Daily Report | Telegram founder released on bail for 5 million euros; Hong Kong police dismantle 3 virtual currency money laundering groups, involving over 300 million HKD
Highlights of August 29整理：栾鹏，ChainCatcher
Important News:
- Haru Invest CEO of South Korea's digital asset platform is out of life-threatening danger
- Immunefi Report: Cryptocurrency hackers have stolen over $1.2 billion this year
- Kremlin: The Telegram founder incident should not evolve into political persecution
- Coinbase International has launched RENDER, SAGA, and T perpetual contracts
- Cryptocurrency trading platform Neverless completes $6.7 million funding
- Cyber Capital founder: L2 is a "parasite" on Ethereum
- Radix developer RDX Works lays off 15% of staff to cut costs
- Hong Kong police dismantle 3 virtual currency money laundering groups, involving over 300 million HKD
"What important events happened in the past 24 hours"
Haru Invest CEO of South Korea's digital asset platform is out of life-threatening danger
Hugo Le, the CEO of South Korea's digital asset management platform Haru Invest, was stabbed while appearing in court for a fraud trial at the Southern District Court of Seoul. His injuries are not life-threatening, and he has been taken to the hospital for treatment. The attacker has been apprehended by the police.
Earlier this year in February, three executives of Haru Invest were arrested for allegedly stealing approximately 1.1 trillion KRW (about $828 million) in cryptocurrency. It is reported that the company suspended withdrawal and deposit services last June and laid off about 100 employees.
Immunefi Report: Cryptocurrency hackers have stolen over $1.2 billion this year
According to a report by Immunefi, from the beginning of 2024 to date, the cryptocurrency industry has suffered 154 hacking attacks and "rug pulls," with total losses reaching $1.21 billion, an increase of 15.5% compared to the same period in 2023.
Kremlin: The Telegram founder incident should not evolve into political persecution
According to Jinshi, the Kremlin stated that Telegram founder Pavel Durov has all the resources needed for legal defense and is ready to provide assistance if necessary. The Kremlin also emphasized that it will closely monitor the developments of this matter and warned that the related incidents in France should not evolve into political persecution.
Coinbase International has launched RENDER, SAGA, and T perpetual contracts
Coinbase International and Coinbase Advanced have launched trading for RENDER, SAGA, and T perpetual contracts, with limit, market, take profit, and stop-loss orders now all available.
Cryptocurrency trading platform Neverless completes $6.7 million funding
According to Chainwire, the cryptocurrency trading platform Neverless, launched by three former Revolut executives, has completed $6.7 million in funding, with investors not yet disclosed. The application allows for commission-free cryptocurrency trading and investment in an automated investment account. Neverless enables users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies with zero fees.
It is reported that the company registered as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) with the Bank of Spain a few months ago.
Cyber Capital founder: L2 is a "parasite" on Ethereum
Justin Bons, founder and CIO of Cyber Capital, stated that the growth of Layer 2 projects is having a harmful impact on the health of the Ethereum ecosystem, and that the decision to use L2 to scale Ethereum rather than focusing on the main chain is fundamentally flawed. L2 leads to underutilization of the main chain, driving up ETH inflation as the fees burned cannot curb inflation. The liquidity fragmentation in the L2 ecosystem exists in several unconnected isolated islands.
Justin Bons stated: "Scaling Ethereum will destroy all the capital and fees earned by Layer 2 networks because venture capital (VC) cannot take a cut from the scaling of a Layer 1 network. These 'parasites' distort public goods, turning them into rent-seeking platforms for the VC chain."
Additionally, Bons criticized the value accumulation in these chains, which are not as decentralized or secure as the underlying Ethereum chain and may contribute to the theft of user funds and censorship of transactions.
