest of my lifequot he saidliliCharity WaternbspAnnouncing Their Bitcoin Trust Charity Water is a USbased charity that works to build wells and provide clean drinking water to the world They are launching a Bitcoin Trust in which they are asking for donations from people in the amount of BTC each They will then hold this Bitcoin for a full market cycle sell it in and use of the proceeds to advance their missionliulpThe week was also packed with many auxiliary events hosted by crypto firms to bring the industry together Some of our favorite events of the week were thenbspa hrefhttpsnftsummitnet targetblankNFT Summitanbspand thenbspa hrefhttpsnftbazlcom targetblankNFT Bazlnbspahosted by GDA Capital As well as thenbspa hrefhttpswwwprimetrustcom targetblankPrime TrustanbspAfter PartyppWhile crypto is truly a global phenomenon Miami is quickly taking the lead in relation to crypto regulation and adoption If you didnt have a chance to make the event this year we highly recommend you circle this one on your calendar next yearp

pOne of our most anticipated projects of is a crosschain crypto launchpad calledppa hrefhttpsgemstarterio targetblankGemStartera We love the team and think they are building essential technology that will accelerate the growth of our ecosystem We even put our money where our mouth is and invested in the company at seed stage through our earlystage venture fund CW VenturesppGemStarter has been known as the bridge to a new world of fundraising across all smartcontractbased blockchains Accessible for everybody with a democratized tier system redesigned from scratch and allowing for investment at any stage of project development After completing a successful Seed Private A and Private B rounds from internationally recognized venture funds likenbspa hrefhttpsmoonwhaleventures targetblankMoonwhale Venturesa Gemstarter is now ready to take their project to the next level Synapse Network CoFounder Micha Domarecki says ldquoAt Synapse Network we want to go beyond being a launchpad mdash we are also harnessing the power of decentralized finance and blockchain to democratize blockchain incubation and fundraisingrdquoppBuilding on their existing tech and pioneering to solve market inefficiencies Synapse Network is offering groundbreaking products to the investment marketpullistrongAcceleratorstrongnbspmdash access to accelerator amp incubator for startups and entrepreneurs where ideas are converted into working productslilistrongLaunchpadstrongnbspmdash a chainagnostic platform matching projects and private investors enabling investment opportunities in earlystage startups to everyonelilistrongDEXnbspstrongmdash a safe simple and userfriendly crosschain decentralized exchangelilistrongDeFi Marketplacestrongnbspmdash a simple and secure platform allowing token holders users to stake their token earn rewards and APR and participate in the eventslilistrongInvestment Syndicatestrongnbspmdash a network of trusted and reliable VC funds business angels tech partners private investors and blockchain projects providing fasttrack access to capital technology and partnershipsliulpThe launch of Synapse Network will be unique in its scale and scope We believe it will be a giant leap forward in the adoption and acceleration of blockchainbased projects as well as the growth of our industry It is the first solution of this type to increase blockchain adoption by connecting it to traditional markets and democratizing investment in crypto assetsp

pIn an excitingly positive turn for the crypto industry more and more institutional investors highnetworth individuals and family funds are showing keenness to invest in digital assets In the latest addition to this growing trend US billionaire Carl Icahn is reportedly contemplating anbspa hrefhttpsmarketsbusinessinsidercomcurrenciesnewscarlicahncryptocurrencyinvestmentbilliondigitalassetsbitcoinskeptic targetblank billion investmentanbspin digital currencies Icahn is the latest billionaire to flip his stance on cryptocurrencies after tellingnbspa hrefhttpswwwcnbccomcarlicahnbitcoinandothercryptocurrenciesareridiculoushtml targetblankCNBC in anbspthat he thought cryptocurrencies were quotridiculousquotppHowever the activist investor is now selfadmittedly looking at investing in crypto in ldquoa relatively big wayrdquo where ldquobigrdquo could mean ldquo billion to oneandahalf billionrdquo Icahnrsquos wellknown pessimism