SAN
FRANCISCO, April 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hinkal, a
multi-chain privacy layer for confidential
decentralized finance (DeFi)
transactions, today announced a $1.4
million strategic funding round led by SALT Fund, with
participation from Draper Associates, SNZ and Peer VC.
Additionally, Tal Cohen, CEO of
Kraken US, joined the company advisory board.
The raise follows the close of Hinkal's $4.1M seed funding round in November of 2023.
With surging demand from institutional clientele, this strategic
funding will be used to bring liquid funds, VCs, family offices and
founders of projects to Hinkal's confidential infrastructure.
As institutional investors expand their presence
in crypto markets they are increasingly looking
to decentralized exchanges to take advantage of price
discovery and asset control these platforms provide. However,
DeFi does not provide privacy these traders are
accustomed to in traditional financial markets. As
crypto analytics platforms have become more complex,
the pseudonymous nature of DeFi presents risks of copy
trading and front running for liquid funds, VCs, and protocol
founders willing to liquidate their token positions.
"The influx of institutional capital
into crypto markets is a landmark event for the
maturity of the industry," said Georgi Koreli, CEO of Hinkal.
"Hinkal is solving a critical need in the crypto space
by providing institutional investors with the additional layer of
anonymity they require to participate in DeFi markets.
This strategic funding round will allow us to accelerate the
development and adoption of our groundbreaking privacy
solution."
Hinkal is a zero knowledge (ZK)-protocol that addresses these
issues by enabling end-to-end and secure confidentiality for
DeFi transactions. Leveraging a combination of
self-custodial private addresses and relayers, Hinkal transforms
the way on-chain trading operates as the only transaction that can
be seen on block explorers or analytics platforms is the execution
of a relayer - no wallet addresses attached. This allows liquid
funds, VCs and retail investors to make confidential transactions
within the protocol without experiencing price slippage or market
impacts.
Additionally, Hinkal provides a best-in-class solution for
venture capital and founding teams looking to liquidate vested
tokens in a private and secure environment. As the industry has
grown and matured, these stakeholders have traditionally struggled
with token vesting and liquidations, as this process often results
in adverse price impacts that dilute net settlement and sends mixed
messages to the community. With Hinkal, VCs and teams can receive
any vested token directly into a private Hinkal address and
liquidate privately without these impacts to the market.
AJ Scaramucci, Founder and Managing Partner of the SALT Fund,
commented on the news, "The SALT Fund is dedicated to supporting
projects that drive innovation for institutional investors. Hinkal
is a breakthrough protocol addressing crucial pain points for
institutional funds, founders, and VCs alike by enabling them to
execute private DeFi trading strategies and liquidate
vested tokens in a way that doesn't disrupt the broader market.
This is a game-changer for the industry and will unlock significant
value for these stakeholders."
Underpinning Hikal is a full suite of compliance and
security solutions to further support institutional users of
DeFi protocols. Hinkal requires KYC(B) (Know Your
Customer/Business) verification for users to prevent illicit
parties from using the protocol while simultaneously providing a
frictionless experience via reusable attestations at exchanges like
Coinbase and Binance. Audited by major
firms including Quanstamp and Zokyo, Hinkal provides a secure
trading experience and real-time threat mitigation with
Hexagate.
About Hinkal
Founded by Stanford grad Giorgi Koreli and his Ph.D. brother,
Nika Koreli, Hinkal enables privacy of transactions and assets
across core DeFi apps and functions, including
trading, farming, staking, and lending through the use of stealth
addresses and with high degree of compliance.
Hinkal is a ZK-based solution that provides a private smart
contract wallet experience, allowing users to participate in their
favorite dApps directly from their private addresses
without the need to withdraw assets for obfuscation.
Media Contact: hinkalpr@mgroupsc.com
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