What All This VC and M&A Activity Tells Us About The State Of The Crypto Markets

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If venture investments and acquisitions provide a window into the sentiment in markets, boy did we get a big dose of information today. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today we look at investments in the world’s</span> <a href= "https://www.coindesk.com/lightning-labs-raises-10m-series-a-to-be-the-visa-of-bitcoin"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">best known developer</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">of the Lightning Network; a new</span> <a href= "https://www.coindesk.com/sony-vc-fund-joins-over-14m-funding-round-for-digital-asset-platform-securitize"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">prominent corporate investor</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">for a tokenized securities platform; and</span> <a href= "https://www.coindesk.com/pantera-square-join-14m-series-a-round-for-cryptographic-payments-firm-transparent"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Square’s investment</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">in a real-time payments company. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We also look at a set of acquisitions, including a ConsenSys</span> <a href= "https://www.coindesk.com/consensys-acquires-us-broker-dealer-in-bid-to-tokenize-trillion-dollar-muni-bond-market"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">acquisition</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">poised to get them in the $3.8T municipal bond space; a Bakkt</span> <a href= "https://www.coindesk.com/ice-snaps-up-loyalty-program-provider-bridge2-to-boost-bakkts-consumer-play"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">acquisition</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">poised to get them ready for a consumer app that includes more than just cryptocurrencies; and an</span> <a href= "https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/54923/nyse-parent-company-ice-makes-offer-to-buy-ebay-report"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">attempt</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">by Bakkt-parent ICE to buy eBay for north of $30b. </span></p>