Weekly Highlights | Ethereum Mainnet Completes Merge Upgrade; White House Releases Cryptocurrency Regulatory Framework

Organizer: Runsheng, Chain Catcher

Important News

1. Starbucks Launches Web3 Platform Starbucks Odyssey

On September 12, Starbucks announced the launch of its Web3 platform, Starbucks Odyssey. Starbucks Odyssey combines Starbucks' loyalty program, Starbucks Rewards, with an NFT platform, allowing customers to earn and purchase digital assets to unlock exclusive experiences and rewards.

Previously, it was reported that Starbucks had previewed its Web3 plans to investors, stating that it believes this new experience will build on the current Starbucks Rewards model, where customers can earn "stars" and redeem them for free drinks and other benefits. (Source link)

2. HashKey's Venture Capital Division Receives Regulatory Approval from Hong Kong SFC to Manage 100% Virtual Asset Portfolio

On September 13, it was reported that HashKey's venture capital division, HashKey Capital, received regulatory approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to complete the change of its Type 9 asset management license, allowing it to transfer 100% of its portfolio to cryptocurrency-related virtual asset projects.

Additionally, HashKey will operate as a licensed virtual asset management company, managing funds specifically invested in virtual assets in accordance with SFC regulations. (PRNews)

3. Private Equity Giant KKR Launches Part of Private Equity Fund on Avalanche

On September 13, private equity giant KKR announced a partnership with securities firm Securitize to offer part of its private equity fund on Avalanche. Qualified purchasers (with $5 million in investable assets) can invest in KKR funds through a tokenized side fund after creating a crypto wallet and registering with Securitize. Purchasers will be able to sell their holdings on a secondary market managed by Securitize after holding them for a year. (Wall Street Journal)

4. RRMine Officially Announces Closure of Operations in Mainland China and Relocation of Headquarters to Singapore

On September 13, it was reported by PRNews that Filecoin cloud computing service provider RRMine has officially announced the closure of its operations in mainland China and the relocation of its headquarters to Singapore. The company's complete exit from mainland China is due to the region's strict regulations on cryptocurrency.

It is reported that RRMine is building a decentralized global computing power infrastructure to enable the free flow of computing power assets, allowing everyone to hold computing power assets with confidence. Last October, RRMine announced the complete shutdown of its computing power sales business in mainland China. In December, several executives from RRMine were taken away by the police for investigation at their Chengdu office. (PRNews)

5. Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office Issues Arrest Warrant for Terra Founder Do Kwon

On September 14, it was reported by Chosun Ilbo that a task force of five prosecutors from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office recently applied to the Seoul Southern District Court for an arrest warrant for Terra founder Do Kwon and seven other related individuals, including TFL founding member Nicholas Platias. The main charge against them is violating the Capital Markets Act, as prosecutors believe that the cryptocurrencies Terra and Luna fall under the definition of "investment contract securities" as per the Capital Markets Act. (Chosun Ilbo)

6. Ethereum Mainnet Reaches Scheduled Height, Merge Upgrade Officially Completed

On September 15, OKLink data showed that the Ethereum block height has reached the scheduled merge height of 15537393, marking the official completion of the Ethereum merge. The merge represents the combination of Ethereum's existing execution layer (the current mainnet) with its new proof-of-stake consensus layer, the beacon chain, marking the end of Ethereum's proof-of-work mechanism. (Source link)

7. White House Releases Cryptocurrency Regulatory Framework, Including Development Pathways and Fraud Prevention

On September 16, it was reported by CNBC that the White House released a cryptocurrency regulatory framework, outlining how the financial services industry should develop more convenient cross-border transactions and combat fraud in digital assets. The document indicates that President Biden will assess whether to call on Congress to amend the Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering regulations, and laws prohibiting unlicensed entities from trading, to clarify applicability to digital asset service providers, including digital asset exchanges and NFT platforms. President Biden is also considering whether to push Congress to increase penalties for unlicensed trading and possibly amend certain federal regulations to allow the Department of Justice to prosecute digital asset crimes in any jurisdiction where victims of these crimes are found.