Radix developer RDX Works lays off 15% of staff to cut costs
RDX Works, the developer of the Radix decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, has laid off 15% of its staff due to the need to cut costs. The company's CEO, Piers Ridyard, confirmed in a statement to the company's official Telegram group on August 29 that the layoffs were part of a "refocusing" and a "more comprehensive transformation" that needed to be undertaken.
Piers Ridyard stated: "One of those is cost-cutting. As part of the cost-cutting, we at RDX Works made the difficult decision to reduce our total workforce by about 15%, and that decision has been completed today."
It is reported that the Radix network officially launched its mainnet in July 2023, providing development tools to build and run decentralized applications (DApps) and financial services on the blockchain.
According to Dongwang, Hong Kong law enforcement agencies recently launched anti-money laundering operations codenamed Micro Song, Black Brain, and Ghost Hero based on tips and analysis, dismantling 3 money laundering groups and arresting 27 individuals, with a total amount involved exceeding 300 million HKD.
Investigating officers stated that in March this year, Hong Kong law enforcement received an investigation request from Singapore authorities regarding over 30 fraud cases that occurred locally, among which approximately 30 million HKD in fraudulent funds flowed into Hong Kong's puppet accounts after multiple transfers. Investigating officers pointed out that a certain group used a large number of accounts for transfers and repeatedly withdrew cash to evade investigation, purchasing virtual currency on local virtual asset trading platforms. Hong Kong police also disclosed data showing that in the first half of this year, law enforcement agencies arrested 5,693 individuals for money laundering-related crimes, a 40% increase compared to the same period last year; among them, 4,465 were puppet account holders, accounting for 78% of those arrested.
According to analysis by RootData, a Web3 asset data platform, 32 VCs have disclosed LP information since 2022, raising a total of over $5.18 billion. The top three fundraising amounts are Haun Ventures ($1.5 billion), Polychain ($750 million), and Dragonfly ($650 million). The participating LPs include well-known institutions and individual investors such as a16z, Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, Tiger Global, Temasek, OKX Ventures, KKR, and Sequoia Capital.
There are 17 VCs with fundraising amounts of no less than $50 million. Among them, Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, and Animoca Brands from a16z have participated multiple times as LPs in the fundraising of other funds. These 17 institutions have made a total of 394 moves in the past year, including leading investments 97 times.
For projects seeking financing and funds currently raising capital, understanding these LP networks and investment trends is crucial for establishing solid LP relationships and formulating effective fundraising strategies.
Trump's second son announces the official launch of the crypto project WLFI
Eric Trump, the second son of former U.S. President Donald Trump and current Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization, announced on social media the official launch of the crypto project WLFI.
ParaFi Capital completes $120 million fundraising to acquire stakes in other crypto funds
According to Bloomberg, New York-based digital asset management firm ParaFi Capital has raised $120 million from investors including Theta Capital Management and Accolade Partners.
According to ParaFi's new strategy, part of the funds will be used to acquire stakes in other crypto funds focused on specific niches, strategies, or regions. ParaFi founder Ben Forman stated in an interview that the company plans to build a portfolio investing in 30 to 50 such funds over the next three to five years.
It is reported that ParaFi has invested in 9 different cryptocurrency management companies. As the number of crypto funds begins to grow again, the company is expanding this strategy to external investors. The company has operated hedge fund and venture capital strategies for about six years and has a team of 22 people. In addition to KKR and Kravis, ParaFi's investors also include Bain Capital Ventures.
Telegram founder released on €5 million bail, not allowed to leave France
According to Xinhua News Agency, the Paris prosecutor announced on the 28th that Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the social media platform Telegram, who was previously arrested in France, was charged after ending his detention that day. He was released on bail under judicial supervision but is not allowed to leave France.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau stated that Durov was released on bail under judicial supervision but must pay a €5 million guarantee, report to the police station twice a week, and is prohibited from leaving French territory.
