Evening News | Crypto hardware wallet Ledger seeks $100 million in funding; Binance claims to have spent billions on implementing KYC and anti-money laundering policies

Organizer: Nianqing, Chain Catcher

"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"

1. Binance Compliance Team: Has Spent Billions on KYC and Anti-Money Laundering Policies to Prevent Criminal Activities

Three key members of the Binance compliance team publicly discussed measures to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, and negative news through the exchange, stating that Binance has spent billions on KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) policies to prevent criminal activities.

It is reported that Binance's compliance team is now led by former IRS cybercrime investigators Tigran Gambaryan and Matthew Price, who played roles in taking down the notorious dark web markets AlphaBay, Silk Road, and Hydra. Additionally, they have hired former HSBC sanctions expert Chagri Poyraz as their new global sanctions compliance officer. Since 2017, Binance has facilitated $780 million in payments related to the Russian dark web market Hydra. After Binance strictly enforced KYC policies, it lost 90% of its users and billions in revenue. (CoinDesk)

2. Singapore VC Insignia Ventures Partners Completes $516 Million Fundraising, Focusing on the Web3 Industry

According to Nikkei Asia, Singapore-based venture capital firm Insignia Ventures Partners announced the completion of $516 million in fundraising, focusing on the Web3 industry while concentrating on the Southeast Asian market.

Yinglan Tan, founding managing partner of Insignia Ventures Partners, stated that they will make more aggressive investments in "sunrise industries over the next decade." (Source Link)

3. American Jewelry Brand Tiffany to Launch NFTiff on August 5, Priced at 30 ETH

American jewelry brand Tiffany & Co. announced that it will launch the NFTiff series of NFTs on August 5 at 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, with a limited edition of 250 pieces, each priced at 30 ETH.

The NFTiff is specifically designed for CryptoPunks holders, allowing users to transform the NFT into a custom pendant handcrafted by Tiffany & Co. artisans, and they will also receive an additional NFT version of the pendant after the transformation. Each user can purchase up to 3 NFTiffs. (Source Link)

4. Metaverse Digital Content Producer Terapin Studios Completes $93 Million Financing, with Participation from Affirma Capital

American metaverse digital content producer Terapin Studios has completed $93 million in financing, with participation from Affirma Capital and South Korean private equity firm NPX Private Equity. Affirma Capital invested $38 million in Terapin Studios. Additionally, Terapin Studios acquired Toomics, one of the top five webtoon platforms in South Korea, after this round of financing. Following the acquisition, Toomics is expected to become a key part of Terapin's digital content value chain.

Terapin Studios is a company based on Korean new media webtoon IP, engaged in global businesses such as games, TV dramas, and animations. Terapin Studios plans to create content for next-generation products to deliver immersive experiences in the form of games, metaverse, and NFTs. Terapin's subsidiary, Copin, is a webtoon production studio in South Korea that internalizes the development of original IP in the form of web novels and webtoons. (Asia Tech Daily)

5. Top Collectibles Launches Bored Ape #5513 NFT Secondary Creation Project BATC Series Digital Collectibles

Top Collectibles recently launched the BATC digital collectibles series based on Bored Ape #5513. As a secondary creation project based on the copyright of Bored Ape #5513, BATC extends the "bored" theme of BAYC to create a full-body image. A total of 9,999 pieces of this digital collectible have been issued, with the claiming channel opening at 3 PM on July 31.

Additionally, starting from August 3, BATC series advertisements will be launched in five key cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Chongqing. (Source Link)

6. Crypto Hardware Wallet Ledger Seeks $100 Million in Financing

According to Bloomberg, Ledger is seeking an additional $100 million in financing after completing a $380 million Series C funding round last year. Insiders say the new funding will raise the company's valuation above the $1.5 billion it achieved in June 2021.

Previously reported, in June last year, Ledger completed a $380 million Series C funding round, with a valuation exceeding $1.5 billion. The digital asset fund 10T Fund, founded by macro investor Dan Tapiero, led the round. (Bloomberg)

"What Interesting Articles Are Worth Reading in the Last 24 Hours"

1. "Source Code Interpretation: Did the Popular Er Jiu Coin Really Run Away?"

Er Jiu Coin has arrived, and Er Jiu has run away. I believe you have been bombarded with such news today. So, did he really run away? The conclusion is that the so-called Er Jiu Coin, which was tweeted by a security expert on Twitter and triggered countless media reposts, did not actually run away and voluntarily relinquished project administrator privileges on the 31st. The author analyzes the case by interpreting the smart contract source code of Er Jiu Coin and combining it with the on-chain transaction records to refute the project's on-chain operations.

2. "The Future of Dataverse: How to Build an Interoperable and Composable Data Layer?"

Our vision for the Metaverse will run on Dataverse: a composable, network-scale data ecosystem owned by everyone but not exclusively owned by anyone. Developers will build interchangeable interfaces and online experiences that interact directly with Dataverse and the composable data running within it. It can be said that Dataverse plays the most crucial role in the Metaverse: a shared, high-performance, always-available chart of all data created and used by all applications.

How do we move from today's data silos in Web2 applications and the data deserts in today's Web3 applications to a future where everyone in the world is building applications and all operate on the same networked, composable data layer?