Felix Capital Raises $600 Million in Funding Round, Coinbase Drops Zipmex Acquisition Plans, Bank of Uganda Softens Stance on Crypto

Venture Capitalist Felix Capital recently raised $600 million in a fundraising round as they aim to invest in the blockchain space, including web3 companies. 

Felix Capital Fundraising Round

On their Twitter page, Felix capital mentioned that,  

“We are thrilled to share that we have closed oversubscribed funds of $600m, doubling our committed capital to over $1.2bn, allowing us to double down on the transformation of the customer journey and the emergence of a digital, sustainable lifestyle.”

According to reports, Felix targeted raising about $500 million. In their fundraising announcement, the venture capital firm mentioned that they plan to expand and grow “exposure to Web3, a new platform for creativity, community, and of course, entrepreneurship.” 

Coinbase will be a Series B+ Investor for Zipmex

Recent reports indicate that the Zipmex crypto trading network will no longer be acquired by Coinbase, as earlier discussed. However, Coinbase, one of the top crypto exchanges, will be a series B+ investor. 

Earlier, Coinbase and Zipmex discussed the possibility of the former acquiring the latter. According to reports, the Zipmex exchange is currently holding a Serie B+ funding round as they plan to hit a $400 million valuation. Recently, they have been carrying funding rounds to raise $40 million. 

A Zipmex spokesperson said, 

“[Zipmex is] in process of raising Series B+ and are speaking to a range of investors. We have not finalized lead investors or valuation. We cannot comment on market speculation or rumors.”

The network raised a combined $52 million for the Series B round. Last September, the crypto exchange raised $41 million in a fundraising round led by B Capital, V Ventures and TNB Aura. March this year, Zipmex raised $11 million as part of the series B with B Capital, TNB Aura, Master Ad, MindWorks Capital, Bank of Ayudhya’s Krungsri Finnovate and others participating.

Coinbase appears to be straining at the moment, with reports last week showing that the network rescinded a few accepted job offers. It’s this difficulty that has probably led coinbase to just chose to be Zipmex Series B+ investors.

Tatsumeeko wants to bring the metaverse to Discord

Tatsumeeko recently announced its plans to bring the metaverse into Discord. Tatsumeeko is a prevalent crypto gaming network based on Ethereum and Solana.

First, the network completed a successful funding round raising about $7.5 million. Having raised about $600k in its previous round, the network now has $8.1 million in funding. According to sources, Delphi Ventures, DeFiance Capital, and BITKRAFT Ventures were among the co-leaders in this successful funding round. However, other top networks, including Animoca brands, Binance Labs, GuilldFi and Dialectic, also participated in this seed round.

Their game, Tatsu.GG, was created to help gamify the Discord community. Now just recently, Co-founder David Lim noted that, 

“Perhaps you can think of it as instead of building a metaverse and trying to move entire communities of Discord into the metaverse, we’re bringing the metaverse to Discord itself with Tatsumeeko.”

Ugandan Central Bank Softening its Stance on Crypto

Recent reports indicate that the Bank of Uganda(BOU) has started softening its stance on digital currency. A letter leaked on Twitter by the Kampala-Associated advocates suggests that Uganda’s central bank will be opening its doors to crypto firms that can participate in its regulatory Sandbox. 

According to reports, this leaked letter cited previous meetings between BAU and BoU. It also requested that the Blockchain Association of Uganda collaborate with the BoU as they explore the application of the crypto technology in its Sandbox.

The letter said in part, 

“Reference is made to your letter dated May 5, 2022. Further reference is made to the deliberations held at the meeting between the team from the Blockchain Association of Uganda and officials from the Bank of Uganda held on Wednesday, May 4, 2022. Bank of Uganda welcomes your proposal to share knowledge with our technical teams on the crypto business models and whether some use cases are eligible for testing under the Regulatory Sandbox.” 

The primary purpose behind the founding of the Regulatory Sandbox by the BoU was to provide opportunities for testing innovative products and services capable of expanding the financial space. Companies with promising financial-related innovations are openly invited to participate in the BoU Regulatory Sandbox. Now, according to the letter, it appears that crypto firms have the freedom to participate in this Sandbox.