Private ID verification wins Binance Web3 reality show

Startups competed in a metaverse-based Web3 reality show called Build The Block to win an investment from Binance Labs.

Crypto exchange Binance has announced the winner of its metaverse-based Web3 reality show, “Build the Block.” As a part of the show, startups competed against each other to win an investment from Binance Labs.

In an announcement sent to Cointelegraph, Binance said that zkPass, a decentralized identity verification solution that preserves privacy, won the contest after receiving the most votes. The startup relies on multiparty computation and zero-knowledge-proof technology.

Episode 6 of #BuildTheBlock is live!

It’s the last showdown before the grand finale, with only two projects left competing for a spot in the final. Who will take the victory?

Time to find out

— Binance (@binance) May 30, 2023

Joshua Peng, co-founder of zkPass, said that the investment will help the company build a decentralized infrastructure. Peng explained:

“We are not only thrilled to be a part of the first pitch ever done in a real-time metaverse series, but especially honored to win Build The Block and have the opportunity to work closer with Binance Labs.”

Binance chief business officer Yibo Ling, who also participated as a judge in the contest, said that Binance is looking forward to seeing the growth of the competition’s winner. “We’re looking to build the foundations to sustainable ecosystems that allow scalability, specifically those enabled by zero-knowledge proof techniques,” Ling said.

Related: Binance helped US authorities freeze $4.4M linked to North Korean cybercrime orgs

Four other contestants also received investment offers from Binance Labs, including Mind Network, a decentralized privacy-preserving data lake; Kryptoskatt, which simplifies Web3 finance; Bracket Labs, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform creator; and dappOS, an operating protocol.

In other news, blockchain protocol Anoma has secured funding to continue developing its architecture. On May 31, the Swiss nonprofit raised $25 million to build a generalized “intent-centric” blockchain architecture. Anoma co-founder Adrian Brink said that the platform’s third-generation architecture provides better composability and ease of use when compared with existing smart contract protocols.

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