The Trump Administration has released additional information regarding the recipients of the COVID-19 linked Payroll Protection Program (PPP).
Brooklyn, New York-based ConsenSys, a leading Ethereum (ETH) development studio, and several digital asset exchanges were listed as beneficiaries of the recent PPP Coronavirus financial relief scheme.
The PPP program is part of a historic, multi-trillion-dollar stimulus package that aims to offset and combat the devastating economic impact created due to the global pandemic. The PPP aims to provide low-interest loans to SMEs and other companies based in the US.
The relief package is being offered so that companies are not forced to lay off their employees, even though Silicon Valley Fintech Unicorns like Brex have still been laying off workers, after raising large amounts of capital.
The PPP program is structured in a manner that allows certain companies to acquire funding while paying off part of their loans at a later point in time, while other businesses might have their loans entirely forgiven.
The Trump administration’s newly released document includes a dollar-value range for each loan that has been issued, however, exact figures have not been reported. The names of the loan or funds recipients have been mentioned in a spreadsheet.
The physical addresses, lender names, and the dates on which the loans were issued are all revealed in the document. Many of the loans were issued in April 2020, when the PPP loan program was introduced.
Some well-known crypto and blockchain firms have also been listed as recipients. ConsenSys has received anywhere between $1 million and $5 million in funding; Tendermint received somewhere between $350,000 and $1 million; LedgerX, a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange has acquired anywhere between $150,000 and $350,000; and Circle Internet Financial received somewhere between $1 million and 2 million.
bitFlyer got somewhere between $150,000 and $350,000, while Bittrex received funding from anywhere between $1 million and 2 million.
Here’s a partial list of the other amounts received by blockchain-related firms through the PPP:
- MyCrypto, Inc.: $150K- $350K
- MyEtherWallet: $150K – $350K
- Abra: $350K and $1 million
- SeedCX: $350K to $1 million
- Blockfolio: $350K and $1 million
- Digital Assets Data: $350K to $1 million
- CipherTrace: $350K to $1 million
- BTC Media (Bitcoin Magazine’s parent firm): $350K to $1 million
- Electric Coin Company: $350K and $1 million
- Storj: $350K and $1 million
- Nebulous, Inc: $150K and $350K
- Rainberry Inc, (previously called BitTorrent / acquired by Tron): $2 million to $5 million
- Civic: $350K to $1 million
- Skuchain: $150K to $350K
- Sovrin Foundation: $350K to $1 million
- IOHK USA: $350K to $1 million
- Token Tax: $150K to $350K
- Algorand Foundation: $150K to $350K
- Radar Relay: $350K to $1 million
- Quantstamp: $150K to $350K
- Cambridge Blockchain: $150K to $350K
- Prime Trust: $350K to $1 million
- Celsius Network: $150K to $350K
- SALT Blockchain: $1 million to $2 million
- Dharma Labs: $150K to $350K
- Polychain Capital: $350K to $1 million
- Griid Infrastructure: $150K to $350K (from Signature Bank in April 2020)
- Crypto mining colocation firm Compute North: $350K and $1 million (from Highland Bank in April 2020)
- Messari: $150K and $350K (from Silicon Valley Bank in April 2020)
- Crypto media outlet The Block: $150K and $350K (from Silicon Valley Bank in April 2020)