Weekly News Highlights | Do Kwon proposes to fork the Terra chain into a new chain without algorithmic stability; Bilibili's overseas version of the APP has launched an NFT entrance

Organizer: Linqi, Chain Catcher

Important News

1. LFG: Currently holding 313 BTC, plans to use remaining assets to compensate UST holders

On May 16, Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) announced the use of reserve funds on Twitter. As of May 7, 2022, LFG held a total of 80,394 BTC, 39,914 BNB, 697,344 UST, 1,691,261 LUNA, as well as assets like USDT, USDC, and AVAX.

When UST began to depeg on May 8, LFG started using reserve funds to buy back UST through large trades by directly transferring Bitcoin to counterparties. Specifically, LFG converted 26,281,671 USDT and 23,555,590 USDC into 50,200,071 UST, while transferring 52,189 BTC to counterparties, deducting 5,313 BTC returned, resulting in approximately 1.5 billion UST converted.

On May 10, Terraform Labs took over the finances and sold 33,206 BTC to buy back 1.164 billion UST. On May 12, LFG exchanged all repurchased UST for LUNA to stake for network protection.

Currently, LFG's reserve funds still include 313 BTC, 1.847 billion UST, over 200 million LUNA, 39,914 BNB, and 1,973,554 AVAX assets (valued at a total of $86.49 million) that have not been utilized. All remaining assets will be returned to the address marked as LFG, and the staked LUNA has also been unstaked and will be returned within 20 days. LFG is currently seeking ways to use the remaining assets to compensate UST users, prioritizing compensation for smaller holders, but specific methods are still under discussion. (Source link)

2. a16z releases 2022 Crypto Industry Status Report, stating it is in the middle of the fourth "price innovation" cycle

On May 17, a16z released its 2022 Crypto Industry Status Report, noting that the crypto industry is in the middle of the fourth "price innovation" cycle; for creators, Web3 is much better than Web2, offering fairer economic terms; cryptocurrencies are impacting the real world, including wireless networks, carbon credits, and digital identities. Cryptocurrencies are not just a financial innovation but also a social, cultural, and technological innovation; Ethereum dominates Web3, but competitors like Solana and Polygon are also striving to catch up. Currently, there are nearly 4,000 active developers on Ethereum each month, 1,000 on Solana, and about 500 on Bitcoin.

a16z also stated that it is still too early for the development of the crypto industry, estimating that there are currently 7 million to 50 million active users on Ethereum, and it is expected that Web3 could reach 1 billion users by 2031. (Source link)

3. Do Kwon proposes a new Terra revival plan, suggesting to fork the Terra chain into a new chain without algorithmic stablecoins

On May 17, according to the Terra community website, Do Kwon proposed a new "Terra Ecosystem Revival Plan." Specifically, it includes: 1. Forking the Terra chain into a new chain without algorithmic stablecoins, with the old chain referred to as Terra Classic (token Luna Classic--LUNC) and the new chain referred to as Terra (token Luna--LUNA); 2. Airdropping Luna among Luna Classic stakers, Luna Classic holders, remaining UST holders, and important application developers of Terra Classic; 3. Removing TFL's wallet address from the airdrop whitelist, making Terra a fully community-owned chain; 4. Incentivizing network security through token inflation, with a target staking return rate of 7% per year.

Do Kwon stated that the plan is still being negotiated with the community, and specific details may change. The proposal will take effect after being approved by token holders' votes. Kwon promised that voting would begin on May 18. (Source link)

4. Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum 2.0 merge may occur as early as August, plans to launch "Danksharding" scaling plan

On May 20, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin stated at the Ethereum Shanghai Web3 Developer Summit that Ethereum 2.0 is currently undergoing final network testing. If all issues are resolved, "The Merge" may occur as early as August, and if other issues arise, it may happen in September or October.

Additionally, Vitalik Buterin mentioned that the Ethereum team has proposed a scaling plan called "Danksharding," which will eventually expand Ethereum's block capacity to 80,000 TPS, with Rollup ultimately capable of reaching 80,000 TPS/second. The first step will complete Proto-danksharding, supporting a block capacity of 1MB and 5,000 TPS. (Source link)

5. Do Kwon responds to allegations of fleeing Korea before LUNA crash: timing is purely coincidental, no scam involved

On May 21, a netizen asked Do Kwon to respond to previous news reports about "attempting to flee the country and liquidate the company on May 4 and 6 before LUNA completely crashed" and allegations of tax evasion. Do Kwon stated that these two timings are purely coincidental, and closing a company takes some time. Since last December, he has been in Singapore, which was planned long ago, and he has repeatedly expressed a preference for establishing the company in Singapore in interviews and blogs. Moreover, closing a company requires some time, and the timing of May 4 and 6 concerning the LUNA crash is purely coincidental, with nothing dark or fraudulent about ending and moving out of Korea.

