US Startup Raises $3.5 Mln From Pantera, Others to Launch Decentralized Exchange on LN

Published at: April 8, 2019

The United States-based startup Sparkswap has completed a successful seed funding round to create a decentralized exchange based on the Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning Network. A blog post revealed the development on Monday, April 8.

According to Sparkswap’s founder Trey Griffith, the company raised $3.5 million from investors including Initialized Capital, Pantera Capital, Foundation Capital and Y Combinator.

The startup intends to create a decentralized exchange that will be protected from hacks, while still processing transactions on blockchain.

Sparkswap started testing its mainnet on Jan. 2, 2019, which is driven by Bitcoin’s Lightning Network. Its core technology, Atomic Swap, allows users to trade across blockchains and settle the transactions instantly.

Following the seed round, the company is going to open trading to the public. In the beta stage, the transactions will be limited to the BTC/LTC trading pair while Sparkswap is testing its software.

However, Griffith told crypto media The Block that the company is considering enabling trading for other assets, namely ZCash (ZEC) and Ethereum (ETH).

Earlier this month, Radar, the startup behind decentralized exchange Radar Relay that raised $10 million last year, announced that it will soon release new Lightning Network developer tools. The solutions aim to bring new users to the crypto scalability solution, which was developed to provide nearly free and instantaneous transactions.

As Cointelegraph previously reported, blockchain development company Lightning Labs announced the initial release of the Lightning Network offramp Lightning Loop in March.

Tags
Blockchain
Cryptocurrency Exchange
Funding
Pantera Capital
Startups
Lightning Network
Related Posts
New DAO launches after $230M funding round including Peter Thiel, Alan Howard
BitDAO, a new decentralized autonomous organization, is launching after a $230 million funding round led by billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel. BitDAO announced its DAO launch on Tuesday in conjunction with completing a private sale from initial partners led by Thiel, Pantera Capital, Dragonfly Capital and Founders Fund. Other investors included billionaire hedge fund manager Alan Howard, Spartan Group, Jump Capital, Fenbushi and Kain Warwick of DeFi protocol Synthetix, among a total of more than 20 players in the decentralized finance industry. Bybit, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency derivatives exchanges, is a major initial proponent of BitDAO, pledging recurring …
Technology / June 16, 2021
Binance Invests in Taiwanese Blockchain Data Monetization Startup Numbers
Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance has invested an undisclosed sum in blockchain data monetization startup Numbers. According to a post published on Binance’s official blog on Jan. 21, Numbers aims to create an open, transparent and traceable data sharing, verification and management system. The firm’s open source application reportedly allows individuals to own and monetize their personal data. Since last year, Numbers has reportedly worked with nonprofit Shoah Foundation, the Stanford University and IBM to develop data traceability and verification systems to preload on the Exodus, the blockchain smartphone of tech giant HTC. Binance’s strategy officer Gin Chao said: “Numbers app …
Blockchain / Jan. 23, 2020
Crypto exchange CoinDCX raises $135M funding to support Indian Web3
Crypto exchange CoinDCX became India’s first crypto business to complete a Series D funding round, raising $135 million in support of various Web3 and crypto initiatives in the country. The latest funding round resulted in CoinDCX doubling its valuation to $2.15 billion, which was led by Pantera and Steadview and saw participation from prominent investors including Kingsway, DraperDragon and Republic. Speaking to Cointelegraph, CoinDCX CEO Sumit Gupta highlighted CoinDCX’s commitment to spreading awareness on crypto, blockchain and Web3: “With this funding, we will double our efforts to grow, with a focus on educating corporate and retail investors on the true …
Adoption / April 19, 2022
Asset management firm launches BTC Lightning Network startup accelerator
Asset management firm Stone Ridge, the parent company of Bitcoin company NYDIG, has launched the first startup accelerator that focuses on the Bitcoin Lightning Network and the Taro protocol, called In Wolf’s Clothing (Wolf). The accelerator consists of 8-week programs in which the best founders and startup teams from around the world will be brought to New York City, with accommodation and travel costs covered. The teams which apply and are accepted into the program will receive a guaranteed investment of $250,000. One team will be chosen by a panel of judges to receive an additional $500,000 of funding during …
Blockchain / Oct. 27, 2022
Israeli startup to create blockchain chips with $70M of fresh funds
The adoption of blockchain technology is on the rise, with the majority of enterprises looking into the technology in some capacity. As blockchain becomes more pervasive, all types of users will need the most efficient access to the capabilities of this technology. One of the responses to this has been the development of blockchain chips as energy-efficient accelerators. On Feb. 23, the Tel Aviv-based blockchain chip startup Chain Reaction announced it raised $70 million to expand its engineering team for developing its next chip. Alon Webman, the co-founder and CEO of Chain Reaction, said the new chip will be a …
Technology / Feb. 23, 2023