Korean Crypto Exchanges Become Acquisition Hotspots as DeFi Financing Continues to Cool
Korean crypto exchanges have become hotspots for acquisitions in the industry, according to recent funding news. Meanwhile, stablecoin clearing bank Augustus has secured $180 million in funding at a post-money valuation of $1 billion, led by Tiger Global.
In other news, DeFi financing continues to cool down, with VC investment in DeFi declining for three consecutive quarters. This trend is evident as the number of funding rounds in Q2 2026 fell to its lowest since 2020, and the current quarter's investment amount dropped to its lowest since Q4 2023.
The AI and robotics sectors, however, continued to see multiple large funding rounds last week. AMD and Anthropic reached a cooperation on AI chips and computing power, with AMD investing up to $5 billion in stages; AI cloud computing platform Fluidstack completed an $830 million Series A at a $7.5 billion valuation; AI chip startup Etched completed a $300 million Series C, raising its post-money valuation to $10.3 billion.