风险投资回归加密货币，促进初创公司的替代融资

风险投资家正在重返加密货币市场，通过赠款和节点销售为初创企业提供替代融资选择。 Layer-3 协议 Degen Chain 和半同质代币协议 Pandora 已与 Seamless 合作，向 Base 生态系统建设者分发 60 万美元的赠款。 SingularityNET 的第四轮深度融资将为去中心化人工智能项目提供超过 100 万美元。 2024 年第一季度，加密货币初创公司投资激增 38%，其中值得注意的投资包括 Monad Labs 的 2.25 亿美元融资和 Auradine 的 8000 万美元 B 轮融资。

Venture Capitalists Re-enter Crypto Arena, Fueling Alternative Funding for Startups

风险投资家重新进入加密领域，推动初创企业的替代融资

The cryptocurrency industry has witnessed a resurgence of interest from venture capitalists, bringing with them a renewed surge of liquidity for alternative funding methods for emerging startups. Notably, grants and node sales have emerged as prominent avenues for funding innovation.

风险投资家对加密货币行业的兴趣重新燃起，为新兴初创企业的替代融资方式带来了新的流动性激增。值得注意的是，赠款和节点销售已成为资助创新的重要途径。

Base-native Platform Seamless Spearheads Grant Initiative

基础原生平台无缝先锋资助计划

Base-native lending platform Seamless has embarked on a co-sponsored grant initiative in collaboration with layer-3 Degen Chain and semi-fungible token protocol Pandora. This initiative will allocate approximately $600,000 to developers and creators building on the Base platform.

基础原生借贷平台 Seamless 已开始与第 3 层 Degen Chain 和半同质代币协议 Pandora 合作发起一项资助计划。该计划将向在 Base 平台上构建的开发者和创作者分配约 60 万美元。

Degen Chain will focus on attracting developers interested in constructing within Farcaster and Degen Chain, while Pandora will target creators interested in leveraging ERC-404 technology for their collections and memecoins.

Degen Chain 将专注于吸引有兴趣在 Farcaster 和 Degen Chain 内进行构建的开发者，而 Pandora 将瞄准有兴趣利用 ERC-404 技术进行收藏和 memecoin 的创作者。

"Members of the various communities will be tasked with evaluating applications. Therefore, it is essential that there is a clear understanding of how the grants will contribute to the upliftment of the relevant ecosystems. Innovative and practical ideas are highly encouraged," stated Ras, a pseudonymous member of the Seamless Community Grants Program (SCGP) in an interview with Cointelegraph.

“各个社区的成员将负责评估申请。因此，必须清楚地了解赠款将如何促进相关生态系统的发展。我们高度鼓励创新和实用的想法，”拉斯说，无缝社区资助计划 (SCGP) 的匿名成员接受 Cointelegraph 采访。

New grant applications can be submitted through the Community Governance forum. Applicants are required to complete a form detailing their project and outlining their specific requirements.

新的拨款申请可以通过社区治理论坛提交。申请人需要填写一份表格，详细说明其项目并概述其具体要求。

SingularityNET Prepares for Deep Funding Round

SingularityNET 准备深度融资

Another notable grant opportunity will soon be available through the SingularityNET ecosystem. The Deep Funding Round 4 is anticipated to unveil in early May, providing over $1 million in capital for decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives.

另一个值得注意的资助机会很快将通过 SingularityNET 生态系统提供。第四轮深度融资预计将于 5 月初公布，为去中心化人工智能 (AI) 项目提供超过 100 万美元的资金。

Crypto Startups Experience Funding Surge

加密初创公司经历资金激增

Beyond the realm of grants, a more welcoming funding landscape is emerging for crypto startups. During the first quarter of 2024, investments in crypto firms surged by 38%, with the number of funded projects increasing by 49% – the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2021.

除了资助领域之外，对于加密初创公司来说，一个更受欢迎的融资环境正在出现。 2024 年第一季度，加密货币公司的投资激增 38%，资助项目数量增加 49%，这是自 2021 年第四季度以来的最高水平。

In March alone, over $1.1 billion was invested across 180 crypto-related projects, representing a 52.5% month-on-month increase. Infrastructure and decentralized finance (DeFi) projects attracted a significant portion of these funds.

