Paradigm
Paradigm is a research-driven investment firm based in San Francisco, specializing in the cryptocurrency sector. Founded in 2018 by Matt Huang and Fred Ehrsam, the company aims to support innovative companies and protocols from their inception, often at the idea stage. Paradigm emphasizes a builder mentality, with many of its team members having experience in developing tools and protocols that play a significant role in the crypto ecosystem. The firm is committed to advancing the frontier of cryptocurrency through both investment and the creation of open-source software. Research is central to Paradigm's approach, as the firm believes that deep understanding fosters innovation and progress. Rather than solely providing financial support, Paradigm actively engages in collaboration, whether it be through producing research papers or offering product and business strategy guidance.
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Past deals in Smart Contracts
Across Protocol
Initial Coin Offering in 2025
Across is a cross-chain bridge secured by UMA's optimistic oracle for L2s and rollups. It also optimized for capital efficiency with a single liquidity pool, a competitive relayer landscape, and a no-slippage fee model.
MetaDAO
Initial Coin Offering in 2024
MetaDAO is a technology company that develops a decentralized, autonomous platform for decision markets. This platform facilitates a pure market-based governance system, allowing traders to create and trade in decision markets, where the outcomes are influenced by market mechanisms and active stakeholder participation, rather than traditional governance structures.
Conduit
Series A in 2024
Conduit operates as a platform focused on providing crypto native infrastructure aimed at supporting developers in the cryptocurrency space. The company collaborates with leading crypto engineering teams to develop a comprehensive suite of tools that facilitate the creation, deployment, and maintenance of smart contracts, particularly on the Ethereum network. By offering a visual programming environment, Conduit enables developers to build, test, and deploy smart contracts efficiently, utilizing various programming languages and libraries. This streamlined approach enhances the overall development process, empowering builders in the rapidly evolving field of cryptocurrency.
Axiom
Series A in 2024
Axiom enables smart contracts to securely compute over Ethereum's whole history, including transactions and receipts. Developers can send on-chain queries to Axiom, which are automatically completed with ZK-verified responses delivered back to the developer's smart contract.
Blast
Venture Round in 2023
Blast is an Optimistic Rollup-based Layer 2 network.
Dzone Finance
Series A in 2023
Dzone Finance is a cross-chain Dex and Bridge aggregator.
Flashbots
Series B in 2023
Flashbots is a research and development company dedicated to improving the efficiency and transparency of Miner Extractable Value (MEV) in blockchain ecosystems. The company focuses on creating tools for miners and searchers to extract MEV in a more transparent and efficient manner. Flashbots aims to mitigate the negative impacts of current MEV extraction techniques, which can pose existential risks to state-rich blockchains like Ethereum. Their goal is to establish a permissionless, transparent, and fair ecosystem for MEV extraction and redistribution.
EDX Markets
Series A in 2023
EDX Markets operates as a digital asset marketplace. It caters to the needs of both crypto-native firms and large financial institutions. The company trades in various cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash. EDX Markets combines innovative technology with financial services to enable safe and compliant trading of digital assets. It also provides trading resources and a UAT Environment for its users. The company is also known for its focus on hiring crypto talent, as stated by its CEO, Jamil Nazarali.
Utopia Labs
Series A in 2023
Utopia Labs develops an operating system for decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), streamlining payment requests and payroll management. It enables users to efficiently handle invoices, expenses, and contributor salaries, while facilitating transparent reporting through automated transaction organization.
Conduit
Seed Round in 2023
Conduit operates as a platform focused on providing crypto native infrastructure aimed at supporting developers in the cryptocurrency space. The company collaborates with leading crypto engineering teams to develop a comprehensive suite of tools that facilitate the creation, deployment, and maintenance of smart contracts, particularly on the Ethereum network. By offering a visual programming environment, Conduit enables developers to build, test, and deploy smart contracts efficiently, utilizing various programming languages and libraries. This streamlined approach enhances the overall development process, empowering builders in the rapidly evolving field of cryptocurrency.
