Crypto-native venture capital firm CoinFund announced Tuesday a $158 million funding round it secured to back early crypto startups. The company focuses its latest funding on bridging cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence (AI).
CoinFund Supports AI Integration With Crypto
The New York-based investment platform has used its new cash infusion to finance Giza, a startup building AI-enabled smart contracts, and Superstate Inc., a project aiming to combine decentralized finance (DeFi) with mutual funds. CoinFund targets other projects building at the intersection of crypto and AI.
CoinFund’s CEO and co-founder Jake Brukhman revealed that the latest funding was higher than the fund the company expected. The newly secured funds represent its fourth seed funding.
Over the past year and six months, CoinFund has locked in $550 million in funding. Brukhman had echoed that such a feat was not easy, given that 2022 was “an exceptionally difficult year.”
Last year was characterized by the demise of crypto platforms, such as Terra Labs, Three Arrows Capital, Celsius Network, and FTX. These tragic events caused mainstream players to back off from investing in crypto-based projects. However, CoinFund acquired funds from investors and used them to finance projects such as Dapper Labs and Blockdaemon.
More Crypto-natives Explore AI
As AI continues to make waves in the tech space, several crypto-native projects are beginning to embrace innovation by incorporating AI into cryptocurrencies.
A notable example is the Worldcoin project, built by OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman. The project utilizes AI to create an iris-scanning device called the Orb. The biometric scanning device will allow for easy individual ID recognition. The project secured $115 million from investors in May to finance its business.
Aside from crypto-natives, government authorities in different regions are embracing the AI movement. El Salvador, for example, passed a law removing taxation on tech innovations such as AI. Last month, the European Parliament passed an AI Act, a legislative framework for the development and regulation of AI projects.
