Sharding Weekly (2026/5/11-5/17)

Twitter: @ShardingCapital

Sharding Capital is an early-stage web3-native VC firm based in the UAE.

Welcome to the 131th edition of Sharding Weekly, featuring key news, good reads, and fundraising updates

Highlights:

🔸US April CPI and Core CPI both came in above expectations

*Walter Bloomberg@DeItaone

*US APRIL CONSUMER PRICES RISE 0.6% M/M; EST. +0.6% *US APRIL CONSUMER PRICES RISE 3.8% Y/Y; EST. +3.7% *US APRIL CORE CPI RISES 0.4% M/M; EST. +0.3% *US APRIL CORE CPI RISES 2.8% Y/Y; EST. +2.7%

12:30 PM · May 12, 2026 · 91.1K Views

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61 Replies · 99 Reposts · 395 Likes

🔸US PPI rose 6%, above expectations

Crypto Rover@cryptorover

🩸CRASH: $BTC drops below $80,000 after US Inflation data (PPI) comes in much higher than expected.

12:40 PM · May 13, 2026 · 35K Views

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116 Replies · 49 Reposts · 504 Likes

🔸US appeals court pauses ruling blocking Trump’s 10% global tariff

Reuters@Reuters

US appeals court pauses ruling against Trump's 10% global tariff reut.rs/4uIddzh

reut.rs

US appeals court pauses ruling against Trump's 10% global tariff

3:30 AM · May 13, 2026 · 18.2K Views

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7 Replies · 6 Reposts · 20 Likes

🔸The U.S. Senate confirms Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chair

Crypto Rover@cryptorover

THIS IS BIG 🚨 The U.S. Senate officially confirms Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chair.

4:38 PM · May 12, 2026 · 136K Views

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93 Replies · 125 Reposts · 986 Likes

🔸Trump says China’s Xi offered to help on Iran

Benny Johnson@bennyjohnson

President Trump says Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered to help the U.S. in making a deal with Iran: “Xi would like to see a deal. He offered — he said, 'If I can be of any help at all, I would like to be of help.'”

3:11 PM · May 14, 2026 · 4.66K Views

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22 Replies · 20 Reposts · 142 Likes

🔸CME Group to launch Nasdaq CME Crypto Index futures on June 8

CoinMarketCap@CoinMarketCap

JUST IN: ⚡ CME Group plans to launch Nasdaq CME Crypto Index futures on June 8, its first market-cap weighted crypto futures contract.

1:06 PM · May 14, 2026 · 17.1K Views

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32 Replies · 38 Reposts · 222 Likes

🔸Trump’s latest disclosure shows Q1 purchases of Coinbase, Strategy, and MARA

The Block@TheBlockCo

Trump's latest disclosure shows Coinbase, Strategy, MARA purchases in Q1

theblock.co

Trump's latest disclosure shows Coinbase, Strategy, MARA purchases in Q1

2:59 AM · May 15, 2026 · 3.6K Views

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4 Replies · 3 Reposts · 18 Likes

🔸Charles Schwab launches spot BTC and ETH trading via Schwab Crypto

Coin Bureau@coinbureau

🚨JUST IN: $12T Charles Schwab launches spot Bitcoin and Ethereum trading through Schwab Crypto. Select retail clients can now trade bitcoin:native and ethereum:native directly alongside stocks and ETFs.

5:28 AM · May 13, 2026 · 13.9K Views

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57 Replies · 53 Reposts · 307 Likes

🔸Italy’s biggest bank doubled its crypto exposure to $235M

Coin Bureau@coinbureau

🇮🇹 ITALY’S BIGGEST BANK DOUBLED ITS CRYPTO EXPOSURE TO $235M Intesa Sanpaolo, managing over €1 TRILLION in client assets, has reportedly increased its crypto exposure from roughly $100M from Q4 2025 to around $235M in Q1 2026. The bank added more Bitcoin exposure and bought

11:04 AM · May 16, 2026 · 26.2K Views

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53 Replies · 77 Reposts · 456 Likes

🔸Japan’s SBI and Rakuten are preparing crypto investment trusts for BTC and ETH exposure

Coin Bureau@coinbureau

JUST IN: Japan’s SBI and Rakuten are preparing to sell in-house crypto investment trusts for $BTC and ethereum:native exposure.

