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FTX Launches $2 Billion Venture Capital Fund Focused on Bolstering Blockchain, Web3 Adoption

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FTX Launches $2 Billion Venture Capital Fund Focused on Bolstering Blockchain, Web3 Adoption

The cryptocurrency firm FTX has announced the launch of a $2 billion venture capital fund called FTX Ventures. The fund’s focus will be on advancing blockchain and Web3 technology alongside investments in “social, gaming, fintech, software, and healthcare.”

FTX Reveals $2 Billion Venture Capital Fund, Hires Lightspeed Partner Amy Wu

FTX Trading Limited has announced the launch of a new venture capital fund aimed at bolstering blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions that are applied to an assortment of different industries. In addition to launching FTX Ventures’ $2 billion venture capital fund, the company has hired former Lightspeed Ventures partner, Amy Wu. According to the announcement, Wu will lead FTX Ventures’ gaming, M&A and commercial initiatives.

The venture capital fund announcement sent to Bitcoin.com News explains:

FTX Ventures’ core mission is to advance global blockchain and web3 adoption, with a broad investment mandate across social, gaming, fintech, software, and healthcare. The fund will invest in multi-stage companies and projects, providing flexible funding and strategic support from FTX and its network of global partners.

Wu says that she looks forward to working alongside FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and she remarked that FTX Ventures looks forward to supporting businesses and entrepreneurs. “We’re particularly excited about web3 gaming and its ability to bring mainstream audiences into the ecosystem,” Wu said in a statement.

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Is ‘Excited to Find Disruptive Innovation’

FTX has been making a great number of moves during the last 12 months with a significant focus on sports and entertainment. Last year, FTX partnered with Monumental Sports Entertainment (MSE), Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani, the global esports firm TSM, Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team, and seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady and his supermodel wife Gisele Bündchen.

During the first week of November 2021, FTX joined Solana Ventures and Lightspeed in order to launch a $100 million blockchain gaming fund. “Our investors at FTX have made a deep impact in supporting our growth and development,” Sam Bankman-Fried said on Friday in regard to the new venture capital fund. “We strive to do the same at FTX Ventures and are excited to find the brightest minds and disruptive innovation in tech,” Bankman-Fried added.

What do you think about the new $2 billion venture capital fund called FTX Ventures? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Up to 12 Million Iranians Own Cryptocurrency, Traders Choose Local Exchanges

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Up to 12 Million Iranians Own Cryptocurrency, Traders Choose Local Exchanges

Cryptocurrencies are a popular investment among Iranians and estimates suggest that the number of those who already own one coin or another may be as high as 12 million. The majority of Iranian traders prefer the services of local crypto exchanges, the chief executive of one of them claims.

Iranians Said to Transfer $180 Million in Crypto Daily

Despite the lack of proper rules for most of the crypto space and the government stance on the matter, a growing number of Iranians have been investing in decentralized digital money over the past months and years. “An estimated seven to 12 million Iranians own cryptocurrencies,” according to Hamed Mirzaei, CEO of Bitestan, one of the country’s crypto exchanges.

“Iranians’ daily crypto transactions is estimated between 30 and 50 trillion rials ($181 million), while there is no regulation over trade in cryptocurrencies,” Mirzaei was recently quoted as saying by Peyvast magazine. According to a report by the English-language business portal Financial Tribune, the executive also pointed out:

More than 88% of the deals are conducted via local exchange platforms.

This amount, Mirzaei elaborated, is higher than the total of all capital market transactions in the Islamic Republic. “An estimated seven to 12 million Iranians own cryptocurrencies,” the blockchain entrepreneur also revealed to Iranian media.

Mirzaei’s comments come after earlier this year Iranian officials voiced concerns over crypto assets attracting capital from traditional markets. In early May, digital coin trading platforms were accused of taking advantage of the volatile state of the stock market, where deals had seen a significant decline since last summer. At the time, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) advised Iranians to avoid cryptocurrency, warning them that these investments would be at their own risk.

Later that month, the parliament’s leadership asked the National Tax Administration to profile the owners of Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges and report back. The Speaker of the Majlis, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, stated that imposing a ban on crypto trade is not enough and called on the CBI to develop precise regulations for the sector. In July, members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly proposed a bill aimed at adopting rules for the exchange market.

Restrictions on crypto trading would deprive Iran of opportunities, Iranian fintech companies warned this year, expressing their opposition to government attempts to curb the operations of crypto exchanges. In April, the CBI authorized domestic banks and money exchangers to use locally mined cryptocurrencies to pay for imports but authorities went after other coin trade. The startups insisted crypto trading is not illegal and called on lawmakers and regulators to adopt rules allowing the sanctioned country to continue to benefit from decentralized money transfers.

Do you think Iranian authorities will change their stance on cryptocurrency exchange and investment? Share your expectations in the comments section below.