Regarding the digital dollar, the framework notes that CBDCs could make payment systems more efficient, provide a foundation for further technological innovation, facilitate faster cross-border transactions, and have environmental sustainability. It urges the Federal Reserve to continue ongoing research, experimentation, and evaluation of CBDCs. Regarding stablecoins, the framework argues that without appropriate regulation, stablecoins could be disruptive. To make stablecoins safer, the Treasury will work with financial institutions to enhance their ability to identify and address network vulnerabilities, as well as identify, track, and analyze emerging strategic risks related to the digital asset market through information sharing and promoting broad datasets and analytical tools, in collaboration with other agencies. (Source link)

8. Helium: Binance Accounting System Bug Leads to Users Incorrectly Receiving $20 Million in HNT Tokens

On September 17, it was reported by The Block that the Helium Foundation stated that a bug in Binance's accounting system allowed users to incorrectly update their HNT token balances, resulting in users mistakenly receiving approximately $20 million worth of HNT. The Helium Foundation has warned Binance and advised token holders to suspend deposits of HNT and MOBILE to Binance until a comprehensive situation update is provided. (The Block)

9. Do Kwon: Not "On the Run," Defending Himself in Multiple Jurisdictions

On September 18, Terra founder Do Kwon tweeted, "I am not 'on the run.' We are fully cooperating with any government agency interested in communicating, with no concealment. We are defending ourselves in multiple jurisdictions— we uphold extremely high standards of integrity and look forward to clarifying the truth in the coming months."

Earlier, a spokesperson for the Singapore Police Force revealed that Do Kwon is no longer in Singapore. (Source link)

Important Financing/Venture Capital News

1. NEAR Foundation to Launch $100 Million Web3 Fund in Partnership with Caerus Ventures

On September 12, it was reported by techfundingnews that the NEAR Foundation, a Swiss non-profit organization supporting NEAR protocol governance and development, announced a partnership with Caerus Ventures to launch a $100 million venture capital fund and Venture Lab.

It is reported that the initial fundraising target for Venture Lab is $50 million, with a goal of raising $100 million, focusing on investing in seed and Series A stage startups to promote large-scale adoption of blockchain technology. Venture Lab aims to create new products that are expected to define the industry by attracting top Web3 engineers, developers, and builders, and the new fund will provide cross-functional support to its portfolio projects. (Source link)

2. Web3 Infrastructure Project SINSO Completes Financing Round at $150 Million Valuation, Led by MZ Web3 Fund

On September 12, it was reported that the Web3 infrastructure project SINSO announced the completion of a financing round at a $150 million valuation, led by MZ Web3 Fund, founded by Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa, the first SpaceX lunar passenger. SINSO has not disclosed the specific amount raised.

MZ Web3 Fund was established by Maezawa in June 2022, with a total fund size of 10 billion yen (approximately $70 million), primarily investing in Web3 and metaverse-related startups. (Source link)

3. Crypto Data Platform Goldsky Completes $20 Million Seed Round Financing, Led by Felicis and Dragonfly Capital

On September 12, it was reported that the crypto data infrastructure platform Goldsky announced the completion of a $20 million seed round financing, led by Felicis and Dragonfly Capital. Entrepreneurs Elad Gil, Plaid founders Zach Perret and William Hockey, Zhuoxun Yin from Uniswap Labs, 0x Labs, and Magic Eden, Alex Xu from Azuki, and Robert Leshner from Compound Finance also participated.

Goldsky was founded in 2021 by Kevin Li and Jeff Ling. The company has automated the creation of end-to-end data pipelines, allowing users to focus on real-time data across multiple chains, reshape it through a data streaming platform, and deliver the final results directly to websites via API. (betakit)

4. UK Venture Capital Firm Northzone Launches €1 Billion Fund, Focusing on Web3 and Fintech Startups

On September 13, it was reported that UK venture capital firm Northzone launched a €1 billion fund, focusing on Web3 and fintech startups.

Northzone, founded in 1996, has previously supported tech startups such as Klarna and Spotify, as well as Web3 companies like crypto infrastructure startup Magic Labs, DeFi protocol Gro Protocol, and Web3 privacy company Sunscreen. Northzone partner Wendy Xiao Schadeck described Web3 as the company's "core sector." (The Block)

5. Crypto Venture Firm North Island Ventures Completes $125 Million Fundraising for New Fund

On September 14, it was reported by Business Wire that crypto venture firm North Island Ventures announced the completion of $125 million in fundraising for its new fund, NIV Fund II, which will focus on making 30 to 40 early-stage investments in emerging crypto and Web3 companies and protocols, with initial investments ranging from $250,000 to $3 million. (Business Wire)

6. Decentralized Data Management System Inery Completes Financing at $128 Million Valuation, Led by Metavest

On September 14, it was reported that the decentralized data management system Inery received investment from Web3-focused venture capital firm Metavest, with this round of financing valued at $128 million.

