headlines
People familiar with the matter: Huobi may lay off 30% of its staff
Huobi will initiate large-scale layoffs, which may exceed 30%. The main reason is the sharp drop in revenue after retiring Chinese users. In addition, people familiar with the matter revealed that Huobi Asset Management and the newly invested public chain Cube have also encountered some problems recently, which may cause the current management team to face adjustments. However, some investors also revealed that Huobi has sufficient cash flow and pays more dividends, which should be an active adjustment under the downward market conditions.
People familiar with the matter: FTX is considering whether to buy Robinhood, a stock and cryptocurrency trading platform
According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, FTX is considering whether to acquire Robinhood, a stock and cryptocurrency trading platform, which has not been made public. Robinhood has yet to receive a formal acquisition agreement from FTX, another person said. No final decision has been made and FTX may ultimately choose not to strike a deal, the people said.
Axie Infinity Announces Ronin Bridge Has Officially Opened
Axie Infinity Announces Ronin Bridge Has Officially Opened
According to official news, Axie Infinity announced that the Ronin Bridge has been officially opened, and users can now easily deposit and withdraw on the Ronin (RON) network. All wETH and USDC owned by users are fully backed 1:1 by the new bridge, and the new bridge design includes a circuit breaker system as a contingency plan that increases the security of the bridge by preventing large amounts of suspicious withdrawals.
Ronin Bridge has undergone one internal audit and two external audits (done by Verichains and Certik) prior to launch.
cryptocurrency
Celsius rejects attorney's bankruptcy filing proposal, seeks client support
Cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network has rejected a proposal by its lawyers to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and instead hopes to seek the support of clients to win internal arguments against the lawsuit, according to people familiar with the matter. Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code allows companies to continue operating while paying off their debts.
Sources: BlockFi U.S. trading head Jason Wilkinson fired
According to sources, BlockFi, an encrypted lending platform, recently cut 20% of its employees. Stay with the company. Jason Wilkinson previously spent 11 years as a Senior Trader at Two Rivers Trading. Jason Wilkinson and a BlockFi spokesman declined to comment.
Harmony: still willing to negotiate with hackers, but will continue to conduct a full investigation until the problem is resolved
Harmony tweeted today: "We know hackers have begun moving funds through Tornado Cash. The official team is working with two blockchain tracking and analysis partners, and with the FBI as part of the investigation into this crime." In addition, Harmony said it is evaluating various options for users and partners and will update users as it continues to explore ways to protect the ecosystem, but confidentiality is critical to support ongoing investigations.
MakerDAO is voting to determine the distribution method of the 500 million DAI investment strategy, and the voting will end in the early morning of July 1st
According to the official governance website, MakerDAO is voting on how the 500 million DAI will be distributed among different investment strategies. The distribution plan includes 100% purchase of U.S. short-term treasury bonds and 80% purchase of U.S. treasury bonds + 20% purchase of IG Corp bonds and the rejection of the above distribution method. The plan of 80% purchase of U.S. treasury bonds + 20% purchase of IG Corp bonds has been approved by 18,829 MKR. The approval rate is 69.12%. Voting started at 00:00 on June 28th, Beijing time, and will end at 00:00 on July 1st.
Lido Finance, a liquidity staking agreement, announced that it is about to switch to a two-phase (Two-Phase) voting governance model. The on-chain voting of Lido DAO lasts for 72 hours. The two-stage voting solution divides the 72 hours into two parts. The first part lasts for 48 hours and is a regular vote. Anyone who owns LDO can vote for or against it. This is followed by a 24-hour negative phase, during which LDO holders can only vote negative or change their vote from "yes" to "no".
Lido Finance, a liquidity staking agreement, announced that it is about to switch to a two-phase (Two-Phase) voting governance model. The on-chain voting of Lido DAO lasts for 72 hours. The two-stage voting solution divides the 72 hours into two parts. The first part lasts for 48 hours and is a regular vote. Anyone who owns LDO can vote for or against it. This is followed by a 24-hour negative phase, during which LDO holders can only vote negative or change their vote from "yes" to "no".
According to Lido, this mode prevents certain cases of “last block vote manipulation.” Even if a vote sent in the last block before the end of the main phase changes the vote to "yes", after that Lido DAO members have 24 hours to vote no.
The SeniorPool contract of the Goldfinch project was attacked, and the cumulative loss of the project party exceeded 540,000 US dollars
NFT project Doodles officially tweeted to introduce the second season of NFT Doodles 2. According to reports, Doodles 2 is a dynamic NFT. Users can change the appearance at any time according to their needs, turning the NFT into a full-body frame or avatar. The NFT will be accompanied by animation and original music.