Bitcoin Conference Pitch Day Builds The Next Generation Of BTC Startups

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Bitcoin 2021’s Pitch Day gave Bitcoin startups an unprecedented chance to drive their projects forward.

Bitcoin 2021’s Pitch Day was a platform for the next generation of Bitcoin startups to put its ideas and products to the test in a competitive format.

Taking place during Whale Day on the grounds in “The Deep,” the Pitch Day competition featured companies ranging from a weather-betting website to a derivatives exchange, pitching their ideas to a panel of venture capitalists representing some of the most active investors in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Each of the participating projects made its case to secure investment from the panel, with the optimism that their startups could, alongside Bitcoin, change the world and launch them to whale status themselves.

The 12 startups were chosen from a pool of over 140 applications from all over the world. Divided evenly into two divisions, “hyperbitconization” and “infrastructure,” each company had ten minutes to present their pitch and take questions from the panel. Following the conclusion of each segment, the panel of judges deliberated before deciding on first- and second-place winners. The two winners from each segment were presented with a trophy, as well as full tuition to attend “Draper University,” a 16-week entrepreneurship program started by venture capitalist and Pitch Day judge Tim Draper.

The first segment featured the companies Citizens of Bitcoin, 5 Day Forecast, Satoshi’s Games, DIBA Global Inc., Bitmatrix and Shock Network Inc. While the missions of each company varied, they were all united under the umbrella of advancing hyperbitcoinization. The panel of judges featured Draper (founder and managing partner of Draper Associates), Oleg Mikhalsky (partner at Fulgur Ventures), David Roebuck (venture principal at Wave Financial) and Paul Veradittakit (partner at Pantera Capital).

The judges came away with plenty of good things to say about Pitch Day 2021. Veradittakit said, “The startups at the pitch day competition were impressive and focused on some innovative use cases. Overall, the experience of judging with the other judges and interacting with the startups was very fruitful.”

The winner of the hyperbitconization competition was Satoshi’s Games, a gaming platform built on the Lightning Network. 5 Day Forecast, a betting website that allows users to place bets on the weather using Bitcoin, took second place. While Citizens of Bitcoin did not place in the top two of its respective competition, its founder and CEO, Rogelio Caceres, had positive things to say about the experience as well.

“We thoroughly enjoyed the Bitcoin 2021 conference and highly recommend it,” he said. “Both the experience of competing as a finalist at Pitch Day, as the only Miami-based startup selected, as well as sponsoring a booth, exceeded our expectations. In fact, we have generated nearly $500,000 in revenues from new clients we met at the conference to date.”

The second segment featured the companies D2X Group, Moon, Liquid Ventures, 24 Exchange Bermuda Ltd., Sazmining and Bitex. Each of these companies is focused on enhancing the existing infrastructure of Bitcoin. They were judged by Matt Roszak (founding partner at Tally Capital), Kevin O’Leary (chairman of O’Shares Investment Advisors and judge of ABC’s “Shark Tank”), Christopher Calicott (managing director at Trammell Venture Partners), David Lee (head of Samsung Next and EVP of Samsung) and Tyler Evans (cofounder of BTC Inc. and managing partner at UTXO Management). 24 Exchange, a bitcoin trading platform, won first place in the infrastructure competition. Moon, a virtual payment card that allows users to earn, save and spend bitcoin, finished as the runner up.

“The pitch competition was especially valuable to present our business to investors that deploy capital into Bitcoin startups,” Moon CEO and founder Ken Kruger said. “We secured funding from investors at the pitch competition.”

If you are interested in being considered for a slot on stage, we encourage you to apply here for Pitch Day at Bitcoin 2022! Parameters for participants are open and flexible, so feel free to apply whether you are an individual with an idea, a company raising a series B round or somewhere in between.

Bitcoin Magazine is operated by BTC Inc, which also hosts the Bitcoin Conference series.

Fintech Firm Revolut Pays for Dallas-Based Wework Workspace With Bitcoin

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Fintech Firm Revolut Pays For Dallas-Based Wework Workspace With Bitcoin

The cryptocurrency-infused financial tech company Revolut has announced it has purchased a Wework office with bitcoin. Revolut detailed that the office space in Dallas, Texas will house 300 employees to prepare for the company’s U.S. expansion.

Revolut Pays Bitcoin for Wework Property in Texas


On September 16, 2021, Revolut, the fintech firm that offers users cryptocurrency services and aims to provide the world with a “global financial superapp” announced a deal with Wework. According to the announcement, Revolut will be leveraging the Wework workspace at 6900 Dallas Parkway in Dallas, Texas. Revolut details that the payment for the workspace was settled in bitcoin (BTC). The company said on Thursday:

Revolut will also be Wework’s first enterprise member to sign new space using cryptocurrency, specifically bitcoin, as it establishes its largest office yet in the U.S.