In response to the tax evasion issue, Do Kwon stated: "We have no outstanding tax payments in Korea. The Korean tax authority NTS has indeed conducted tax audits on all major cryptocurrency companies operating in Korea and applied Korean tax laws to foreign parent companies. The audit results show that each company has paid." (Source link)

6. Bilibili's overseas app now supports connecting to MetaMask wallet, official NFT projects can be set as avatars

On May 19, the overseas version of the bilibili app client page showed that it has launched an NFT entry, supporting the connection to MetaMask wallet to view the official cooperative NFT project Cheers UP. This series of NFTs can be set as avatars and has an explicit avatar certification mark.

Previous news reported that bilibili announced in late April that it authorized the release of Cheers UP NFT for overseas users, which includes 10,000 PFP-type NFTs released on Ethereum. Recently, the project voted to pass a proposal to burn half of the total NFTs and retain 241 for the treasury for project and community development.

7. Canaan's Q1 financial report shows revenue of 1.36 billion RMB, profit of 441.6 million RMB

On May 19, Canaan Technology announced its Q1 2022 financial report. The announcement showed that Canaan Technology recorded revenue of 1.36 billion RMB in this quarter, a year-on-year increase of 236.7%. The company's total sales computing power in Q1 was 4.3 million TH/s, a year-on-year increase of 119.1% compared to Q1 2021. The net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders increased from 1.204 million RMB in the same period of 2021 to 441.6 million RMB.

The announcement also showed that as of March 31, 2022, Canaan Technology's advance receipts amounted to 1.7699 billion RMB, an increase from 1.3407 billion RMB as of December 31, 2021. Looking ahead to the next quarter, the company predicts that total revenue in Q2 2022 will be between 1.6 billion and 1.8 billion RMB, an increase of approximately 48%-67% compared to Q2 2021. (Source link)

8. Tether's Q1 audit report: total assets exceed liabilities, commercial paper holdings decreased by 17% quarter-on-quarter

On May 20, Tether released its quarterly audit opinion, showing that its commercial paper holdings decreased by 17% compared to the previous quarter, from $24.2 billion to $19.9 billion, and have continued to decrease by 20% since April 1, 2022. This portion will be reflected in the Q2 2022 report.

The report was completed by accounting firm MHA Cayman and noted that as of March 31, 2022, Tether's total consolidated assets were at least over $82.4 billion, specifically $82,424,821,101, with total assets exceeding total liabilities. Additionally, Tether increased its investments in money market funds and U.S. Treasury securities, rising from $34.5 billion to $39.2 billion, an increase of over 13%. (Source link)

9. Optimism launches new decentralized Rollup infrastructure Bedrock

On May 20, Ethereum Layer 2 network Optimism announced the launch of the decentralized Rollup infrastructure Bedrock, which reuses Ethereum's code, infrastructure, and design patterns as much as possible, stating that "EVM equivalent" is a thing of the past, and Bedrock brings "Ethereum equivalent." Additionally, Optimism stated that Bedrock will be released as the infrastructure for the interactive proof-of-failure system Cannon, with advantages including reduced transaction fees, increased maximum throughput, and improved node synchronization speed. (Source link)

10. Opensea launches new NFT marketplace protocol Seaport, supporting purchases of NFTs using ERC721 and ERC1155

On May 21, Opensea announced the launch of the open-source web3 marketplace protocol Seaport for securely and efficiently buying and selling NFTs. Opensea stated that most current NFT marketplaces only allow one party to agree to provide the NFT while the other party agrees to provide payment tokens, whereas Seaport takes a different approach, allowing bidders to agree to provide some ETH / ERC20 / ERC721 / ERC1155 items while supporting a "tip" feature. (Source link)

Important Financing/Venture Capital News

1. Web3 cross-chain wallet BitKeep announces completion of $15 million Series A financing, led by Dragonfly

On May 18, Web3 cross-chain wallet BitKeep completed $15 million in Series A financing at a valuation of $100 million. This round of financing was led by Dragonfly, with participation from KuCoin Ventures, Foresight Ventures, A&T Capital, SevenX, Matrixport, Bixin Capital, Danhua Capital, Peak Capital, YM Capital, and others.

BitKeep wallet founder Kevin stated that after completing the Series A financing, they will enter a new development phase centered on "cross-chain DAO," aiming to build BitKeep into a cross-chain layer protocol for Web3.0 and become a fundamental infrastructure and important driving force for the metaverse.

2. Optimism launches Optimism Ecosystem Foundation, focusing on identity-based NFT governance layer Citizens' House in the next phase

On May 18, Ethereum Layer 2 scaling network Optimism announced the latest developments in decentralized governance, releasing the Optimism Collective governance operations manual v0.1, authorizing Token House to execute upgrades and fund allocation.

Additionally, a new independent entity, the Optimism Ecosystem Foundation, was launched to achieve a lasting governance system, with primary responsibilities including tracing public goods funding and identity-based NFT experiments, maintaining the "operations manual," and executing governance-oriented on-chain actions. This foundation is led by Optimism's two founders, Jing and Ben.