Uniswap Labs
Series B in 2022
Founded in 2018 by Hayden Adams, Uniswap Labs develops decentralized finance (DeFi) products. It specializes in creating user-friendly platforms for secure, peer-to-peer digital asset swapping, with a focus on accessibility and empowerment of liquidity providers and traders.
nxyz
Series A in 2022
nxyz is a company focused on enhancing the capabilities of builders, creatives, and entrepreneurs in the digital space by offering a robust blockchain indexing and data infrastructure. Its platform features a multi-chain API that transforms blockchain data into real-time, high-performance data streams. This allows engineers to access and interact with various blockchain elements, including wallets, transactions, NFTs, and smart contracts, while integrating both on-chain and off-chain information. By providing these tools, nxyz aims to facilitate the development of a more efficient and quality-oriented internet.
Exponential DeFi
Seed Round in 2022
Exponential DeFi platform makes it easy to discover, assess, and invest in DeFi yield opportunities. Anyone can become a lender or market maker with DeFi. Financial freedom is within everyone's reach when individuals have the ability to grow their wealth exponentially. Its platform helps investors assess the risk of DeFi yield opportunities so they can invest with confidence.
Exponential DeFi platform was founded in 2021 and is based in San Francisco, California.
SignalPlus
Seed Round in 2022
SignalPlus is an enterprise technology firm specializing in making trading options for digital and cryptocurrency assets more accessible. It offers an AI-powered trading robot for automation, providing automated hedging and market-making solutions to help traders manage risks effectively.
SignalPlus
Series A in 2022
SignalPlus is an enterprise technology firm specializing in making trading options for digital and cryptocurrency assets more accessible. It offers an AI-powered trading robot for automation, providing automated hedging and market-making solutions to help traders manage risks effectively.
Optimism
Series B in 2022
Optimism is an Ethereum-based decentralized infrastructure platform founded in 2019. It enables instant transactions and scalable smart contracts through its layer 2 scaling solution, helping developers build on the blockchain.
Gauntlet
Series B in 2022
Gauntlet is a financial modeling and simulation company focused on enhancing the safety and efficiency of blockchain protocols and smart contracts. Through its advanced platform, Gauntlet employs agent-based simulation techniques to analyze and optimize key parameters of various protocols. This approach allows the company to model market risks and economic incentives effectively, helping clients improve their capital efficiency and maximize returns for stakeholders while minimizing associated risks. By driving sustainable growth for leading crypto protocols, chains, and on-chain treasuries, Gauntlet plays a crucial role in enhancing the financial performance of businesses in the blockchain space.
OpenSea
Series C in 2022
OpenSea is a blockchain-based peer-to-peer marketplace for crypto assets and digital collectibles, enabling users to buy and sell non-fungible tokens, gaming items, software licenses, and other virtual goods through smart contracts. The platform supports a wide range of NFT assets backed by blockchain, providing a secure, decentralized environment for trading and transacting in the open Web3 ecosystem.
Aztec
Series A in 2021
Aztec specializes in developing privacy-focused technologies for Ethereum-based transactions. It is renowned for creating PLONK, a leading standard in zero-knowledge proofs, enabling fast, private interactions on the public blockchain. The company's research team has made significant contributions to Layer 2 solutions on Ethereum and possesses extensive expertise in deploying intricate cryptosystems within Web3 environments. Aztec Network recently unveiled an advanced version of zk.money, showcasing its Aztec Connect SDK's ability to facilitate seamless integrations with prominent DeFi protocols like Lido and Element Finance. The company is currently working on building a secure, encrypted blockchain secured by Ethereum.
Euler Labs
Series A in 2021
Euler Labs is a developer of a non-custodial lending protocol built on the Ethereum blockchain, designed to facilitate lending and borrowing of a wide range of crypto assets. The platform operates without the need for trusted third parties, allowing users to earn interest on their crypto holdings or hedge against market volatility in a capital-efficient manner. Euler's innovative approach incorporates reactive interest rates that adjust in real-time based on market conditions, alongside asset-specific collaterals, which provides clients with a risk-minimized opportunity to engage in crypto finance. The company's technology aims to enhance financial accessibility and efficiency for users in the decentralized finance space.
dYdX
Series C in 2021
Founded in 2017 by an ex-Coinbase engineer, dYdX is a leading decentralized exchange offering Perpetual, Margin, and Spot trading on Ethereum. It combines the security of a decentralized exchange with the speed and usability of a centralized one.