about cryptocurrencies had once led him to compare cryptocurrencies with the th century Mississippi land bubble That pessimism does not exist anymore as Icahn is now interested in the overall crypto business and not only a few lucrative coinsnbspppRevising his stand to a great extent Icahn now believes that cryptocurrencies are here to stay in one form or another Icahnrsquos potential investment plans in digital assets follow a substantially long trail of big businesses going after digital assets Another billionaire investor Mark Cuban known for his sarcastic jabs said that ldquoa hrefhttpswwwforbescomsitesbillybambroughtechbillionairemarkcubanpicksbananasoverbitcoinshccce targetblankIrsquod rather have bananas than bitcoinaquot He too now owns a substantial position in bitcoin Cuban is also an ardent advocate of nonfungible tokensrdquoppThe Bridgewater Associates founder and billionaire hedge fund boss Ray Dalio has also flipped in favour of Bitcoin He sees an inflationary future where ldquocash is trashrdquo and BTC becomes a store of wealth However his assessment is tempered with caution He doubts that the governments will tolerate it Worth billion Howard Marks the cofounder of alternative investment management firm Oaktree Capital says he has reconsidered his previous ldquodismissiverdquo stance on bitcoin These instances show that crypto is gaining momentum and changing the perception of skeptics globallynbspppAs the trail of billionaireflippedbitcoiners gets longer and longer the future of digital assets becomes clearer and clearer When analyzing the investment strategies of the wealthiest people on earth it is always a better idea to quotwatch what they do not what they sayquot It is no secret that money is resoundingly flooding the crypto markets and buying the discount So for all those that have been here with us for years all we have to say isnbspCONGRATULATIONSnbspfor beating the billionaires to the punchp

pLast Friday the cryptocurrency industry witnessed the largest raisenbspin its history Circle the parent company of the fastest growing cryptocurrency stablecoin USDC raised million from a host of backers includingnbspFidelity FTX Digital Currency Group Marshall Wace Valor Capital Group Pillar VC Intersection Fintech Ventures Atlas Merchant Capital and Willett Advisors among othersnbspSources say Circle couldnbspa hrefhttpswwwtheblockcryptocompostaftermillionfundraisecircleissaidtobeconsideringaspacdeal targetblankgo public via SPACanbsponce the deal closes The company says its target valuation for the SPAC is around billionppCircles business has grown alongside the supply of USDC having built out API services to help businesses engage with the stablecoin business The total supply of USDC recently surpassednbsp billion Circle makes money from the dollar reserves that underpin the stablecoinnbspppCircles CEO and CoFounder Jeremy Allaire said in an interview withnbspa hrefhttpsfortunecomcryptostartupcirclefidelityftxstablecoinusdccoinbasefundingspac targetblankForbesanbspthat quotWeve been pursuing this overall mission this vision of making money work the way the Internet works Thats been part of the vision from day onequotnbspThe new funding round follows a strategicnbspraise ofnbsp millionnbspled by Digital Currency Group in Circle also raised million in a round that valued the company at billionp

pLast week was Earth Day so many in the crypto community took this opportunity to address common misconceptions surrounding the quotlongFUDedquotnbspa hrefhttpswwwcoindeskcomfrustratingmaddeningallconsumingbitcoinenergydebate targetblankBitcoin energy debatea Bitcoin Haters will say that if it scales as a monetary network it will use more energy than exists on the earth However most arguments against Bitcoin in this subject are simply misinformed or willfully ignorant It seems that the energy conversation is the easiest talking point for detractors to draw at however many of the facts are commonly misconstruedppstrongSquarersquos White PaperstrongppThought leaders in the Bitcoin community revisited these somewhat hackneyed arguments when on st April Jack Dorseynbspa hrefhttpstwittercomjackstatus targetblankretweetedanbspone of Squares crypto white papers saying that ldquoBitcoin incentivizes renewable energyrdquo The paper that Dorsey tweeted argued in favor of Bitcoin asnbspkey to an abundant and clean energy future It drew attention towards