Evening News | Animoca Brands plans to launch a $2 billion metaverse fund; X2Y2 has almost secured $10 million in funding

Organizer: Xi Xiangxiang, Chain Catcher

"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"

1. Animoca Brands Plans to Launch a $2 Billion Metaverse Fund

According to Nikkei, Yat Siu, co-founder and CEO of Animoca Brands, stated that the company plans to launch a fund of up to $2 billion to invest in metaverse businesses, describing the planned fund as a "good entry point for Web3 businesses." (Source link)

2. X2Y2 CEO: X2Y2 is Almost Certain of $10 Million Financing

During last night's AMA held by X2Y2, CEO TP stated that X2Y2 is almost certain of securing $10 million in financing, with investors including some well-known public chain investment funds; the tokens given out in the financing will be a portion of the daily decreasing output, with a four-year lock-up period, and will not participate in dividends.

Additionally, he mentioned considering changes to X2Y2's economic model, but the form and timing are uncertain, and all economic models will consider incorporating Ajin. The future direction will move towards becoming a platform for providing NFT derivatives. (Source link)

3. Binance Acquires Japanese Compliant Exchange Sakura Exchange BitCoin

Binance announced the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Japanese crypto asset trading platform provider Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC), officially entering the Japanese market and accepting regulation by the Japanese Financial Services Agency (JFSA). After the acquisition, Binance will provide compliant services in Japan through SEBC to promote the establishment of a responsible crypto asset development environment globally.

Binance Japan General Manager Takeshi Chino stated, "In the future process of crypto asset popularization, the Japanese market will play a key role. We will actively cooperate with regulatory authorities to create a brand new trading platform for local users in a compliant manner. Binance is eager to help Japan become a leader in the crypto asset industry." (Source link)

4. SBF: FTX US Users Expected to Get Back 100% of Their Money, FTX Users Expected to Get Back 1/4 of Their Money

FTX founder SBF expressed extreme regret for initiating bankruptcy proceedings during an interview with Tiffany Fong, claiming that "within 8 minutes of signing the bankruptcy proceedings, there was a $4 billion liquidity injection"; FTX US users are expected to recover 100% of their money, while FTX users are expected to recover 1/4 of their money; FTX US has always maintained a 100% reserve, even after hackers stole $250 million, it still has sufficient reserves. (Source link)

5. Nearly Half of Forbes 2023 North America 30 Under 30 Elite List are from the Crypto Industry

Forbes released its 2023 North America 30 Under 30 elite list, with nearly half being professionals from the crypto industry.

Specifically, this includes: Ham Serunjogi, co-founder of stock and cryptocurrency payment provider Chipper Cash; Hayden Adams, founder of decentralized exchange platform Uniswap Labs; Eva Beylin, director of The Graph Foundation;

Ria Bhutoria, partner at venture capital firm Castle Island Ventures; Arjun Bhuptani, Layne Haber, co-founders of Layer2 interoperability protocol Connext Labs; Kevin Sekniqi, co-founder of Avalanche development company Ava Labs;

Victor Faramond, co-founder of crypto payment company MoonPay; Lydia Hylton, partner at Bain Capital Crypto, Bain Capital's crypto investment division; Kanav Kariya, president of crypto financial institution Jump Crypto;

Sam Kazemian, founder of hybrid algorithm stablecoin protocol Frax Finance; Kinjal Shah, partner at crypto venture capital firm Blockchain Capital; Maxwell Stein, assistant at BlackRock Digital Assets; Chris Maurice and Justin Poiroux, co-founders of African crypto trading platform Yellow Card. (Source link)

6. Seoul Prosecutors Request Pre-arrest Warrants for Terra Co-founder Daniel Shin and 7 Others

According to Yonhap News Agency, Seoul prosecutors have requested pre-arrest warrants for Terra co-founder Daniel Shin and 7 others, accusing them of fraud, breach of duty, and violations of capital market laws. Among them, 4 are early investors in Terra Luna, and the other 4 are key personnel in the technical development of Terra and Luna.

Prosecutors believe that the design of earning 20% interest by depositing in Anchor is inherently fraudulent, and that the former CEO profiting 140 billion won by selling Luna during a price surge constitutes improper profit. (Source link)

7. Uniswap's New Progress in Entering NFTs: Features Include One-click Purchase of Multiple NFTs

According to a Twitter user, Uniswap has made new progress in entering the NFT space. Many details related to NFT trading, including sorting, collection, and one-click purchase of multiple NFTs, can be found on its GitHub page.

It is reported that Uniswap announced the acquisition of NFT marketplace aggregator Genie in June this year, enabling the buying and selling of NFTs on Uniswap. With Uniswap entering the NFT trading space, the NFT sector may welcome a new landscape. (Source link)

8. Data: The World's Top Five Crypto Billionaires Have Lost a Total of $112.7 Billion This Year

Data from CryptoPresales.com shows that the top five crypto billionaires have collectively lost about $112.7 billion this year. Among them, Zhao Changpeng's net worth was approximately $96.5 billion a year ago, and is now $14.6 billion, losing over $82 billion, while FTX co-founders SBF and Gary Wang have seen their wealth shrink by nearly $25 billion.

Additionally, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong's wealth has shrunk by $4.7 billion this year, and Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen's wealth has decreased by $1.3 billion this year. (Source link)

9. DCG's Crypto Media CoinDesk Has Received Multiple Acquisition Offers, with One Buyer Bidding $300 Million

According to Semafor, DCG's crypto news site CoinDesk has received acquisition interest, with one proposed acquisition price at $300 million, but considered to be undervalued. It is reported that CoinDesk generates about $50 million in revenue annually through traditional online advertising and its Consensus conference.

Insiders say that CoinDesk has not formally initiated a sale process but has attracted significant interest from a large number of potential buyers, including private equity firms, family offices, competitors like Blockworks, and hedge funds looking for distressed assets. (Source link)

"What Interesting Articles Are Worth Reading in the Last 24 Hours"

1. How to Build and Scale a Web3 Developer Community?

If you are interested in starting a Web3 startup, you may have already realized that the quality of the developer community determines the success or failure of the protocol. In fact, many successful founders had years of development experience in early crypto communities like Bitcoin and Ethereum before starting their own projects. This article answers three questions: What are the components of a developer community? Why should Web3 startups build developer communities? How to build a developer community during the launch phase?

2. 6 Major Reasons Why Web3 Has Not Been Mainstream Adopted

Web3 represents a fundamental evolution of the internet as we know it today, replacing centralized gatekeepers and intermediaries with decentralized protocols and community-held ownership. The inherent characteristics of Web3 are highly appealing to those living in the crypto environment. However, we must also acknowledge one point: Web3 remains a niche industry that has not yet been mainstream adopted. This article analyzes the 6 major reasons why Web3 has not been mainstream adopted and what can be done to realize the true benefits of this technology for society.

3. A16Z: Opportunities for Generative AI in the Gaming Sector

A16Z recently wrote an article discussing the opportunities they see in the combination of generative AI and gaming. The article is divided into two parts: the first part includes A16Z's observations and predictions about generative AI in the gaming sector; the second part includes A16Z's assessment of the market ecosystem in the gaming + generative AI space.