ChainCatcher news, according to Businesswire, the venture capital firm Theory Venture, which focuses on early software investments in the fields of data, artificial intelligence, and Web3, announced that after launching its first fund of $238 million in April 2023, it has completed fundraising of $450 million for its second fund, which will further expand support for innovators.The new fund will focus on three areas: data analytics, artificial intelligence as a new platform, and decentralized infrastructure as a database. Since launching its first fund, Theory has led investments in companies such as Context.ai, Initia, Superlinked, and Tobiko Data, and has opened a new office in San Francisco.

According to ChainCatcher news, monitored by The Data Nerd, in addition to Wintermute, there are three market makers (MM) and one venture capital firm holding $NEIRO_ETH tokens. The specific holdings are as follows:• GSR holds 15 million $NEIRO_ETH, worth approximately $1.14 million;• Toka Labs holds 51,140 $NEIRO_ETH, worth approximately $384,000;• Auros Global holds 36,000 $NEIRO_ETH, worth approximately $270,000;• Arrington holds 51,070 $NEIRO_ETH, worth approximately $383,000.

ChainCatcher news, venture capital firms Spartan Group and Pantera Capital have increased their holdings of AERO on-chain, AERO being the native token of the decentralized exchange Aerodrome.Blockchain analytics firm Nansen reported that on Monday, Spartan Group exchanged approximately 903,000 AERO for 460 Ethereum in two transactions from one address, while Pantera received about 479,000 tokens from an unknown wallet.According to on-chain data, the acquisition of AERO by Spartan Group marks the first interaction with AERO for that address, but for Pantera's address, this is the second time in four days, as the firm received an initial 474,749 AERO tokens on October 4.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the team behind the TON ecosystem game Hamster Kombat recently revealed that they have received investment intentions from some top cryptocurrency venture capital firms, but "so far have rejected all proposals."The team stated that the decision to refuse venture capital funding was made to protect the player base of Hamster Kombat and to maintain the core focus of the development team, which is to provide players with a skill-based gaming experience that rewards them for actually playing the game.In an announcement on August 10, the team noted that this stands in stark contrast to many crypto games and projects that accept venture capital funding, where these venture capital firms often view the player base as a channel for exit liquidity. The Hamster Kombat team did not disclose which venture capital firms expressed interest in investing. The developers of Hamster Kombat also explained that 60% of the upcoming HMSTR token will be reserved for players, while the remaining portion will be used for liquidity, future partnerships, in-game rewards, and ecosystem development.

ChainCatcher news, according to market news, the U.S. SEC has sent letters to venture capital firms such as a16z and Union Square Ventures regarding the Uniswap issue.Previously, the U.S. SEC issued a Wells notice to Uniswap Labs in April this year, warning that it may take enforcement action. Subsequently, Uniswap Labs responded to the U.S. SEC's Wells notice, stating that they are ready to fight and will continue to build.

ChainCatcher news, according to DL News*,* sources familiar with the investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that the SEC has issued subpoenas to at least three cryptocurrency venture capital firms this year. DL News reviewed the first page of the subpoena. The page states: "SEC staff is investigating the above matters to determine whether there have been violations of federal securities laws."Insiders indicated that at least two other crypto VC firms received essentially the same document requests. According to the source, the subpoenas sent to these crypto VCs request all contracts related to token transactions.Reportedly, sources familiar with the investigation stated that the SEC is interested in whether these accredited investors are issuing unregistered securities to the broader retail market on behalf of token issuers. The individual added, "This would poison the initial offering," referring to what happens when investors are alleged to sell tokens on the public market.Additionally, a lawyer from a crypto VC firm not affected by the subpoenas stated, "This is an excessive investigation and extremely costly."