GameFi and NFTs
NFT trading market ZORA launches ZORA development kit including API and ZDK
The NFT trading market ZORA launched the ZORA development kit, which includes ZORA's API and ZDK, which can provide developers with the data needed to build products (NFT markets, wallets, dashboards, etc.) using NFT.
NFT project Doodles officially tweeted to introduce the second season of NFT Doodles 2. According to reports, Doodles 2 is a dynamic NFT. Users can change the appearance at any time according to their needs, turning the NFT into a full-body frame or avatar. The NFT will be accompanied by animation and original music.
In addition, Doodles said that it will launch features into the NFT Dooplicator (which can bring rare OG features into Doodles 2), the first wearable device NFT The Genesis Box, and the project-related documentary "Doodles Records: Volume 1" and the game "Space Doodles V2".
E-commerce giant eBay submits NFT-related trademark application
Earlier in May, eBay announced that it had reached a cooperation with the NFT platform OneOf to issue the NFT series for the first time.
Investment and Financing
Bertelsmann India Investments raises $500 million in new fund, will invest in Web3 and other fields
Bertelsmann India Investments, the venture capital arm of Bertelsmann, announced the launch of a new $500 million fund focused on the Indian market. The fund plans to focus on investing in disruptive fields such as financial technology, enterprise technology, Web3, and deep technology during 2022-2023.
Encrypted Data Company Kaiko Completes $53M Series B Funding Led by Eight Roads
CloudWalk, a Brazilian financial technology company that provides payment solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises, announced the completion of financing of US$150 million, with a market valuation of US$2.15 billion. In addition, CloudWalk will also launch its own blockchain network. According to CloudWalk, more than 130,000 users are using the Brazilian digital stable currency BRLC, and the launch of the blockchain network is a step towards the decentralization of financial services. (PR Newswire)
Encrypted Data Company Kaiko Completes $53M Series B Funding Led by Eight Roads
Encrypted data company Kaiko announced the completion of a US$53 million Series B round of financing, led by Eight Roads, with participation from French venture capital institutions Revaia, Alven, Point Nine, Anthemis, and Underscore. The company's valuation has reached three times the previous round of financing, and the specific data has not been disclosed.
Encrypted data company Kaiko announced the completion of a US$53 million Series B round of financing, led by Eight Roads, with participation from French venture capital institutions Revaia, Alven, Point Nine, Anthemis, and Underscore. The company's valuation has reached three times the previous round of financing, and the specific data has not been disclosed.
It is reported that Kaiko is headquartered in Paris and began to provide encrypted data to the largest players in the market in 2017. Its customers and partners include Deutsche Boerse, ICE Global Network, Messari, Paxos, etc.
On Tuesday, PolySign, a digital asset infrastructure company, officially announced the completion of a US$53 million Series C round of financing, with participation from Cowen Digital, Brevan Howard, and GSR. The valuation has not been disclosed.
On Tuesday, PolySign, a digital asset infrastructure company, officially announced the completion of a US$53 million Series C round of financing, with participation from Cowen Digital, Brevan Howard, and GSR. The valuation has not been disclosed.
In addition to this funding round, PolySign has secured a $25 million line of credit from private equity firm Boathouse Capital.
British digital currency trading platform CoinFlex plans to raise funds this Tuesday by issuing a new token to resume withdrawals after customers failed to repay $47 million in debt. CoinFlex officially stated that whether the announcement of resuming withdrawals on June 30 can be realized as scheduled will depend on the demand for new Tokens.
Trading platform CoinFlex plans to issue new tokens to raise $47 million to resume withdrawals
British digital currency trading platform CoinFlex plans to raise funds this Tuesday by issuing a new token to resume withdrawals after customers failed to repay $47 million in debt. CoinFlex officially stated that whether the announcement of resuming withdrawals on June 30 can be realized as scheduled will depend on the demand for new Tokens.
According to previous news, the British digital currency trading platform CoinFLEX announced on June 24 that due to the extreme market conditions last week and the continued uncertainty of counterparties, all withdrawals will be suspended today, "We hope to resume withdrawals as soon as possible." and will stop all FLEX Coin perpetual contracts and spot transactions in the short term. It should be noted that the counterparty is not Three Arrows Capital or any lending company. It is estimated that withdrawals will resume on June 30, 2022." (Bloomberg )
The developer of the cross-chain Stablecoin trading protocol Saber launched the encryption fund Protagonist, which has raised more than 33 million US dollars
Funds from this round of financing will be used for expansion, primarily in the U.S. market. By leveraging blockchain technology, Circulor is working with the likes of Volvo, JLR, BHP Billiton and TotalEnergies to track its supply chain in pursuit of environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.
