GCL New Energy closing a subscription at nearly $1B valuation for a pre-mainnet L1 — through full HKEX regulatory disclosure — is a different animal than your typical crypto VC round. Pharos is stacking wallet distribution (OKX faucet, Bitget) ahead of a Q2 TGE while simultaneously locking in Circle CCTP for native USDC settlement, which is the exact playbook you'd run if you're serious about RWA institutional flow rather than just farming testnet degens. The 30K TPS target via full-lifecycle parallelization and their SPN model for app-specific execution environments reads like they're building settlement infra, not another general-purpose chain — ex-Ant Financial founders clearly architecting for TradFi bridge rails they already understand.

Top comment by @Benthic