Investment Platform Solv Protocol Raises $6M in Fresh Funding

Solv, the investment platform that allows investors to gain exposure to onchain funds, has completed a new funding round of its own. Originally backed by Binance Labs and Blockchain Capital, Solv’s latest round attracted participation from a host of leading names including Laser Digital, a subsidiary of Japanese banking titan Nomura Securities.

UOB Venture Management, Mirana Ventures, Emirates Consortium, Matrix Partners, Apollo Capital, HashCIB, Geek Cartel, Bing Ventures, and Bytetrade Labs all participated in the latest round, which arrives off the back of Solv V3 successfully launching. The latest version of the investment platform went live in Q2 of this year and has already recorded more than $100 million in trading volume from over 25,000 users.

Investors Invest in the Investor

Solv is in the business of democratizing access to crypto investments, giving regular users exposure to funds that have been tailored to suit their risk profile and expectations. The platform brings professional asset management to an on-chain environment with the corresponding transparency to show that funds are being utilized for their stated purpose.

The V3 launch of Solv has gone smoothly so far, with investors finding favor with the improved interface and enhanced options for accessing a variety of funds. Investors are presented with a range of choices to suit their preferred strategy starting with the estimated APR and fund term. There’s also information on the maturity date, fund size, and status e.g whether it is currently active or closed.

Commenting on the sort of investment opportunities that V3 will be focused on, moving forwards, Solv CEO Ryan Chow said: “New DeFi narratives, such as RWA and LSD, are driving speculation around the next iteration of DeFi summer. Solv V3 will focus on the RWA track, and is committed to introducing billions of dollars worth of income-generating assets for the industry through our fund platform, in preparation for the next phase of DeFi mass adoption.”

Real world assets and liquid staking derivatives are two of the largest verticals currently taking shape under DeFi’s broad umbrella. The former entails making stocks, commodities, and real estate as well as forex markets tradable on-chain, complete with the benefits this bestows in terms of information symmetry, 24/7 access, and greater transparency. LSDfi, meanwhile, in which staking derivatives are repurposed elsewhere for yield generation and to secure L2 chains, is fueling much of the DeFi innovation taking place at present.

The Convergence of TradFi and DeFi

Olivier Dang, General Partner of Ventures at the Nomura subsidiary Laser Digital, who participated in Solv’s latest round, explains: “Solv has built a trustless DeFi platform with a trusted institutional network, integrating brokers, underwriters, market makers, and custodians to create the first fund infrastructure on the blockchain, becoming an important infrastructure that bridges DeFi, CeFi, and TradFi liquidity.”

This ability to unite TradFi and DeFi accounts for why Solv Protocol appears to have had no trouble in filling its funding round. Investors are aware of the upside to startups that can bring legacy money to “the future of finance” by convincing institutions that on-chain is where the real yield lies. Companies creating the picks and shovels required to facilitate this – decentralized identities; institutional-grade wallets; better onramps – will play a key role in bringing this vision into reality. And the projects that invest in them in turn, through funds such as Solv, have the potential to capture a slice of the pie.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.