the opportunity Bitcoin mining presents to accelerate the global energy transition to renewables by serving as a complementary technology for clean energy production and storageppIt suggested that Bitcoin miners as a flexible load option could potentially help solve much of thenbspintermittency and congestionnbspproblems that remain a deployment bottleneck for Solar and Wind energy sources The paper marked Bitcoin miners as unique energy buyers who offer highly flexible and easily interruptible load while providing payout in a globally liquid cryptocurrency Moreover they are completely location agnostic and require only an internet connectionppBy deploying more renewable energy sources such as solar and wind these generation technologies like Bitcoin mining will fall even further down their respective cost curves It will very likely bring them closer tonbspzero marginal costnbspenergy productionppHow fast the Bitcoin network becomes a unique energy buyer enabling the society to deploy substantially more solar and wind generation capacity that we will have to see But it will definitely facilitate the transition to a cleaner and more resilient electricity grid where energy asset owners of today can become the essential bitcoin miners of the future So next time someone cites Bitcoins energy consumption as a negative remember it is Bitcoin that is forging the way towards a more sustainable energy futurep

pInjunctive Protocol a decentralized derivatives exchange announced the completion of a M quotpartyquotnbspa hrefhttpswwwtheblockcryptocomlinkedinjectiveprotocolraisesmillionmarkcubanothers targetblankfunding roundanbsplast week in the form of a private placement token sale at a billion future valuation Several wellknown venture capital firms includingnbspa hrefhttpspanteracapitalcom targetblankPantera Capitalanbspa hrefhttpswwwblocktowercom targetblankBlockTowera Hashed Ventures CMS Holdings and QCP Capital participated in addition to billionaire entrepreneurnbspa hrefhttpsenwikipediaorgwikiMarkCuban targetblankMark CubanappCombining the advantages of centralized and decentralized exchangesnbspa hrefhttpsinjectiveprotocolcom targetblankInjective Protocolsanbspquotgoal is to enable an unparalleled decentralized trading experience whereby retail traders globally can for the first time access limitless markets without the typical predatory fees and slow transaction timesquot saysnbspa hrefhttpstwittercomericinjectivelangen targetblankEric Chena CEO Launched in December of last year Injective is the first universal layer DEX enabling crosschain crypto and synthetic asset trading across spot perpetual swaps and futuresppa hrefhttpsinjectiveprotocolcomecosystem targetblankThe protocolanbspuses both thenbspa hrefhttpsethereumorgen targetblankEthereumanbspandnbspa hrefhttpsvcosmosnetworksdk targetblankCosmos SDKanbspecosystems throughnbspa hrefhttpsblogcosmosnetworktheinternetofblockchainshowcosmosdoesinteroperabilitystartingwiththeethereumpegzoneddbcf targetblankpeg zonesanbspin order to create a fast secure and fully decentralized trading infrastructure that allows anyone to create and trade without the expensive gas feesnbspa hrefhttpswwwcoingeckocomencoinsinjectiveprotocol targetblankINJanbspis the protocols native token and supports protocol governance fee value capture exchange collateral participation incentives and PoS securityppDue to the size of the investment Injective issued the native tokens to investors through the protocols treasury Injective sold the tokens with a lockup period of year at a billiondollar valuation At the time of writing INJ is trading at with a market cap of M With the proceeds Injective looks to upgrade its trading platform and double itsnbspcurrent team of by next year They will also initiate an internal trading desk to help with the exchanges liquidity hiring a head trader from Tower Researchp

