Investment Update: Why We Invested in Particle Network

Published in

Inception Capital

6 min readApr 11, 2023

OP Crypto has recently participated in Particle Network’s Seed funding round, with additional participation from institutions such as ABCDE, Animoca, Longhash Ventures, GSR Ventures, Hashkey, Arcane Group, and Arkstream Capital.

The investment round highlights OP Crypto’s commitment to fostering innovation in the Web3 space and supporting Particle Network’s mission of accelerating the mass adoption of Web3.

What is Preventing Mass Adoption?

There are currently two pain points for the mass adoption of Web3:

Firstly, the wallet entrance process is complicated.

When new users log in, they are essentially creating an on-chain identity system. The current user login method for Web3 products relies primarily on mainstream wallet options or WalletConnect redirection, which is not the most user-friendly for new entrants to the Web3 world. According to Particle Network research, about 60% of new Web3 users are lost during the mnemonic registration process for wallets. The ease with which new users can enter the blockchain world determines whether a Web3 product will be a niche, inward-looking product or an outward-facing consumer product capable of mass adoption.

Second, gas fees are required to use any dApps.

For instance:

Even for non-transactional dApps like voting apps, users are charged with high fees for simply clicking a button to cast a vote, despite the fact that it does not involve any form of asset trading. For users who want to enter the Web3 world just to experiment with dApps, having to go through the process of purchasing tokens to pay gas fees is a high barrier to entry and is not conducive to the widespread promotion of Web3 applications.

The Solution: Empowering Web3 Adoption and Simplifying Development

The company’s core product is a login and wallet middleware based on MPC-TSS technology, which eliminates the need for users to memorize mnemonic words and use gas fees, greatly reducing the barriers to Web3 adoption. Developers can enable end-users to log in directly to dApps through various methods, such as phone, email, Google, Facebook, and Twitter, without the need for a mnemonic phrase or gas fee considerations. This innovative solution differs from existing hosting wallets such as magic link and web3 auth, both of which sacrifice user ownership. Instead, Particle Network retains user ownership, and the company plans to develop in the direction of AA (account abstraction) based on MPC.

Particle Network also helps developers quickly implement features such as authorization & authentication, wallets, NFT trading, and on-chain data indexing through API calls, while simultaneously providing enhanced node services. Particle Network also supports cross-platform development such as Web service + native mobile terminal and PC terminal, as well as multi-chain development support and deployment (such as Solana + EVM chain). Particle Network ultimately aims to create a single on-chain development workflow for developers to quickly build cross-terminal and cross-chain Web3 products.

Particle Network’s UX is designed to be frictionless and extremely smooth. From the B2B collection side, engineers also feel that their product integration is seamless. Particle Network’s API documentation is very detailed and developer-friendly, making it easy to understand and implement for integration engineers. Additionally, the Particle Network team is very willing to dedicate time to supporting project engineers who want to integrate with their API, and this community-centric and open attitude lies at the core of the company.

The Team: Strong Foundations

The founding team has a track record of success in the gaming industry. Co-Founder/CEO, Pengyu, and fellow Co-Founder/CTO, Pan Tao, previously founded the casual gaming platform MiniJoy in 2019. The platform accumulated over 200M active users, with over 10 mobile games ranked within the Top 10 in the United States.

In addition, Pan Tao brings his experience as Tongzhuo Games’ former CTO and Overseas Head. He is well-versed in building complex, large scale products while optimizing the user and service environment. He is also deeply Web3-native, having been involved with blockchain technology since 2013. Meanwhile, Pengyu also brings VC experience during his time at SAIF Partners which will help Particle Network safely navigate the challenging crypto market.

The Particle Network’s founding team’s rich, professional background in user growth within the gaming industry has brought great advantages to the company. Their skills provide a solid foundation and a clear vision for Particle Network’s development and goal of user satisfaction. We believe that under the strong leadership of the founding team, Particle Network will continue to innovate and develop, becoming a leading Web3 development platform in the future.

Particle Network’s Achievements So Far

Currently, Particle Network has successfully onboarded more than 200 dApps, becoming the industry’s leading wallet and login middleware by a wide margin.

Since launching its product in late October 2022, the company has partnered with numerous emerging Web3 gaming projects such as Era7 and Ultiverse, as well as traditional gaming giants like FunPlus and Perfect World.

The company also recently completed a code audit by CertiK, with plans to eventually open-source its core code soon to offer a wide range of open-source tooling.

In April, Particle Network is set to release its MPC+AA wallet solution, providing cross-platform SDKs and forming a variety of product matrices to meet different project needs. In addition to login and wallet middleware, Particle Network also offers Nodes Services, Data API, NFT Full-stack API/IPFS services, and other middleware products as they work towards their vision of becoming a full-stack middleware platform.

In addition to login and wallet middleware, Particle Network also offers Nodes Services, Data API, NFT Full-stack API/IPFS services, and other middleware products as they work towards their vision of becoming a full-stack middleware platform.

Closing Remarks

We’ve been fortunate to be able to participate in Particle Network’s seed round, and we look forward to working closely with the team in helping them achieve their goals.

Investments such as these reaffirm our commitment to supporting the creation of a vibrant, global Web3 ecosystem by empowering developers to create immersive gaming experiences. Projects like Particle Network enable and pave the way for the future of blockchain technology and the widespread application of Web3.

Cooperate with Us!

If you are a founder in the Web3 field or want to recommend a startup team around you, please feel free to contact us. Don’t forget to follow our Twitter accounts (@OPCryptoVC & @OPCryptoDegen) to get more information and updates from OP Crypto!

ABOUT OP CRYPTO

OP Crypto is a leading high conviction, early-stage venture capital firm in the crypto and blockchain industry, specializing in pre-seed and seed stage investments. The fund successfully raised $50M in September 2021 and has since invested in over 30 projects, including companies such as Scroll Tech, Snackclub, Merit Circle, Omni, and Fyde.

With the support of prominent investors like Bill Ackman and Alan Howard, as well as institutions like Galaxy Digital, Huobi, and DCG, OP Crypto has access to a global network of venture funds, scouts, and ecosystem partners to source the most competitive deals in the market.

With a core team based in the United States and strong ties to the APAC region, the fund serves as a bridge between East and West. Additionally, a dedicated portfolio team provides post-investment support to founders in areas such as marketing, tokenomics, and networking.

Learn more about OP Crypto at: Website