Singularity attracts $2.2 million to develop KYC-compliant DeFi platform for institutions Singularity attracts $2.2 million to develop KYC-compliant DeFi platform for institutions
Singularity is "developing a KYC/KYB-compliant DeFi access layer" for institutional use.
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Updated: Feb. 22, 2024 at 4:16 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Singularity Network, a protocol catering to institutional investors seeking confidential access to DeFi, raised $2.2 million in its second funding round that concluded in late 2023, according to a Feb. 22 statement shared with CryptoSlate.
The firm intends to use the newly acquired funds to bolster its protocol development, enhance its compliant DeFi infrastructure, and prepare for the protocol’s impending launch in the forthcoming months.
The funding round was spearheaded by Gumi Crypto Capitals, with participation from notable investors like Eureka Partners and Nomura’s digital asset subsidiary, Laser Digital. Other participants in this round included Digital Assets Capital Management, Gandel Invest, and Apollo Crypto—these firms had backed Singularity during its seed round.
Jemma Xu, the co-founder of Singularity, said the firm’s recent funding round validates the protocol’s product offering.
“Our investors’ commitments validate the institutional need to transact on-chain without information leakages.We have an exciting product roadmap ahead with more integrations and multichain deployments. Our immediate focus is on growing our institutional user base,” Xu added.
Singularity’s mission
Singularity aims to integrate traditional finance with DeFi by tackling these institutions’ major challenge with the sector: on-chain confidentiality.
According to the protocol, the risk of information leaks in the volatile crypto market is a significant concern for many traditional firms with a growing interest in DeFi thanks to the renewed global interest in the crypto industry.
Singularity is developing a Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB)-compliant platform to address this. This platform is designed for institutional use and conceals wallet addresses, allowing institutions to participate in top DeFi protocols while preserving on-chain anonymity.
Singularity said it leverages zero-knowledge technology via Noir-based zero-knowledge circuits for this purpose.
Miko Matsumura, the managing partner at Gumi Cryptos Capital, said:
“Singularity addresses a crucial need in the market, providing institutional users with both the compliance and the commercial confidentiality necessary to participate in DeFi.”
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Oluwapelumi Adejumo
Oluwapelumi values Bitcoin's potential. He imparts insights on a range of topics like DeFi, hacks, mining and culture, underlining transformative power.
