Evening News | Hong Kong's virtual asset licensing system will take effect next year; GoPlus Security completes private funding led by Binance Labs
Bitcoin.com completes $50 million token financing; FTX has hired a forensic team to investigate the whereabouts of the funds.Organizer: Runsheng, Chain Catcher
"What important events have occurred in the past 24 hours"
1. Hong Kong's virtual asset service provider licensing system will take effect in June next year
The Hong Kong Legislative Council has passed amendments related to combating money laundering and terrorist financing, which will establish a licensing system for virtual asset service providers.
Hong Kong's Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui, stated that the new system will take effect on June 1 next year, and virtual asset trading platforms will be required to comply with the same anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations as traditional financial institutions. (Source link）
2. DeFi derivatives protocol Perennial completes $12 million financing, led by Polychain Capital and Variant
According to The Block, DeFi derivatives protocol Perennial has completed a $12 million seed round financing, co-led by Polychain Capital and Variant, with participation from Archetype, Coinbase Ventures, Scalar Capital, Robot Ventures, and others.
Perennial was co-founded by Kevin Britz and Arjun Rao, and the protocol has not yet issued a token. Prior to Perennial, the two co-founded Astro Wallet in 2017, which was acquired by Coinbase in 2019. Britz stated that they are currently still working as advisors for Coinbase. (The Block)
3. Bitcoin.com completes $50 million token financing through VERSE presale, with Kucoin participating
Crypto wallet Bitcoin.com announced the completion of its presale for the utility token VERSE, raising $50 million. The VERSE sold in this presale accounts for 16% of the total supply, with other strategic buyers including Digital Strategies, Blockchain.com, Kucoin Ventures, Redwood City Ventures, Boostx Ventures, and Poly Network. It is reported that VERSE is a reward and utility token for contributors and participants in the Bitcoin.com ecosystem, with EVM compatibility.
Bitcoin.com will launch VERSE trading on the decentralized exchange Verse DEX. Additionally, Bitcoin.com has launched the Verse Development Fund and will begin accepting grant applications from developers and other ecosystem participants in the first quarter of 2023. 34% of the VERSE supply will be allocated to the Verse Development Fund, released linearly over 7 years. (Source link)
4. Web3 security infrastructure GoPlus Security completes second round of private financing, led by Binance Labs
According to Binance's official blog, Binance Labs announced that it has led the second round of private financing for Web3 security infrastructure GoPlus Security, but the specific financing amount has not been disclosed. GoPlus Security will further develop security data, build a security services marketplace, and attract top talent who can contribute to building a decentralized security platform.
ChainCatcher previously reported that GoPlus Security Engine completed a multi-million dollar private financing in May this year, with participation from Crypto.com Capital and others. (Source link)
5. Signature Bank sets digital asset deposit cap, with individual client deposits not exceeding $2 billion
According to The Block, Signature Bank is setting a cap on digital asset deposits to reduce the proportion of deposits from digital asset industry clients to below 20% of the bank's total deposits. It is reported that Signature Bank's deposits in the third quarter amounted to $102 billion, and this measure will limit the total deposits of the entire digital ecosystem to $20.4 billion.
Additionally, Signature Bank director Joseph Seibert stated in an email to clients that the deposit cap for each client will be set at a maximum of 2% of the bank's total deposits, and added to The Block that each client's deposits will not exceed $2 billion.
Previously, according to CoinDesk, Signature Bank planned to reduce cryptocurrency-related deposits by $8 billion to $10 billion. Signature Bank CEO Joe DePaolo stated that as of September 2022, approximately 23.5% of the bank's total deposits of $103 billion came from the crypto industry, but due to recent issues in the sector, Signature ultimately decided to reduce this amount to below 15%. (Source link)
6. Galaxy Digital acquires self-custody platform GK8 from Celsius for $44.1 million
According to Bloomberg, Galaxy Digital is spending $44.1 million to acquire Celsius Network's self-custody platform GK8, which is over 60% lower than Celsius's acquisition price for GK8 last year. Celsius acquired GK8 for $115 million in November 2021. According to a court document, the deal for GK8 was reached at a purchase price of $44 million in cash plus a $100,000 deposit.
Ryan Kielty, a partner at the restructuring firm Centerview Partners, which was hired to oversee the asset auction, stated that six companies submitted initial bids at the start of the auction process, but only Galaxy submitted a final bid and deposit before the deadline, with terms including a requirement for GK8 co-founders Lior Lamesh and Shahar Shamai to remain with the company.
It is reported that this acquisition is still pending court approval, and Galaxy Digital expects to add nearly 40 employees. (Bloomberg)
7. FTX has hired a forensic team to investigate the flow of funds
According to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, FTX's new management has hired a legal investigation team from consulting firm AlixPartners to help trace the billions of dollars missing from the FTX exchange. The AlixPartners team is led by Matt Jacques, the former chief accountant of the SEC's enforcement division. (WSJ)
"What are some great articles worth reading in the past 24 hours"
After the FTX crisis, venture capital firms that successfully invested in FTX became some of the biggest victims of this crisis, with Multicoin's assets shrinking by 55%, and other top venture capital firms like Sequoia Capital, Paradigm, and Temasek losing hundreds of millions in investments. Although the truth about the FTX incident has not been fully substantiated, media reports indicate that the relationship between FTX and Alameda is chaotic, and there are numerous financial and management scandals involving FTX and SBF. As important drivers of the crypto sector, the performance of investment firms in this incident is hard to avoid scrutiny. Did they really conduct proper due diligence? Is post-investment management and risk control out of control? ChainCatcher recently interviewed several Web3 investors to discuss their pain points in crypto investments and their thoughts on the current crypto investment and financing environment.
Nicole Zhang, former executive director of Binance Labs, resigned in May this year to start a new Web3 fund—LIF (Lingfeng Innovation Fund). Despite the crypto winter, LIF has successfully completed a $20 million first round of fundraising and has invested in over 10 Web3 projects, including the crypto derivatives exchange ApolloX, in less than six months. What are the key focus areas for LIF's investments? What predictions does she have for the crypto industry trends after the FTX collapse? Nicole Zhang shared her views in a recent interview with ChainCatcher, along with her investment stories at Binance Labs and her journey after founding the new fund.
3. “Huobi Research: A Panorama and Trends of the Global Blockchain Industry”
In 2022, the Federal Reserve continued to raise interest rates, leading to a tightening of global liquidity and a deep bear market in the crypto industry. The industry was severely impacted after experiencing the collapses of Terra, 3AC, and FTX, with major institutions like BlockFi and Genesis facing bankruptcy or liquidation crises. However, industry development has not stopped. This report comprehensively analyzes the gains and losses of the industry in 2022 across seven areas: market trends, data, investment, geography, applications, technology, and regulation, providing predictions and suggestions for industry development in 2023.
4. “After the Serum Crisis, How Does Solana's DeFi Restart?”
The downfall of SBF has severely impacted the development of decentralized finance on the Solana blockchain, which he supported. Serum, co-founded by the Solana Foundation, FTX, and Alameda Research in August 2020, is crucial for Solana's DeFi. On the day FTX filed for bankruptcy, DeFi projects on Solana urgently severed ties with Serum. The successor to Serum is OpenBook. A co-founder of Solana stated, "The community's transition from Serum to OpenBook is very noteworthy. OpenBook is a great demonstration of decentralized action."