British start-up Circulor announced on Tuesday that it has completed a US$25 million Series B round of financing, led by Westly Group and participated by the venture capital arm of Volvo Cars, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and BHP Billiton Group. Circulor has raised a total of $45 million over the past two years.
Funds from this round of financing will be used for expansion, primarily in the U.S. market. By leveraging blockchain technology, Circulor is working with the likes of Volvo, JLR, BHP Billiton and TotalEnergies to track its supply chain in pursuit of environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.
Circulor CEO Douglas Johnson-Poensgen said Circulor plans to conduct an IPO "in due course." (Reuters)
Zigazoo, a U.S.-based TikTok-like social media platform for children, announced the completion of a $17 million Series A round led by Liberty City Ventures, Animoca Brands, Dapper Labs, The NBA, OneFootball, Causeway, Medici VC, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Flamingo Capital, Core Ventures, Spartan Group and others participated in the investment. This brings the company's total raised since its 2020 launch to $21 million. According to the company's CEO Zak Ringelstein, the new financing will be used to expand the company's influence in the Web3 field, "while striving to become the leading children's social network, allowing children to directly interact with creators and brands in the children's media field." In addition, The company also plans to continue to introduce new NFT series, add more game elements to Zigazoo, and "inspire joy" by using QR codes to create learning experiences through AR, and will build its own creator and marketplace tools for creators.
Metaverse holographic technology developer Swave completed 7 million euros in financing, FFTF and others participated in the investment
It is reported that peaq's Layer1 blockchain is built on Substrate, making it compatible with Polkadot. peaq provides identity, access and payment functions as the core functions for developers to design DApps for EoT. The peaq network allows individuals and organizations to build, manage and monetize DApps for their vehicles, robots and devices.
Web3 network peaq completes $6.5 million financing led by Fundamental Labs
According to official news, Web3 network peaq, which promotes the Internet of Things economy (EoT), completed a financing of US$6.5 million. Fundamental Labs led the investment, and HashKey, GSR, Delta VC, Mulana, Cypher Capital, GravityX, Waterdrip, Ceras, Masterventures, etc. participated in the investment.
This round of financing will be used to support the continuous expansion of the peaq network, expand the development team, launch new products and features for the peaq ecosystem, and increase the popularity of the project. In addition, peaq has established ecosystem partnerships with industry alliances including GAIA-X and the German Automobile Association.
It is reported that peaq's Layer1 blockchain is built on Substrate, making it compatible with Polkadot. peaq provides identity, access and payment functions as the core functions for developers to design DApps for EoT. The peaq network allows individuals and organizations to build, manage and monetize DApps for their vehicles, robots and devices.
Web3 Marketing Startup Omi Completes €6 Million Funding Led by Dawn Capital
RLTY, a developer of metaverse event creation tools, announced the completion of 4 million euros (about 4.23 million U.S. dollars) in financing. cast.
Omi CEO and co-founder Hugo Borensztein said that Omi will help companies more easily integrate into Web3 experiences such as augmented reality or the metaverse, and explore technical and cultural challenges such as smart contracts and the use of NFT to distribute 3D content. (Retail Technology Innovation Hub)
NFT metaverse game Mech.com completes $6 million in financing, led by Shima Capital
NFT metaverse game Mech.com announced the completion of a $6 million seed round of financing, led by Shima Capital, with participation from Polygon, Big Brain, Anti Fund, Cryptology, Master Ventures, BreederDAO, MetaVest, Andromeda VC, Pulse Ventures, and Gumi Ventures.
It is reported that Mech.com is developing a Match-3 game, players can get "ore" and exchange it for its native token FORGE. Mech.com is also developing an arena versus P2E game, which will introduce NFT and FORGE tokens. (Digital Journal)
R Labs, a blockchain-based financial technology company, announced the completion of a $5 million Pre-Seed round of financing led by Softbank, AGF and Prodege. The company's advisors include Azuki, Decentraland, Warner Music Group (WMG), Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and others.
