Adjacent has raised $2.5 million in a pre-seed round led by Night Capital and VanEck, with participation from UFO Holdings, Maven11 and DCG. The startup is building an independent index provider for event contracts and prediction markets. The funding coincides with the launch of Adjacent's first index family focused on the 2024 US elections. Its initial products, RED and BLUE indices, track forward expectations of political party control across multiple levels of US office, providing a consolidated benchmark for election risk. Adjacent publishes its index construction rules and methodologies in a governance portal, targeting use cases across trading, research and editorial integrations. The company plans to expand beyond US politics into global elections, financial markets and macroeconomic events, whilst exploring custom index design for counterparties.

Fortitude Mining, a Digital Currency Group subsidiary that mines Zcash, has entered a definitive merger agreement with Nasdaq-listed HeartSciences Inc. HeartSciences shares surged 55% following the announcement, closing at $2.70 per share. The merger, expected to close in the second half of this year, aims to provide Fortitude with capital market access for expansion. DCG will own approximately 95% of the combined company. CEO Andrea Childs emphasised the company is an operating business, not a digital asset treasury play, though its strategy may evolve. Despite ZEC plunging over 60% this month following disclosure of a counterfeiting vulnerability, Fortitude remains optimistic. DCG founder Barry Silbert stated Zcash represents "one of the most compelling opportunities in digital assets". Fortitude has mined Zcash since 2019.

The platform offers prediction markets and perpetual futures and aims to be a localized alternative to Kalshi and Polymarket for Asian users.