The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s new Crypto Task Force will begin a cross-country tour this month to meet with small crypto startups and expand the number of people who are heard in crypto policymaking.

Led by Commissioner Hester Peirce, the task force plans to visit 10 cities from August to December, it announced in a press release.

The sessions are primarily aimed at crypto-related projects with fewer than 10 employees and under two years in operation. Meetings will be held in cities including Berkeley, Boston, Dallas, Chicago, and New York.

“We want to hear from people who were not able to travel for the roundtables that took place this past spring in Washington, D.C.,” Peirce said in a statement.

“The Crypto Task Force is acutely aware that any regulatory framework will have far-reaching effects, and we want to ensure that our outreach is as comprehensive as possible.”

The Crypto Task Force was launched in January under acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda, in a bid to develop clearer regulations for the cryptocurrency industry.

Read more: SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce on the New Crypto Task Force

HodlX Guest Post  Submit Your Post

Web 3.0 founders must start acting like Web 2.0 founders or perish. It’s time for Web 3.0 to grow up.

If teams are going to compete with the technology behemoths of today, they have to abandon the long-held crypto strategy of opacity and secrecy.

Instead, they must doxx and present themselves as professionals online and in person in order to gain trust.

Team members – most importantly, executives – should reveal their verified identities online on platforms such as LinkedIn, X and others.

They should participate in conferences – not in hoodies and jeans – but in three-piece suits. It is more likely you will be taken seriously than if you are in the garb of a high schooler.

Moreover, executives in Web 3.0 might consider starting their own podcasts aimed at high-value guests, with whom they might strike up a partnership as the relationship develops.

Doxxed team members from your company’s marketing team can host weekly podcasts with other high-value guests.

Now, just because you have a public profile doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice privacy.

You can still keep information about much of your family private, unless you end up leading a unicorn and skyrocket to global stardom, which happens too few.

Otherwise, your public persona can be strictly professional.

Instead of creating DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) out of thin air, register a proper legal entity.

In the US, this might be an LLC or C-Corp in a state such as Wyoming or – to a lesser degree these days – Delaware.

If a DAO is absolutely necessary for your project, the governance must be done in a transparent fashion.

DAOs should publish governance frameworks, as well as voting mechanisms, proposal processes and treasury management. Comply with all regulations. Community managers must be doxxed.

Develop a customer service system to promptly address community feedback. This can be automated with AI tools, and people should receive prompt replies, even if they are automated.

Treat your community as partners. Post truthful and detailed information on development progress on social platforms.

Also share development logs via a public repository, such as GitHub or public Notion boards. The public should know about code commits, bug fixes and roadmap milestones.

Internal decisions should be accompanied by press releases with clear reasoning behind decisions – no jargon. Keep making progress and communicating via social media during bear markets.

Web 3.0 projects often have advisors. All too often, these advisors are the people closest to the founders, not truly strategic partners – and that’s a problem.

Instead of inviting crypto influencers to sit on a board, Web 3.0 founders should invite leading technology billionaires to advise their firms and ensure that once the advisory has been handpicked, it is filled with ardent professionals with track records of success.

The advisors should be excited about the project and available to help. In contracts with advisors, the requirement for ongoing advice might be spelled out.

This group should then be listed, along with their credentials and roles, for all to see.

Legal counsel is essential to ensure your project does not run afoul of any securities law, KYC and AML regulations and tax obligations.

Be public about your dedication to the law. Perhaps for your advisory team, recruit former regulators or legal minds.

Investors want to know for a fact that the company will persist, rather than burn out, fade away or disappear in the night – like so many Web 3.0 projects heretofore.

This is a big fear among the public – especially strategic partners and investors – given such a high failure rate of Web 3.0 projects.

We’ve seen a considerable share of DeFi projects launched fail.

What’s more, those who stick around seemingly have decreasing odds of seeing their token prices regain their old ATHs (all-time highs).

