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Variant Closes $222 Million Fund to Back Early-Stage Crypto and AI Startups

Variant, a crypto-focused venture capital firm, has closed a $222 million fund targeting early-stage startups at the intersection of blockchain and artificial intelligence. The fund focuses on autonomous agent protocols, AI-enabled smart contracts, and decentralized infrastructure.

Blockchain Academics210h ago

All Reports

Press ReleaseMarketsJun 1, 2026

Stellar Surges 14% as DTCC Partnership Signals Institutional Validation of Blockchain Settlement Infrastructure

Stellar (XLM) gained 14% following a partnership announcement with the DTCC, which administers approximately $1.9 trillion in daily U.S. securities settlement volume. The development marks a significant institutional endorsement of Stellar's blockchain-based settlement infrastructure.

Blockchain Academics3

Press ReleaseRegulationMay 30, 2026

SoFi Becomes First US National Bank to Launch Stablecoin in Consumer App

SoFi Technologies has launched a proprietary stablecoin within its consumer banking application, becoming the first federally-chartered US national bank to offer a stablecoin product directly to retail users under OCC oversight. The stablecoin is immediately available to SoFi's 3.3 million members with 1:1 USD backing and full reserve audits.

Blockchain Academics2

Press ReleaseMarketsMay 28, 2026

Groq Raises $750M Series E at $6.9B Valuation to Scale AI Inference Hardware

Groq has closed a $750 million Series E funding round at a $6.9 billion post-money valuation, bringing total capital raised to over $1.5 billion. The funding will support expanded LPU chip production and enterprise deployment of Groq's specialized AI inference infrastructure.

Blockchain Academics3

Press ReleaseMarketsMay 26, 2026

Strive Expands Bitcoin Holdings to 16,500 BTC with Latest Acquisition

Strive has acquired an additional 1,109 Bitcoin, bringing its total holdings to 16,500 BTC valued at approximately $742–908 million USD. The purchase continues the firm's long-term Bitcoin accumulation strategy and places it among the largest corporate Bitcoin holders globally.

Blockchain Academics2

Press ReleaseMarketsMay 18, 2026

Lock.com Launches Early Access Platform With Air-Gapped Signing and Post-Quantum Cryptographic Security

Lock.com has opened early access to its institutional blockchain security infrastructure platform, combining air-gapped signing architecture with NIST-standardized post-quantum cryptographic protocols. The launch targets institutional custodians and enterprise blockchain operators within a global digital asset custody market exceeding $500 billion in assets under management.

Blockchain Academics3

Press ReleaseDeFiMay 16, 2026

Virtuals Protocol Launches EconomyOS to Enable Autonomous AI Agent Commerce Infrastructure

Virtuals Protocol has launched EconomyOS, a purpose-built operating system enabling AI agents to independently manage transactions, communications, and commerce functions across EVM-compatible blockchain networks. The release targets a foundational infrastructure gap preventing autonomous AI agents from participating in decentralized economic networks without human intermediation.

Blockchain Academics3