Zebedee, which focuses on adding Bitcoin and Lightning payment support in games, raises a $35M Series B led by Kingsway Capital with Square Enix among investors
🌏 Market Overview — Total Cryptocurrency Market Cap ป … Kyt Dotson / SiliconANGLE : Zebedee raises $35M to power blockchain payments in virtual worlds and games Shawn Amick / Bitcoin Magazine : Bitcoin Gaming Company ZEBEDEE Raises $35 Million For Virtual Economies Tweets: @derekmross : Zebedee has raised $35M of funding to further develop their #Bitcoin Lightning payments systems for games and integrate with new partners. Congrats @zebedeeio! What happens when other companies see that Bitcoin gaming companies are raising millions?👀🚀https:// venturebeat.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Capital had already flowed into blockchain-game creators and platforms, including Azra Games’ $15M seed round and Mythical Games’ $150M financing for playable-NFT platform development. Zebedee adds a payments-focused layer to that investment cycle rather than another game or virtual-world project.
Square Enix joining Kingsway Capital in the round gives Zebedee backing from an investor tied to the games market, while the company directs the new capital toward its Bitcoin and Lightning payment systems and partner integrations.
First-order effects
- Zebedee gains $35M to develop its game-payment systems and pursue integrations with new partners.
- Square Enix becomes an investor in Zebedee, aligning a games-company investor with a provider of Bitcoin and Lightning payment support.
Second-order effects
- Blockchain-game platforms such as Improbable’s M² initiative and Mythical face a clearer build-versus-partner choice for transaction functionality as Zebedee expands its payment infrastructure.
- Game developers pursuing virtual collectibles gain a better-funded specialist payment provider to evaluate alongside internally built transaction systems.
Third-order effects
- If funding continues to reach both game builders and payment specialists, blockchain gaming is likely to separate into application companies and shared transaction-infrastructure providers rather than vertically integrated game stacks.
- Publisher participation in payments-infrastructure funding would make distribution and integration relationships, not only game content, a more important competitive layer in virtual economies.
The trend: Blockchain-gaming investment is broadening from games and collectible platforms toward the payment rails intended to support in-game virtual economies.