Even amid the crypto winter, some web3 firms are racking up hefty valuations. P0x Labs, the staff behind Manta Network, a privacy-preserving protocol working on the Polkadot blockchain, introduced at the moment that it has reached a $500 million valuation following a $25 million Series A funding spherical.
Lead traders within the spherical are crypto-focused Polychain Capital and China-focused enterprise agency Qiming Venture Partners, which has constructed a fame in web3 for backing tasks just like the imToken pockets and web3 infrastructure platform InfStones. Other backers embrace Alliance, CoinFund and SevenX Ventures. Past traders embrace Binance’s funding arm, Binance Labs.
P0x Labs’ valuation is buoyed by an rising expertise known as zero information, which is quickly gaining reputation in decentralized finance (DeFi) by addressing a key person ache level: making certain blockchain transparency whereas sustaining person privacy.
Zero-knowledge proof, as its title implies, is a cryptographic protocol that allows one social gathering to show to a different {that a} assertion is true with out revealing further data past the assertion itself. In layman’s language, zero information permits customers to transact anonymously on DeFi providers with out disclosing their pockets addresses or transaction particulars on the blockchain.
Utilizing ZKP, P0x Labs is competing with tasks like Aleo and Aztec to construct the personal layer for web3.
Blockchain-based functions have lengthy struggled to show mass adoption as a consequence of usability points, however Manta has launched numbers indicating that its community is gaining some floor.
Manta Network has minted greater than 300,000 zero-knowledge “soulbound” tokens, a sort of token designed to be completely certain to a particular handle on a blockchain, therefore offering a excessive diploma of safety. As they can’t be transferred, soulbound tokens are rising in popularity as a method to handle distinctive digital property corresponding to identification verification and property possession.
In addition, the community’s native pockets, Manta Wallet, has amassed over 200,000 installs. Its ecosystem tasks ReadOn, Dmail and AsMatch, which altogether have over 1.5 million customers, have built-in zkSBT (zero-knowledge soulbound token) performance for personal person identification and different privacy options.
To make sure, these person numbers are very modest in comparison with any identified web2 utility. But VCs betting on blockchain applied sciences stay bullish. Yi Tang, a principal at Qiming Venture Partners and previously ConsenSys’ China lead, has this to say about Manta:
“We invest in the P0x Labs as we recognize that its core team has strong capability in both cryptography research and development, as well as ecosystem building and execution,” Tang informed Ztoog. “Trust and privacy are a key component in web3. ZKP is becoming an essential tool to build these properties into blockchain protocols. This is an area that offers immense growth potential.”
Proceeds from P0x Labs’ new spherical will go towards scaling the testnet of Manta Pacific, Manta’s Layer 2 for ZK functions. Layer 2, in crypto lingo, includes options designed to extend a blockchain’s transaction processing functionality by transferring some computational load off the primary community. The new financing may also assist the corporate increase in key Asia markets.
Developers are already constructing consumer-facing functions on Manta Pacific, corresponding to zkHoldEm, an on-chain and personal Texas Hold ’em recreation, in addition to zkMe, a protocol for personal and verified credentials.
Manta Network was based in 2020 by Victor Ji, Shumo Chu and Kenny Li.