KuCoin to increase developer support after $150m raise  

Seychelles-based crypto exchange KuCoin (KCS/USD) will allocate a portion of its recent raise of $150 million to support developers working on the blockchain KCC (KuCoin Community Chain) and expand technical features, CoinDesk reported.

Jump Crypto led the exchange’s funding round earlier in May. The round helped achieve a valuation of $10 billion.  

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KCC to move to cross-chain model

While KuCoin did not give specific numbers, they did share that KCC would be adopting a cross-chain model that supports apps from various blockchains. What’s more, the exchange intends to develop a layer 2 system that allows for lower fees and faster transactions.

A KuCoin spokesperson said:

We know the difficulties and obstacles that developer teams have in their initial stage of development. Therefore, we will devote more resources to discovering and supporting high-quality developers and early innovative projects.

KCC demand is dropping

Explorer data published recently shows there were more than 60,000 transactions on KCC at the beginning of the month compared to fewer than 20,000 on Thursday, May 19. An investment in development efforts could help boost demand.

In the footsteps of giants

The decision is similar to developer resources recently raised by Avalanche (AVAX/USD), Near (NEAR/USD), and Fantom (FTM/USD) to help build newer dApps and encourage activity on their blockchain. The funds raised by these blockchains and ecosystems amounted to $220 million, $350 million, and $315 million respectively.

CoinGecko data indicates KuCoin is the fifth-biggest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume. It grew by over 1,500% y/y. New customers from Asia account for most of this growth. They make up a substantial portion of the exchange’s daily trading volume.