Evening News | Do Kwon attempted to flee South Korea before the complete collapse of LUNA; Hashed may have lost over $3.5 billion in the UST and Luna crash

Organizer: Nianqing, Chain Catcher

"What important events have occurred in the past 24 hours?"

1. a16z launches a $600 million fund specifically for gaming startups

According to the Wall Street Journal, a16z has launched a $600 million fund dedicated to gaming startups to increase its bets on Web3 technology. a16z stated that "gaming infrastructure and technology are key to building the metaverse," and thus the fund will invest in a range of gaming services and applications, as well as companies building technology for the metaverse. (Source link)

2. Crypto startup KaJ Labs completes $400 million seed round financing, led by GEM Digital

According to a press release, crypto startup KaJ Labs has completed a $400 million seed round financing through the sale of LITHO tokens, led by Global Emerging Markets (GEM) Digital, with participation from Four Digital and several individual angel investors. This is the second-largest seed round financing globally so far in 2022.

It is understood that KaJ Labs' blockchain platform, Lithosphere, is a smart contract blockchain embedded with deep neural networks and supports cross-chain network operations. This interoperability achieves multiple value transfer methods under a single management structure, thereby eliminating many of the inherent issues in existing blockchain networks. (Source link)

3. Korean media: Do Kwon attempted to flee South Korea before LUNA's complete collapse and is accused of tax evasion

According to South Korean news agency Naver, Do Kwon has been accused of tax evasion by the South Korean tax authorities and faces a fine of 100 billion won ($78.5 million) for unpaid corporate taxes. Sources also suggested that Do Kwon attempted to flee the country and liquidate the company on May 4 and 6, just before LUNA's complete collapse. In another investigation, it was revealed that Do Kwon owns 92% of Terra Singapore.

Additionally, last October, the South Korean National Tax Service announced an investigation and imposed a 4.66 billion won income tax penalty on Terra Virgin, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Terra Singapore. Sources revealed that the tax authorities also traced Terra Virgin and Do Kwon for transferring free LUNA to LFG established in Singapore to evade taxes. (Source link)

4. Optimism airdrop may start claiming as early as the end of May

According to information from Optimism's official Discord, the OP airdrop may start claiming as early as the end of May, with the latest claims expected in the second quarter. Additionally, the initial circulation of the Token after the OP release is approximately 5% of the total supply.

5. Argo Blockchain sold its UST at an average price of $0.93 before the collapse

Argo Blockchain CEO Peter Wall stated during the first-quarter earnings call, "We did have some UST, but our investment in the Terra ecosystem was not significant. Before UST completely collapsed, Argo sold it at a price of $0.93 each. Overall, considering the earnings generated from our holdings, our position in the Terra ecosystem was nearly balanced." (Source link)

6. Bilibili's overseas app now supports connecting to MetaMask wallet, official NFT projects can be used as avatars

The bilibili overseas app client page shows that the bilibili overseas app has launched an NFT entry, supporting the connection to the MetaMask wallet to view the official cooperative NFT project Cheers UP. This series of NFTs can be used as avatars and has an explicit avatar certification mark.

Previous news reported that bilibili announced in late April that it had authorized overseas users to release Cheers UP NFTs, which includes 10,000 PFP-type NFTs released on Ethereum. Recently, the project voted to pass a proposal to destroy half of the total NFTs and retain 241 for project and community development.

7. Canaan's first-quarter financial report shows revenue of 1.36 billion yuan and profit of 441.6 million yuan

Canaan Technology today announced its financial report for the first quarter of 2022. The announcement shows that Canaan Technology recorded revenue of 1.36 billion yuan in this quarter, a year-on-year increase of 236.7%. The total computing power sold by the company in the first quarter was 4.3 million TH/s, a year-on-year increase of 119.1% compared to the first quarter of 2021. The net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders increased from 1.204 million yuan in the same period of 2021 to 441.6 million yuan.

The announcement also revealed that as of March 31, 2022, Canaan Technology's advance receipts amounted to 1.7699 billion yuan, an increase from 1.3407 billion yuan as of December 31, 2021. Looking ahead to the next quarter, the company predicts that total revenue in the second quarter of 2022 will be between 1.6 billion and 1.8 billion yuan, an increase of approximately 48%-67% compared to the second quarter of 2021. (Source link)

8. Hashed may have lost over $3.5 billion in the UST and Luna collapse

On-chain data shows that the South Korean venture fund Hashed staked over 27 million LUNA on the Columbus 3 mainnet, 9.7 million LUNA on the Columbus 4 mainnet, and 13.2 million LUNA on the current Columbus 5 mainnet. Using pricing data from early April, Hashed's total losses exceed $3.5 billion. Additionally, local media in South Korea reported that over 200,000 investors in the country hold tokens related to Terra.

Previously, it was reported that Delphi Ventures lost $10 million during the Terra crisis. Delphi stated that tokens related to Terra accounted for 13% of its highest managed assets. (Source link)

"What excellent articles are worth reading in the past 24 hours?"

1. “The Rising and Falling Terra Ecosystem: Reflections on Delphi Digital's 'Terra Gamble'”

As an investment institution witnessing the "rise and fall" of Terra, Delphi Digital has deeply participated in the Terra ecosystem for over a year and even crafted the LUNA token model, gaining experiences and reflections that others may find hard to experience during this turmoil.

"We chose to believe in the Terra ecosystem, invested a significant amount of money and time, and placed a big bet, but the outcome did not meet our expectations. Fortunately, Delphi is fully self-funded, and when we make such high-confidence bets, our own capital is at risk. We were aware of the risks of the algorithmic stablecoin model in advance and sought to maintain transparency throughout the process; however, it is clear that we miscalculated the risks."

2. “A16z's New Fund: $600 Million All in Metaverse Gaming, What Will Be the Future of Gamefi?”

On the evening of May 18, Beijing time, Silicon Valley's top VC a16z announced the launch of a $600 million metaverse gaming fund dedicated to investing in the best founders in the gaming industry. To accompany the launch of this fund, a16z's official Twitter account has changed its profile picture and banner to images featuring gaming elements, seemingly signaling that they are ready to go all in.