Paradigm Leads $225M Funding for New ‘Solana Killer’ L1
Crypto-focused venture capital (VC) firm Paradigm is leading $225 million in funding for a new layer-1 blockchain network set to compete with Solana and other top networks for market share.
The funding was completed by blockchain company Monad Labs, which aims to build a new layer-1 smart contract network at a faster speed and lower cost compared to Ethereum.
The funding was announced after two years of development, and Monad Labs founder Keon Hohun told Fortune in an interview:
“We're coming off of two years of development…Monad has basically delved into the pure performance side at a time when a lot of the research community has focused on collection, data availability, and other processing directions.”
The new L1 will be 100% compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), up to 10,000 transactions per second (TPS), on March 14 X by Monad post.
Although Ethereum is the home of decentralized finance (DeFi), it has significant drawbacks, including high gas fees during network congestion. Monad Labs aims to improve its shortcomings with a performance-focused L1. His Excellency told Fortune:
“We realized that there is a great need for a better performing EVM, and despite the demand, we realized that no one is really working on this problem.”
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Crypto VC funding continues to grow.
The new investment round was announced amid increased VC interest in crypto companies.
Bitcoin layer-2 network Mezzo announced on April 9 that it has completed a $21 million Series A funding round led by Pantera. Mezo allows investors to earn a yield based on how long they hold their tokens. They describe it as the “Bitcoin Economic Layer”.
On April 3, reports emerged that Paradigm is in talks to raise up to $850 million in new funding, making it the biggest raise in the crypto industry since May 2022, when Silicon Valley-based VC firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) raised a record $4.5 billion.
Crypto VC funding turned positive in the first quarter of 2024, breaking a two-year slump, with invested funds rising 38% compared to the previous quarter, according to data analysis platform Crypto Koryo.
Related: Frax Finance dives into DeFi liquidity with $250M USDe allocation
