Plus, restaking continues to draw investment and Dan Held announces a bitcoin fund. by Bessie Liu /. March 3, 2024 10:00 am. OA_Creation/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks. A startup co-founded by the former FTX general counsel and former head of strategy at FTX.US has raised $17 million in a Series A led by Placeholder VC, with a valuation of $120 million.. The startup, Backpack, is an exchange and wallet, also home to the popular Solana NFT project MadLads.. Having previously been backed by FTX Ventures, Backpack was hit badly financially following the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange.. Read more: MadLads creator Backpack to offer native crypto exchange in Dubai. The company has turned things around since, with MadLads NFTs’ floor price currently sitting at over $23,000, according to CoinGecko.. Backpack is not the only company led by former FTX employees that has raised funding as of late, with former FTX.US president Brett Harrison recently securing $12 million for his new derivatives exchange.. Restaking protocol ether.fi has received $23 million in a Series A led by Bullish Capital and CoinFund. This will be in addition to the $4 million in SAFE funding it secured late last year.. This raise follows EigenLayer’s $100 million haul from Andreessen Horowitz, showing that restaking is top of mind for many investors today.. In addition to ether.fi and EigenLayer, a project called BounceBit, which focuses on bitcoin restaking, has also secured $6 million in funding.. Longtime bitcoiner Dan Held raised a $21 million fund for bitcoin.. Avail raised $27 million to address interoperability in a seed funding round led by Founders Fund and Dragonfly.. Karma3 Labs secured $4.5 million to build a reputation protocol in a round led by Galaxy Digital and IDEO CoLab Ventures.. Payments infrastructure startup Sphere landed $2.8 million in a seed round led by TCG Crypto and Jump Crypto.. Don’t miss the next big story – join our free daily newsletter.. Tags. EigenLayer. FTX. Funding. NFTs. Solana. Newsletter. Blockworks Daily. Upcoming Events. Digital Asset Summit 2024. Hilton Metropole | 225 Edgware Rd, London. Mon – Wed, March 18 – 20, 2024. Crypto’s premier institutional conference returns to London in March 2024. The DAS: London Experience: Attend expert-led panel discussions and fireside chats Hear the latest developments regarding the crypto and digital asset regulatory environment directly from policymakers and experts.. buy ticketslearn more. Day 0x. HYATT REGENCY SALT LAKE CITY. TUES, OCT. 8, 2024. Guided by the expertise of Blockworks Research Analysts team, this one day event will feature senior leaders, entrepreneurs, and developers from across the crypto industry. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an immersive experience to explore the latest trends, . . learn more. Permissionless III. Salt Lake City, UT. WED – FRI, OCTOBER 9 – 11, 2024. Pack your bags, anon — we’re heading west! Join us in the beautiful Salt Lake City for the third installment of Permissionless. Come for the alpha, stay for the fresh air. Permissionless III promises unforgettable panels, killer networking opportunities, and mountains . . learn more. recent research. Research. Osmosis thrived in H2 2023 on the back of increased DeFi activity deriving from recently launched Cosmos-related projects and better market conditions. With new value accrual mechanisms for the native token, Osmosis is well-positioned to continue its strong performance in 2024.. by Brick. more from news. Select a tab. In a striking display of unity and resolve, the cryptocurrency industry recently mounted a crucial legal challenge against undue governmental overreach resulting in victory. by Perianne Boring&Lee Bratcher /. March 1, 2024. Blast encouraged users to deposit into its multisig. Now they can finally exit. by Macauley Peterson /. March 1, 2024. Eight state attorney generals warn the SEC’s enforcement actions could “stymie” potential state legislation around crypto. by Katherine Ross /. March 1, 2024. BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF is well on its way to eclipsing MicroStrategy for total bitcoin held. by David Canellis /. March 1, 2024. Why I’m not mad that I spent all of my bitcoin on food, rent and tennis lessons. by Molly Jane Zuckerman /. March 1, 2024. A crypto bull market demands billions more dollars on blockchains. Luckily, stablecoin issuers are on deck. by David Canellis /. March 1, 2024