Evening News | FTX plans to raise $1 billion at a valuation of $32 billion; Binance establishes a global advisory board

Organizer: Runsheng, Chain Catcher

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

1. Azuki development team Chiru Labs to complete $30 million Series A funding at a valuation of $300 to $400 million

According to sources cited by The Block, the Azuki development team Chiru Labs will complete a $30 million Series A funding at a valuation of $300 to $400 million, with details of the funding yet to be finalized. (The Block)

2. Sources: FTX in talks to raise $1 billion at a valuation of $32 billion

According to sources cited by CNBC, cryptocurrency exchange FTX is negotiating with potential investors to raise up to $1 billion in new funding, which would keep the company's valuation at around $32 billion, consistent with earlier funding this year. Additionally, sources say negotiations are ongoing and terms may change. (Source link)

3. Uniswap Foundation grants approximately $1.8 million to 14 projects

The Uniswap Foundation is disbursing the first wave of its grant program, totaling approximately $1.8 million across 14 grants. Some of these grants were awarded months ago, while others were recently approved after the establishment of the Uniswap Foundation.

The donations are distributed across three categories: protocol growth (Decentralized Volatility Oracle, Uniswap Diamond: Open Source API & SDK, Uniswap Diamond: Pro Interface, Numoen, Uniswap.fish, Uniswap data extraction tool), community development (Uniswap v3 Development Course, DeFi LATAM, DeFi Africa, Phi, Ignition Hacks 2022), and governance management (Holdim, Governance Decentralization Benchmarks and Tracker, Recognized Delegation Program Research and Development).

Previously reported, in August, former Uniswap Labs members proposed the establishment of the Uniswap Foundation to develop the ecosystem, while requesting a budget of $74 million, of which $60 million is for expanding the grant program and $14 million for operational expenses. (Source link)

4. Crypto data analytics and research firm Messari completes $35 million funding, led by Brevan Howard Digital

According to Fortune, crypto data analytics and research firm Messari has completed a $35 million Series B funding round, led by Brevan Howard Digital, with participation from Morgan Creek Digital, FTX Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Kraken Ventures, Uncork Capital, Underscore VC, Galaxy, and Coinbase Ventures. (Source link)

5. Binance announces the establishment of a global advisory board, including former senior officials from multiple governments such as the U.S. and France

Binance announced the establishment of a new Global Advisory Board (GAB), composed of top experts in public policy, government, finance, economics, and corporate governance, including former U.S. Ambassador to China and former Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, South Korean Presidential Committee Advisor HyungRin Bang, former French Minister of Finance Bruno Bezard, former Brazilian Minister of Economy Henrique de Campos Meirelles, and former Secretary-General of the International Organization of Securities Commissions David Wright, among 11 members.

It is reported that the committee will provide advisory recommendations to Binance regarding the complex issues faced by the entire crypto asset industry in regulation, politics, and society, helping it to grow and develop rapidly. (Source link)

6. Web3 community gaming platform Iskra completes $40 million funding, with participation from Krust Universe and others

Web3 community gaming platform Iskra announced the completion of $40 million in funding, with participation from Kakao's incubator Krust Universe, WeMade, Netmarble, LINE Studio, and others. Iskra aims to coordinate community interests by integrating sustainable token economic solutions for game developers.

Chain Catcher previously reported that Iskra completed $34 million in funding in April this year, led by Krust Universe, with participation from WeMade, MetaBora, Neowiz, NHN Bigfoot, Fast Ventures, Liberty Investment, and Kakao Ventures. (Source link)

7. Knowledge graph protocol 0xScope completes $3 million seed round funding, led by ABCDE and Liang Xinjun

Knowledge graph protocol 0xScope announced the completion of a $3 million seed round funding, co-led by Huobi co-founder Du Jun and the accelerator and venture capital fund ABCDE founded by BMAN, along with Hash Global and Liang Xinjun. Participating investors include Bonfire Union, a venture capital firm under Mask Network, and Bodl Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm founded by former Chain News editor Liu Feng.

It is reported that 0xScope provides an innovative solution to collaboratively explore data from both Web2 and Web3 within a single product, transforming decentralized Web3 data into well-organized knowledge graphs. A new data layer created based on 0xScope can support the development of numerous data applications. Watchers is the first product supported by 0xScope, allowing users to access enhanced due diligence, powerful address clustering tools, transaction monitoring, real-time event alerts, and financial risk control. (cointelegraph)

"What interesting articles are worth reading in the past 24 hours"

1. “Messari: Ethereum Merge Successful, Key Q3 Data to Watch”

The Ethereum protocol transitioned from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake on September 15, 2022, gaining widespread recognition for its development depth, decentralized finance ecosystem, and Web3 use cases. However, there are still some key metrics and data to watch before entering the last quarter of 2022. This article analyzes network performance, market indicators, Layer 2 analysis, DEX, NFTs, and more.

2. “Will the move to mobile be a breakthrough opportunity for Web3?”

In the past five years, consumer-facing mobile applications have been the biggest driver of growth in the industry, explaining why Wyre and Moonpay are valued at $1.5 billion and $3.4 billion, respectively. They are key infrastructures for applications to penetrate retail users through small transactions (mainly via mobile devices). If cryptocurrency wants to break free from Peter Pan syndrome, it must reach ordinary people who do not want to care about private keys and protocols; unlocking the next trillion-dollar value means caring about what people outside of Twitter want.

3. “Modular Blockchains - Engineering Solutions for Ethereum to Become the 'World Computer'”

Looking at the development trends of Crypto in 2022, it seems a bit forced to create a new L1 public chain at this time; the narrative of modular blockchains cannot be ignored. After The Merge, Ethereum's development path increasingly leans towards the direction of modular blockchains. In fact, Ethereum is not the only one planning a modular architecture: Celestia, which first proposed the idea of modular blockchains, is building a data availability layer for Rollups based on the Cosmos ecosystem. This article mainly discusses the modular trend of Ethereum.