pUsually we save our Bitcoin analysis for later in the newsletter but this week the story needs to be front and center What is happening to Bitcoin and have we really reached the end of the bull market In order to shed some light on the causes of this major selloff we have listed a few major explanations for the crashppChina Cracks down on Bitcoin Mining and Crypto BankingnbspThe National Internet Finance Association of China the China Banking Association and the Payment and Clearing Association of China published anbspa hrefhttpswwwcoindeskcombeijingscryptocrackdownisnotnewbutdontdismissit targetblanknoticenbspasaying member financial institutions should not provide services to cryptorelated transactions or investment funds While heavy crypto regulation is nothing new to the Chinese market this message was much more explicit than the warnings issued in and nbspDays later news broke of a new crackdown on coalpowered Bitcoin mining in an effortnbsptonbspmake good on thenbspgovernmentrsquos commitment to meet its clean energy and emission goalsnbspCurrently of the mining power on the Bitcoin network comes from China much of which is powered by dirty energy sources in MongolianbspIf a full crackdown on banking services and mining does take effect in China it could be a devastating blow to the hash power on the network as well as access to the crypto market for their citizens It should be noted that this ban does not prohibit citizens from owning Bitcoin however it does target banking institutions and private bitcoin miners with the hope of making it extremely difficult for Chinese citizens to get access to the crypto marketsppEnergy Consumption FUDnbspThenbspa hrefhttpswwwcoindeskcomfrustratingmaddeningallconsumingbitcoinenergydebate targetblankenergy usage debateanbsphas long been an Achilles Heal for Bitcoiners While this debate has been addressed time and time again each bull market brings in many newcoiners and it can be difficult to distinguish between truth and fiction The energy consumption narrative was exacerbated by Elon Musk when he made the announcement that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin as a form of payment citing ESG concerns This caused a cascade of selling from ESG investors and institutionsppnbspppExcessive LeveragenbspWhile leverage did not cause the drop it did do a lot to accelerate the speed and depth of the decline Because traders were so leveraged long on the crypto market a small pullback was enough to liquidate highly levered positions In fact overnbspa hrefhttpsfinanceyahoocomnewsovercryptotradershtml targetblank positionsanbspwere liquidated aka completely lost in a hour span from May th to th Leverage is present in all markets but perhaps most prevalent in crypto You would be hardpressed to find another market that offers such ridiculous amounts of leverage up to x as in crypto In order for this market to take the next step as a global asset class this leverage epidemic needs to be addressedppnbspppMarket StructurenbspIt comes as no surprise to anyone that the crypto markets have been overheated With the price of Bitcoin rising over in a month span a pullback was almost inevitable Moreover given that the new Bitcoin highs were gettingnbspa hrefhttpswwwtradingviewcomxazDu targetblankshorter and closer togethera signaled that the parabolic move was losing steam Once Bitcoin was unable to print a higher high on May th the market lost faith in the upward momentum and the selloff beganppnbspppstrongSo is the Bull Market OverstrongppAlthough it is impossible to say with certainty we are extremely confident that the bull run will continue this year Similar to the rally this bull run looks destine to have two major legs We look at this dip as a golden buying opportunity before the next leg up The general feeling of those in the industry is that these losses will be recovered in short orderp

pa hrefhttpszapperfi targetblankZappera the decentralized finance DeFi dashboard for over monthly users announced a Mnbspa hrefhttpswwwcoindeskcomdefidashboardzapperraisesmtobuildonplatformappstore targetblankSeries Aanbspround lead bynbspa hrefhttpswwwframeworkvc targetblankFramework Venturesanbsplast weeknbspa hrefhttpsenwikipediaorgwikiMarkCuban targetblankMark Cubananbspand Ashton Kutchersnbspa hrefhttpssoundventurescomabout targetblankSound Venturesanbspalso participated in the roundppBorn out of a hackathon in the crypto startup has seen significant growth since its extendednbspa hrefhttpswwwcoindeskcomdefidashboardzappersnagsnewfundingfromdelphiandcoinbaseventures targetblankseed roundanbspin November of Acting as a hub for DeFi users to view swap stake and yield farms across multiple chains Zapper supports DeFi Protocols and recently surpassed billion in total transacted volume Its current web app plugs into users wallets but Zapper has plans to launch an onplatform app store for developers and is also working on creating a mobile appppZappers