仅3月份，180个加密货币相关项目的投资就超过11亿美元，环比增长52.5%。基础设施和去中心化金融（DeFi）项目吸引了其中很大一部分资金。

Recent highlights in April include Paradigm leading a $225 million round for layer-1 protocol Monad Labs and Auradine, a crypto mining hardware provider, completing an $80 million Series B funding round.

4 月份的最新亮点包括 Paradigm 为第 1 层协议 Monad Labs 领投了 2.25 亿美元的融资，而加密挖矿硬件提供商 Auradine 则完成了 8000 万美元的 B 轮融资。

April's Notable Startup Funding Rounds

四月份著名的初创企业融资轮次

Sapien Raises $5 Million in Seed Round

Sapien 在种子轮融资中筹集了 500 万美元

AI-blockchain platform Sapien has secured $5 million in seed investment from notable venture capital firms, including Primitive Ventures, Animoca, Ravikant Capital, and Yield Guild Games. Founded in 2023, Sapien aims to address a bottleneck in AI development: data labeling. The company leverages blockchain technology to gamify data labeling, incentivizing labelers to produce higher-quality work.

人工智能区块链平台 Sapien 已获得 Primitive Ventures、Animoca、Ravikant Capital 和 Yield Guild Games 等著名风险投资公司 500 万美元的种子投资。 Sapien 成立于 2023 年，旨在解决人工智能发展的瓶颈：数据标签。该公司利用区块链技术将数据标签游戏化，激励标签商生产更高质量的工作。

Alpen Labs Secures $10.6 Million for Bitcoin-based Economy

Alpen Labs 为基于比特币的经济筹集了 1060 万美元

Alpen Labs, a Bitcoin layer-2 developer, has raised $10.6 million to enhance Bitcoin's blockchain scalability using zero-knowledge proofs. Emerging from stealth mode, Alpen Labs intends to introduce smart contract functionality to Bitcoin through its rollup infrastructure.

比特币第 2 层开发商 Alpen Labs 已筹集 1060 万美元，用于使用零知识证明增强比特币的区块链可扩展性。 Alpen Labs 从隐形模式中脱颖而出，打算通过其 Rollup 基础设施向比特币引入智能合约功能。

The funding round, led by Ribbit Capital, also involved participation from Castle Island Ventures, Robot Ventures, and Axiom Capital. The startup, which began its journey nearly two years ago, focuses on creating a programmable and scalable layer for Bitcoin, supporting various on-chain financial applications, including payments, lending, and stablecoins.

此轮融资由 Ribbit Capital 领投，Castle Island Ventures、Robot Ventures 和 Axiom Capital 也参与其中。这家初创公司于近两年前开始其旅程，专注于为比特币创建一个可编程和可扩展的层，支持各种链上金融应用程序，包括支付、借贷和稳定币。

HYCHAIN Generates $8 Million Through Node Sale

HYCHAIN 通过节点销售赚取 800 万美元

HYCHAIN, a layer-2 decentralized network for gaming, raised 2,098 Ether (ETH), worth over $8 million, within 48 hours through a node sale. The protocol employs a business model that allows community members to earn rewards by operating software nodes.

HYCHAIN 是一个二层去中心化游戏网络，通过节点销售在 48 小时内筹集了 2,098 以太坊 (ETH)，价值超过 800 万美元。该协议采用的商业模式允许社区成员通过操作软件节点来获得奖励。

Web3Firewall Secures $2.5 Million in Pre-seed Funding

Web3Firewall 获得 250 万美元的种子前融资

Web3Firewall has completed a $2.5 million pre-seed funding round led by Laser Digital – Nomura's digital asset subsidiary, gumi Cryptos Capital, and SPEILLLP, a Susquehanna International Group member. Founded by Dr. Samer Fayssal, the former Chief Information Security Officer at BitGo, the company offers an integrated risk and compliance platform designed specifically for blockchain and digital asset companies.

Web3Firewall 已完成由野村证券数字资产子公司 Laser Digital、gumi Cryptos Capital 和 Susquehanna International Group 成员 SPEILLLP 牵头的 250 万美元种子前融资。该公司由 BitGo 前首席信息安全官 Samer Fayssal 博士创立，提供专为区块链和数字资产公司设计的集成风险与合规平台。

According to the startup, the platform will go live in the second quarter of this year, featuring real-time threat detection, prevention, and response powered by AI and machine learning.

据该初创公司称，该平台将于今年第二季度上线，具有由人工智能和机器学习支持的实时威胁检测、预防和响应功能。