9:00 AM · May 17, 2026 · 13.5K Views

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31 Replies · 23 Reposts · 146 Likes

🔸Harvard Endowment exits Ethereum ETF, cuts IBIT stake by 43%

Wu Blockchain@WuBlockchain

Harvard Endowment Exits Ethereum ETF and Cuts IBIT Stake by 43% Q1 2026 SEC 13F filings show that Harvard's endowment cut its IBIT position by about 43% to 3,044,612 shares, worth roughly $117 million, after already reducing the stake by 21% in Q4. It also fully exited its $86.8

2:06 AM · May 17, 2026 · 12.5K Views

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13 Replies · 5 Reposts · 46 Likes

🔸Coinbase becomes the official USDC treasury deployer on Hyperliquid

Cointelegraph@Cointelegraph

⚡️ JUST IN: Coinbase becomes the official USDC treasury deployer on Hyperliquid. Coinbase also acquires rights to Native Markets’ USDH brand assets as USDH transitions into USDC.

12:07 PM · May 14, 2026 · 2.64K Views

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15 Replies · 11 Reposts · 57 Likes

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📰 News

$BTC

•Strategy bought 535 BTC for ~$43M at ~$80.3K per BTC

Michael Saylor@saylor

Strategy has acquired 535 BTC for ~$43.0 million at ~$80,340 per bitcoin and has achieved BTC Yield of 9.4% YTD 2026. As of 5/10/2026, we hodl 818,869 $BTC acquired for ~$61.86 billion at ~$75,540 per bitcoin. $MSTR $STRC

strategy.com

Strategy Acquires 535 BTC and Now Holds 818,869 BTC

12:02 PM · May 11, 2026 · 248K Views

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614 Replies · 886 Reposts · 6.94K Likes

•Crypto Wallet Exodus sold 1,076 BTC

Coin Bureau@coinbureau

🚨CRYPTO WALLET EXODUS SOLD 1076 BITCOIN Crypto wallet firm Exodus sold 1,076 $BTC in Q1 to help fund its W3C payments acquisition, moving about $70 million into U.S. dollar reserves. The company sold $73.2 million in crypto, lifting cash, cash equivalents, and stablecoins

12:00 PM · May 12, 2026 · 7.68K Views

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26 Replies · 10 Reposts · 68 Likes

$ETH

•BitMine bought another 26,659 ETH, bringing total holdings to 5.2M ETH

CoinMarketCap@CoinMarketCap

JUST IN: 💰 BitMine bought another 26,659 ETH, bringing its total holdings to 5,206,790 ETH, with the firm slowing its buying pace as its treasury approaches 5% of the total Ethereum supply.

12:59 PM · May 11, 2026 · 5.47K Views

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35 Replies · 7 Reposts · 60 Likes

•JPMorgan Chase to launch tokenized money market fund on Ethereum

The Block@TheBlockCo

JPMorgan launching tokenized money market fund on Ethereum

theblock.co

JPMorgan launching tokenized money market fund on Ethereum

8:00 PM · May 12, 2026 · 11.8K Views

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4 Replies · 15 Reposts · 55 Likes

Others

•Trump family made roughly $1.55B from World Liberty Financial token sales

Bloomberg@business

Trump family members made roughly $1.55 billion from sales of World Liberty Financial tokens, lifting their total fortune by about $660 million

bloomberg.com

Quiet Token Sales Boosted Trump Crypto Wealth by $660 Million

10:24 AM · May 12, 2026 · 11.5K Views

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7 Replies · 17 Reposts · 22 Likes

•UAE officially enables crypto payments for government fees

The Bitcoin Conference@TheBitcoinConf

🇦🇪 UAE NOW ALLOWS CITIZENS TO PAY GOVERNMENT TAXES & FEES IN #BITCOIN AND CRYPTO 🚀 MASSIVE ADOPTION!

4:34 PM · May 11, 2026 · 626 Views

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3 Replies · 3 Reposts · 17 Likes

•Bhutan’s Gelephu Mindfulness City launches fast-track licensing for regulated crypto firms

The Block@TheBlockCo

Bhutan's Gelephu Mindfulness City launches fast-track licensing for regulated crypto firms

theblock.co

Bhutan's Gelephu Mindfulness City launches fast-track licensing for regulated crypto firms

10:36 AM · May 12, 2026 · 2.86K Views

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6 Replies · 3 Reposts · 11 Likes

•Ledger pauses US IPO plans due to unfavorable market conditions

CoinDesk@CoinDesk

SCOOP: Crypto wallet provider Ledger put its plans to go public in the U.S. on hold due to unfavorable market conditions, according to sources. @willcanny99 reports.