CEOnbspa hrefhttpscalinkedincominsebaudeta targetblankSeb Audeat states quoteverything is fragmented its on a bunch of different apps living different websites and web apps and our goal is really to reduce the friction and just have this one portal where you can track all your assets and manage and swap and farmquot Audet also compared Zappers coming app store to Shopify which will enable community members to pitch in with new featuresppZapper will use the fresh capital to accelerate the growth of its dashboard features with hopes to make DeFi easier by lessening the intricacies of crypto As Zapper funds the development of its new app store and mobile app the team will also look to addnbspa hrefhttpsethereumorgendevelopersdocsscalinglayerrollups targetblankEthereum layer rollupsanbspand other chain features for its usersp

pLast monthnbspa hrefhttpsmakerdaocom targetblankMakerDAOa the largest decentralized autonomous bank in the world took a swing at the traditional banking industry when they started offering decentralized mortgage financing to users who were looking to fix and flip houses Maker requires users to deposit collateral in the form of ETH and in return issue dollardenominated loans in the form of their native stablecoin DAI Users then take their newly minted DAI use it to fund the renovations on their home sell their home for profit repay their initial loan plus interest recover their collateralized ETH rinse and repeatppIf traditional banks were nervous about thea hrefhttpswwwcoindeskcommakerdaooncollisioncoursewithbankingregulators targetblanknbspemergence of definbspadecentralized finance before this new innovation is sure to send shivers down their proverbial spins Not only is there no need for preapproval or applications on MakerDAO but the fees are also much more competitive due to the lack of regulation and compliance cost needed to secure such defi loans Essentially anyone holding ETH can lock up their crypto as collateral and receive a loan no questions askedppWhile this service offering is still in its pilot phase in the US MakerDAO already secured K in loan financing last month They are targetingnbsp million in realworld loansnbspby the end of this year spanning from freight invoice lending financing of US farm properties and loans to solar facilitiesppnbspppstrongWhat This Means for DefistrongppWhile most activity in the defi space has been mostly relegated to cryptonative assets this feels like the first time the gloves are coming off and the Defi space is ready to directly compete with traditional leading institutions Not to be easily outdone this will surely spark a flurry of lobbying from traditional financial institutions to impose strict regulation on the defi industry quotIf you cant beat them regulate them out of existencequot While the multitrilliondollar banking industry is surely a formidable opponent my thesis on this is simple the market always chooses what isnbspbetter faster stronger If I was forced to bet Im putting my money on defi p

table border cellpadding cellspacing stylewidthtbodytrtd styleverticalaligntoppLast week was a sad week for Bitcoin diehards as one of our most beloved champions Elon Musk seemingly pulled the plug on his Bitcoin bet saying Tesla wouldnbspno longer accept Bitcoinnbspas payment for their cars due to environmental sustainability concerns In a direct assault on the worlds largest cryptocurrency the worlds largest man tweetedptdtrtbodytabletable border cellpadding cellspacing stylewidthtbodytrtd styleverticalaligntoptable alignleft border cellpadding cellspacingtbodytrtd styleverticalaligntoppimg alt srchttpsassetsbwbxioimagesusersiqjWHBFdfxIUibWUIscDRDkvxjpg stylewidthpx ptdtd styleverticalaligntopimg alt srchttpsimgsslconstantcontactcomlettersimagessysSgif styleheightpx widthpx tdtrtrtd styleverticalaligntopimg alt srchttpsimgsslconstantcontactcomlettersimagessysSgif styleheightpx widthpx tdtd styleverticalaligntopimg alt srchttpsimgsslconstantcontactcomlettersimagessysSgif styleheightpx widthpx tdtrtbodytablepWhile it is understandable that a company so closely tied to environmental preservation and sustainability would take such a stance it is still hard to believe that the company could flipflop so dramatically on the issue in the span of a few monthsppThe first elephant in the room is that the Bitcoin energy consumption debate is largely unfounded in reality As reported