Coinbase Ventures is backing a DeFi hub for the Polkadot network, Acala, according to a blog post from the company. Coinbase Ventures also funds the Karura, the DeFi hub of Kusama. Moreover, Coinbase did not reveal how much it will fund each project or how it will use the funds. Nevertheless, it did admit that Acala will have to win a parachain slot auction on Kusama and Polkadot to launch. Probably, this funding will assist those bids.
Acala has previously developed four core products for the Polkadot ecosystem. It involves Liquid DOT staking, a stablecoin, an automated market maker decentralized exchange, and a sovereign wealth fund. Moreover, Acala plans to support its DeFi applications and others. Its upcoming applications involve LDOT staking, the Acala dollar stablecoin (aUSD), the Acala DEX, and a project treasury. Acala is also EVM-compatible, indicating it can help code and tokens generated on the Ethereum blockchain.
The introduction of Karura on Kusama will allow the Kusama community to access Karura-focused DeFi products. One should note that Karura will introduce the Karura Dollar (kUSD), Karura’s AMM-style DEX, and liquid KSM staking (LKSM) to the Kusama ecosystem. Karura will also be an EVM-compatible layer-1 chain. Polkadot and Kusama are both very close to the auction phase for their first parachain slots.
Coinbase to go Public on April 14
Obtaining funds from Coinbase Ventures is considered a significant achievement, provided the list of successful projects that the venture capital has funded in the past. Some of Coinbase Ventures’ most prominent investments involve BlockFi, Compound, and Etherscan. Moreover, Polkadot and Kusama have drawn significant recognition from retail investors over the past year. Polkadot ecosystem’s native crypto, DOT, is a top-ten project with a total market capitalization of $35 billion. Kusama, meantime, is placed 32nd by market cap with a TVL of $3.9 billion.
Furthermore, Coinbase declared that the SEC confirmed its proposal for a direct public listing of its stock. The ticker “COIN” will formally commence trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on April 14, 2021. Before the prevailing development, the crypto exchange company was contemplating going public in March. Nevertheless, the company chose to shift the date to April 2021. The delay occurred after Coinbase consented to pay a $6.5 million fine to the CFTC for involving in illegal wash trading practices for three years.
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