Alta raises $47.5 million to build blockchain for financial institutions. * C. Monasterio * Published: November 10, 2026 * 7:59 pm * Updated: November 10, 2026 * 7:59 pm Table of Contents No headings were found on this page. Financial infrastructure company Alta has closed a $47.5 million Series A funding round, led by venture capital firm Index Ventures, with participation from prominent players such as GV, Blackbird Ventures, Square Peg, and Capital49. This transaction brings the company's total cumulative funding to $80 million. The startup, focused on connecting traditional banking with decentralized finance, is developing a layer-1 network designed from the ground up to natively integrate regulatory compliance controls and institutional privacy. With the prior strategic backing of Airwallex as a distribution channel and connection to global payment gateways in over 200 countries, Alta aims to facilitate the issuance of tokenized deposits and optimized cross-border transactions for major banks and financial institutions. This move reflects accelerated institutional interest in adopting distributed ledger platforms that prioritize strict regulatory compliance over traditional public models. The funds raised will be allocated to expand the network's technological development, strengthen strategic partnerships in the financial sector, and grow its engineering and regulatory compliance team. Disclaimer: Crypto Economy Flash News are produced from official and public sources verified by its editorial team. Their purpose is to quickly report on relevant events in the crypto and blockchain ecosystem. This information does not constitute financial advice or investment recommendations. Crypto Economy always recommend checking each project's official channels before making related decisions. CryptoNews TL;DR: The Injective blockchain temporarily halted block production, replicating operational issues similar to those recorded in previous months, according to reports from specialized media outlets. Zcash News TL;DR Zcash Upgrade: NU7 activated at block 3,543,405, making roughly 12,224 ZEC in the legacy Sprout shielded pool unspendable under the network's new transaction rules. Solana News TL;DR: Projected shutdown date: The governance vote concludes on November 7, 2026, and proposes permanently shutting down the Layer 1 network on December 9 at CryptoNews TL;DR: The New York Stock Exchange signed agreements with Broadridge Financial Solutions, Computershare, Equiniti, and Superstate, bringing its transfer agency partners to six. The newly TL;DR: Kalshi closed a $1 billion funding round co-led by Sequoia Capital and Wellington Management, placing its private valuation at $40 billion. The figure represents flash news The partnership between Anchorage Digital Bank and Bitso was extended to take on the institutional custody of the MXNB stablecoin (pegged to the Mexican peso) Follow Crypto Economy on Social Networks Crypto Tutorials Crypto Reviews

Polymath raises $1.5M NZD pre-seed to make maths fun for kids In 2020, Christian and I started talking about declining maths ability rates and unknowingly sparked…

Canva layoffs impact 1,200 after design giant's 'hardest year yet' Innovation Canva has announced a restructure that will impact 1,271 roles as investors markdown its valuation and its revenue growth slows. A major restructure at Canva will impact approximately 1,271 roles after what founder and chief executive Melanie Perkins described as the design giant's "hardest year yet." Perkins wrote a memo to Canva's 5,000-plus employees explaining that 22 per cent of the company would be cut, have their roles changed or relocated in an effort to "refound Canva," describing the restructure as necessary to ensure growth over the next decade. "As we shared earlier this year, our growth has slowed for the first time in a decade," Perkins wrote. "Success in our first chapter doesn't guarantee success in the next. This has been our hardest year yet." It comes as new filings lodged with the SEC reveal investment titan T. Rowe Price marked down the value of its Canva shares by 20 per cent, down to US$1,189 per share, giving it an implied valuation of US$30.4 billion as of August 31. It is the latest of several investor markdowns the company has endured this year. Canva entered 2026 valued at US$40 billion and as one of the world's hottest IPO prospects, with plans to make a bigger debut on the Nasdaq than any Australian tech company before it. But the company has hit several stumbling blocks. After reorganising its platform around artificial intelligence in what it dubbed Canva 2.0, the company was forced to delay rolling out several products due to the cost of serving AI to its mostly non-paying customers. Around that time it also told investors it was marking down its projected revenue growth from 30 per cent to 20 per cent. Blackbird, its biggest shareholder, responded by cutting its internal valuation of the company by 17 per cent. US institutions T. Rowe Price and Franklin Templeton followed. "This is without doubt the hardest moment in our thirteen-year history," Perkins wrote, describing the changes as necessary to cut through bureaucracy and enable smaller, more nimble teams. "After exploring a wide range of alternatives, I've come to the difficult conclusion that small changes won't be enough. To set ourselves up for the next decade, we need to refound Canva, getting back to our roots of small, empowered teams with the freedom to make decisions, take ownership and focus on what matters most for our community." Know more? Email: [email protected] Canva is attempting to turn the AI threat into an opportunity. It last month revealed Craft, its first foundation model that it says will allow it to serve frontier-grade AI far more efficiently than it would be able to by relying on models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. It is giving third-party developers access to the model, which co-founder Cliff Obrecht said represents a new revenue stream for the company. "Decisions like this are never easy, but we back Canva's decision to make the changes needed to set the company up for its next chapter," a Blackbird spokesperson said. "Canva continues to be one of the most widely used platforms on the internet, and its global reach, growing AI capabilities and strong product foundations put it in a good position to benefit from what AI makes possible." Refounding Canva. Alongside Atlassian, Canva became a proponent of remote-first working arrangements during the pandemic. As organisations around the world began pulling staff back to the office, Canva's policy asked employees to work from their closest hub twice a quarter - and even this requirement was later scrapped. That will now change. The company is making Sydney its key product centre, moving an undisclosed number of roles there from Canva's 37 global teams, and mandating regular office work days. "Working across countries has brought enormous benefits and talent, but it's also made it harder to bring the right people together to solve complex problems," Perkins wrote. "From January, we expect most Hybrid Canvanauts to spend around 2 to 3 days in the office each week, depending on what makes sense in your area." The restructure will combine Canva's product, growth and platform teams into one mega product organisation, which Perkins said will allow for more flexibility and autonomy. Canva is the latest tech company to announce significant layoffs this year. Atlassian slashed 1,600 staff in February, followed by 4,000 at Jack Dorsey's Block in April. Last week Microsoft offered voluntary redundancies to 60,000 employees as it looks for ways to fund its enormous AI investments. Departing Canva employees will receive "at least six months" of salary, a year of healthcare coverage and their company MacBook. The company is also launching the Canva Collective Fund, which will grant up to US$10,000 for employees looking to found a startup or new venture. Update, 10:23am: Adds comment from Blackbird. Forbes Women is a global network of female business owners, entrepreneurs and changemakers. Sign up to Forbes Women here