Lido
Initial Coin Offering in 2021
Lido develops open-source middleware deployed on the Ethereum blockchain. It extends Ethereum's block validation functionality and is publicly accessible through multiple interfaces.
Gitcoin
Venture Round in 2021
Gitcoin, established in 2017 and headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, operates a platform that connects open-source developers with funding opportunities. The platform, built on the Ethereum network using Solidity, enables developers to monetize their work in various programming languages, including Python, Rust, Ruby, JavaScript, and Solidity. Gitcoin fosters a symbiotic relationship between developers, maintainers, and financiers, promoting the growth of open-source projects and the community. The company's grants management platform offers decentralized allocation infrastructure and smart contract-based funding mechanisms, facilitating efficient capital distribution and community-driven innovation within blockchain ecosystems.
Opyn
Series A in 2021
Opyn is a decentralized protocol specializing in optimizing options trading. It enables users to earn premiums or express views on assets by trading options on ETH and ERC20 tokens. Opyn offers European, cash-settled options that auto-exercise upon expiry, with oTokens being ERC20s tradable on compatible decentralized exchanges.
Synthetix
Seed Round in 2020
Synthetix is a blockchain-based protocol facilitating the issuance of synthetic assets for derivatives trading in decentralized finance (DeFi). Established in Sydney, Australia in 2017 by Kain Warwick, it enables exposure to real-world assets like currencies and commodities on the blockchain.
Nebulous
Seed Round in 2020
Nebulous, Inc. is a technology company focused on developing blockchain hardware and software infrastructure for the decentralized internet. Founded in 2014 and based in Boston, Massachusetts, the company is known for its flagship product, Sia, a decentralized cloud storage platform that utilizes blockchain technology to create a data storage marketplace. Additionally, Nebulous offers Skynet, a decentralized content delivery network (CDN) and file-sharing platform tailored for developers, along with SiaStream, which provides affordable storage solutions for media files, enabling fast streaming. As a core contributor to the open-source Skynet project, Nebulous plays a significant role in advancing the decentralized web ecosystem.
Uniswap Labs
Series A in 2020
Founded in 2018 by Hayden Adams, Uniswap Labs develops decentralized finance (DeFi) products. It specializes in creating user-friendly platforms for secure, peer-to-peer digital asset swapping, with a focus on accessibility and empowerment of liquidity providers and traders.
Reflexer Labs
Seed Round in 2020
Reflexer Labs is a United States based company developing low-volatility collateral for decentralized finance. Founded in 2020, it aims to provide a stable and secure asset by dampening volatility within crypto markets. Its product applies control theory to smart contracts to automatically adjust the supply of collateral, mirroring the behavior of underlying assets while reducing price swings. The approach helps minimize investment loss risk for users participating in decentralized finance strategies.
Yield Protocol
Seed Round in 2020
Yield is building a decentralized lending protocol to bring fixed-term, fixed-rate lending to decentralized finance. Yield was founded by Allan Niemerg in 2020 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.
Keep
Initial Coin Offering in 2020
Keep Network, established in 2017 and based in George Town, Cayman Islands, specializes in creating interactive links between public blockchains and private data. The company's core product, tBTC, is a decentralized bridge enabling users to securely and anonymously transfer their Bitcoin to the Ethereum network, facilitating participation in decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms. Keep Network's technology, an off-chain container for private data, allows smart contracts to leverage the full power of public blockchains while maintaining data privacy.
Keep
Venture Round in 2020
Keep Network, established in 2017 and based in George Town, Cayman Islands, specializes in creating interactive links between public blockchains and private data. The company's core product, tBTC, is a decentralized bridge enabling users to securely and anonymously transfer their Bitcoin to the Ethereum network, facilitating participation in decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms. Keep Network's technology, an off-chain container for private data, allows smart contracts to leverage the full power of public blockchains while maintaining data privacy.