Optimism stated that the focus will shift to the identity-based NFT governance layer Citizens' House, which will be managed by citizen NFT holders, with the main responsibility of funding public goods that have the most positive impact on the Optimism and Ethereum ecosystems. The first Citizens' House experiment and its corresponding Citizenship NFT series will become the next significant milestone for the Collective. (Source link)

3. Web3 social graph protocol CyberConnect raises $15 million in Series A financing, led by Animoca Brands

On May 18, according to CoinDesk, Web3 social graph protocol CyberConnect completed $15 million in Series A financing, led by Animoca Brands and Skyline Capital, with participation from IOSG Ventures, Delphi Digital, Protocol Labs, Tribe Capital, GGV Capital, Spartan Group, Amber Group, Polygon Studios, and SevenX Ventures. CyberConnect plans to use the funds to continue building the protocol, expanding the team, and launching new Web3 projects.

CyberConnect is a decentralized social graph protocol serving Web3.0 social networks and the metaverse. Its mission is to return ownership and utility of social graph data to users while providing infrastructure for all Web3.0 developers to integrate. Cyber Connect CEO Wilson Wei stated that 23 projects have integrated Cyber Connect, with 12 more in the integration process. (Source link)

4. Crypto trading platform Robinhood to launch crypto wallet, competing with Metamask

On May 18, crypto trading platform Robinhood announced at the Permissionless crypto conference that it will launch a new wallet application that allows users to access NFT markets, DeFi, decentralized exchanges, and trade tokens.

The wallet's functionality is similar to other non-custodial wallets like MetaMask. Robinhood plans to fully roll out the product to its entire user base by the end of this year, and the company also plans to cover users' transaction gas fees. (Source link)

5. Nansen acquires DeFi information aggregator Ape Board for millions of dollars

On May 18, blockchain analytics platform Nansen announced the acquisition of DeFi portfolio dashboard Ape Board, which will be integrated with Nansen's other features. The specific acquisition price was not disclosed, but a representative from Nansen stated that the acquisition amount is in the eight-figure range.

Nansen plans to incorporate Ape Board's 13 employees into its 120-person team in the coming months, with Ape Board co-founder and CEO Mike Phulsuksombati transitioning to oversee portfolio functionality.

Previously, Chain Catcher reported in November that the DeFi information aggregator Ape Board completed a $1.2 million financing round, with participation from Spartan Capital, DeFiance Capital, LongHash Ventures, SCB 10X, and angel investors including Terraform Labs co-founder and CEO Do Kwon. (Source link)

6. Web3 accelerator Seedclub completes $15 million financing, with participation from Multicoin Capital and USV

On May 18, Web3 accelerator Seedclub completed $15 million in financing, with participation from Multicoin Capital, Union Square Ventures, Placeholder Ventures, Blockchain Capital, and 10 individual participants. This round of financing was completed in exchange for 1.5 million USDC for 1 million CLUB Tokens (10% of total supply), valuing Seedclub at approximately $150 million.

This round of financing aims to aggregate the highest quality talent network in Web3 to launch and accelerate world-changing Web3 communities, enabling Seedclub to strengthen its commitments with existing collaborators and bring in a group of new world-class investors and builders into the Seedclub community. (Source link)

7. a16z launches a $600 million fund specifically for gaming startups

On May 19, according to The Wall Street Journal, a16z launched a $600 million fund specifically for gaming startups to increase its bets on Web3 technology. a16z stated that "gaming infrastructure and technology are key to building the metaverse," so this fund will invest in a range of gaming services and applications, as well as companies building technology for the metaverse. (Source link)

8. Crypto startup KaJ Labs completes $400 million seed round financing, led by GEM Digital

On May 19, according to PR Newswire, crypto startup KaJ Labs completed $400 million in seed round financing through the sale of LITHO tokens, led by Global Emerging Markets (GEM) Digital, with participation from Four Digital and a group of individual angel investors. This is the second-largest seed round financing globally so far in 2022.

KaJ Labs' blockchain platform Lithosphere is an embedded deep neural network smart contract blockchain that supports cross-chain network operations. This interoperability enables multiple value transfer methods under a single management structure, thereby eliminating many inherent issues in existing blockchain networks. (Source link)

9. NFT project UnicornDAO completes $4.5 million financing, with participation from MoonPay and Yuga Labs

On May 20, NFT project UnicornDAO announced the completion of $4.5 million in financing, with participation from World of Women and Moonbirds NFT series, MoonPay, Polygon, and Yuga Labs.

The project is led by Nadya Tolokonnikova, a founding member of the Russian art group Pussy Riot, aiming to empower female and LGBTQ NFT creators. This round of financing will be used to advance the work of the DAO, with initial investors receiving board seats. (Source link)

10. Blockchain solution provider Saga completes $6.5 million seed round financing, with participation from Polygon Studios

On May 20, blockchain solution provider Saga completed $6.5 million in seed round financing at a valuation of $130 million, with participation from Maven 11, Longhash Ventures, Hypersphere, Figment, Polygon Studios, Samsung NEXT, Chorus One, GSR, C2X, CRIT Ventures, Akash Network, Unanimous Capital, Strangelove Ventures, Tess Ventures, Merit Circle, Hustle Fund, Polymer, and individual investors including Zaki Manian, Jae Kwon, Garrette Furo, Alex Shin, and Nick Tomaino.

Saga provides blockchain solutions for game and entertainment developers and plans to launch its mainnet and token in early next year. (Source link)