Wormhole, a platform enabling cross-chain bridges, has triumphantly secured a hefty $225 million in funding, bumping up its value to $2.5 billion. This backing arrives courtesy of big names like Coinbase Ventures, Multicoin Capital, and Jump Trading. Speaking of Jump Trading, they initially nurtured the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol via their digital asset wing, Jump Crypto.
Breaking away from the norm of traditional equity offerings, Wormhole went for token warrants as a way to give back to its investors. These warrants guarantee investors a specific amount of a crypto token upon the protocol’s launch.
This funding marks Wormhole’s complete separation from Jump Trading’s oversight. It’s a move influenced by regulatory scrutiny in the US and security hiccups faced by the platform’s blockchain messaging tool. Now, Wormhole’s calling the shots independently under Wormhole Labs’ governance.
The raised funds are slated to uplift Wormhole’s standing in the industry and steer it towards a new chapter post a major hack in 2022, which cost them roughly $320 million. During that tumult, Jump Crypto swooped in, offering emergency funds to cover the shortfall of 120,000 Ethereum (ETH). With Oasis, a DeFi service provider, Wormhole successfully reclaimed the pilfered assets.
Meanwhile, Jump Trading, dealing with its own hurdles, is gradually dialing down its role in the crypto sphere. The collapse of Terraform Labs in mid-2022 and subsequent legal battles uncovered allegations of price manipulation tied to Terra’s UST token, resulting in a hefty $1.3 billion haul.
