Evening News | Binance US will acquire Voyager for $1.022 billion; new public chain Linera releases white paper
The Sui Foundation reiterates that there are no plans for token airdrops; crypto market maker Auros applies for bankruptcy protection due to $20 million frozen on FTX.整理：饼干，ChainCatcher
"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"
1. Binance US to Acquire Voyager Digital Assets for $1.022 Billion
Voyager Digital Ltd. announced today that its operating company, Voyager Digital LLC, has chosen the U.S. exchange BAM Trading Services Inc. (operating as Binance.US) as the highest and best bidder for its assets.
Binance.US's bid sets a clear path forward for unlocking Voyager customer funds as soon as possible, valued at approximately $1.022 billion, which includes (i) the fair market value of Voyager's cryptocurrency portfolio at a future undetermined date, estimated at $1.002 billion based on current market prices, plus (ii) additional consideration equivalent to $20 million in incremental value.
Claims against Three Arrows Capital remain in the bankruptcy estate, and any recoveries from these claims and other unreleased claims in the future will be allocated to the creditors of the estate. Binance.US aims to return cryptocurrency to customers in kind based on court-approved payments and platform capabilities. (Source link)
2. DCG Invests in GBTC with a Loss of $871 Million, Loss Rate of 66%
According to media reports, starting from Q1 2021, DCG spent a total of $1.305 billion to purchase 54,823,667 shares of GBTC at an average price of $23.8. Based on the latest market price ($7.92), DCG has incurred a loss of $871 million, with a loss rate of 66%; if calculated at the fair value ($15.42), DCG still faces a loss of $460 million.
Earlier, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein stated in a letter to investors that if GBTC cannot ultimately be converted into a Bitcoin ETF, a tender offer might be made for 20% of the $10.7 billion issued trust fund shares. (Source link)
3. a16z Co-Founder: $4.5 Billion Crypto Fund Still Has Over Half to Deploy
a16z co-founder Chris Dixon stated in an interview that the newly launched $4.5 billion crypto fund, Crypto Fund 4, has deployed less than 50%, with most of the funds still unallocated. The fund was launched in May this year, with $1.5 billion for seed investments and $3 billion for venture capital. Dixon also mentioned that a16z's crypto funds still hold 95% of their investments, noting that all data indicates that the vast majority of returns are realized in the later stages of the fund, and in venture capital, the worst thing is to sell quality assets too early. (The Block)
4. New Public Chain Linera Releases White Paper, Introducing the Idea of Parallel Operation of Multiple Chains in the Same Validator Group
The new public chain Linera, founded by former Libra employees, released its white paper today. The white paper introduces the idea of "micro-chains," which allows many chains (potentially millions) to operate in parallel within the same group of validators. In Linera, scalability is achieved by adding chains rather than increasing block size or rate. Linera encourages users to operate their own micro-chains. When a micro-chain is operated by a single user, Linera uses a simplified memory-less consensus protocol inspired by reliable broadcasting.
Linera's founder and CEO, Mathieu Baudet, is a former Meta employee who helped create the Libra blockchain. Linera completed a $6 million seed round led by a16z at the end of June this year. (Source link)
5. Insider: If Genesis Goes Bankrupt, DCG Must Immediately Repay $350 Million Loan to Eldridge
According to the Financial Times, Digital Currency Group is trying to raise funds to avoid the bankruptcy of its brokerage subsidiary Genesis, partly to avoid an immediate repayment of a loan from U.S. financier Todd Boehly's investment firm. Insiders stated that if Genesis goes bankrupt, the remaining $350 million of this loan will become immediately due.
Boehly provided DCG with a debt financing through his investment group Eldridge last November, which included a $600 million loan jointly provided by Eldridge and other investors. Eldridge believes that Genesis's suspension of withdrawals means DCG cannot repay its debts, thus defaulting. Eldridge is currently working with DCG to help it raise funds and pay Genesis's investors, customers, and clients.
It is reported that DCG owes Genesis $1.6 billion, but the loan obtained from Eldridge has favorable terms. DCG stated that its relationship with Eldridge is "completely independent of Genesis's restructuring strategy and has no impact on any outcome for Genesis." (Source link)
6. Crypto Market Maker Auros Files for Bankruptcy Protection After $20 Million Frozen on FTX
According to The Block, a court document shows that crypto market maker Auros has filed for bankruptcy proceedings in the British Virgin Islands. Auros stated that approximately $20 million of its assets were frozen on FTX when the exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. on November 11, leading to Auros being insolvent.
