$1 Billion Crypto Reserves & Ripple’s $200M Power Move: Why CeFi Can’t Look Away

Crypto’s money trail just got wilder. A billion-dollar war chest materializes, Ripple drops $200 million like it’s pocket change, and centralized finance (CeFi) scrambles for relevance. Here’s the breakdown.

The Billion-Dollar Signal

When reserves hit ten figures, markets notice. A cool $1 billion in crypto liquidity just parked itself—bullish fuel or smart money playing defense? Either way, it’s a headline that screams institutional confidence (or desperation).

Ripple’s Takeover Gambit

$200 million bought more than a company—it bought momentum. Ripple’s acquisition spree isn’t just growth; it’s chess. Competitors left wondering if they’re pawns.

CeFi’s Existential Side-Eye

Decentralized purists smirk as CeFi platforms suddenly remember their ‘customer-first’ values. Nothing like nine-figure moves to make legacy finance cosplay innovation.

Bottom line: Money talks. In crypto? It screams. And right now, the message is clear—adapt or get liquidated. (Wall Street bankers, consider this your 24-hour notice.)

Classic Venture

During this period, 24 projects received funding from venture capital companies. In particular:

• $60 mln — Slash. The fintech platform raised funds in an undisclosed round. The team did not specify the list of investors, but stated that the funds will be used to expand the range of services and support the Global USD product.
  
  
• $34.9 million — Bit2Me. Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, has invested in the Spanish crypto trading platform. In addition to financial injections, the firm acquired a minority stake in the project. The capital will be used to strengthen Bit2Me’s position in the European Union and develop its activities in Latin America.
  
  
• $20 million — Subzero Labs. The developer-focused dApps platform announced that it has received additional capital. The seed round was led by Pantera Capital with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Hashed, Mirana Ventures, Fabric Ventures and Variant. The funds will allow the project to continue developing its own blockchain for dApps.
  
  
• $20 million — OpenMind. A software company working at the intersection of the Web3 and AI industries has reported raising investment. In an undisclosed round, Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Digital Currency Group (DCG), Ribbit Capital, HongShan, Anagram Crypto and others from the marketplace provided infusions. The capital will be used to create a “hardware-independent” FABRIC operating system.
  
  
• $20 million — MANTRA. The team responsible for creating the L1 blockchain has closed a strategic round. Its only participant was Inveniam. The capital will be used to develop an institutional real-world asset (RWA) ecosystem.
  
  
• $15 million — SuperGaming. The Series B round raised funds for the Web3 gaming studio. Leaders in terms of funding provided were Skycatcher and Steadview Capital. P2 Ventures, Bandai Namco Entertainment, a16z speedrun and a number of other players also participated in the round. The capital will be used to launch the Indus battle royal game and expand its game development infrastructure.
  
  
• $9.5M — BOB. Developers of an L2 solution on the bitcoin network announced that they have received investment. The strategic round of capital came from CMS Holdings, IOSG Ventures, Hypersphere Ventures, Amber Group, RockawayX, Castle Island Ventures and other venture capitalists. The infusion will accelerate the development of a hybrid BOB network.
  
  
• $9 million — Perple. The company, which specializes in blockchain-enabled data collection for the AI sector, closed a seed round. Its sole participant was Framework Ventures. The capital will be used to build a cryptonative platform for training AI models.
  
  
• $8.5 million — STAN. A project from SocialFi for trading collectibles and interacting with cyber athletes reported receiving funds. Bandai Namco Entertainment, Aptos, General Catalyst, GFR Fund, Square Enix, King River Capital and other market participants provided investment during the Series A round.
  
  
• $7.5 million — Europhia Finance. The mobile derivatives trading platform has completed its seed round fundraising. The leader in terms of financial injections was Karatage with participation of Santiago R. Santos, Robot Ventures, Figment Capital, Bankless Ventures, Kosmos Ventures, Hash3, Comfy Capital, First Commit and seven business angels. The funds will be used to create a trading application based on MegaETH.
  
  
• $5 million — Lightnet. The fintech company that provides infrastructure for cross-border money transfers announced a capital raise. Easou Technology provided the infusion as part of a strategic round. The developers did not disclose the purpose of the funds.
  
  
• $3.3 million — BlindPay. API platform for international payments using fiat currencies and stablecoins reported raising investment. Y Combinator, Transpose Platform, Bitso, Acacia Venture Capital Partners, 468 Capital and some business angels participated in the seed round.
  
  
• $3 million — Merso. The firm, which develops artificial intelligence-based financial infrastructure for the digital economy, raised capital in a seed round. The company did not disclose investors, but said the funds will allow it to continue work on its lending platform.
  
  
• $3 million — Doppler Finance. DeFi protocol based on XRP Ledger has closed a seed round. Digital Currency Group, Hashkey Capital, GSR Investments, Tenity, Maven 11 Capital, CMCC Global, Cluster Capital, Keyrock, Flowdesk, Auros Global, CRIT Ventures, G20 Ventures, and Reforge provided the financial infusion.
  