Inery is a decentralized data management system that brings databases into Web3. It provides low-cost, low-latency, secure, and tamper-proof methods for data management. The data management system aims to ensure that users (including gamers and businesses) maintain control over their data assets in the virtual world. (Source link)

7. Crypto Investment Fund SevenX Ventures Completes $80 Million First Close for Fund III

On September 14, it was reported that Asian crypto investment fund SevenX Ventures announced the completion of an $80 million first close for Fund III.

It is reported that SevenX Ventures Fund III has a total size of $100 million and will fully close fundraising by the end of October. The funding for this fund mainly comes from continued investments by LPs from the first and second funds, as well as family offices of leading internet entrepreneurs in Asia.

SevenX Ventures Fund III will allocate 60% of its funds to invest in middleware and infrastructure protocols focused on data layers, and 40% to invest in decentralized applications centered on Asian application developers, covering new business model explorations in gaming, finance, content, and social. (Source link)

8. NFT Project Doodles Completes $54 Million Financing at $704 Million Valuation, Led by Seven Seven Six

On September 14, it was reported that the NFT project Doodles completed a $54 million financing round at a $704 million valuation, led by Seven Seven Six (776), a venture capital firm founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, with participation from Acrew Capital, FTX Ventures, and 10T Holdings. Doodles officially stated that it is using the funds to rapidly acquire a world-class team of engineers, creatives, marketers, and business executives, and to fund product development, acquisitions, proprietary technology, media, and collector experiences. The team will expand from 11 to 30 members. (Forbes)

9. Diamond Tokenization Company Diamond Standard Completes $30 Million Series A Financing, Led by Horizon Kinetics

On September 14, it was reported that blockchain startup Diamond Standard announced the completion of $30 million in Series A financing, led by Left Lane and Horizon Kinetics. Diamond Standard is tokenizing diamonds to create a new class of investable assets.

The company believes that the diamond industry has historically struggled to attract investors, primarily due to the lack of a unified system to standardize its value. Diamond Standard aims to change this by creating Ethereum-based tokens backed by physical diamonds. (Source link)

10. Crypto Market Maker Portofino Technologies Completes $50 Million Financing, with Participation from Valar Ventures

On September 15, it was reported by The Block that crypto market maker Portofino Technologies, founded by former Citadel Securities executives Leonard Lancia and Alex Casimo, completed $50 million in financing, with participation from Valar Ventures, Global Founders Capital, and Coatue.

It is reported that Portofino Technologies was established in April 2021 and is developing high-frequency trading technology for digital assets, having completed billions of dollars in transactions across CEX, DEX, and OTC markets. The company is reportedly set to compete with other crypto market makers such as Wintermute, B2C2, and Jump Trading. (The Block)

11. Security Tokenization Infrastructure Company Ownera Completes $20 Million Series A Financing, with Participation from JPMorgan

On September 15, it was reported by CoinDesk that security tokenization infrastructure company Ownera completed $20 million in Series A financing, with participation from JPMorgan, LRC Group, Draper Goren Holm, tokentus Investment AG, Accomplice Blockchain, Polymorphic Capital, The Ropart Group, and Archax.

It is reported that Ownera is developed based on the open-source protocol FINP2P, supporting any type of security tokenization engine on any public or private chain as well as traditional ledgers. Clients can access a unified digital securities wallet, allowing users to invest, trade, and lend tokenized assets. (Source link)

12. Valkyrie's Two Crypto Trust Funds Have Raised Approximately $73.6 Million

On September 16, it was reported that according to amended filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as of the end of the second quarter, two crypto-focused trust funds under digital asset management firm Valkyrie have raised $73.6 million. Among them, the Valkyrie Tron Trust, which provides exposure to Tron (TRX) tokens, has raised nearly $50 million. The Valkyrie Avalanche Trust, which provides exposure to AVAX tokens, has raised nearly $24 million. (CoinDesk)