Not a good sign for potential billionaire investors who Web 3.0 founders would love to attract.

To be sure, doxxing a Web 3.0 team is a high-risk, high-reward endeavor as it comes with increased risk of digital and real-life attacks.

Nonetheless, in order to find themselves inside big tech boardrooms, it might help founders to build Web 3.0 projects like the Web 2.0 companies.

Learn from the tech giants of yesterday and today who continue to eat the world with their advancement in AI. 2025 is much different than 2014.

Web 3.0 companies must adapt – and largely, they have not.

If you want to survive in the quickly changing technology landscape, founders have no choice but to doxx their Web 3.0 company.

Founders are not exempt from this rule. This is perhaps the quickest way to separate a Web 3.0 project from the countless other projects that everybody knows are going nowhere.

If the public knows a Web 3.0 team, knows you’re structured like a real company and treat investors as partners, they will see that you are building a company designed to make waves in the overarching technology industry, rather than the Web 3.0 space.

Manouk Termaaten is the founder and CEO of Vertical Studio AI. He is a serial entrepreneur and expert in AI technologies, aiming to make AI accessible for everyone via customization tools and affordable computers.

Check Latest Headlines on HodlX

Follow Us on Twitter Facebook Telegram

Check out the Latest Industry Announcements  

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any loses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Generated Image: Midjourney

According to the Financial Times Report, a group of tech billionaires led by Palmer Luckey, co-founder of military contractor Anduril, is launching a US bank called Elebor to serve startups, including Bitcoin and other crypto companies.

According to those familiar with the issue, the bank will be supported by high-tech investors, including the founder of venture capital firm 8VC Joe Lonsdale, and technology investors, including co-founder of defense group Palantile Peter Tiels.

Elebor is run by CEOs and co-founders of AER Compliance Owen Rappaport, who previously worked as circle advisors, and co-CEO Jacob Hershman. Senior Vice President Mike Heghosn, Valley National Bank based in New Jersey, will serve as president.

“Banks will be national banks, providing traditional banking products and cryptocurrency-related products and services to businesses and individuals,” according to the report.

Elebor’s target market is a company in the US innovation economy, including digital currency, artificial intelligence (AI), defense and manufacturing. They also serve non-US companies that work and invest in these companies and are seeking access to the US banking system.

The bank’s founders aim to cover the gap in which Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) served its crypto business after its failure in March 2023. Since then, many Bitcoin and crypto startups have struggled to get the same access from traditional banks.

Elebor said in his filing they would “differentiate” by working with clients who “have not been fully served by traditional or destructive financial institutions, particularly in terms of insufficient access to credit.”

Banks will also focus on stubcoin, a digital asset that is fixed in real assets like the US dollar, according to the report. Elebor aims to become “the most regulated entity that carries out and promotes stable transactions.”

Elebor is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio with additional offices in New York. Ererbor plans to provide all services through digitally only customer service.

June was a strong month for the crypto and Web3 sectors, with related startups successfully raising a collective $1.15B across 140 deals.

This represents a 3% increase in raised capital and a 9% increase in the number of deals compared to May, according to crypto market intelligence firm, Messari.

The upward trend highlights growing confidence among angel investors in the potential of decentralized technologies. Big winners this round include Kalshi, a predictions market, which secured an $185M round, and Digital Asset, which raised $135M to develop its Canton blockchain.

Private token sales also saw a resurgence, with World Liberty Finance bringing in $100M and Eigen Labs securing $70M.

These figures paint a vibrant and expanding picture of growth and innovation within the crypto industry.

Key Innovations Driving Investor Confidence

Diving beyond the figures, the nature of the startups points to a focus on innovative and foundational technologies.

Crypto startup, Zama FHE, for example, successfully closed a $57M Series B round, achieving a $1B valuation for its fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) technology.

Investments in privacy solutions show a growing recognition of the importance of secure and scalable infrastructure for the future of Web3.

