ASCENDEX
3.11.2021 20:58:03 CET | Business Wire | Press release
AscendEX , a global cryptocurrency financial platform, has announced the close of a $50 million Series B raise led by Polychain Capital and Hack VC , with participation from Jump Capital and Alameda Research , as well as Uncorrelated Ventures , Eterna Capital , Acheron Trading , Nothing Research , and Palm Drive Capital . Imperii Partners served as an exclusive financial advisor to AscendEX in support of the Series B fundraise process.
AscendEX, launched under the name “BitMax” in July 2018, offers exchange, custody, and staking services to over one million retail and institutional clients globally. The platform has positioned itself as an infrastructure partner to blockchain companies, specifically in the decentralized finance (“DeFi”) sector, and operates as a validator and yield farming portal for over 60 token projects.
“We are grateful to have very prominent investors involved in our latest fundraising round, ” said George Cao, CEO and Co-founder of AscendEX. “Polychain Capital and Hack VC, as active catalysts of the DeFi ecosystem, have backed some of the industry’s most innovative blockchain networks, exchanges, and trading institutions. Similarly, Alameda Research, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, has emerged as one of the most prolific investors in the industry, fueling growth within both CeFi and DeFi. Participation from Jump Capital, a seasoned Crypto and Fintech investor, further showcases the success of our deep roots in traditional finance, as AscendEX’s core team is proud of our extensive experience in Wall Street quant trading.”
AscendEX is well positioned at the nexus between centralized & decentralized financial sectors, as evidenced by its AscendEX Earn products, and cross-collateralized staking products that allow users to generate yield while trading on leverage. By empowering retail and institutional users to maximize their trading and earning potential, AscendEX has achieved over $200 million in average daily trade volume and provides competitive yields among competing centralized exchanges.
“AscendEX plans to use the Series B funds to accelerate international market entry, and catalyze further product innovation, specifically focused on blockchain-based yield generating protocols,” notes Shane Molidor, Global Head of Business Development at AscendEX. “Building a bridge to the DeFi ecosystem has allowed AscendEX to differentiate itself from other cryptocurrency exchanges and has made the platform a popular destination for innovative DeFi projects to conduct initial exchange offerings (“IEOs”). We are thrilled to collaborate with our new investors to further solidify our unique competitive advantages.”
Sam Trabucco, Co-CEO of Alameda Research, added, “Alameda has had nothing but great experiences working with AscendEX as a customer and market maker, and we’re thrilled to keep expanding our relationship in new ways with this investment.”
“AscendEX is a leader in transitioning crypto projects from primary to secondary markets, as seen through the continued success of the tokens listed on the exchange, ” said Olaf Carlson-Wee, Founder & CEO at Polychain Capital. “We look forward to deepening our collaboration with AscendEX by providing insights into evolving industry trends and providing guidance on top-tier projects to list on the exchange.”
AscendEX uniquely provides dedicated auxiliary support for blockchain projects seeking to list on the platform, including consultation on the token economic design, secondary market liquidity strategies, staking support, liquidity mining, as well as global marketing support and translation services. These supporting services further differentiate AscendEX’s IEO process from other mainstream exchanges, and in turn, allow listings to achieve industry leading results.
"In an extremely competitive crypto exchange landscape, AscendEX has impressively emerged as the leading venue for innovative crypto projects in DeFi, GameFi and crypto infrastructure , " said Saurabh Sharma, Partner at Jump Capital. "AscendEX remains ahead of the curve by constantly innovating and offering unmet needs such as broad staking access and DeFi yield farming for retail investors."
Alex Pack at Hack VC added, “The concept of extracting more value from the crypto held in your wallet has become immensely popular with decentralized lending and yield farming protocol – AscendEX has further expanded on this by cross-collateralizing their wallets with validator nodes, allowing users to trade while earning. No other exchange is offering this degree of flexibility for users to earn and participate in blockchain governance while also trading on leverage.”
To learn more about AscendEX, please visit AscendEX.com .
