“Pantera Capital led the funding round, with participation from Elevation Capital, Starkware, Spartan Group, Goodwater Capital, and other investors.
Established in 2021 by Shaaran Lakshminarayanan, Ritumbhara Bhatnagar, and Bhavesh Praveen, Brine Fi is a decentralized exchange (DEX) designed for institutional and high-frequency traders.
This fundraising event coincides with a growing trend among investors shifting their focus toward decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges, following the FTX collapse.”
“Brine Fi, a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange (DEX), has successfully secured $16.5 million in its Series A funding round. Pantera Capital led the round, resulting in a valuation of $100 million for the platform. The funding round also attracted participation from notable investors, including Elevation Capital, Starkware, Spartan Group, Goodwater Capital, Upsparks Ventures, Protofund Ventures, and various angel investors, as announced by Brine Fi in a recent statement.”
However, the startup did not specify where it would deploy the fresh funds.
“… with Brine Fi we make it easy for institutions, centralised exchanges, HFT traders and retail users to reduce their counterparty risk and at the same time get the best price for their orders in the industry,” said Brine Fi cofounder and CEO Shaaran Lakshminarayanan.
Chiming in, Pantera Capital managing partner Paul Veradittakit said, “Brine tackles some of the most important challenges holding back institutional and mainstream user adoption in DeFi. There’s an urgent demand for a self-custodial execution layer that is faster, more reliable, user-friendly, and cost-effective.”
“Established in 2021 by its co-founders Lakshminarayanan, Ritumbhara Bhatnagar, and Bhavesh Praveen, Brine Fi is a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange that specifically caters to institutional clients and high-frequency traders. The platform leverages StarkWare’s zkP (Zero Knowledge Proofs) technology to ensure the privacy of crypto trading positions and prevent frontrunning.
Brine Fi boasts the capability to execute orders within milliseconds while maintaining a fully non-custodial approach. The platform has already onboarded some of the world’s largest hedge funds, cryptocurrency exchanges, and high-frequency traders.
This fundraising event follows closely on the heels of Brine Fi’s launch of its orderbook platform, which, according to the company, handles monthly volumes of $300 million and ranks among the top 10 decentralized exchanges (DEXs) globally.
The timing of this fundraising round coincides with growing concerns about centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, spurred by the collapse of FTX. Consequently, many traders are shifting their focus towards DEXs to safeguard their portfolios. Brine Fi aims to capitalize on the expanding decentralized exchange market, which continues to grapple with issues like cumbersome user interfaces, frontrunning, and limited support.”
“Simultaneously, the cryptocurrency landscape has encountered a wave of regulatory obstacles and cautious investors, prompted by the turbulence in cryptocurrency exchanges. This has resulted in a decline in crypto trading volumes, even as countries worldwide tighten regulations to combat the increasing instances of money laundering involving cryptocurrencies.
While the Indian government has been advocating for a global regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, Indian cryptocurrency startups have grappled with a funding downturn and unfavorable market conditions. Recently, domestic cryptocurrency exchanges CoinDCX and CoinSwitch had to reduce their workforce, and many other similar platforms are exploring alternative business models.
In the wake of Sequoia Capital’s substantial reduction of its crypto fund by over 65%, down to approximately $200 million, numerous other related entities have entered the crypto arena to capitalize on the flourishing web3 economy. As the cryptocurrency ecosystem continues to evolve, Brine Fi’s fundraising achievement serves as a much-needed ray of hope for an industry recently plagued by controversies.”