Increasing deal counts and interest in core technological advancements are strong signals of the health and growth of blockchain and Web3 applications.

Investors seek opportunities that align with market trends and demonstrate innovation and institutional confidence. Enter BTCBULL Token ($BTCBULL), a crypto ICO that offers direct pathways to capitalize on the market’s upward trajectory, making it one of the best crypto presales of 2025.

Harnessing Bitcoin’s Momentum with BTCBULL Token ($BTCBULL)

As the crypto landscape evolves, new low-cap projects emerge that leverage the strength of established assets. Among these, BTCBULL Token ($BTCBULL) provides a new and low-cost way for retail investors to capitalize on Bitcoin’s ascent.

Just days from the end of its presale, $BTCBULL tracks and benefits from Bitcoin’s price movements, letting holders participate in the market’s bullish cycles. It’s built on the Ethereum blockchain, giving investors broad compatibility and accessibility, and leans into a bullish character, taking charge, helping $BTC reach $1M.

Diverse Pathways to $BTC-Backed Returns

Investing in $BTCBULL offers benefits beyond token appreciation. The biggest is the Bitcoin airdrops.

As Bitcoin reaches significant price milestones ($150K and £200K), $BTCBULL holders who use Best Wallet (one of the leading non-custodial crypto wallets) can receive actual $BTC directly into their wallets.

If that wasn’t enough, $BTCBULL has a deflationary model implemented through milestone token burns.

At specific $BTC price thresholds, a portion of the $BTCBULL supply is permanently removed from circulation, aiming to increase scarcity and potentially the value of the remaining tokens.

If you’re looking for a passive-income vehicle, the $BTCBULL presale offers attractive staking rewards with competitive APYs available (currently 52%). However, you need to get in fast, as the presale ends on July 7.

Looking ahead, the multi-faceted rewards system should incentivize long-term holding and engagement.

Seize the Market by the Horns

June’s crypto start-up funding figures and the continued push towards innovation paint a positive picture for the crypto market.

For the savvy investor, picking projects like BTC Bull Token ($BTCBULL) to leverage the market’s movements could be a smart move. Just be sure to act fast, as the presale is moments from closing, and with it your chances of securing that free $BTC.

Remember, this is not financial advice, and you should do your own research before making any investment decisions.

While overall capital raised in 2024 fell 22.1%, the number of Bitcoin startup deals jumped by nearly 32%, with pre-seed activity alone increasing by 50%.

The report defines “Bitcoin-native” companies as those fundamentally aligned with Bitcoin as a monetary asset and protocol stack, building products that directly benefit from Bitcoin’s growth and functionality.

Unlike broader crypto ventures, which often span various blockchain platforms, these startups are committed to the Bitcoin ecosystem from the ground up.

Bitcoin Startups See Consistent Growth Across All Early Stages

The number of Bitcoin-native pre-seed deals in 2024 was more than seven times higher than in 2021, showing a big rise in new startups and ideas.

Seed and Series A deal volumes also saw year-over-year increases of 30% and 60%, respectively.

Image Source: Trammell Venture Partners

Total capital raised may have dropped, but deal count and new company formation continued to rise. This points to growing confidence in Bitcoin-native startups. TVP notes four straight years of growth as a sign these startups could soon capture a bigger share of crypto venture funding.

Big-Name VCs Back Bitcoin as Ecosystem Matures

Backing this momentum is a growing list of institutional investors. In 2024, firms like Founders Fund, Ribbit Capital, Y Combinator and Valor Equity Partners participated in Bitcoin startup rounds. Their involvement points to rising confidence in business models built on Bitcoin’s protocol layers.

Bitcoin holds over half of the crypto market’s total value. Yet in 2024, it received only 2.3% of venture funding, the report notes. Researchers see this gap as an opportunity to rebalance, as the Bitcoin ecosystem expands beyond mining and asset holding.

Backed by simple business models, clear focus and growing investor interest, Bitcoin-native startups are quietly shaping a new path for crypto innovation.