in our March stnbspa hrefhttpsmyemailconstantcontactcomIsBitcoinMoreEnvironmentallyFriendlyThanWeThoughthtmlsoidampaidIEOrZSCHeU targetblanknewslettera anbspa hrefhttpswwwjbscamacukfacultyresearchcentresalternativefinancepublicationsrdglobalcryptoassetbenchmarkingstudy targetblankstudyanbspby the University of Cambridge showed thatnbsproughly of crypto miners use energy from renewables as part of their energy mix with of the total electricity consumed coming from renewables For those who have done their research on Bitcoins energy consumption it feels less like this action was due to the environmental sustainability of Bitcoin and more about its perceived environmental sustainability For a company and a man so tied to environmental sustainability it feels like this was a reaction to a narrative risk as opposed to the truth that underly the topicppAs the energy debate has clearly become the top narrative for Bitcoin detractors it is now more important than ever for cryptocurrency enthusiast to find their voice and arm themselves with the facts to debunk the FUD However this announcement did not come without a glimmer of hope The tweet also made it clear that at this time Telsa does not plan to sell the Bitcoin they currently hold Clearly they still believe in the project but this may be a means of saving face for their diehard environmentalist investorsppAlthough this news dealt a sizable blow to the market cap of Bitcoin we must not forget the impact of a h news cycle With prices falling fast institutions are licking their chops to heavy up their exposure It wont be long before the news comes out of the next multimillion dollar Bitcoin purchase and the cryptocurrency world is set back in alignmentptdtrtbodytable

pa hrefhttpswwwcowencom targetblankCowena the American multinational independent investment bank and financial services company with over billion under management will now offer crypto custody solutions to hedge funds through its partnership withnbspa hrefhttpswwwpolysignio targetblankPolySigna an earlystage fintech company looking to drive the global use of digital assets by building critical custody and payment infrastructure solutions for institutionsppAs per the partnership agreement Cowen took a million stake in PolySign and lead the companynbspa hrefhttpswwwglobenewswirecomnewsreleaseenCowenandPolySigntoLaunchStrategicPartnershipGearedTowardProvidingClientsAccesstoCryptocurrencyandDigitalAssetshtml targetblank million Series Banbspthat was announced last Thursday The round also saw participation from Blockchaincom Race Capital Sandia Holdings and PilotRock Investments PolySign will use the fresh capital to accelerate its missiondriven development of institutionalgrade blockchain applicationsppldquoLed by a bestinclass team of cryptocurrency and financial services pioneers PolySign has developed proprietary nextgeneration blockchain technology that we believe will be foundational to the development of secure trusted digital asset infrastructurequot statednbspa hrefhttpswwwbloombergcomprofileperson targetblankJefferey M Solomona CEO of Cowen Headquartered in SanFranciscos Bay Area PolySignio indeed has a talented roster behind it Founded in bynbspa hrefhttpswwwcrunchbasecompersonarthurbritto targetblankArthur Brittoa the CoFounder of Ripple Labs and codesigner of XRP Ledger the leadership group consists ofnbspa hrefhttpswwwlinkedincominjackmcdonald targetblankJack McDonalda previously the CEO of Conifer Financial Servicesnbspa hrefhttpswwwlinkedincomintimkeaneyb targetblankTim Keaneyanbspwho served as VC for BNY Mellonnbspa hrefhttpswwwlinkedincominantoinetteogormanab targetblankAntoinette OGormana previously CCO at Ripple Labs andnbspa hrefhttpswwwcrunchbasecompersondavidschwartzaf targetblankDavid Schwartzanbspwho was previously the CTO and chief cryptographer at RippleppldquoAs digital assets continue to grow and mature as an asset class institutional investors need to trust custody and trading solutions on par with their requirements for investing in traditional securities Our partnership with PolySign is another example of how we at Cowen position ourselves to better serve our clients by identifying disruptive trends that we believe will impact investment markets for years to comequot says Solomon The news brings yet another institutional gateway and security option to service more investors looking to enter the cryptocurrency spacep