Peter Thiel's Founders Fund invests in Infinex's Patron NFT sale as total amount raised hits $67.7 million

Quick Take

  • Founders Fund has invested in Infinex’s new “patronage” fundraising model, which sold Patron NFTs to venture capitalists, angel investors and the community.
  • The Patron NFT sale completed on Monday, with a total of $67.7 million raised.

Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund was unveiled as an investor in Infinex’s new “patronage” fundraising model on Monday, as the sale officially closed.

The fundraising model, which sold Patron NFTs to venture capitalists, angel investors and the community, raised a total of $67.7 million, according to Infinex. Other venture capital firms participating in the sale include Wintermute Ventures, Framework Ventures and Solana Ventures, alongside angel investors such as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko and Aave founder Stani Kulechov.

Some 43,244 Patrons were sold across Ethereum, Solana, Arbitrum, Base, Polygon and Optimism. On Monday, the NFTs were distributed to purchasers on the Ethereum blockchain and are now available to purchase via the OpenSea and Blur NFT marketplaces. Though access to the sale was staggered, every participant received the same price, allowing all participants to support the crypto project on the same terms.

Founded by Kain Warwick, Infinex is a decentralized exchange platform being developed by DeFi project Synthetix, designed to offer a user experience similar to centralized exchanges while operating on decentralized infrastructure. Infinex claims to have a current total value locked of $125 million.

“Infinex remains steadfast in its mission to 'accelerate the extinction of centralized exchanges,'” Warwick said in a statement shared with The Block. “Infinex’s vision is to simplify decentralized finance by creating a seamless, multichain user experience and providing the safest way to get onchain.”

Following the funding, the next stage in the platform's roadmap is expected to concentrate on reaching feature parity with centralized exchanges, incorporating spot trading, derivatives, fiat on-ramps and additional functionalities.

Disclaimer: Larry Cermak, CEO of The Block, also invested in the sale.


Disclaimer: Evgeny Gaevoy, the founder and CEO of Wintermute, previously sat on The Block’s board of directors from April 2023 to early November 2023 and remains a minority shareholder.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

James Hunt is a reporter at The Block and writer of The Daily newsletter, keeping you up to speed on the latest crypto news every weekday. Prior to joining The Block in 2022, James spent four years as a freelance writer in the industry, contributing to both publications and crypto project content. James’ coverage spans everything from Bitcoin and Ethereum to Layer 2 scaling solutions, avant-garde DeFi protocols, evolving DAO governance structures, trending NFTs and memecoins, regulatory landscapes, crypto company deals and the latest market updates. You can get in touch with James on Telegram or 𝕏 via @humanjets or email him at [email protected].

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