Publications
- _Investments
We are excited to announce our investment in CoW Protocol, the leading intent-based DEX in DeFi. The investment has been made using the TWAP feature from CoW Swap.
- _Research
Since the merge in September 2022, around 90% of blocks have been built via mev-boost, an implementation of proposer-builder separation (PBS). This allows validators to outsource the job of block construction to a set of sophisticated actors known as block builders, who compete in the mev-boost auction to create the most valuable block. In this post, we aim to better understand statistical arbitrage (stat arb) on Ethereum mainnet and how it relates to and impacts block building via mev-boost. We also explore the scope of the stat arb market and which parties win and dominate stat arb opportunities.
- _Investments
We are excited to lead Liquorice's $1.2M pre-seed funding round. Liquorice developed a novel approach to connecting intent-based decentralized exchanges to a network of solvers and market makers through an API. With that, they are addressing some of the most pressing challenges in DeFi: enabling the optimal execution for traders by broadening the access for non-vertically integrated solvers to get offchain quotes.
- _Research
There are seven crucial things you should understand and consider regarding confidential compute in blockchain. Privacy has always been a critical area to resolve and yet we can’t claim a clear win (see our previous article on addressing some of the long-lasting problems). The technical problem is real. However, the industry is making it even more difficult by oftentimes lumping together different solutions. This article attempts to break down the differentiating attributes of the widely used primitives ZKP, MPC and FHE for confidential computing. We also expand into how said cryptographic primitives are implemented on the system and dapp levels. By clearing up misconceptions, a more straightforward path to solutions could open up.
- _Investments
We’re excited to co-lead Layer3’s $15M Series A. Layer3 is building the onchain value distribution platform to serve and connect two distinct groups: A) crypto users who want to explore Web3 in a guided and trusted way and get rewarded for their actions and attention, and B) Networks, protocols, and dApps that want to attract and retain the right users.
- _Building
Imagine you get rewarded for consuming content that is relevant to you anyway. Crypto can make it happen. EtherMail combines this idea with the most widespread and established communication channel on the Internet. We’ve backed EtherMail since co-leading their seed funding round in 2022 and witnessed the consensual email marketing narrative unfold. Today, EtherMail is launching its $EMT token. We take this milestone as an opportunity to summarize what has been built in the meantime and how email has evolved from a communication tool bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3 to becoming an integrated instrument in the Web3 engagement and payment stack.
- _Investments
We are excited to lead Arcium’s $5.5M strategic funding round to launch the first parallelized confidential computing network. Arcium will enable use cases that combine the old network effects of Web2 with the new network effects and capabilities of Web3: liveness, permissionlessness, composability, censorship resistance, verifiability, and, last but not least, ownership.
- _Building
Since 2022, we have been backing Safe (rebranded "Gnosis Safe"). Meanwhile, the smart contract wallet platform has emerged as critical infrastructure and the most used industry standard for securely managing digital assets in web3. Safe has achieved wide adoption, securing over $100B in assets and being used by major DAOs, institutions, and individuals. This article reiterates our initial investment thesis and showcases our continued conviction in the project, while arguing that Safe features elements of a meta aggregator for web3, putting it in a dominant strategic position.