2:50 PM · May 13, 2026 · 21.2K Views

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21 Replies · 5 Reposts · 73 Likes

•Consensys delays potential IPO until fall

CoinDesk@CoinDesk

SCOOP: Consensys, the Ethereum development firm led by Joe Lubin, has pushed back its potential U.S. public offering until fall at the earliest due to poor market conditions, according to sources. @IanAllison123 and @willcanny99 report.

7:07 PM · May 13, 2026 · 14.3K Views

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15 Replies · 3 Reposts · 33 Likes

•Aave updates rsETH recovery plan and restores WETH LTVs to pre-incident levels

Stani@StaniKulechov

The next step in the rsETH technical recovery plan has been completed with the restoration of WETH LTVs to their pre-incident levels across all affected networks. Users can now once again borrow against WETH on Aave, including through collateral and debt swaps.

Aave @aave

In accordance with the rsETH technical recovery plan, WETH LTVs on Aave V3 Ethereum Core, Ethereum Prime, Arbitrum, Base, Mantle, and Linea have been restored to their pre-incident values. WETH now operates as normal across all affected V3 deployments.

4:44 PM · May 17, 2026 · 7.47K Views

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15 Replies · 13 Reposts · 117 Likes

•TradeXYZ buys the $SPCX HIP-3 ticker for 500 HYPE ahead of a likely SpaceX pre-IPO perp launch

kirbycrypto@kirbyongeo

SpaceX ($SPCX) Pre-IPO Perpetuals (IPOP) launching on @HyperliquidX very soon via @tradexyz • Targeting a $1.75T valuation, largest IPO in history • Aiming for June 12 Nasdaq listing Only one best place to trade the hype (pun intended) before it goes public Hyperliquid

s @sershokunin

T-minus 24 hours

3:36 PM · May 17, 2026 · 15.1K Views

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8 Replies · 4 Reposts · 89 Likes

📖 Good Reads

•@yzilabs - Meet the EASY Residency Season 3 Cohort

YZi Labs@yzilabs

https://t.co/cVzSZcHlZj

2:09 AM · May 13, 2026 · 450K Views

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37 Replies · 36 Reposts · 213 Likes

•@RaoulGMI - The AI Supercycle is Now Reorganising Macro Policy. Here is What Happens Next

Raoul Pal@RaoulGMI

https://t.co/aVcEhDRJyH

2:06 AM · May 13, 2026 · 167K Views

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106 Replies · 156 Reposts · 1.17K Likes

•@wgrieskamp - Verifying Move in the Age of AI

Wolfgang Grieskamp@wgrieskamp

https://t.co/2vamemhvO6

8:36 PM · May 12, 2026 · 10.1K Views

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12 Replies · 15 Reposts · 64 Likes

•@mphrediction - HIP-4 vs. Polymarket - who will come out on top?

mph@mphrediction

https://t.co/IRorIixJP6

12:03 PM · May 10, 2026 · 30.9K Views

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129 Replies · 73 Reposts · 264 Likes

•@FourPillarsFP - Stablecoin FX: Reshaping FX Infrastructure and Korea’s Point of Entry

Four Pillars@FourPillarsFP

https://t.co/hHrAFr2XCU

3:57 AM · May 11, 2026 · 1.39K Views

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2 Reposts · 20 Likes

•@arjunkhemani - What Unifies the Enemies of Civilization?

Arjun Khemani@arjunkhemani

https://t.co/ZlvcOTLUx4

8:34 AM · May 11, 2026 · 50K Views

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9 Replies · 20 Reposts · 167 Likes

•@TheOneandOmsy - Is the Circle x Coinbase Relationship Starting to Fall Apart?

