Evening News | Amber Group completes $50 million financing; SBF supports the issuance of new FTT tokens

Organizer: Runsheng, Chain Catcher

"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"

1. Amber Group Completes $50 Million Financing, Pauses Expansion Plans and Cancels Retail Business

According to the Financial Times, cryptocurrency company Amber Group has raised approximately $50 million from a new sovereign fund, with the deal to be announced in January next year. The new capital values the company at $3 billion, unchanged from February.

Amber Group's Executive Partner Annabelle Huang stated that the company will also announce a significant acquisition of a licensed enterprise in Singapore this month. Huang mentioned that less than 10% of the company's trading capital is stuck on FTX, but she also acknowledged that expansion plans in Europe and the U.S. have been put on hold, with new projects like the metaverse platform being "prioritized."

Additionally, Bloomberg cited sources saying that Amber Group is canceling its retail business and terminating its sponsorship agreement with Chelsea Football Club. The company's layoff rate exceeds 40%, reducing its team from about 700 to less than 400. Sources indicated that the sponsorship agreement with Chelsea Football Club is worth £20 million annually, and Amber is pursuing legal proceedings to terminate the agreement. (Source link)

2. Coinbase Calls for USDT to be Converted to USDC and Will Waive Conversion Fees

Coinbase has issued a statement calling for the conversion of USDT to USDC and will waive the associated fees. Coinbase stated that USDC is backed 100% by cash and short-term U.S. Treasury bonds held by U.S. regulatory financial institutions, and has been verified monthly by one of the largest auditing firms in the U.S., Grant Thornton LLP. (Source link)

3. SBF Supports Restarting FTX Exchange and Issuing New FTT Tokens, Hopes "The Existing Team Will Do This"

CNBC host Ran Neuner tweeted: "If the FTX exchange is restarted and new FTT tokens are issued, the tokens will be distributed to creditors/depositors, and 100% of the profits will be allocated to token holders. It will become the largest exchange in the world, allowing users to recover more losses."

SBF responded, "I still believe this would be a productive avenue for all parties to explore, and I hope the existing team will do this." (Source link)

4. Zhao Changpeng: After Binance Exits FTX Investment, SBF Attacks Binance by Manipulating Public Opinion

Zhao Changpeng stated on Twitter that after investing in FTX, he continued to conduct due diligence on FTX, but initiated an exit process a year and a half ago due to dissatisfaction with SBF and Alameda's actions. Zhao claimed that SBF threatened to make Binance "pay the price" after Binance decided to exit, and he still retains the original threat messages from SBF.

Zhao also mentioned that SBF subsequently began investing in media, policymakers, and celebrities, attacking Binance and other institutions in the industry by manipulating public opinion. (Source link)

5. GBTC Discount Hits Nearly 50% Historical High

The world's largest Bitcoin fund, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), has reached a nearly 50% historical high discount compared to Bitcoin prices.

GBTC is a way for investors to access Bitcoin through traditional investment tools. According to data from crypto index provider TradeBlock, the current trading discount rate for GBTC is 47.3%. Since March 2021, GBTC's price has been below Bitcoin's price. Prior to this, the trust benefited from strong institutional demand, trading at a double-digit premium to its net asset value. (Source link)

6. Blofin Founder: Signature Bank's Balance Sheet is Very Healthy, Partial Reduction of Crypto Deposits is to Accept More Diverse Clients

Previously, CoinDesk reported that U.S. Signature Bank announced it would reduce cryptocurrency deposits by up to $10 billion. Signature Bank CEO Joe DePaolo stated that as of September 2022, approximately 23.5% of the bank's total deposits of $103 billion came from the crypto industry. However, due to recent issues in the sector, Signature ultimately decided to reduce this amount to below 15%.

Recently, Blofin founder Matt confirmed with Signature Bank that the latter's balance sheet remains very healthy. The statement was made because regulators were concerned about the bank's total crypto deposits being too large and overly concentrated with large clients. Signature Bank hopes to partially reduce this to accept a more diverse clientele.

7. GameStop: Q3 Loss of $94.7 Million, Will No Longer Focus on Cryptocurrency

Game retailer GameStop announced that after a net loss of $94.7 million in the third quarter and layoffs in its digital assets department, it will no longer focus on cryptocurrency.

GameStop CEO Matt Furlong stated that the company has proactively minimized its risk in cryptocurrency over the past year and currently holds no substantial balance of any tokens. Furlong also mentioned, "While we still believe that digital assets have long-term potential in the gaming world, GameStop does not and will not risk investing a large amount of shareholder capital in this area."

However, documents submitted by GameStop to the exchange on December 7 indicate that GameStop seems to still be advancing its NFT and blockchain plans. (Cointelegraph)

8. Web3 Video Platform Shibuya Completes $6.9 Million Financing, Led by a16z Crypto and Variant, with Participation from Joe Tsai and Others

Web3 video platform Shibuya, launched by digital artist Emily Yang, announced the completion of $6.9 million in financing, led by a16z Crypto and Variant, with participation from celebrities like Paris Hilton and NBA star Kevin Durant, Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai, and Aave founder Stani Kulechov. The platform's valuation in this round of financing reached $50 million.

Shibuya aims to help filmmakers raise funds and distribute films through fans using Web3 services, rather than relying on the Hollywood production system, and the platform is described as a "combination of Netflix and crowdfunding platform Kickstarter." (Fortune Crypto)

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

1. "The Internet Sensation 'Strongest AI' ChatGPT, Can It Detect Smart Contract Vulnerabilities?"

Overnight, ChatGPT suddenly became popular, sparking an "AI storm" on the internet. ChatGPT is a new model launched by the artificial intelligence lab OpenAI on November 30 this year. Currently, interactions between users and ChatGPT include casual chatting, information consulting, writing poetry and essays, modifying code, etc., even raising concerns about whether ChatGPT can replace search engines like Google. Beosin explores the following questions in this article: What exactly is the explosive ChatGPT? And can it detect smart contract vulnerabilities?

2. "After the Collapse of Leading Market Makers Alameda and Genesis, How Does DODO Meet Market Making Demand?"

With the FTX explosion and the empire's collapse, a series of leading platforms suffered heavy blows, with market makers and lending becoming hard-hit areas: Alameda was wiped out in this farce, and DCG's market-making and lending company Genesis faced solvency issues. This has caused unprecedented panic among industry market makers, and in the aftermath, market makers tend to halt operations, leading to a significant decline in market liquidity in the crypto industry. This article primarily demystifies market makers and educates readers on the basics of market making.

3. "A Comprehensive Analysis of the Web3 Identity Stack: Moving Towards Digital Sovereignty"

This article provides an in-depth analysis of Web3 identity, covering the core concepts of decentralized identity, the evolution of identity on the internet, a layered overview of the Web3 identity infrastructure stack, and developments related to privacy primitives. The study finds that decentralized identity is a large project requiring the efforts of the entire ecosystem, converging on standards, iterating on primitives, and mutually checking the impact of design decisions. The article analyzes that new cryptographic tools like zkSNARKs will be an important part of the next generation of identity infrastructure.