Ellipsis Labs, a developer in the cryptocurrency exchange sector, has raised $20 million in Series A funding, with Paradigm taking the lead in the investment round. Notably, Electric Capital also participated in the round, along with support from key figures in the cryptocurrency industry. Ellipsis Labs is the creator of Phoenix, a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the Solana blockchain that utilizes an on-chain order book. The funding secured by Ellipsis Labs will be used to further enhance its decentralized finance (DeFi) technology stack. Back in August 2023, the company raised $3.3 million in seed funding, with Electric Capital leading the way.
Phoenix, the platform developed by Ellipsis Labs, currently has a total value locked (TVL) of $14.31 million and saw a trading volume of $238.79 million in the past 24 hours. According to DefiLlama, a Web3 data tracker, Phoenix ranks as the eighth-largest DEX on Solana based on TVL. One of the unique features of Phoenix is its ability to achieve trade settlements without the need for a “crank,” which enables asynchronous trade settlements in blockchain ecosystems like Solana.
In addition to its core functionalities, Phoenix also offers comprehensive on-chain market event data, allowing users to access the complete trading activity history. This includes information on placed limit orders, fills, and canceled limit orders. Ellipsis Labs has emphasized the importance of combining the decentralized benefits of DeFi with the liquidity and efficiency of traditional finance.
As for the investment side, Paradigm, a prominent crypto venture capital firm, leads the pack as the primary investor in Ellipsis Labs. This news comes as Paradigm is reportedly in discussions to raise between $750 million and $850 million for a new fund. The raise is apparently driven by the recent recovery of crypto markets. If this raise is successful, it will mark Paradigm’s largest fund since it announced a $2.5 billion fund in November 2021, which was the largest cryptocurrency fund of its time.
Paradigm is also actively involved in other funding rounds aimed at increasing the valuation of various cryptocurrency projects. One example is Merkle Manufactory, the firm behind the social network Farcaster, which is set to reach a valuation of $1 billion with the support of Paradigm. The venture capital firm has an impressive portfolio that includes major cryptocurrency companies such as Coinbase, Blur, dYdX, Compound, and Citadel Securities.
million for a new fund? Seriously? It’s mind-boggling to see such astronomical figures being thrown around in the crypto space. Are they even thinking about the risks involved?
Paradigm seems to be throwing money at every crypto project they come across. Are they really doing their due diligence or just trying to inflate their portfolio with quantity over quality?
This is just another prime example of the rich getting richer in the crypto industry. It’s disheartening to see the same players constantly dominating the funding rounds while smaller projects struggle to get noticed.
I find it hard to believe that Phoenix is the eighth-largest DEX on Solana. There must be some serious competition on that blockchain if a platform with only $14.31 million TVL can make it to the top 10.