Relevant French government departments are investigating illegal activities involving fraud, drug trafficking, organized crime, child pornography, and the promotion of terrorism on the "Telegram" platform. Durov is accused of failing to take appropriate measures to prevent these crimes. The Paris prosecutor's office announced on the 26th that a judicial investigation containing 12 charges, not targeting specific individuals, began on July 8 this year, leading to Durov's arrest.
"What are the exciting articles worth reading in the past 24 hours"
Overview of Sorella, the Ethereum MEV tool led by Paradigm
MEV (Maximum Extractable Value) refers to the additional value that miners or validators can obtain by manipulating the order and selection of transactions. In simple terms, MEV reflects the extra profit miners can gain by adjusting the order of transactions. As smart contract platforms like Ethereum become increasingly popular, MEV has gradually become an important research area, driving the development of various new solutions and protocols aimed at reducing its negative impact on users.
Recently, the crypto startup Sorella Labs, aimed at addressing the Ethereum MEV issue, announced a $7.5 million seed funding round led by Paradigm, with participation from Uniswap Ventures, Bankless Ventures, Robot Ventures, and Nascent. However, this round of funding was completed in September last year. Along with the funding announcement, Sorella Labs also announced the launch of its product Brontes, and another tool, Angstrom, is expected to be released later this year after the mainnet launch of Uniswap V4.
Recently, BTCFi has sparked a new wave, with more and more DeFi protocols eyeing this $15 trillion market, pondering how to make BTC more capital efficient.
On August 22, the first phase of the Babylon mainnet officially launched, allowing BTC holders to lock their tokens on the Bitcoin network. Babylon aims to leverage Bitcoin's security to provide security for other PoS chains while also bringing potentially massive liquidity into DeFi.
The re-staking protocol Lombard of the Babylon ecosystem launched its beta version on the 21st and was released the next day after the Babylon mainnet went live. Lombard's flagship product, LBTC, is a yield-bearing, cross-chain, highly liquid Bitcoin, backed 1:1 by BTC. In July, Lombard completed a $16 million seed round led by Polychain Capital.
How does Lombard utilize LBTC to drive innovation in the Bitcoin re-staking ecosystem? This article is translated from Lombard's official blog, detailing how LBTC works.
Why does SOON, invested by the chairman of the Solana Foundation, choose to build SVM Rollup?
SOON (Solana Optimistic Network) is a general-purpose Ethereum Layer 2 that is about to launch its mainnet. Notably, SOON will incentivize new developers (especially those in the Asia-Pacific region) developing on SVM through tokens.
Former Goldman Sachs VP Matt Levine: How do stablecoins solve the bank run problem?
In the future, as financial markets become further digitized and transparent, traditional banks may also face similar challenges. The asset risks of banks and market confidence may be reflected more directly in market prices than relying on the internal safeguards of the banking system.
"King of DeFi" AC's new work: Why do we need DeFi?
Before we delve deeper, let's ask a question: Why do we need finance? Before any currency existed, the earliest form was barter. I raise chickens, you grow wheat. I give you chickens, you give me wheat. One year, my chickens didn't do well, but I still need wheat, so I promise to give you more chickens next year. I owe you (i.e., an IOU). Now, maybe you don't need more chickens, but your neighbor wants those chickens, so you can exchange this IOU for something else. At its most basic form, this is the essence of money—a standardized IOU that anyone willing to accept agrees has some established value.
Eventually, we began to use these IOUs to measure everything.
Now, I have a pile of IOUs, and I start to worry about being robbed; I need a safer place to store these IOUs. Thus, the earliest banks were formed (initially, churches kept the ledgers of these IOUs).
A respected member of the community wants to start raising cattle, and he borrows some IOUs from the church to start his farm. The church agrees, but he needs to pay back more IOUs later, which is the interest he needs to pay. To secure the IOUs, this person needs to put up the deed to the land he purchases as collateral. Community members who stored their IOUs in the bank felt satisfied because their IOUs increased; this respected person was also grateful because it allowed him to start his business.
