Solana-linked startup survives $14.5 million FTX ‘punch in the gut’ to get to beta

Startups • April 20, 2023, 7:40PM EDT

Quick Take

FTX Ventures co-led Coral’s $20 million fundraise just weeks before the exchange’s collapse, forcing the web3 team to cut costs to survive.

Episode 38 of Season 5 of The Scoop was recorded with The Block's Frank Chaparro and Coral co-founder Armani Ferrante.

Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Please send feedback and revision requests to [email protected].

Web3 development team Coral raised $20 million in a round co-led by FTX Ventures just weeks before the exchange's collapse. Coral developers hunkered down and continued building.

In this episode, Coral co-founder Armani Ferrante tells the story of how the fallout from FTX forced Coral into "cockroach mode"' and how the startup has managed to stay afloat despite being forced to cut costs.

Backpack & xNFTs

Coral's first product, Backpack, is a web3 wallet that lets users store and access xNFTs — a new standard developed for tokenizing code and controlling its execution. In practice, Armani says Backpack and xNFTs give users direct access to a "secure, heavily curated app store."

Unlike popular browser extensions such as Metamask which interact with web3 platforms by connecting to each website individually, Backpack is designed so that users never have to leave the curated web3 experiences that live directly within the wallet.

During this episode, Chaparro and Ferrante also discuss:

The Donald Trump, Starbucks, and Nike NFT collections
Why NFT projects depend on community
How Coral's Backpack product supports 'xNFTs'

This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Circle and CleanSpark.

About Circle

Circle is a global financial technology company helping money move at internet speed. Our mission is to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value. Visit circle.com/Scoop to learn more.

About CleanSpark

CleanSpark (NASDAQ: CLSK) is America’s Bitcoin Miner™. Visit cleanspark.com/theblock to learn more about the CleanSpark way.

About Authors

Davis Quinton is the Director of Podcasts at The Block and runs our flagship podcast called The Scoop, hosted by Frank Chaparro. Since joining The Block as an 'intern' in early 2022, he has worked closely with leaders across departments to translate The Block's written content into engaging multimedia formats. He holds a degree in Social Research & Public Policy from New York University in Abu Dhabi and is based in Sydney, Australia.

Frank Chaparro is the Editor At Large at The Block. Chaparro started his career at Business Insider, where he specialized in the intersection of digital assets and Wall Street, market structure, and financial technology. Soon after joining Business Insider out of Fordham University, Chaparro was interviewing top finance and tech executives, including billionaire Mark Cuban, “Flash Boys” star Brad Katsuyama, Cboe Global Markets CEO Ed Tilly, and New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley. In 2018, he become a sought after reporter in the crypto world, interviewing luminaries such as Tyler Winklevoss, the cofounder of Gemini, Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of Circle, and Fundstrat head Tom Lee. He runs his own podcast The Scoop and writes a biweekly eponymous newsletter. He leads special projects, including The Block's flagship podcast, The Scoop. Prior to The Block, he held roles at Business Insider, NPR, and Nasdaq. For inquiries or tips, email [email protected].