The post Early-Stage Deals for Bitcoin Startups Jumped in 2024, Defying Broader Market Trends appeared first on Cryptonews.

The number of Bitcoin-native startups receiving venture capital investment increased in 2024 despite a decline in the total capital allocated to the sector, according to a new report published by Trammell Venture Partners (TVP).

The report highlighted that the number of unique Bitcoin-native companies funded rose 27.5% on a yearly basis, while the number of individual transactions grew 31.8%. 

At the same time, the total amount of capital raised across those deals fell 22.1% compared to 2023, totaling $234 million for the year. 

The report focused on early-stage Bitcoin-native software startups, excluding mining operations and atypically large or late-stage funding rounds.

TVP defined a “Bitcoin-native” company as one founded on the principle that Bitcoin serves as a foundational global monetary asset and digital cash, with business models aligned to the Bitcoin protocol stack. 

This emerging category includes startups building infrastructure, applications, and services that leverage the base Bitcoin network or related layers.

Growth in pre-seed and early-stage investments

The increase in deal count was driven by heightened activity in earlier-stage funding rounds. Pre-seed transactions grew by 50%, while seed-stage deals rose by 30%. 

Series A transactions also saw a notable 60% increase year over year. This suggests growing interest among investors in backing Bitcoin-native companies from their earliest phases of development despite broader market caution in crypto venture capital.

The divergence between the increased startup funding and lower capital allocation indicates a shift in market trends. Venture firms are spreading investments across a wider range of early-stage companies, potentially favoring leaner rounds and valuation discipline over large, concentrated bets.

According to the report, the median round sizes remained stable across funding stages, though the aggregate capital raised dropped from $301 million in 2023 to $234 million in 2024.

Pre-seed Bitcoin-native transactions increased by more than sevenfold over the four years from 2021 to 2024. 

The consistent rise in early-stage deal activity positions Bitcoin-native startups as a distinct and increasingly active segment within the broader crypto investment landscape.

Small but growing

Although Bitcoin-native startups remain a small portion of the total venture capital funding in the market, they have shown relatively higher momentum. 

According to TVP, these startups represented 5.98% of overall crypto venture capital invested in 2024 and 2.34% of all venture-backed crypto deal counts. 

This compares to Bitcoin’s massive share of the total crypto market cap, which currently stands above 62%. The disparity highlights a continued gap between Bitcoin’s market dominance and its representation in startup investment flows.

TVP argued that the Bitcoin-native sector is entering a breakout phase, with four consecutive years of growth across key investment metrics. 

The report also highlighted that Bitcoin-aligned entrepreneurs are increasingly attracting the interest of prominent investors, including Founders Fund, Ribbit Capital, Accomplice, Valor Equity Partners, Boost VC, Plug and Play, Village Global, GSR Ventures, and Y Combinator. All of these investment funds participated in syndicates for Bitcoin-native deals in 2024.

While overall venture capital allocations to crypto have contracted over the past two years, the Bitcoin-native segment has demonstrated resilience through consistent growth in startup formation and early-stage capital access.

The number of Bitcoin-native startups receiving funding increased in 2024 even as the total capital raised fell, reflecting rising investor interest in the category and a shift toward earlier-stage participation.

Mentioned in this article

Born in the heart of Texas, Pleblab.dev is a well-known name for Bitcoin startups. Still, most people who have heard of this niche Bitcoin community in Austin probably don’t know their victory and influence.

Starting in 2021 by several Bitcoin enthusiasts as a coworking space for the capital factory, Pleblab has grown into a mecca for the US Bitcoin startup ecosystem. They hosted a variety of events and meetups throughout the year, making it a reliable work environment for Bitcoiners, whether they live in Austin or just go through.

