Poolz, a blockchain protocol delivering decentralized token swaps, has completed a heavily oversubscribed private sale. The project, which is focused on bridging smart contract networks such as Polkadot and Ethereum, reports that its private round could have been filled 25x over. In the event, $1M was raised in return for POOLZ tokens, which will play an integral role in the token-swapping and fundraising protocol.
The Foundry, which is affiliated with crypto projects DuckDAO and Ferrum, led the round, and VCs such as Genesis Block, 7X Ventures, and Alphabit also participated in the private sale. Poolz intends to follow the event with a public sale in which tokens will be sold off via an auction, allowing bidders to set their desired purchase price.
Bringing Blockchains Together
The technology that Poolz is developing will enable projects to raise funds in ETH, for example, before issuing buyers with a token that is native to another blockchain such as Polkadot. Ordinarily, different blockchain networks are incompatible with one another, complicating the process of exchanging cross-chain assets. The Poolz protocol will allow projects to raise funds on the network of their choice, with Ethereum the most popular option at present due to its network effects, and the easy access to ETH as an investable asset.
Ethereum has been leading the crypto market rally that has flowed into 2021, and is up 52% for the past 30 days. In addition to retail demand, interest in BTC and ETH has stemmed from institutional investors in the US via instruments such as Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC:QXR:USD) and Grayscale Ethereum Trust, which give traditional investors exposure to the crypto market.
Smart contract networks such as Ethereum and TomoChain are at the heart of Poolz vision to unite normally-incompatible blockchains, providing a mechanism for cross-chain swaps and token sales. The project has declared its intention to add support for other crypto networks in the near future.
VCs Chase Crypto Deals
Interest in cryptocurrency and its underlying blockchain technology hasn’t just been reflected in digital asset prices; it’s also been seen in investment rounds, where demand routinely outstrips supply for the hottest projects. On December 23, Seoul-based blockchain VC Hashed disclosed that it had raised $120 million for its first fund. With $900 million invested in blockchain projects in Q3 of 2020 alone, the market is in rude health.
Commenting on the project’s 25x oversubscribed private sale, Poolz CEO Guy Oren said: “We are extremely grateful to all of the investors who have trusted in our team’s ability, innovation, and vision, and who believe that the future of blockchain is interoperable and that we are ideally placed to realize this goal.
“The level of demand for the native POOLZ token took us by surprise, and we could have filled our private round many times over. This augurs well for the future of cross-chain token sales, which Poolz will support, and for the forthcoming Poolz public auction.”
Companies like Andreessen Horowitz subsidiary a16z Crypto, Pantera Capital, and Galaxy Digital put blockchain venture capital on the map. Now, a string of other crypto investment firms, including several of the names that claimed an allocation for Poolz’ private sale, are building on that foundation while bootstrapping the next wave of disruptive crypto startups.
Disclosure: No positions. This Op-Ed is written by Reuben Jackson. Insider Monkey News Department isn’t involved in the production of this article.