According to ChainCatchert's message and incomplete statistics from RootData, a total of 8 projects announced their cessation of operations in the first half of 2024, mainly distributed across DeFi (ClayStack, [Gridex Protocol](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Gridex Protocol?k=NjM0Mw== "order book-based decentralized trading protocol"), [Hector Network](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Gridex Protocol?k=NjM0Mw== "Defi product ecosystem"),) CeFi ([Yield App](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Yield App?k=ODM1NA== "digital wealth platform"), HKVAEX, CommEX,) GameFi ([Eternal Dragons](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Eternal Dragons - Trailblazer Games?k=NDY3OQ== "epic fantasy game series")/[Trailblazer Games](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Eternal Dragons - Trailblazer Games?k=NDY3OQ== "epic fantasy game series"),) and privacy track (Nocturne.It is worth noting that the GameFi project Eternal Dragons/Trailblazer Games previously raised $8.2 million, the privacy protocol Nocturne, which received support from Vitalik, raised $6 million in seed funding, and the liquid staking project ClayStack raised $5.2 million in seed funding led by CoinFund and ParaFi Capital, with support from Coinbase Ventures, Animoca Brands, The Spartan Group, and others.The main reasons for these projects ceasing operations are quite diverse, primarily focusing on non-systemic risks. ClayStack's cessation was due to a lack of product-market fit during its more than three years of operation; Gridex Protocol stated it failed to secure additional funding from private investors and also faced liquidity issues; Eternal Dragons pointed out that Web3 has brought additional challenges to game design, user experience, and development, increasing costs and risks; while Yield App suffered losses because its assets were previously held on the now-defunct FTX exchange.

ChainCatcher news, Three Arrows Capital co-founder Zhu Su stated on social media that the venture capital firm has given up its friend.tech quota, choosing to allocate 100% to the community, signaling a paradigm shift towards a better token economic model. He also mentioned that the equity layer can extract transaction fees, while the tokens can circulate freely without considering the unlocking schedule and the impact of bearish unlocks.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Wall Street Journal, a committee in the U.S. Congress is investigating a group of American venture capital firms providing funding to Chinese technology companies, which is part of Washington's efforts to push for scrutiny and possibly ban such transactions.A special committee in the U.S. House of Representatives has notified GGV Capital, GSR Ventures, Walden International, and Qualcomm Ventures this week, stating that the committee is reviewing their investments in Chinese companies involved in semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing.It is reported that the special committee believes these American investments "directly fuel" the so-called efforts of China to replace the U.S. technology leadership, and in the letter, it requests all venture capital firms based in California to respond by July 26, 2023. (Source link）

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of investors accuses venture capital and private equity firms, including Sequoia Capital, Thoma Bravo, and Paradigm, of participating in a promotional marketing campaign in 2021 to promote their own hundreds of millions of dollars investment in the FTX entity.Investors claim this added a sense of "legitimacy" to FTX, which ultimately filed for bankruptcy in November. Investors accuse the venture capital firms of violating state and federal laws, including false statements, false advertising, and civil conspiracy. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, The Block recently investigated several crypto venture capital firms, including Spartan Group, Ascensive Assets, and White Star Capital. The report shows that due to adverse factors such as regulatory issues and market cooling, at least half of the companies they invested in are delaying their token launches, with no clear release dates yet.For example, among the 108 projects supported by Spartan's $110 million DeFi fund, less than 40% have listed on exchanges. Kelvin Koh, the executive partner of Spartan Labs, stated that the fund invests in early-stage ventures, and even projects that have already launched tokens have not realized investment returns. (The Block)

ChainCatcher news, according to a report by The Information citing sources, the leadership of hedge fund Tiger Global Management had committed to personally invest $1 billion in dozens of venture capital funds at the beginning of last year. However, as the startup market deteriorated, investors expressed their intention to reduce their previous commitments.Insiders stated that as Tiger Global's venture capital returns turned negative, the company's partners provided various reasons to these venture capital funds for retracting their investment commitments, including worsening economic conditions and unmet due diligence requirements. A venture capital fund manager reported receiving a verbal commitment from Tiger Global, but was unable to contact its partners for the following four months, and ultimately, Tiger Global did not invest.Forbes had previously reported that Tiger Global reneged on its verbal commitment to invest in the early-stage venture fund Banana Capital. (The Information)

ChainCatcher news, blockchain venture capital firms including the EOS Network Foundation, OKX Blockdream Ventures, and AlphaNonce have signed a memorandum of understanding to invest $100 million over the next three years to establish a blockchain ecosystem in Busan, South Korea's second-largest city.Previously reported, the city of Busan in South Korea has signed cooperation agreements and established partnerships with Binance, FTX, Huobi, Crypto.com, and Gate. (CoinDesk)