Omar@TheOneandOmsy

How long until the Circle / Coinbase marriage gets messy? > historically $CRCL = issuer of USDC and $COIN = distributor. Coin pushes USDC, and in exchange gets half the economics w/ some adjustments > but w/ Circle now a pubco, it’s been forced into pitching a much broader

zoomer @zoomerfied

[ ZOOMER ] CIRCLE RAISES $222 MILLION FROM BLACKROCK, APOLLO AND OTHERS IN ARC TOKEN PRESALE VALUED AT $3 BILLION: CNBC

1:41 PM · May 11, 2026 · 52K Views

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23 Replies · 15 Reposts · 280 Likes

•@Cbb0fe - How CBB Cartel & Friends Made +$40m on $XPL

CBB@Cbb0fe

https://t.co/M6BUMzt4MH

7:10 PM · May 12, 2026 · 71.2K Views

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91 Replies · 30 Reposts · 892 Likes

•@Crypto_Pranjal - From Zero to Polymarket: Beginner’s A-Z Guide

Pranjal Bora 🧭@Crypto_Pranjal

https://t.co/soIslTx0IW

10:01 PM · May 14, 2026 · 8.29K Views

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40 Replies · 13 Reposts · 158 Likes

•@blocmates - Next-Gen Neobanks To Keep an Eye On

blocmates.@blocmates

https://t.co/shs1QUi1xl

12:11 PM · May 14, 2026 · 13.5K Views

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12 Replies · 14 Reposts · 88 Likes

💰 Crypto Fundraising

Blockchain

•@arc - 222m Presale led by @a16zcrypto

Fundraising Digest@CryptoRank_VCs

Arc $222M Presale Round⚡️ 📑 About: @arc is an EVM-compatible Layer-1 blockchain by Circle for stablecoin finance, featuring USDC as a gas token and a built-in FX engine. 🤝 Investors: @a16zcrypto (Lead), @ICE_Markets, @generalcatalyst, @HaunVentures, @ARKInvest, and

11:50 AM · May 11, 2026 · 423 Views

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2 Replies · 1 Repost · 16 Likes

AI

•@charmsai - 1.5m Pre-Seed

Charms@charmsai

Millions spend hours with AI characters. But characters forget, creators don't earn, and the best experiences sit behind paywalls. We raised $1.5M to build the character economy with @lattice_fund, @cbventures' Base Ecosystem Fund, @JME_Ventures; bootstrapped by @worldcoinfnd.

3:37 PM · May 12, 2026 · 139K Views

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181 Replies · 91 Reposts · 427 Likes

•@JudgmentLabs - 32m led by @lightspeedvp

Alex Shan@alexshander03

We’re launching @JudgmentLabs today and announcing $32M in funding. As AI agents take on more of the work that creates economic value, they generate massive amounts of production data: the clearest record of how they behave with users, software, and the real world. Judgment

4:04 PM · May 12, 2026 · 3.48M Views

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206 Replies · 152 Reposts · 1K Likes

•@the_nof1 - 15m led by @Karatage_ @officialSUIG

Fundraising Digest@CryptoRank_VCs

Nof1 $15M Funding Round⚡️ 📑 About: @the_nof1 is an AI lab using financial markets to train next-generation foundation models. 🤝 Investors: @Karatage_ (Lead) and @officialSUIG (Lead)

3:48 PM · May 15, 2026 · 4.67K Views

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5 Replies · 1 Repost · 61 Likes

•@OriginLabAI - 8m Seed led by @lightspeedvp

Fundraising Digest@CryptoRank_VCs

Origin Lab $8M Seed Round⚡️ 📑 About: @OriginLabAI is a marketplace for premium, rights-cleared video game and 3D multimodal datasets for AI training. 🤝 Investors: @lightspeedvp (Lead), @svangel, @EniacVC, FPV Ventures, @SevenStars_VC, and @kevinlin

12:08 PM · May 14, 2026 · 3.12K Views

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3 Reposts · 42 Likes

DeFi

•@OseroHQ - 13.5m Seed led by @SkyEcosystem and @Plasma

Osero@OseroHQ

Osero has raised $13.5M, led by @SkyEcosystem and @Plasma. We're building the savings account for where your stablecoins already are.

3:04 PM · May 12, 2026 · 151K Views

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294 Replies · 74 Reposts · 585 Likes

RWA

•@LADT_co - $TBD Strategic investment from @animocabrands

LADT@LADT_co

🚨 Flash News: AWARP Secures Strategic Investment from Animoca Brands AWARP, a sovereign-grade financial infrastructure project, has secured a strategic investment from @animocabrands, a global leader in Web3 and digital assets. The partnership will focus on: ✅ RWA

2:31 AM · May 14, 2026 · 89 Views

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2 Replies · 5 Reposts · 10 Likes

Infrastructure

•@antiersolutions - 3m led by @GvflLimited

Fundraising Digest@CryptoRank_VCs

Antier Solutions $3M Funding Round⚡️ 📑 About: @antiersolutions is a blockchain and AI infrastructure development platform for enterprise digital systems. 🤝 Investor: @GvflLimited (Lead)

10:47 AM · May 11, 2026 · 776 Views

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1 Reply · 6 Likes

•@turnkeyhq - 12.5m Strategic

Turnkey 🔑@turnkeyhq

Thrilled to announce a $12.5M strategic investment to meet accelerating demand for crypto wallets and verifiable computing. With participation from @circle_ventures, @archetypevc, and existing investors @BainCapCrypto, @FactionVC, @galaxyhq, @sequoia, and @variantfund.

