Evening News | Amber completes $300 million financing; Zhao Changpeng responds to "delisting MITH"
Aztec completed a $100 million financing led by a16z; the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's cryptocurrency futures ETF has raised $73.6 million.整理：flowie，ChainCatcher
"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"
1. Amber Group Announces Completion of $300 Million Series C Financing, Led by Fenbushi Capital US
Amber Group's official Twitter announced the completion of $300 million in Series C financing, led by Fenbushi Capital US, with participation from other crypto-native investors and family offices.
Amber Group stated that before the FTX collapse, it raised Series B+ funding at a valuation of $3 billion to prepare for a potentially prolonged crypto winter, and continued with Series C financing after the FTX collapse. With the support of investors, its primary focus for 2023 is on core business and customers.
Previously, on December 9, the Financial Times reported that Amber Group had raised approximately $50 million from a new sovereign fund, with the deal to be announced in January. The new capital values the company at $3 billion, unchanged from February. (Source link)
2. Aztec Completes $100 Million Series B Financing, Led by a16z
The ZK Rollup-based privacy and scalability solution Aztec Network announced the completion of $100 million in Series B financing, led by a16z, with participation from A Capital, Variant, SV Angel, HashKey Capital, Fenbushi Capital, Alumni Ventures, and others.
It is reported that this round of financing will be used to expand the engineering team globally. Over the past year, the Aztec team has grown from 7 to 40 people, and Aztec hopes to double this number in the short term. (Source link)
3. Former U.S. President Trump Issues NFT Collection on Polygon, Priced at $99 Each
Former U.S. President Trump released a series of NFT collectibles on his social media platform truthsocial, based on Polygon, with a total of 45,000 pieces priced at $99 each, stating that purchasing 45 digital trading cards would give buyers a chance to win a dinner ticket with Trump. "This will make a great Christmas gift. Don't wait. I believe they will disappear soon!" Trump wrote. (Source link)
4. Hong Kong Stock Exchange's Cryptocurrency Futures ETF Completes $73.6 Million Fundraising
According to Reuters, despite the current downturn in the crypto market, the cryptocurrency futures ETF under CSOP Asset Management, set to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, has raised as much as $73.6 million before its listing, with the CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF raising $53.9 million.
Yi Wang, head of quantitative investment at CSOP Asset Management, stated that the two crypto futures ETFs indicate Hong Kong's open attitude towards the development of virtual assets. Earlier, ChainCatcher reported that the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will list the CSOP cryptocurrency futures ETF at a trading price of HKD 780 per lot this Friday. (Source link)
5. FTX Current Team Requests Court Approval to Sell LedgerX and Three Other Subsidiaries
According to The Block, the current FTX team has requested the U.S. Federal Bankruptcy Court to auction FTX's derivatives trading platform LedgerX, stock clearing platform Embed, FTX Japan, and FTX Europe early next year. The law firm Sullivan and Cromwell explained that "the longer these companies remain suspended, the greater the risk to asset value and the risk of permanent license revocation."
Initial bids will be due from mid-January to early February, with final bids taking place from mid-February to mid-March, and the auction date set for late February to late March. After these auctions, U.S. Delaware bankruptcy court judge John Dorsey will hold a hearing to approve the winning bids. Objections to the sale proposals will be due by December 29, with a hearing on the subject scheduled for January 11. (The Block)
6. Armanino and Mazars Suspend Crypto Audit Business
According to Forbes, citing two informed sources, Armanino is suspending its crypto audit business. It is reported that last month, Armanino faced a lawsuit for failing to detect violations after auditing FTX.US last year, filed by FTX customer Stephen Pierce. Armanino is concerned about potential damage to its reputation, prompting the suspension of its crypto audit business.
Earlier reports indicated that the auditing firm Mazars has also suspended services for cryptocurrency clients. (Source link)
7. Zhao Changpeng Responds to MITH Delisting: Project Team Encountered Issues, Binance Team Has the Right to Act According to Contract Terms
Binance founder Zhao Changpeng explained on social media the reasons for the "delisting of MITH," stating that the price of MITH has fallen far below its initial release level, and the project's website is offline. The project's official Twitter account has not posted or updated the community for nearly two years. He believes the Binance team made the right decision in this matter and acted fully within their rights.
According to the cooperation agreement provisions provided by Zhao Changpeng, if the project's token price remains below 50% of $0.13 for 15 consecutive days, or if there are any adverse events related to the token or project that affect Binance users, Binance has the right to deduct all or any part of the deposit as an additional fee.
Earlier reports indicated that Binance announced yesterday that it would stop trading and delist MITH at 17:00 on December 22 due to non-compliance with project review standards. Subsequently, MITH's official account accused Binance of unilaterally terminating the cooperation and demanded the return of a deposit of 200,000 BNB. (Source link)
8. Web3 Infrastructure Company Blocknative Completes $15 Million Series A1 Financing, Led by Distributed Global and Others
Web3 infrastructure company Blocknative announced the completion of $15 million in Series A1 financing, led by Blockchain Capital, Foundry Group, Rho, IOSG Ventures, Robot Ventures, Fenbushi Capital, HackVC, Industry Ventures, and others. Blocknative will use this funding to expand its block building infrastructure. To date, Blocknative has raised a total of $34 million.
It is reported that Blocknative was founded in 2018, and the company's real-time infrastructure enables validators and seekers to optimize staking rewards and trading profits. Blocknative's transaction orchestration platform prices, previews, distributes, and monitors transactions for Web3 users. (Source link)
9. NFT Infrastructure Platform Bonfire Completes $6.2 Million Seed Round Financing, with Participation from Coinbase Ventures and Others
NFT infrastructure platform Bonfire announced the completion of $6.2 million in seed round financing, with participation from NEA, Variant Fund, Palm Tree Crew Crypto, Libertus Capital, Collab Currency, Pear VC, Coinbase Ventures, Not Boring Capital, and Seed Club Ventures, as well as angel investors Cooper Turley, Lenny Rachitsky, Maya Bakhai, Trevor McFredries, and Cuy Sheffield.
It is reported that Bonfire allows its partners to create custom NFT-integrated Web3 websites, enabling creators to attract fans through launching and publishing NFTs. The platform has completed its testing work. (Source link)
"What Exciting Articles Are Worth Reading in the Last 24 Hours"
1. “a16z Excited About a Few Things in the Crypto Space for 2023”
a16z released a list of technological bottlenecks that builders may break through in the coming year, highlighting a list of innovations (big ideas) that startups in their respective fields may solve in 2023, according to various a16z partners. This list covers general innovative technologies, game developers, growth drivers for U.S. companies, AI fintech, and of course, cryptocurrencies. Below are some things that have the engineering, research, and investment teams' partners excited about the future.
2. “Bixin Ventures: Diving into NFT Market Data, Uncovering New Trends in NFT Market Iteration”*
What will the future of the NFT market look like? Will Opensea continue to dominate the NFT market? This article examines the current landscape by comparing three major stakeholders, including the direct market represented by Opensea, the aggregator represented by Gem.xyz, and the new form of market represented by Sudoswap. It also explores some gaps in NFT market projects and discusses emerging trends that may affect the future iteration of the NFT market.
Where is capital flowing in the post-FTX era? Which projects have benefited from the FTX collapse? Can we find light in the depths of cryptocurrency's misfortune and gloom? Bankless analyzed the DeFi metrics that have been rising since the FTX implosion and inferred what these trends mean for cryptocurrencies and future strategies.
