We raised $75M.

Word of warning - this edition is mainly all about us. We raised some money…. We’d like to thank you, the Arch community, for your tremendous support, for enjoying the platform, and for forming lasting relationships with us along the way!

This Week in Crypto

We’re thrilled to share that Arch has secured $75M in funding to accelerate the crypto-backed lending space!

This significant raise includes a $5M equity seed round, co-led by Mark Yusko’s Morgan Creek Digital and Castle Island Ventures, with participation from Galaxy Ventures, BitGo Ventures, and more, as well as a scalable $70M loan financing facility. This facility, funded by Galaxy, will help us meet the growing demand for crypto-backed loans on our platform — backed by Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, with the highest standards of security and trust.

Please also show us some love on Twitter!

Our platform is fully operational and fully automated - you can get funded within minutes:

• Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana supported

• Fixed term of up to 12 months, with refinance available

• No early repayment fee

• Interest rates from 14.5%

• No credit check required

• Both Individuals and businesses supported

Get started here today!

This Week in TradFi

You guessed it - another post about interest rates.

On Wednesday, the minutes from the Fed’s July meeting were released. 

• Generally, everything was as expected. However, one line has caught everyone’s attention: “The vast majority (of FOMC participants) observed that, if the data continued to come in about as expected, it would likely be appropriate to ease policy at the next meeting.”

• This means the Fed has virtually guaranteed the September rate cuts everyone has been hoping (and betting) for. Markets expect a cut of 25bps next month, 25bps in November, and possibly another 50bps in December. 

• Data continues to point to an inflation cooldown in the U.S., with new unemployment applications rising slightly last week and a slowdown in overall business activity this month. 

The dollar has been struggling over the past year but saw a slight rebound on Thursday, with the dollar index up 0.4%.

• This comes after a 13-month low against the euro in expectation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech today (last-minute edit: Powell spoke just before we pushed this), an early indication of what he said supports the aforementioned:

Can you hear that… in the distance…? It’s the sound of the printers starting up…

This Week in Tech

We’re getting flashbacks to the tech of 2020, with Covid-era companies making a surprising comeback.

Peloton has come out of nowhere, with shares soaring 35% following quarterly results that came in way ahead of expectations.

• For the first time in 9 quarters, Peloton has returned to sales growth. Sales grew 0.2% in its fiscal fourth quarter - not much on face, sure, but massive news for a company that hasn’t seen YoY revenue growth since 2021. 

• The gains are led by subscription revenue, which is up 2.3%. This is primarily from users who bought Peloton hardware on the secondary market, with subscription revenue from those purchases up 16% YoY. 

• Hardware sales, meanwhile, are down about 4%, though sales from Peloton’s treadmill Tread are up 42% YoY. 

• Quarterly losses are down from $242M to only $31M after the company decided to focus on profitability over growth, cutting its marketing and sales budgets significantly. 

Zoom shares also spiked after the company posted quarterly results that beat expectations.

• Zoom stock rose 13%, closing at $68.04 yesterday, its highest close in nearly 6 months. 

• Zoom earnings for the second quarter were $1.39 per share (up from expectations of $1.21), and revenue rose 2% to $1.16B.

• Enterprise revenue rose 3.5% to $683B, vs. expectations of $675M. 

• Despite a slowdown in sales growth, Zoom is expecting revenue between $1.16B to $1.17B for the upcoming quarter.

We’ll leave you with yet another iconic Chamath interaction: 

As usual, below are some fundraising announcements, M&A, and tech personnel changes that caught our eye:

• Grafana Labs, which helps companies visualize and analyze data, raised a $275M round at a $6B valuation. 

• Zomato, an Indian food delivery company, acquired the entertainment ticketing division of Paytm for $244M. 

• Eppo, which lets consumers customize AI models, has raised a $28M series B, led by Innovation Endeavors.

Arch is building a next-gen wealth management platform for individuals holding Alternative Assets. Our flagship product is the crypto-backed loan, which allows you to securely and affordably borrow against your crypto. We also offer access to bank-grade custody, trading, and staking services, powered by BitGo.

Disclaimer: None of the above is financial advice, seriously.