About AscendEX
AscendEX is a global cryptocurrency financial platform servicing more than one million institutional and retail traders with the resources needed to obtain more value from their crypto investments. Operating at the nexus of centralized finance and decentralized finance, AscendEX’s platform features access to futures and spot trading, a robust wallet infrastructure, and staking support for over 200 industry-leading blockchain projects, all producing industry leading yields and returns, further driving the growth of the crypto ecosystem. In efforts to cultivate scalable and secure forms of decentralized financing, AscendEX has emerged as a leading platform by ROI on its “initial exchange offerings” through supporting some of the industry’s most innovative projects from the DeFi ecosystem. To learn more about how AscendEX leverages best practices from both Wall Street and the cryptocurrency ecosystem to extract the highest value per dollar to its users, please visit www.AscendEX.com
.
About Polychain Capital
The emergence of bitcoin and subsequent blockchain technologies has generated a new digital asset class in which scarcity is based on mathematical properties. Through cryptographic verification and game-theoretic equilibrium, blockchain-based digital assets can be created, issued, and transmitted using software. Polychain is an investment firm committed to exceptional returns for investors through actively managed portfolios of these blockchain assets.
About Hack VC
Hack VC is a private equity firm based in Incline Village, Nevada.
About Alameda Research
Alameda Research was founded in October 2017. We manage over $1 billion in digital assets and trade $1-10 billion per day across thousands of products: all major coins and altcoins, as well as their derivatives. We have a full-scale global operation with the ability to trade on all major exchanges and markets.
About Jump Capital
Jump Capital is a leading venture fund investing in Crypto and Fintech globally.
About Uncorrelated Ventures
Uncorrelated Ventures was founded by Salil Deshpande with Bain's backing to focus on open source and infrastructure software, both traditional and decentralized. Over 14 years as general partner and managing director at Bay Partners and Bain Capital, Salil invested $350M+ into 50+ companies early. Additionally, Salil was on the Forbes Midas List of the 100 best-performing venture investors worldwide in 2013 – 2019, and Business Insider's inaugural Seed-100 list of the 100 best-performing seed investors in 2021.
About Eterna Capital
Eterna Capital is a UK-based venture capital fund focused on backing bold, innovative teams that harness the power of blockchain. Launched in March of 2018, Eterna has invested in numerous high profile deals and is committed to helping entrepreneurs reach their ambitious goals by providing unique insights and support.
About Acheron Trading
Acheron Trading is a designated market maker building liquid markets for digital assets. We trade on centralized and decentralized exchanges worldwide with over $250 million in assets under management.
About Nothing Research
Nothing Research is a multi-strategy venture firm investing in open finance initiatives. It was founded in March 2021 by a group of digital asset market veterans with professional backgrounds from research institutes, hedge funds and leading digital asset trading platforms such as Huobi and AscendEX. It differentiates itself with its desirability to build alongside founders and shapes narratives together with invested projects.