Auros is now seeking a court liquidation order and has proposed Interpath Advisory as its liquidator. (The Block)
7. Sui Foundation Reiterates No Token Airdrop Plans, Will Evaluate Contributions of Community Members for Token Purchase Access
The Sui Foundation disclosed details of its token community access plan, which will allow early-stage Sui community members to purchase SUI tokens. As part of this plan, SUI tokens will also be made available to those who helped test Sui applications or promote Sui adoption on the Sui network before the mainnet launch.
Additionally, the Sui Foundation reiterated that there is currently no official plan for an SUI airdrop. Regarding the eligibility for the token community access plan, the Sui Foundation will build a standard over the next few months to evaluate the contributions of Sui community members.
Specifically, this includes: helping node operators and developers debug issues; enhancing ecosystem security by regularly identifying and reporting scams; developers who narrowly missed Sui Foundation grants; volunteers in community or project management (e.g., moderators on the Sui Discord server); contributors who help improve the quality of Sui documentation, codebases, or applications; early advocates and users who have been promoting Sui's adoption and helping others learn and use Sui; additionally, participants in the CapyHolidays competition may also qualify. (Source link)
8. NIO: Some User Data Stolen, Ransom Demanded of $2.25 Million in Equivalent Bitcoin
NIO's Chief Information Security Scientist and Head of the Information Security Committee, Lu Long, announced in the official NIO community that on December 11, 2022, the company received an external email claiming to possess internal NIO data and demanding a ransom of $2.25 million (approximately 15.705 million RMB) in equivalent Bitcoin.
It is reported that upon receiving the ransom email, NIO immediately formed a special team to investigate and respond, and promptly reported the incident to relevant regulatory authorities. Preliminary investigations revealed that the stolen data included some basic user information and vehicle sales information prior to August 2021. (Source link)
9. Waves Founder: New Stablecoin to Launch, USDN Depegging Solution to Precede It
Waves founder Sasha Ivanov tweeted that a new stablecoin will be launched, and prior to that, a solution for the USDN depegging situation will be implemented. According to GoinGecko market data, the Waves ecosystem stablecoin USDN is currently priced at $0.58, up 4.2% in 24 hours. (Source link)
10. Multiple Users Claim Ledger Exchange Service Providers Changelly and Wyre "Unjustly" Freeze Funds
According to NextDAO core contributor 0xSea.eth, hardware wallet Ledger's exchange service providers Changelly and Wyre are suspected of "unjustly" freezing user funds. Previously, users reported that funds exchanged on the Wyre platform went missing without explanation. Now, users have experienced similar issues with Changelly, which froze over $3 million of one user's funds for more than a month, citing KYC requirements, despite Changelly's public promise of no registration and real-time transactions.
As of the time of publication, Ledger Support responded that they are in contact with the Changelly team and are looking for a quick resolution to the issue. (Source link)
11. Yuga Labs Hires Former Activision Blizzard President and COO as CEO
Yuga Labs has hired former Activision Blizzard President and COO Daniel Alegre as its new CEO. Daniel Alegre has been involved in the development of well-known game brands such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, and Candy Crush.
Yuga Labs stated that Daniel Alegre will take office in the first half of 2023, and the company's first and current CEO, Nicole Muniz, will remain on the team as a partner and strategic advisor. (Source link)
"What Interesting Articles Are Worth Reading in the Last 24 Hours"
1. "Reuters Special Report: Binance Deep in Financial Fog, Yet Still Trying to Boost Confidence"
Binance saw a surge in fund outflows last week, which analysts believe is due to concerns over how cryptocurrency exchanges hold user funds, as well as reports from Reuters about a Department of Justice investigation. From Zhao Changpeng's public comments, past company reports, blockchain data, and venture capital transactions, one can glimpse Binance's financial situation. However, despite publicly available trading volume data, there are few reliable estimates of Binance's trading revenue.
This article is translated from the latest episode of The Block's "The Scoop," where a16z partner Chris Dixon shares some guiding principles for a16z's investments in the crypto space and explains why the time is ripe for decentralized networks to replace centralized corporate networks.
3. "Vitalik Discusses Five Major Achievements of Ethereum in 2022"
Bankless recently interviewed Ethereum founder Vitalik. Vitalik stated that many people are remembering all the terrible things that happened this year (Terra, FTX, etc.)… but I think it's also important to remember all the various positive factors we've seen in the crypto industry. Vitalik believes that Ethereum had five major achievements in 2022, including the Ethereum Merge, innovations in ZK-EVM, Ethereum login, crypto working for Ukraine, and crypto philanthropy.
4. "10 DeFi Potential Projects Worth Getting in Early"
This article will highlight 10 new DeFi potential projects and their unique features or innovations, although most projects are still in early development stages, reminding users to interact with caution.