While the move aims to bolster Revolut’s U.S. expansion, Revolut said it is also introducing a concept called “Revlabs real estate strategy.” The company details that the first Revlabs space is now open in Melbourne at the Wework center at 222 Exhibition Street.

“Revlabs will be designed to facilitate collaboration and teamwork, with around 70 percent of office space devoted to collaboration,” the company explained on Thursday. “The new format will cater to rapid headcount growth and provide spaces for creative thinking, brainstorming, training, and knowledge exchange – some of the face-to-face interactions that people have missed throughout the pandemic. There will also be quiet zones and space for meetings.”

Wework Executive: ‘Flexibility Is Essential for Growing Companies’


Wework also detailed that it looks forward to being a real estate partner with Revolut. Basically, Wework is an American commercial real estate firm that was created in 2010. It specializes in flexible shared workspaces and the service is used by tech startups and other types of companies in early developmental stages.

The company, however, is not without controversy, and in 2019 it had issues as the owner, Softbank Group, reported major losses that year. In November 2019, close to 20% of the employees at Wework were laid off.

That year, the company revealed it was changing the board and wanted to remove the CEO Adam Neumann to replace him with a new leader. Also, it aimed to remove Neumann’s family members from the board of directors. Neumann did eventually exit and left with a package estimated to be worth $1.7 billion, and the company followed up with lots of corporate changes.

During the Revolut announcement, the global head of financial services sales at Wework, Nick Giraudeau, stressed that flexible shared workspaces are great for growing startups.

“Wework is excited to be Revolut’s global real estate partner,” Giraudeau remarked. “We look forward to supporting their new standard for the future of work, with a progressive employee-led approach that prioritises flexibility, collaboration and choice. Flexibility is essential for growing companies, and by supporting transactions in cryptocurrency, we can offer choice and convenience while supporting Revolut’s innovative business.”

What do you think about Revolut becoming a real estate partner with Wework and paying for a workspace in Dallas with bitcoin? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Andreessen Horowitz Discusses Raising Third Crypto Fund to $2 Billion, Sources Say

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Andreessen Horowitz Discusses Raising Third Crypto Fund to $2 Billion, Sources Say

In May 2020, back when the crypto economy was still tumultuous from the coronavirus outbreak fears and gloomy global financial outlook, in general, the private venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) revealed the 500 million-dollar “Crypto Fund II.” A report published on May 27 by the tech writer Eric Newcomer indicates that Andreessen Horowitz is contemplating $2 billion in financing for the next crypto fund.

Former Bloomberg Reporter Says ‘a16z in the Process of Tripling Down on Crypto’

The well known venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz back in 2009 has been a driving force in the crypto industry in regard to financing projects and startups. Marc Andreessen has been a firm believer in bitcoin for quite some time now and a16z has funneled millions of dollars into the industry during the last eight years.

In recent times, Andreessen Horowitz launched two funds dedicated to the development of “crypto networks and businesses.” Bitcoin.com News reported on the last venture revealed by the a16z executives Katie Haun and Chris Dixon when the two revealed the Crypto Fund II.

That specific fund invested $515 million into networks, startups, and businesses dedicated to the blockchain and crypto asset industry. Now the former tech writer for Bloomberg, Eric Newcomer, details that a16z third crypto fund is “in talks to raise $2 billion.”

“Andreessen Horowitz is in the process of tripling down on crypto, raising its third crypto fund since 2018,” Newcomer said. “Sources tell me that Andreessen Horowitz is targeting $2 billion for its third crypto fund. That’s double the size of what many people are expecting,” he added.

Someone Familiar With the Matter Told Newcomer a16z Sold ‘at Least Some of Its Ethereum Holdings’ Before the Market Downturn

Newcomer’s source also disclosed that Andreessen Horowitz has “distributed at least some of the Coinbase shares soon after Coinbase went public.” Moreover, the firm had ethereum (ETH) holdings and a source familiar with a16z’s operations said “the firm sold at least some of its Ethereum holdings at around $3,800 before the price crashed.”

The report further added that there seems to be an “arms race” in cryptocurrency investments as Fred Ehrsam and Matt Huang’s Paradigm have been making waves. “The Andreessen fund and Paradigm have frenemy status. I hear that some Andreessen Horowitz partners are limited partners in Paradigm,” the author’s report details.

On the same day, a16z revealed an investment into the crypto firm Talos, Newcomer also said he hears “a lot of buzz about investment Uniswap.” Of course, similar to Bloomberg’s reporting, Newcomer’s source is someone familiar with the matter.

“It will be just as interesting to see who dives into crypto as it will be to see who decides to sit this goldrush out. But Andreessen Horowitz looks like it will be well positioned to fund the next Coinbase,” Newcomer concluded.

What do you think about Andreessen Horowitz tripling its crypto fund to $2 billion? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.