1:25 PM · May 14, 2026 · 74.6K Views

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58 Replies · 42 Reposts · 420 Likes

Compliance

•@elliptic - 120m Series D led by One Peak

Elliptic@elliptic

Catch our CEO Simone Maini on @business talking about what Elliptic's $120M Series D, and the investors behind it, signals for the future of finance:

hubs.la

Elliptic CEO on Bloomberg: Elliptic raises $120 million Series D fundraise

1:02 PM · May 13, 2026 · 140 Views

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1 Reply

Payments

•@stableyardfi - $TBD strategic investment from @movement_xyz

stableyard@stableyardfi

Businesses no longer need a new payment system to accept stablecoins. We’ve raised strategic investment from @movement_xyz on this bet Just add stablecoins. Keep everything else go: stableyard.fi

3:35 PM · May 7, 2026 · 16K Views

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47 Replies · 26 Reposts · 142 Likes

•@StitchHQ - 25m Series A led by @a16zcrypto

Stitch@StitchHQ

We just announced our $25M Series A, led by @a16z, with participation from @ArborVentures1, @COTUVentures, @RaedVC, and @SVC_SA. Financial infrastructure is broken. Institutions are slow to launch, locked into fragmented legacy systems, and falling behind on AI because the

Mohamed Oueida @MoOueida

Stitch raised a $25M Series A, led by @a16z, with continued backing from Arbor, COTU, Raed, and SVC. Grateful to our customers, who trust us with the systems that run their business. Financial institutions still run on infrastructure that should have been left behind 20 years

6:30 AM · May 14, 2026 · 9.01K Views

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42 Replies · 10 Reposts · 78 Likes

•@fasset - 51m Series B

Fasset@fasset

Fasset has raised $51M in Series B. Marking one of the top fundraises globally this year. Participated by leading VCs including SBI Group, Arz Portfoy, Investcorp, and strategic family offices. The capital goes toward global expansion, our onchain product stack, and opening

Fasset @fasset

Fintech failed. Fasset won't. https://t.co/EE877R3UJS

5:10 PM · May 14, 2026 · 10.2K Views

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11 Replies · 9 Reposts · 53 Likes

CeFi

•@USBD_Stablecoin - 2m Pre-Seed led by @galaxyhq

Galaxy@galaxyhq

Galaxy Ventures led @USBD_Stablecoin $2M pre-seed. Stablecoins are one of the most proven and transformative innovations in crypto, with a >$300B market reshaping global payments, treasury management, and financial infrastructure. The next frontier: making that infrastructure

Boundary @USBD_Stablecoin

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve raised $2M in pre-seed funding led by @galaxyhq to build the natively verifiable stablecoin, USBD. Check out the exclusive story in The Block: https://t.co/m25S4xjUdv 🌐 https://t.co/akZRnowEOk #Stablecoins #DeFi #Galaxy #USBD

5:21 PM · May 11, 2026 · 4.37K Views

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5 Replies · 4 Reposts · 51 Likes

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Curated by＠cchungccc

About Sharding Capital

Sharding Capital is an early-stage web3-native VC firm based in the UAE, aiming to supporting aspiring founders from day one. Veteran GPs hence hands-on post investment support and strong roots in the Middle Eastern and Asian crypto market.

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About Shard Labs

A crypto native marketing firm. Shard is a marketing powerhouse driving global traction with innovative narratives for web3. We help build narratives and craft masterful multilingual campaigns for EN, CN, KR, and JP markets. With our marketing expertise and KOL network, we strive for local impact, global growth and sustainability for our portfolio.

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About Shard Dubai

A premier web3 event in MENA. We connect promising builders with industry leaders, explore emerging narratives, and witness the future of web3 while building a strong community in the Middle East.

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