R Labs, led by Geeta Sankappanavar and Chelsea Cain Maclin, aims to build a social impact ecosystem in Web3. Later this summer, the company will launch a purpose-driven NFT project centered around five core areas of mental health, inclusion, sustainability, education, and overall entertainment. (FINSMES)
Blockchain game developer Ring Games announced the completion of $5 million in financing, led by Animoca Brands and Planetarium, with participation from venture capital and game associations such as Defiance Capital, Play Ventures, Double Peak, DWeb3 Capital, GuildFi, Avocado DAO, and PathDAO.
It is reported that Ring Games was established in 2019 by the former core developers of the global popular game "King's Raid", and is committed to developing the new "Premium Character Collectible RPG" Stella Fantasy high-precision action game and other Web3 games. Stella Fantasy is currently in the final development stage, which is scheduled to be launched in late August this year. (Nftculture)
RLTY, a developer of metaverse event creation tools, announced the completion of 4 million euros (about 4.23 million U.S. dollars) in financing. cast.
It is reported that RLTY mainly helps users create concerts, festival celebrations, art fairs and other social gathering virtual activities in the metaverse, providing virtual space, NFT and monetization solutions, as well as data analysis of virtual world activities. The company also recently cooperated with The Sandbox partnered to provide users with no-code virtual event creation services. (Wmleader)
Floris van Hoogenhuyze, co-founder of WE.VESTR, said that by tokenizing shares on a distributed ledger, shareholders can more easily trade company shares, which means that all shareholders, including employees, have new opportunities to control themselves financial future. (Silicon canals)
Floris van Hoogenhuyze, co-founder of WE.VESTR, said that by tokenizing shares on a distributed ledger, shareholders can more easily trade company shares, which means that all shareholders, including employees, have new opportunities to control themselves financial future. (Silicon canals)
global regulation
EU may ban cryptocurrency platforms from paying interest on stablecoin deposits
Patrick Hansen, head of DeFi strategy at Unstoppable Finance, said that the European Union is preparing to ban cryptocurrency platforms from paying interest on stablecoin deposits. According to Patrick Hansen on social media, EU lawmakers will set high regulatory requirements for all types of stablecoin issuers, and algorithmic stablecoin issuers are no exception.
Russian parliament approves new draft regulations, or exempt digital asset issuers from value-added tax
Russia's parliament has approved a draft law that could exempt issuers of digital assets and cryptocurrencies from value-added tax, with members of the State Duma approving the draft in its second and third readings on Tuesday.
Central Bank of Morocco: Cryptocurrency Regulatory Bill to be Announced Soon
The Central Bank of Morocco (Bank Al-Maghrib, BAM) said it is currently working on a cryptocurrency regulatory framework bill, which its governor Abdellatif Jouahri said would be introduced soon. The regulatory framework being developed will upgrade Morocco's money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulations. Abdellatif Jouahri said the bank had consulted with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and The World Bank (The World Bank) on the benchmark to be used.
Uzbekistan: Assets earned from solar mining are tax-free, but privacy coin mining is banned
Uzbekistan’s National Agency for Prospective Projects (NAPP) has announced requirements for cryptocurrency mining operators. It only allows companies using solar energy to mine Bitcoin (BTC) or other cryptocurrencies.
All currencies generated from mining activities will be tax-free, however, assets generated from mining can only be traded on Uzbekistan-registered exchange platforms. Anonymous cryptocurrency mining will be banned. (Cointelegraph)
character * voice
a16z partner: There are innovations in the field of Crypto and Web3, we should pay attention to the long-term vision and product cycle
Chris Dixon, partner of a16z, published an article comparing the current situation of the Internet era and Web3, and released financial cycle and product cycle charts.
Cathie Wood: Don't believe in algorithmic stablecoins, the robustness of the DeFi ecosystem is impressive
Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, said that despite the continued downturn in the encryption market, nothing can stop this revolution. Wood said her company believes Crypto is a revolution, and it's Ark's big idea for 2022. She called the Bitcoin ecosystem the "money revolution," and said Bitcoin is the first monetary system based on private global digital rules.
Wood also stated that she believes that DeFi has only reached maturity in the last year. At the same time, she also believes that the yield and leverage of some DeFi protocols are too high. However, Wood doesn’t believe in algorithmic stablecoins: “As an economist, I don’t understand algorithmic stablecoins. It makes sense that they would cease to exist.”
Wood added that DeFi has been successful, and the robustness of the ecosystem is impressive: "A lot of people think that Terra events will cause systemic ripple effects. We have indeed seen some of this. But so far, ether Fang performed very well.”
