Web3 Israel Newsletter #4

The whole premise of this newsletter is that Israel is the Start-Up Nation. The number of startups in Israel is almost 10,000, making it one of the leading nations in terms of startups per capita (approximately 10 million people) and fundraising per capita, second only to Singapore. Moreover, there are more than 250 Israeli VCs, which contribute to the strength of the Israeli startup ecosystem.

Most of the Israeli web3 VCs are traditional venture capital firms that also invest in web3, such as Entrée Capital (where I work), Viola Ventures, Pitango, and one notable exception is Collider, which originated as a crypto-native VC firm.

I will keep this edition short, as I wish to acknowledge Collider for its excellent work in developing the first community-led map of the Israeli web3 ecosystem. The map provides a comprehensive list of all blockchain, crypto, and web3 startups, builders, founders and backers on one easy-to-use platform, available to everyone and updated regularly.

News ??

• The Bank of Israel is examining the impact of digital assets on financial stability, monetary policy, and payment systems in the country. As part of the bank's regulatory efforts, a committee was formed to draft a document proposing stablecoin regulations in Israel. Among the recommendations, stablecoin issuers are advised to cover 100% of their liabilities to token holders with fiat-based reserve assets (i.e. not algorithmic stablecoins or crypto-based reservers), and the licensing of the issuer will be based on whether a coin has "systemic importance," for example, its number of holders, its market cap, its volume, and its support by financial services.
• Social investing and trading platform eToro has received approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) to offer its crypto services in the state. This includes a virtual currency license, known as a BitLicense, and a money transmitter license, which will allow users in New York to access eToro's virtual portfolio, social investing tools, and trade stocks, crypto, and options once the platform is operational. The approval is an important milestone in eToro's expansion across the United States, where it offers a wide range of financial services in several states already.
• Chaos Labs, a startup providing an automated economic security system for crypto protocols, raised $20 million in a seed funding round co-led by Galaxy Digital and PayPal Ventures. The funding will be used to expand its suite of risk and security products for decentralized finance protocols. Chaos Labs offers an automated, on-chain risk management platform that provides DeFi protocols with customized automated security monitoring, threat prevention, and a simulation engine that helps verify protocol health and stability regardless of current market conditions. Its partners include Aave, Chainlink, and Uniswap.

Jobs ??

Speaking of Chaos Labs, they are also hiring a Head of Risk position in New York. Other than that, below you can find the on-going list of hot open positions in Israeli web3 well-funded startups. Feel free to contact me if your Israeli startup wants to post an open position.

• Hexagate, smart contract cybersecurity startup, is looking for a?Head of Engineering.
• Lightblocks, MEV data analytics startup, is looking for a?Tech Lead.
• Addressable, web3 marketing startup, is looking for a?Senior Data Scientist?and a?Senior Product Designer.
• Utila, a custody startup, is looking for a Mobile Developer.
• Lava Network, a decentralized RPC startup, is looking for a?Head of Product.
• Ingonyama, a ZKP semiconductor startup, is looking for talents, are you up for the?challenge?