“At the art school, we had this professor who created an hour, roamed and gave us honest feedback on each other’s work, creating a collaborative atmosphere where we could grow together. Car González, CEO of Pleblab, recalls. So when I took over Pleblab, I asked: “How do you make it more cooperative? Not just coworking, but how can you make it?” When you say coworking, it’s literally just working. How boring is it? That’s not interesting. ”

However, rather than just a “coworking” space, Pleblab has become a “community accelerator in the Bitcoin era” and has been experienced by several successful Bitcoin companies and developer celebrities since its inception.

Genesis

Founded from a dream of growing a community based on Bitcoin, Pleblab acquired its first office in 2021 at Capital Factory, Austin’s renowned tech coworking hub. In it, various entrepreneurs and Bitcoin developers began to stick and ask them to work with them from the capital factory.

Over time, Pleblab has grown into a variety of office locations. It is currently located next to Unchained Capital Offices and Bitcoin Park (formerly Bitcoin Commons) in downtown Austin (6th St. and Congress Ave.). With more space, talent and experience, Pleblab has transformed from a coworking space to a mix of hacker garages and startup incubators.

Today, they provide a wealth of resources to various membership packages, mentorships, and startups that participate in them, which can be denied membership depending on the goals and objectives of the project. It’s more like a private Bitcoin club for builders and technicians than anything else.

“I really think we’re an accelerator in the Bitcoin era. How to do it in open source, Cypherpunk’s way doesn’t give someone 500k on the first day and say, “You’ll make it or meet you later for three months.” To me, it sounds like it was in the Fiat era,” the car said.

Main Event

The main event held by Pleblab is Top Builder and Startup Day. It often takes place within six months of each other.

“Top builders are the top chefs of Bitcoin. They find the latest and best builders, stack them up and try to build something that can be MVP or pitched,” says Car, explaining events that work like a three-month hackathon and expose finalists to VCS and angel investors.

Meanwhile, Startup Day is a short meeting that provides a platform for Bitcoin startups to showcase their jobs, meet talent and get exposed in the Bitcoin world. In the words of the car, “It is intended to encourage people to build their own company from the bystanders. They will see themselves in the people talking on stage.”

judge it by the fruit

Various celebrities from the Bitcoin startup world spent time at Pleblab, and the car was very hesitant to trust other people’s jobs.

“Their journeys start with a handshake from the people they meet, and look at the numbers they have, and when they get to a point like base camp, raise, seed, or seed, they shake their journey,” the car said. “For me, that base camp is just ‘cool, they did it.’ Well, that’s what I love: shipping the code, we try to be a good steward. ”

Nevertheless, the track record is impressive. Here’s a quick overview of the famous Bitcoin projects, companies and developers closely related to Pleblab.

Jippi – Winners of Top Builder 2025

Headed by Oliver, Jippi.App is a beautiful and fun Bitcoin app designed with Gen Z in mind. Reflecting the success of Pokemon Go, Zippi invites young people to explore the city in search of Bitcoin beasts. Awaiting future owners with SAT rewards, charming little 3D creature hidden in augmented reality.

The app has been developed for over a year and won the first prize last week for fierce competition at Pleblab’s Top Builder Competition. Surprisingly to the judges and audience, Jippi has live, functional apps, street research and app testing at local universities. In addition to a stunning presentation of Jippi’s rationale and vision, the app could potentially go viral in the US.

Stacker.News

In 2021, one of Keyan Kousha, co-founder of Pleblab, Stacker.News, became the news hub for many tech-savvy Bitcoiners. Boasting Reddit with open source lightning, the platform has a strong, active, loyal fanbase that rewards each other with SAT with all the upvotes, and is often faster to integrate the latest technology into the Bitcoin social media technology scene.

close

Started by John McGill at the end of 2021, Zaprite quickly grew into the business’s full payment processing suite, supporting both Bitcoin and Lightning payment rails, settling in Fiat as merchants wanted, supporting event tickets and all the accounting and invoice tools needed by modern merchants.

Zaplite made recent history with Donald J. Trump, the interface used to pay for burgers along with Bitcoin at a Bitcoin Pub Key in New York.

