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Jia, a blockchain-based lender of small businesses in emerging markets, raises $4.3 million seed

TechCrunch

Jia, a blockchain-based fintech providing loans to micro and small businesses in emerging markets, has raised $4.3 The fintech plans to use the funding to double down on its operations in Kenya, and the Philippines, before exploring new markets in West Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

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The US is losing crypto talent as blockchain devs seek safer havens

TechCrunch

But it seems now the United States is the one seeing talent fleeing to other parts of the world, at least as far as blockchain developers are concerned. The number of blockchain developers in the U.S. share of blockchain developers has fallen 2% per year in the last five years, dropping to 29% last year from 40% in 2017.

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6 tips for launching a blockchain startup

TechCrunch

These days, a blockchain startup founder should expect to navigate challenging waters. Even in the best of times, founders must both prepare for a bull market and be ready for possibly bearish territory. Having a solid roadmap, real-world use cases and a war chest are only a small part of a blockchain startup’s survival strategy.

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Blockchain startup Propy plans first-ever auction of a real apartment as a collectible NFT

TechCrunch

We previously wrote about Propy using blockchain technology to smooth real-world real estate sales by introducing the concept of smart contracts. Propy was the first blockchain startup to make that work. Propy, a blockchain-verified platform for selling houses, raises funding from Tim Draper.

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Alchemy raises $80M at a $505M valuation to be the ‘AWS for blockchain’

TechCrunch

Blockchain developer platform Alchemy announced today it has raised $80 million in a Series B round of funding led by Coatue and Addition, Lee Fixel’s new fund. We realized that in order for space to thrive and build to its full potential, we needed to build a developer platform layer for blockchain,” Viswanathan told TechCrunch.

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NFT market OpenSea hits $1.5 billion valuation

TechCrunch

Despite a fall from stratospheric heights in the early summer, the broader NFT market has still been chugging along, and OpenSea is continuing to see plenty of action. One of the company’s clearer growth roadblocks has been infrastructure issues native to the Ethereum blockchain that its marketplace has been built around.

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Ticketmaster sucks. Can blockchain be the cure?

TechCrunch

W elcome to the TechCrunch Exchange, a weekly startups-and-markets newsletter. Can blockchain be the cure? It’s inspired by the daily TechCrunch+ column where it gets its name. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. ” Regulators in many countries beg to disagree. Earlier this year, the U.S. Ticketmaster sucks.