FalconX raised an inflation-adjusted equivalent to Facebook's 2005 Series A, Bakkt has unveiled $600 million in total insurance cover and Andressen Horowitz anticipates another age of growth.

Crypto trading platform FalconX closed a mult-imillion dollar seed funding round led by Accel, a venture capital firm that took a gamble by investing early in Facebook. Looking at these two raises separated by 15 years is revealing. Adjusting Facebook's 2005 Series A to today's terms brings it to around $17 million, or the amount FalconX was just handed.

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Unlike Facebook, FalconX doesn't seem interested in mass adoption. The firm told CoinDesk it has no plans to expand its services to retail investors.

Top Shelf

Not SmilingGrin, the privacy-centric project that garnered outsized interest in investments in 2019, is showing little signs of life.Its price has dropped 20% year to date, while the networks hash power and mining difficulty have experienced nine consecutive months of decline.Grin launched during an altcoin bear market, said grin developer David Burkett. That the price has so far only moved downward is a very similar movement to many coins launched at the same time.

Bakkt's BackingBakkt has onboarded more than 70 clients for its custody services and given them the option to tap more than$600 million in insurance coverageoverall, the company announced Monday. The company has also completed two audits into its financial reporting and customer data protection controls by KPMG and PwC, respectively.

FalconX's Facebook-level RaiseFalconX, a cryptocurrency trading platform, announced it has raised a total of$17 million in a round led by Accel,with backing from Coinbase Ventures, Fenbushi Capital and Land Avon Ventures. The platform claims 100 customers as well as an AI-powered trading solution programmed to eliminate artificially inflated prices. CoinDesks Paddy Baker puts the raise in perspective by detailing Facebooks $12.7 million Series A led by Accel in 2005. Inflation means Facebook's raise would now be worth the same as FalconX's; then again, a pre-seed is two or three raises behind a Series A, he said.

Cyclic ThinkingBy monitoring10 years of data including from subreddits and Github analysts at Andreessen Horowitzhave found that crypto boom cycles progress in roughly five phases. 1) The price of bitcoin and other crypto assets goes up, 2) leading to new interest and social media activity, 3) leading to more people getting involved, contributing new ideas and code, 4) leading to projects and startups getting created, 5) leading to product launches that inspire more people, eventually culminating in the next cycle. With the launch of a new$515 million crypto fund,the venture firm looks bullish on the next cycle of development.

Testing DEXSynthetix is putting over$40,000 in crypto on the lineto entice users to try out the faster beta of its decentralized exchange (DEX). The test aims to solve the painful trade-off between network speed and security that affects DEXs, hinting at a future where these platforms can scale.

Crypto Long & ShortMining derivatives are a signal of cryptos growing sophistication, CoinDesks Noelle Acheson puts forward in the latestCrypto Long & Shortnewsletter, following up on derivatives exchange FTX recent launch of what they are calling hashrate futures, based on bitcoins difficulty level. This particular instrument may or may not take off. Its significance is more that it could trigger a new wave of financial innovation that supports the growth and increasing sophistication of the bitcoin mining industry, which is struggling to adjust to reduced revenue and tougher competition, she writes.

Derivative RaisesCrypto derivatives platforms have brought in $552 million of institutional-focused capital since 2014,The Blockreports. The majority of the fresh capital was raised by two deals involving Bakkt.

Spill the tBTCA tokenized version aiming to bring Bitcoin onto Ethereum has closed down after two days, its developer Matt Luongo said. Named tBTC, the project is pausing deposits for 10 days, and its creators are helping users withdraw funds. A post-mortem, and possible resurrection, will come from Luongo once the smart contract is empty, he tweeted. (Decrypt)

Market Intel

First MoverBitcoin trading volumes are averaging their highest levels since last July, according to Arcane Research, while the number of open bitcoin futures contracts on the CME exchange is rocketing.Such enthusiasm contrasts markedly with the dour outlook of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and the declining returns on the benchmark S&P 500(down 11% year to date). For bitcoiners, the pessimism on the economy was just another reason to be bullish, since it means the Fed is likely to inject more money into the markets, strengthening the case for buying the cryptocurrency as an inflation hedge, CoinDesks First Mover team said in todays newsletter. Get it inyour inbox!

Key LevelBitcoin's attempt to scale $10,000 looks to have stalled again. This is thethird rejection to cross the psychologically importantlevel since May 1. Dropping to $9,450 during European trading hours, the currency is trading around $9,600 at time of writing, representing a 145% increase since March lows.

Hash Rates SpinningAlong with prices, Bitcoins hash rate has steadily climbed over the weekend, following a post-halving dip. On Sunday the hash rate hit highs of 107 exahashes per second, recovering from a drop to 87 on Thursday, the lowest since December. (Decrypt)

The Breakdown, Money Reimagined

Is bitcoin the answer for a global monetary system not longer served by the dollar standard? Episode 3 ofThe Breakdown: Money Reimaginedexaminesbitcoin and permissionless stablecoins- both of which are forcing the global monetary system to examine deeply ingrained beliefs.

The Breakdown: Money Reimaginedis a podcast crossover micro series exploring the battle for the future of money in the context of a post COVID-19 world. The four-part podcast features over a dozen voices includingConsensus: Distributedspeakers Niall Ferguson, Nic Carter and Michael Casey. New episodes air Fridays on the CoinDesk Podcast Network.Subscribe here.

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Blockchain Bites: a16z's Cyclic Crypto Thinking and Grin's Grim Outlook - CoinDesk - CoinDesk