(Trump buys hamburgers with Bitcoin from Zaprite – embedded)

Rebellion Wallet

Released in early 2023 and led by celebrity Bitcoin developers Ben Carman and Tony Giorgio, Mutiny Wallet quickly gained popularity among Lightning Power users as a completely distinctive, innovative Bitcoin app. It consistently integrates cutting-edge payment technology, including payments and Nost integration that e-cash has rejected, shaking the red and black color schemes of its signatures.

Following the arrest of the Samourai wallet developer and its resulting chilling effect on the development of Bitcoin’s independent wallet, Mutiny Wallet announced it would be the sunset of the project.

Nifty (Bitcoin++)

As a developer of Bitcoin and Lightning, Nifty has become famous for her developer education activities, bringing her world-renowned developer event called Bitcoin++, her relentless work ethic, her impressive travel schedule and of course, her charm, bringing together the Bitcoin developer community several times around the world.

Nifty has become a perceived and influential figure in the Bitcoin startup ecosystem, including seats on OpenSat boards. It is a public charity focused on funding all types of open source Bitcoin projects, with a special focus on Nostr – Bitcoin native social media protocols. On her journey to stardom, she spent quite a bit of time at Pleblab, but is still common at Austin Bitcoin events.

Speaking of which, Nifty’s next Bitcoin++ event will be diving deep into Bitcoin memory in Austin, Texas, May 7-9.

Super Test

SuperTestNet, an early member of Plelab and Bitcoin’s Austin scene, came out of nowhere in 2021 and quickly mastered the art of prototyping Bitcoin with JavaScript. He has since implemented cutting edge Bitcoin technology like BITVM, and has participated in the first Ark Mainnet pool, the only other non-circular Bitcoin Layer 2 scaling solution, and is an avid user of X and Nostr.

SuperTestNet’s many open source projects, their passion for Bitcoin, and their unwavering integrity, have given them quick recognition in the Bitcoin startup ecosystem, and perhaps quite a few mentions in the chronicles of Bitcoin’s history.

Cass Clot

Headed by Jim, an AI engineer and ruthless Bitcoin Maxi, CASCDR’s mission is to combine the power of AI and Bitcoin with a powerful privacy foundation and a complete suite of cool AI apps and workflows. His latest hit is upplthatupjamie.ai. AI is a podcast search engine that transcription of audio content, becomes searchable, and facilitates the creation of shareable podcast clips.

Sudden

Leading by Keith, Branta is a cybersecurity company that focuses on limiting mid-term attacks for Bitcoin payments, including malicious addresses and bill injections at merchant interfaces. Cultivated by Pleblab Accelerator, Branta has already successfully received a pre-seeding salary increase and was a top five finalist in the Top Builder Contest.

Tocker

Topher, his own well-known Bitcoin developer and a regular at Pleblab, has shipped a variety of open source Bitcoin tools, including Tapscript, Taproot, Schnorr Signatures, and libraries that manage Bitcoin transactions.

Above all, Topher and Austin (App Developer) are currently working on Frostr, the leading private digital identity management solution. Specifically, FroStr is built to solve the problem of Nostr, a Bitcoin Adjacent Social Network Protocol that is very popular among Bitcoin users. Rethinking “frost,” the new rising multi-signature standard for Bitcoin wallets, and using it to solve Nostr’s major rotation problems. It’s a bit of a tech project, but what I believe is very useful and I’ll soon be covering more in detail.

Christopher David, Open Agent

A veteran Bitcoin developer and entrepreneur, Christopher is currently working on an open agent. It is an AI platform with deep integration with the GIT process, shaking the aesthetics of dark cypherpunk and focusing on user privacy.

There are many more projects that have passed PLEBLAB during development or over the years. If you’re interested, you can find it on Pleblab.dev.

As a bonus, I’ll leave this cool to you Bitcoin Magazine I happened to find it on pleblab.