  
• $3 million — Levr.Bet. The decentralized sports betting exchange reported raising additional capital. The seed round was led by Blockchain Capital, Maven 11 Capital and Kosmos Ventures. The funds will enable the continued development of the leveraged betting exchange.
  
  
• $2 million — Bayes Market. The strategic round allowed the prediction market platform to raise capital. The investment leader was Green Visor Capital with participation of Bearcat, Jkapital Ltd. With this, the project team hopes to strengthen its position in Asia and beyond.
  
  
• $1.5 million — Hylo. The Solana-based DeFi platform announced that it has received investment in a seed round. Venture capital firms Robot Ventures, Solana Ventures, Colosseum, YTWO and a large number of business angels provided infusions.
  
  
• $700,000 — Kuvi.ai. Developers of an artificial intelligence-based crypto interface reported raising funds. Moon Pursuit Capital and two business angels provided the investment. The funding is aimed at launching closed beta testing of the Agentic Finance Operating System (AF-OS).

A number of other projects have raised funding, but have not reported the amount of investment.

The ANT.FUN crosschain trading interface team received additional capital as part of the Series A round. The funds were provided by Folkman Venture and will be used to improve the technical capabilities of the solution.

Kriptown, a digital investment and fundraising platform for startups and SMEs, announced the successful closing of its funding round. The infusion was provided by CACEIS, which will allow developers to launch an exchange of tokenized products.

In an undisclosed round, Allez Labs provided capital to Syntetika, a decentralized platform for issuing and trading tokenized assets. The project team did not disclose the purpose of the funds.

Tectonic, a company developing quantum-secure cryptographic systems, reported receiving funds. The investment was provided by the Black Flag firm. They will be used to develop products that will cover the growing demand for security infrastructure, the developers said.

The strategic round enabled Indonesian digital asset trading platform Triv to raise capital. MEXC Ventures was the sole investor in the strategic round.

A Web3 project from the DePIN segment called Multiple Network recorded a financial infusion in the strategic round. Gate Labs, IBC Ventures and 071labs participated. This investment “sets the stage” for the upcoming TGE.

Corporate Placements and Transactions

Members of the institutional sector continue to raise funds to build cryptocurrency reserves and expand operations. In the past week:

• verb Technology announced the creation of a $558 million TON reserve. To do so, the firm will conduct a private placement of equity (PIPE). In addition, the project will rebrand and operate under the name TON Strategy Co;
  
  
• financial services firm Mill City Ventures III announced a $450 million private placement, with the majority of the funds raised going to Sui-based Reserve (SUI);
  
  
• Satsuma Technology completed a $217.6 million capital raise by issuing convertible notes. The funds will be used to hire developers and expand infrastructure;
  
  
• capital B, a decentralized technology and data analytics company, reported a $13.3 million convertible bond issue. The capital will be used to execute its bitcoin treasury strategy;
  
  
• The Smarter Web Company reported raising $10.8 million to expand bitcoin-based corporate reserves. The UK-based provider of web design and internet marketing services increased the amount of cryptocurrency on its balance sheet to more than 2,000 BTC;
  
  
• vaultz Capital said it raised $5.65 million through an additional securities issue. The capital will be used to expand its bitcoin investment strategy;
  
  
• energy technology company ZOOZ Power completed raising $5 million through a private share sale. The deal was part of a larger $180 million securities offering, the firm said.

Acquisitions and Mergers

In the period from August 1 to August 9 two takeovers were recorded on the market.

Ripple Labs announced the acquisition of the Rail project, which deals with stablecoin payments. The amount of the agreement amounted to $200 million. This move will accelerate the growth of the Ripple USD (RLUSD) asset, according to the firm’s representatives.

The Phantom cryptocurrency wallet team announced the acquisition of Solsniper, a trading and analytics platform in the solana ecosystem. The deal, according to the company, will be part of its strategy to turn the project into a full-fledged consumer finance platform.

Gas Pedals, Grants and DAO Funding

Last week, the EU approved a $1.7 million infusion for decentralized AI startup AIxBlock. The project has also received preliminary approval for two additional grants of up to $71.6 million. The capital will support its long-term expansion across Europe.

Top Investors

The most active investors of the week were Pantera Capital, Digital Currency Group, Bankless Ventures, Amber Group and CMCC Global, according to CryptoRank.

What Is the Focus for Investors?

Between August 1 and August 9, projects from such segments as blockchain services, CeFi, DeFi, blockchain infrastructure, GameFi and others attracted funding. The main attention of investors was focused on CeFi and blockchain services.

Recall that in July, Web3 projects attracted a total of more than $2.2 billion in investments.

Follow the materials on Incrypted to keep abreast of new investments in the development of the digital world.

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