WTF is the scoop in crypto this week? 🍨

GM Builders. 🚧 

Welcome back to a crispy Monday edition of the BW3 newsletter, it’s like finding a crumpled $20 bill in an old jacket—unexpected, but exactly what you needed. 💵 

Here’s what we dug up today:

• What to watch for this week in Crypto 👀 

• Deal flow in last 7 days 💸 

• M&A Monday 🤝 

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WTF IS THE SCOOP THIS WEEK 🍨 

1/ Macro Data to Watch
This week is packed with critical economic reports and events. Keep an eye out for:

• OPEC Monthly Report – Monday

• September Retail Sales & Philly Fed Manufacturing Data – Thursday

• September Housing Starts Data – Friday

• 11 Fed Speaker Events spread throughout the week

• ~10% of S&P 500 companies set to release earnings reports, which could signal broader market trends.

2/ Token Unlocks
Significant unlocks ahead with $162M worth of tokens coming out of cliff unlocks:

• ARB: $52.08M unlocked (2.6% of supply)

• EIGEN: $41.96M unlocked (6.0% of supply)

• STRK: $28.19M unlocked (3.3% of supply)

These unlocks could create short-term volatility as investors might sell unlocked tokens, impacting market prices.

3/ Market Movements

• Bitcoin Momentum: After climbing past $64K, Bitcoin is front and center on everyone’s radar. Shorts (some BIG ones) were liquidated during the run-up, signaling bullish momentum but also heightened volatility.

• With macro pressures and key economic reports ahead, BTC’s next moves could define market sentiment for the rest of October.

4/ New Launches / Updates

• World Liberty Financial (WLFi): With Trump-backed WLFi whitelisting investors, the buzz around its upcoming launch is growing. Watch for how it performs post-launch.

• Uniswap’s Unichain: The launch of Uniswap’s Layer 2 network is stirring conversations across DeFi circles. Pay attention to transaction speeds and cost efficiency improvements, which could affect user adoption and liquidity.

DEAL FROM OVER LAST WEEK 👀 

It’s been a wild last 7 days with some big players putting away their alligator arms and breaking out the wallets to fund promising projects! Over $62M big smack-a-roos dished out.

1️⃣ Ithaca

• Amount Raised: $20M

• Stage: Unknown

• Category: Layer 2 Infrastructure

• Key Investor: Paradigm

• What to Watch: Ithaca is making moves in the Layer 2 space, and with backing from Paradigm, this one might be poised to shake up interoperability trends.

2️⃣ Delta

• Amount Raised: $11M

• Stage: Unknown

• Category: Infrastructure, Interoperability, Security, L2

• Investors: Variant, DBA, Figment Capital +11 others

• Why It Matters: Delta is riding the interoperability wave, positioning itself to address multi-chain infrastructure challenges—a big theme in blockchain growth.

3️⃣ Solv Protocol (SOLVBTC)

• Amount Raised: $11M

• Stage: Strategic

• Category: DeFi, DApps, Asset Management, Marketplace

• Investors: Laser Digital, Blockchain Capital, OKX Ventures +12 others

• Key Insights: With a focus across ecosystems from Ethereum to Arbitrum, Solv's strategic raise shows continued interest in tokenized asset management platforms.

4️⃣ PiP World

• Amount Raised: $10M

• Stage: Seed

• Category: Education, Gaming, Trading

• Key Investor: Exinity

• The Play: PiP World is blending education with gamified trading, signaling a move toward making DeFi tools more accessible to the masses.

5️⃣ The Open Network (TON)

• Amount Raised: $10M

• Stage: Unknown

• Category: Infrastructure (L1)

• Investor: Gate Ventures

• Market Signal: As TON continues to expand its Layer 1 infrastructure, Gate Ventures is doubling down on blockchain scalability.

M&A MONDAY 🤝 

Another week but we only 2 M&A deal came across the radar this week!

1️⃣ Palette (PLT)

• Category: Ethereum Ecosystem, L1, NFT

• Buyer: Aptos

• Why It Matters: Aptos is expanding its NFT game with the acquisition of Palette. This acquisition signals a push toward interoperability between Aptos and Ethereum ecosystems, targeting the growing NFT market across chains.

2️⃣ Lucky Trader

• Category: Analytics, Data Service, Media, NFT

• Buyer: Rug Radio

• The Play: Rug Radio is leveling up its media and analytics capabilities with the acquisition of Lucky Trader. This move adds real-time data and analytical insights to its media offerings, solidifying its presence as a key player in the NFT and crypto media space.

Other Action:
Bitlayer Labs, a developer of a Bitcoin L2, raised $9M at a $300M valuation. Polychain Capital and Franklin Templeton led the round, and were followed-on by SCB Limited, Selini Capital, and G-20.Group.

Layer, a decentralized tech infrastructure startup, raised a $6M seed round with participation from from Fabric Ventures, Arrington Capital, Stake Capital Group, and IOBC.

Semantic Layer, a multichain transaction execution infrastructure startup, raised $3M. The round was led by Figment Capital.

Yala, a developer of a BTC-backed stablecoin, raised an $8M seed round led by Polychain Capital and Ethereal Ventures. Other participating investors included Galaxy Vision Hill, Anagram, ABCDE, Amber Group, HashKey Capital, Satoshi Lab and UTXO Management.

MEME CITY 🏙️ 

Until Wednesday Builders! 🏗️ 

Keep grinding and stay ahead of the wagon. 🚜