Here are the top web3 stories from this week.
Market Challenges
Another Ugly Week for the Sector
📉 SEC Chair Gensler spent hours testifying in Congress and cleared up nothing regarding the agency’s views on Crypto. Former football owner charged with Crypto money laundering with potentially huge fine. The SEC also alleges that Bittrex operated an unregistered securities exchange. To cap off the bad week, there were a multitude of hacks including $23MM from Bitrue, $11.6MM from Yearn, $10MM from whale wallets, and $7.4MM from Hundred Finance. Ugh.
Capital Raised
Light Funding Week
💰 Bitcoin custody leader Unchained closed a $60MM Series B. Karate Combat added $18MM for web3 fighter game. Fractal got $6MM for blockchain trading infrastructure. The Solana blockchain’s investment in a new mobile phone that will be Crypto native is paying off, the Saga phone will begin sales on May 8th.
Content
Meet Yolanda Barton on Diverse Web3 Builders Show
🎙️ This week I spoke with Yolanda Barton of RevereXR on my Diverse Web3 Builder podcast series. Yolanda is using VR to bring music history to life for a new generation. Listen on Spotify or Apple, or watch on YouTube.
Diversity in Tech
Stories of Diverse Founders, VCs, and Builders
💪🏽 Mass Mutual announced a $100MM commitment to invest in Black-led startups. A few notable diverse founded startups raised funding this week with $8MM to the Mansa streaming platform and $2.2MM to Even for web3 music platform. Our venture studio non-profit W3 Studio is selling NFT membership passes here. Also, you can check out our list of pitch competitions, grant programs, and other founder resources here.
Follow me on LinkedIn for more frequent updates on web3.
*Thank you for reading this post. If you would like this directly to your Inbox twice a week, please subscribe. I would also really appreciate if you could share this post with someone who is interested in learning about Crypto and web3.*