Optimism
Seed Round in 2020
Optimism is an Ethereum-based decentralized infrastructure platform founded in 2019. It enables instant transactions and scalable smart contracts through its layer 2 scaling solution, helping developers build on the blockchain.
Flashbots
Seed Round in 2020
Flashbots is a research and development company dedicated to improving the efficiency and transparency of Miner Extractable Value (MEV) in blockchain ecosystems. The company focuses on creating tools for miners and searchers to extract MEV in a more transparent and efficient manner. Flashbots aims to mitigate the negative impacts of current MEV extraction techniques, which can pose existential risks to state-rich blockchains like Ethereum. Their goal is to establish a permissionless, transparent, and fair ecosystem for MEV extraction and redistribution.
Compound
Series A in 2019
Compound is an open-source protocol operating a decentralized finance lending platform. It facilitates real-time money markets by algorithmically adjusting interest rates based on asset-specific supply and demand. Compound enables users to deposit crypto assets as collateral, borrow base assets, and earn interest on their deposits within the DeFi ecosystem.
O1Labs
Series A in 2019
O1Labs, established in 2017, is a blockchain technology company that specializes in zero knowledge cryptography and innovative cryptographic solutions. The company's significant contributions include the development of the Mina Protocol, recognized as the world's first lightweight, scalable, and decentralized zk blockchain. Additionally, O1Labs has created o1js, an intuitive framework designed to assist developers in building zk applications. By leveraging zero-knowledge proofs, O1Labs seeks to enhance blockchain accessibility and facilitate the creation of user-friendly cryptocurrency applications that operate natively in web browsers. The company's vision is to drive the next generation of applications powered by zero knowledge cryptography.
Veil
Seed Round in 2019
Veil, Inc. is a peer-to-peer trading platform that focuses on prediction markets and derivatives, leveraging the Augur and 0x protocols. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, the company allows users to engage in betting on various prediction markets while also facilitating the trading of a diverse array of crypto assets. Veil's innovative platform aims to enhance user participation in decentralized markets by providing a seamless and accessible trading experience.
Cosmos Network
Seed Round in 2019
Cosmos is a versatile project focused on creating a network of distributed ledgers aimed at addressing persistent challenges within the cryptocurrency and blockchain sectors. It provides a container-first monitoring system that operates independently of specific infrastructures or operating systems, allowing users to connect all containers in their data centers to a unified dashboard. This dual functionality not only enhances monitoring capabilities but also facilitates better integration and communication among various blockchain networks, fostering a more interconnected ecosystem.
Namebase
Seed Round in 2018
Namebase is an open-bidding domain marketplace that facilitates the buying, selling, and management of top-level domains and HNS coins. The platform simplifies the use of next-generation domain names, enabling users to host websites and receive cryptocurrency through their domain names. By providing a straightforward marketplace, Namebase supports users in navigating the evolving landscape of digital assets and domain ownership.
Spacemesh
Venture Round in 2018
Spacemesh is a layer‑one blockchain protocol that emphasizes permissionless decentralization and environmental sustainability. It employs a Proofs of Space‑Time consensus mechanism that leverages unused disk space for computation, allowing participants to contribute without significant resource consumption. The network uses a directed acyclic graph topology instead of a traditional chain, and its collaborative mining approach eliminates leader election and lottery‑based incentives. The platform is open source and supports general‑purpose smart contracts at web‑scale, providing a fair, secure, and self‑healing global computer for decentralized applications.
Gauntlet
Gauntlet is a financial modeling and simulation company focused on enhancing the safety and efficiency of blockchain protocols and smart contracts. Through its advanced platform, Gauntlet employs agent-based simulation techniques to analyze and optimize key parameters of various protocols. This approach allows the company to model market risks and economic incentives effectively, helping clients improve their capital efficiency and maximize returns for stakeholders while minimizing associated risks. By driving sustainable growth for leading crypto protocols, chains, and on-chain treasuries, Gauntlet plays a crucial role in enhancing the financial performance of businesses in the blockchain space.
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