About Palm Drive Capital
Palm Drive Capital is a New York, and Miami-based venture capital and growth equity fund that has invested in over 100 leading software and internet companies around the world.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211103006190/en/
Link:
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Doha Debates Podcast Returns for a New Season Exploring the Ideas Shaping Our World23.9.2026 19:29:00 CEST | Press release
The 20-episode season, launched September 22, builds on questions raised in flagship debates and global town halls through long-form conversations. Qatar Foundation’s Doha Debates has launched a new season of the Doha Debates Podcast, with 20 episodes airing weekly through February 16, 2027. The series brings leading global thinkers together to debate some of the world’s most complex and challenging issues. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260923050361/en/ Doha Debates Podcast Returns for a New Season (Photo: AETOSWire) The podcast carries forward themes from its flagship debates and town halls through long-form conversations, reflecting Doha Debates’ commitment to open, truth-seeking dialogue exploring global issues with depth, nuance and respect for diverse perspectives. The opening episode, “Will China or the West lead the world into the future?” moderated by Soraya Salam, brings together Renata Ávila, CEO o
Dryad Wins International XPRIZE Wildfire Award for Autonomous Wildfire Detection and Suppression23.9.2026 19:00:00 CEST | Press release
European finalist demonstrates ultra-early wildfire detection with Silvanet and autonomous suppression with Silvaguard Dryad Networks, a leader in ultra-early wildfire detection, today announced it has been awarded $800,000 in the XPRIZE Wildfire competition for its performance in the Autonomous Wildfire Response finals in Alaska. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260923024178/en/ Silvaguard Observation and Suppression drone and Hangar Dryad advanced from an original field of approximately 300 entrants in the four-year competition. In June 2026, three finalists were challenged to autonomously detect and completely suppress a high-risk wildfire within 10 minutes of ignition across 1,000 km² of Alaskan wilderness, leaving any decoy fires untouched. It was the most demanding live test to date of what it will take to stop a destructive fire before it grows out of control. During the tests, the Dryad’s Silvanet senso
SES Appoints Michel Scholer to Board of Directors23.9.2026 18:54:00 CEST | Press release
Michel brings extensive leadership, governance and strategic policy experience through his roles with the Luxembourg government SES today announced the appointment of Mr. Michel Scholer, Secretary General of the Luxembourg Government and Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, to its Board of Directors effective immediately. This appointment is part of SES’s Board succession planning and ongoing commitment to regularly review and strengthen the composition of its Board with diverse expertise and industry experience, ensuring the company is well positioned for future growth and value creation. Prior to his current role with the Luxembourg Government, Mr. Scholer served as a Senior Adviser to the International Monetary Fund, and with the Ministry of Finance, Luxembourg. He was nominated for the SES Board of Directors by the Government of the Grandy Duchy of Luxembourg. Follow us on: LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | X | Instagram Read our Blogs > Visit the Media Gallery > About SES At SES, w
Future Health - A Global Initiative by Abu Dhabi: New Analysis Estimates Modifiable Health Risks Represent $16.4 Trillion Annual Global GDP Opportunity in 205023.9.2026 18:50:00 CEST | Press release
A new whitepaper by Future Health – A Global Initiative by Abu Dhabi, in collaboration with the McKinsey Health Institute, estimates that eliminating modifiable health risks could deliver substantial health and economic benefits Under a full risk-elimination scenario, annual global GDP could be USD 16.4 trillion higher in 2050, equivalent to 9% of projected global GDP Analysis finds that eliminating modifiable behavioural, metabolic and environmental risk factors could avert an estimated 1.5 billion disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) globally and add 12 years to global healthy life expectancy at birth in 2050 The 1.5 billion DALYs are equivalent to approximately 47 percent of projected global disease burden in 2050 The whitepaper sets out a five-step framework for governments to turn healthy-living ambitions into coordinated action, presenting Abu Dhabi’s Healthy Living Strategy as a practical example of government-wide, whole-of-society delivery Addressingbehavioural, metabolic an
SES Confirms Interim Dividend of EUR 0.2523.9.2026 18:46:00 CEST | Press release
Interim dividend approved as part of SES’s continued commitment to shareholder returns intended to be at least EUR 0.50 total dividend for FY2026 The SES Board of Directors has approved the payment of an interim dividend of EUR 0.25 per A-share (EUR 0.10 per B-share) to be paid to shareholders on October 15, 2026, in line with SES’s commitment to shareholder returns. The interim dividend to be paid in October 2026 will be followed, subject to financial results and shareholder approval, by the payment of a final dividend of at least EUR 0.25 per A-share (EUR 0.10 per B-share) in May 2027. Follow us on: LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | X | Instagram Read our Blogs > Visit the Media Gallery > About SES At SES, we believe that space has the power to make a difference. That’s why we design space solutions that help governments protect, businesses grow, and people stay connected—no matter where they are. With integrated multi-orbit satellites and our global terrestrial network, we deliver res
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom