"Paradigm Leads $41M Token Round for Across Protocol, Unifying Ethereum Ecosystem"

Paradigm, a leading venture capital firm, has led a $41 million token round for Across Protocol, a project aiming to unify the Ethereum ecosystem. The funding round, which was completed in two phases in 2024, was joined by prominent investors such as bain capital Crypto, coinbase Ventures, Multicoin Capital, and angel investor sina Habinian.

Risk Labs, the foundation behind Across and UMA protocols, sold ACX tokens to investors in the round. The sale price and valuation were not disclosed, but the funding brings Across' total capital raised to $51 million. The ACX token currently has a fully diluted valuation of $225 million and a market capitalization of $98 million. The token has seen a decline of around 18% over the past 24 hours, trading at approximately $0.23.

Across Protocol is an intents-based interoperability protocol that enables users to initiate cross-chain transactions through a single request. The system simplifies cross-chain movement by handling asset transfers and smart contract interactions behind the scenes. Hart Lambur, co-founder of Risk Labs, emphasized the need for a unified Ethereum network, stating that the next billion users will expect a fast and seamless experience when moving between chains.

Across differentiates itself from other interoperability protocols by prioritizing speed. Powered by ERC-7683, it facilitates most L2 to L2 transfers in 5 seconds or less. Last year, Across collaborated with Uniswap Labs to develop ERC-7683, a cross-chain standard for Ethereum that allows web3 applications to bundle multi-step cross-chain transactions into a single request. The standard has since been adopted by over 50 protocols, including Base, Arbitrum, Polygon, and Optimism.

Across has integrated with Unichain's public mainnet as a cross-chain transfer tool and powers Uniswap's in-app bridging for both its web app and wallet, enabling transfers across nine chains. To date, Across has processed $19 billion in total volume, including $1 billion in January alone. With its new funding, the project aims to push broader adoption of ERC-7683 and support Ethereum's rollup-centric development strategy.

Dan Robinson, general partner at Paradigm, praised Across' vision, stating that