ASCENDEX
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
Ant International and HSBC Test New Cross-Border Payments Solution Using Tokenised Deposits on Swift’s Network and Powered by ISO 2002211.12.2025 04:00:00 CET | Press release
ISO 20022-enabled solution allows blockchain interoperability on Swift’s network, using Ant International’s technology and HSBC’s Tokenised Deposit Service Integration with Swift’s network extends AML and anti-fraud capabilities to tokenised deposits transactions Proof of concept (POC) marks a step towards enabling seamless money movement across borders Ant International, HSBC and Swift today have completed a successful Proof of Concept (POC) for the cross-border transfer of tokenised deposits using ISO 20022 standards. The initiative leverages Swift’s global messaging network and HSBC’s recently launched Tokenised Deposit Service, combined with Ant International’s blockchain technology. The POC marks a key milestone in Ant International, HSBC, and Swift’s efforts to help businesses unlock the full benefits of tokenisation for enhanced liquidity, programmable finance, and 24/7 real-time settlement. As part of this initiative, Ant International and HSBC successfully integrated Ant Inter
Andersen Consulting styrker sit udbud af cybersikkerhed med tilføjelsen af S-RM11.12.2025 00:05:00 CET | Pressemeddelelse
Andersen Consulting indgår en samarbejdsaftale med S‑RM, en global efterretnings- og cybersikkerhedsvirksomhed, og styrker dermed sin evne til at understøtte globale kunder med risikostyring, hændelsesrespons og strategisk rådgivning. S-RM har hovedsæde i Storbritannien og leverer integrerede ydelser, der spænder over cyberrådgivning, digital efterforskning, hændelseshåndtering, virksomhedsefterretning og due diligence i forbindelse med transaktioner. Firmaet betjener family offices, kapitalfonde, Fortune 500-virksomheder og mellemstore virksomheder inden for bl.a. finans-, olie- og sundhedssektoren, og tilbyder praktisk cybersikkerhedsstyring samt tilpassede risikoplatforme. Med døgnåben hændelseshåndtering og dybdegående efterforskningsekspertise hjælper S-RM organisationer med at styrke deres modstandsdygtighed og træffe informerede beslutninger i komplekse miljøer. "I en tid, hvor trusler konstant udvikler sig, skal organisationer være proaktive, ikke reaktive," udtaler Heyrick Bon
Canva Unveils 2026 Design Trends: The Year of ‘Imperfect by Design’10.12.2025 23:52:00 CET | Press release
Canva’s third annual Design Trends Report uncovers insights from millions of Canva users and billions of designs to predict the must-know visual trends for creators and brands in 2026.90% surge in DIY-inspired searches, reflecting a shift toward raw, personal, and imperfect design.85% increase in searches for Zine and Substack inspired layouts as creators gravitate toward editorial style storytelling.80% of creators say 2026 is the year to regain creative control, embracing AI as a partner while prioritizing styles that feel human.54% growth in searches for clean layouts and simple branding as audiences gravitate toward pared back styles.527% surge in lo-fi aesthetic searches in favor of nostalgia driven, emotionally expressive visuals.220% jump in searches for “liminal” and “uncanny” content as lines between real and surreal blur. Canva, the world’s leading all-in-one visual communication platform, today unveiled its third annual Design Trends Report with bold predictions for creativi
Audiencerate Achieves Google Customer Match Partner Status, strengthening its role as a Global Data Provider10.12.2025 22:40:00 CET | Press release
Audiencerate, an international technology company specializing in data activation solutions and platforms within the AdTech and MarTech sectors, has been officially awarded by Google as a Customer Match Upload Partner. This certification is granted to a restricted number of global operators (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7361372?hl=en) authorized to manage and onboard first-party data into the Google Ads and DV360 ecosystem. The company strengthen its strategic partnership with Google by adding the Customer Match Upload Partner accreditation to its existing status as a certified Google Data Provider. This new credential enables Audiencerate to seamlessly integrate proprietary audience segments and data into Google’s advertising platforms. The combination of these two accreditations represents an exceptionalsituation in the international landscape and solidifies Audiencerate's position in the digital advertising market, which is increasingly reliant on first-party data. T
Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) Development Group – Official Statement10.12.2025 21:06:00 CET | Press release
On 8 September 2025, the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) Development Group convened a high-level meeting in the City of London with representatives from 37 nations, including all G7 members, alongside the European Commission, NATO, European Parliament, Global Banks, and Ratings Agencies to discuss the DSRB. A number of countries have now indicated their intention to begin the formal steps required to bring the DSRB into existence. This phased pattern of engagement is standard in the creation of international financial institutions, which typically begin with a core group of anchor nations and expand as additional members join through charter negotiations and subsequent capital rounds. The DSRB is designed to complement the European Union’s SAFE initiative, offering a broader multilateral platform that brings together NATO and Indo-Pacific nations and mobilises global capital to build the balance-sheet capacity required to finance nations’ defence spending and long-term 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