Sharding Weekly: DriftProtocol Launches BET, the First Efficient Prediction Market on Solana

Author: chung

Shard Labs is an organization focused on promoting and accelerating Web3 projects, dedicated to identifying high-quality projects through research and development, and continuously advancing them through narrative building. Sharding Capital is the investment arm of Shard Labs.

Welcome to Issue 45 of Sharding Weekly, highlighting news, narratives, and primary market fundraising!

Highlights

▪️ DriftProtocol launches BET: Solana’s first efficient prediction market

▪️ puff drgn Chapter 6 is now live! $PUFF holders will receive rewards of 2%, 3%, 4%, or 6% depending on wallet reputation

▪️ Heurist is a Layer 2 network based on ZK Stack, focusing on AI model hosting and inference services. In collaboration with Zyfi, whitelisted addresses can mint zkImagine, an NFT collection generated by Heurist AI, for free

▪️ GOATRollup releases a sustainable BTC yield solution

NEW

▪️ Veteran Italian bank Banca Sella now offers Bitcoin services directly on its banking platform, BitcoinMagazine

▪️ Tether (USDT) will launch on the Aptos blockchain

▪️ SEC negotiates with ETF issuers over concerns that Solana may be classified as a security, after which Cboe withdraws its 19b-4 filing

▪️ The U.S. economy created 818,000 fewer jobs than previously reported

▪️ Tether will launch a stablecoin pegged to the UAE currency

▪️ Trump promotes his DeFi project on the Truthsocial platform

▪️ Binance founder Changpeng Zhao is expected to be released on September 29

▪️ According to Kommersant, Russia plans to launch two cryptocurrency exchanges and issue stablecoins pegged to the Chinese yuan and BRICS currencies

▪️ A judge rules that cryptocurrency exchange Kraken must face SEC lawsuit alleging it operates an unregistered securities exchange

▪️ Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram messaging app, arrested in France

Primary Market Fundraising

Infrastructure

▪️ FabricCrypto raises $33M in Series A led by Blockchain Capital and 1kx Network

▪️ KIP Protocol raises $5M in private round led by Animoca Ventures and Tribe Capital

▪️ TrySkyfire raises $8.5M in seed funding

Blockchain Services

▪️ 0xHolonym raises $5.5M in seed round led by Finality and Paper VC

▪️ zkme raises $4M in seed round led by Multicoin Capital

▪️ DIN raises $4M ($8M total)

▪️ G8 Keep raises $1.25M in pre-seed funding

▪️ Stork raises $4M in seed round led by Faction VC

AI

▪️ SaharaLabs AI raises $37M in Series A ($43M total), led by Pantera Capital, Binance Labs, and Polychain

▪️ Rivalz AI raises $9M, led by Delphi Ventures, Magnus Fund, Gate.io, D1 Ventures, and CogitentV

Chain

▪️ corn raises $6.7M in seed round led by Polychain

▪️ GenLayer raises $7.5M in seed round led by North Island VC

▪️ ArkLabsHQ raises $2.5M in pre-seed round led by Tim Draper and Draper VC

DeFi

▪️ SorellaLabs raises $7.5M in seed round led by Paradigm

▪️ BSX raises $6.2M in seed round led by Blockchain Capital

Satlayer raises $8M in pre-seed round led by Hack VC and Castle Island VC

Vooi.io announces funding from Binance Labs

ArchLending raises $5M in seed round led by Morgan Creek Digital and Castle Island VC

Ducat Stable raises $1.25M in pre-seed round led by UTXO Management

Credbull DeFi raises $5.2M led by GnosisDAO

Social

Story Protocol raises $80M in Series B ($140M total), led by a16z

Opinion Labs announces investment from Binance Labs

GameFi

GAMEE announces investment from Pantera Capital

Nexus raises $2M in seed round

Fantasy Fanton raises $1M led by Delphi Ventures, Animoca Brands, and Kenetic Capital

Sidekick announces investment from Binance Labs

CeFi

BiFinanceE raises $10M in Series A led by Sunfund Fortuna Global Opportunities

Shard Labs is an organization focused on promoting and accelerating Web3 projects, dedicated to identifying high-quality projects through research and development, and continuously advancing them through narrative building. Sharding Capital is the investment arm of Shard Labs.

Shard Labs provides marketing, KOL outreach, fundraising support, and other services to help blockchain startups grow in a forward-looking manner. Team members come from the Middle East, South Korea, Japan, China, and Europe. With a professional team, deep industry experience, and extensive resources, Shard helps projects stand out in the Web3 space and gain broader industry recognition.