Bitcoin mining firm Rhodium Enterprises, which filed for bankruptcy on August 24, has received court approval for an unconventional financing plan as it navigates Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

Robot Ventures, an early-stage investor in notable crypto startups such as EigenLayer, Lido Finance, and Flashbots, has announced a new $75 million venture capital fund.

Brian Armstrong, Co-Founder and CEO of Coinbase, says that the Coinbase Development Platform (CDP) has facilitated the first-ever AI-to-AI crypto transaction.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Bankrupt Bitcoin Mining Firm Receives Court Approval to Borrow in Either USD or BTC
• Robot Ventures Secures $75M for Early-Stage Crypto Fund
• Coinbase Developer Platform Sees Its First AI-to-AI Crypto Transaction
• PayPal’s PYUSD Sees Surge in Market Cap and Trading Volume

Bankrupt Bitcoin Mining Firm Receives Court Approval to Borrow in Either USD or BTC

Bitcoin mining firm Rhodium Enterprises, which filed for bankruptcy on August 24, has received court approval for an unconventional financing plan as it navigates Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The firm has been granted the option to borrow funds in either US dollars or Bitcoin, a rarity in bankruptcy financing.

Galaxy Digital, led by Mike Novogratz, has offered Rhodium up to $30 million in US dollars or 500 Bitcoin, with the loans carrying annual interest rates of 14.5% and 9.5%, respectively. In an unusual twist, the Bitcoin loan can be repaid in dollars based on market exchange rates at the time of payment, subject to the lender’s approval.

This financing structure is notable due to the inherent volatility of Bitcoin, which can complicate the prediction of total repayment amounts, even with fixed interest rates. Rhodium’s decision to seek funding in Bitcoin is part of a broader trend among crypto firms facing financial distress. For instance, crypto exchange Bittrex also explored Bitcoin-based financing as it wound down its US operations and sought to repay its customers.

Rhodium’s financial troubles have been largely attributed to a deteriorated relationship with its landlord and power supplier, Whinstone US, according to court documents filed by David Dunn, the company’s co-chief restructuring officer.

Bitcoin mining companies have been under strain due to a combination of reduced mining rewards following the recent Bitcoin halving and mounting debt issues. While cash-rich firms like Riot Platforms and Cleanspark have expanded their operations by acquiring other miners with turn-key facilities to boost their hash rate, companies with tighter budgets, such as Iren and Cipher, have focused on securing greenfield opportunities that demand less immediate capital.

Robot Ventures Secures $75M for Early-Stage Crypto Fund

Robot Ventures, an early-stage investor in notable crypto startups such as EigenLayer, Lido Finance, and Flashbots, has announced a new $75 million venture capital fund.

The crypto venture investing landscape has witnessed a revival this year, fueled by a significant upswing in token prices since their previous lows. This positive momentum has attracted renewed interest from investors, as evidenced by other recent fund launches like Hack VC’s $150 million fund in February and Paradigm’s $850 million fund in June.

Robert Leshner, a general partner at Robot Ventures, highlighted the firm’s experience navigating multiple market cycles. He stated that they tend to deploy more capital during bear markets when valuations are more favorable, as opposed to periods of “crazy” valuations where they adopt a more conservative investment approach.

Robot Ventures focuses primarily on pre-seed and seed funding rounds, targeting projects in their earliest stages of development. This latest fund, the firm’s fourth, is significantly larger than its predecessors, growing from $22 million to $75 million. The fundraising effort, initiated late last year, drew support from prominent investors such as TrueBridge Capital Partners, Haun Ventures, Marc Andreessen, and Chris Dixon.

Robot Ventures’ investment portfolio includes several high-profile projects, such as EigenLayer, an Ethereum restaking project that recently secured $100 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz; Flashbots, a provider of software for packaging Ethereum blockchain transactions; and Together AI, an artificial intelligence startup that raised $106 million led by Salesforce Ventures.

Coinbase Developer Platform Sees Its First AI-to-AI Crypto Transaction

Brian Armstrong, Co-Founder and CEO of Coinbase, says that the Coinbase Development Platform (CDP) has facilitated the first-ever AI-to-AI crypto transaction. In this transaction, one AI purchased tokens from another AI, but these were not traditional cryptocurrency tokens; rather, they were words exchanged between large language models (LLMs). Armstrong highlighted the uniqueness of the event, noting how AIs effectively “used tokens to buy tokens.”

The transaction was conducted using USDC on Base, a Layer 2 blockchain built on Ethereum, with significant development led by Coinbase. Base is designed to offer scalable, low-cost transactions, making it ideal for AI agents to engage in instant, global, and fee-free transactions.

Armstrong emphasized that, while AI agents cannot hold traditional bank accounts, they can use crypto wallets, enabling them to transact with other AIs, humans, and merchants, thus greatly expanding their operational capabilities.

Armstrong also pointed out that this development represents a crucial step in making AI agents more autonomous and capable of completing tasks. Currently, AI agents face limitations, not only due to technology but also because they cannot transact to acquire the resources they need. For instance, AI agents are unable to use credit cards to access cloud services, APIs, or even book travel. The ability to conduct transactions via crypto wallets can help overcome these barriers, allowing AI agents to function more independently.

Central to this innovation is the Coinbase Development Platform, which provides MPC (Multi-Party Computation) Wallets specifically designed for AI agents. These wallets allow AI agents to manage finances autonomously, making financial decisions and executing transactions without human intervention. The MPC technology ensures that these operations are secure and scalable, able to handle millions of transactions efficiently.

PayPal’s PYUSD Sees Surge in Market Cap and Trading Volume

Last month PayPal’s stablecoin PayPal USD (PYUSD) saw its market capitalization grow 56.6% to $960 million, achieving its fifth consecutive month of growth and reaching a new all-time high to become the sixth-largest stablecoin by market capitalization.

Demand for PYUSD likely grew over the incentives available on decentralized lending platforms for the stablecoin.

Dig deeper into the stablecoin sector via CCData’s latest Stablecoins & CBDCs Report.

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

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