Elementus, a New York-based blockchain firm, has raised $10 million as part of its Series A-2 funding round, led by Web3 VC company Parafi Capital. The raise, which values the company at $160 million, aims to allow Elementus to keep improving its processes for providing effective and sound blockchain analytics to Web3 companies and government institutions.

Blockchain Analytics Firm Elementus Raises $10 Million in Lukewarm Market

Blockchain firms that are focused on providing tools to examine the Web3 landscape have managed to survive and even thrive during the current market downfall. Elementus, a New York-based blockchain firm that aims to disrupt the market by bringing Google-like granular analytics for Web3 platforms, has raised $10 million as part of its Series A-2 funding round, led by Parafi Capital, a crypto VC company, and with the participation of Moonshots Capital, Spitfire Ventures, and Colaco Investment Group.

With this investment, Elementus reaches a valuation of $160 million, a sizable growth since October 2021, when the company raised $12 million at a $52 million valuation. That funding round, led by Velvet Sea Ventures, had the participation of Alameda Research and Blockfi, two firms that are now involved in bankruptcy procedures.

The funds raised will be used to keep building the infrastructure needed to make blockchain analytics more accessible to Web3 institutions, through hiring and new product development processes.

Significance of Blockchain Analytics

The events that transpired last year, including the downfall of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange, and the rise of Web3 hacks, have put in the spotlight the usefulness of effective blockchain monitoring systems. Max Galka, CEO of Elementus, believes that systems like those the company provides can collaborate for institutions to start rebuilding trust again in blockchain companies. In a PR release, Galka stated:

Last year has thrown into the limelight the tremendous importance of comprehension, audibility, and transparency of blockchains. As the broader crypto industry seeks to emerge from a tough year, it will be critical to do so in a way that foments trust, reliability, and security among both users and businesses operating in this still-nascent market.

The company has been selected to act as part of two high-profile crypto legal cases. Elementus’ services are currently being used by unsecured creditors to perform forensic audits related to Celsius and Blockfi, two cryptocurrency lenders that filed for bankruptcy protection last year.

What do you think about Elementus and its latest funding round? Tell us in the comments section below.

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File transfer service giant Wetransfer announced Monday it is collaborating with blockchain platform Minima to offer a non-fungible token (NFT) minting product in March. Wetransfer’s announcement details that users leveraging the Minima cooperative will be able to mint NFTs from a mobile device or computer.

Wetransfer and Minima Partnership Aims to Bring NFT Minting to Mobile and Desktop Devices

On Feb. 6, 2023, file sharing company Wetransfer, founded in 2009, revealed its entry into the NFT industry. Wetransfer announced a partnership with blockchain project Minima, a distributed communications network set to launch in March. Users leveraging the Minima cooperative technology will be able to mint NFTs for peer-to-peer sharing, and creators can collect royalty payments for their NFT creations.

“Wetransfer is thrilled to work with Minima, whose vision is aligned strongly with ours to seamlessly connect people and facilitate innovation and creativity without sacrificing privacy,” Damian Bradfield, the chief creative officer at Wetransfer stated on Monday.

Blockchain platform Minima and its team insist they are “the only mobile-native Layer 1 blockchain.” The platform’s website highlights the upcoming launch of a minima token (MINIMA) and claims to be a “fully distributed network with no single point of failure,” validated by “hundreds of thousands of nodes.” The company’s documentation provides step-by-step instructions on how to run a Minima node on Android 9 and above.

“We as a partnership look forward to supporting the development and acceleration of creativity in the digital age where individuals retain ownership and control of their work,” Hugo Feiler, CEO of Minima said during the announcement. “This partnership will explore the practical use of NFT technology, something which interests not only the crypto industry, but will be a test case to demonstrate the potential of wider adoption of this innovative digital tool.”

Wetransfer’s entry into the NFT industry follows Ebay’s recent acquisition of NFT marketplace Knownorigin and the company’s expansion into the digital collectibles space. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have been dabbling with NFT technology as well. While Wetransfer NFTs through Minima will be free, users will need to run a node. In addition to mobile phones running Android 9 and above, Minima nodes can be run on Windows, Mac (desktop), Linux (desktop), and Linux server.

What impact do you think Wetransfer’s entry into the NFT industry will have on the future of digital collectibles? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

According to a post on the Reddit community r/bitcoin, an old file was discovered that may be linked to Julian Assange, the whistleblower and founder of Wikileaks. The encrypted 7zip file is in the output script from a transaction that took place on Jan. 5, 2017, and was mined at block height 446,713.

Speculation Surrounds Purpose of 7zip File Called ‘Julianassange.Txt’ Found in Bitcoin Blockchain

Amid the thousands of inscriptions added to the Bitcoin blockchain via Ordinals, a 7zip file possibly linked to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was recently discovered. A Reddit user under the name “u/sprxzk34620” informed the r/bitcoin subreddit of the discovery. The post stated, “An encrypted 7zip file possibly related to Julian Assange is hidden in the Bitcoin blockchain.” The author also noted that the file could be obtained by splicing the pubkhash seg of all the output scripts from a specific transaction.

“The encrypted 7zip file contains a file named ‘Julianassange.txt,’ but attempts to crack the file have failed,” added the Reddit user. Commenters on the Reddit post asked why Assange would add this to the Bitcoin blockchain and some referred to speculation that he created a “dead man’s switch.” “It could be an encrypted link to the switch or files exposing secrets,” wrote one person. Others were doubtful and stated that a zip file named “Julianassange.txt” sounds like a hoax.

Coincidentally, the Jan. 5, 2017 transaction with the 7zip file occurred five days before Assange read the Bitcoin blockchain hash from block height 447,506 in a recorded video. At the time, many believed that the whistleblower used this tactic to prove he was alive. Despite being alive, Assange stated that he was not okay while he was confined in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

“Don’t take some cryptographic proof as evidence that I am okay,” he emphasized at the time. “I’m not. I have been held here for eight years. I haven’t been okay the entire time.” Since then, Assange’s Ecuadorian asylum was revoked and he was arrested on April 11, 2019, when police raided the embassy. The contents of the 7zip file are unknown until someone successfully cracks it, as it may not belong to or be associated with Assange at all.

The Reddit post written by u/sprxzk34620 ended with a heated discussion about whether adding arbitrary data to the Bitcoin blockchain through Ordinals was a legitimate practice, as it has sparked controversy among some bitcoin advocates. “If everyone is going to post stupid cat JPEGs on the blockchain, I can keep buying new hard drives for my node … F*** that sh**. Keep it compact folks,” one Redditor stressed.

What do you think the contents of the encrypted 7zip file could reveal? Let us know your thoughts about this subject in the comments section below.

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.