Evening News | DCG CEO admits the company borrowed $1.1 billion from Genesis; well-known institutions such as Paradigm, Alameda Research, and 3AC participated in LDO transactions in 2021
Binance admits that BUSD had reserve management deficiencies in 2020 and 2021, sometimes being under-collateralized; a U.S. court has preliminarily approved Binance.US's acquisition of Voyager assets for $1 billion.整理：西昻翔，ChainCatcher
"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"
1. DCG CEO's Letter to Shareholders: Borrowed $1.1 Billion from Genesis, Notes Due in 2032
According to CoinDesk, DCG CEO Barry Silbert disclosed debt issues with its subsidiary in a recent letter to shareholders: DCG has a $1.1 billion note due in 2032 with Genesis, along with $447.5 million in cash owed to the subsidiary, plus 4,550 bitcoins (worth about $78 million), borrowed at an interest rate of 10% to 12% between January 2022 and May 2022.
Silbert explained that each wholly-owned subsidiary of DCG has its own bank accounts, securities accounts, and crypto accounts, maintaining separate books and records without issues of fund commingling. These loans were made on a fair trading basis and priced at current market rates. Regarding DCG's role in Genesis's restructuring efforts, Silbert stated, "Due to DCG's outstanding loans and notes to Genesis, DCG executives (including Genesis board members) have no decision-making power in this matter."
Earlier yesterday, Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss publicly called for the DCG board to remove CEO Silbert. (Source link)
2. Lookonchain: Notable Institutions Including Paradigm, Alameda Research, and 3AC Participated in LDO Trading
According to an analysis of on-chain transaction data by Lookonchain, notable institutions such as Paradigm, Jump Trading, Alameda Research, 3AC, Dragonfly, Robot Ventures, and DeFiance Capital participated in LDO trading in May 2021. Among them:
Paradigm bought 70 million LDO at a cost of $0.76 and still holds 70 million;
Jump Trading bought approximately 5.6 million at a cost of $0.85 and still holds about 4.3 million;
Alameda Research bought approximately 5.4 million at a cost of $0.74 and still holds about 1.65 million;
3AC bought 3.5 million LDO at a cost of $0.7 and still holds 3.1 million;
Dragonfly Capital bought approximately 1.87 million LDO at a cost of $0.75 and currently holds nearly 25 million;
Robot Ventures bought approximately 940,000 LDO at a cost of $0.7 and currently holds about 940,000;
DeFiance Capital bought 2.08 million LDO at a cost of $0.7 and currently holds a total of 7.1 million. (Source link)
3. Bloomberg: Binance Acknowledges Reserve Management Flaws in BUSD During 2020 and 2021, Sometimes Under-Collateralized
According to Bloomberg, citing data from blockchain analytics firm ChainArgos, BUSD was often under-collateralized during 2020 and 2021, sometimes resulting in over $1 billion in missing collateral. Binance acknowledged that there were management flaws in BUSD reserves in 2020 and 2021, leading to instances of under-collateralization and not being fully backed.
A Binance spokesperson stated, "The process of maintaining full backing involves many teams and is not always flawless, which may have led to operational delays in the past," emphasizing that BUSD is currently fully backed and that there is no impact on Paxos. (Source link)
4. U.S. Court Grants Preliminary Approval for Binance.US to Acquire Voyager Assets for $1 Billion
According to Reuters, a U.S. court granted preliminary approval yesterday for Voyager Digital to sell its assets to Binance.US for $1 billion, but this is not a final decision before a court hearing. Currently, Voyager's sale plan is under investigation by the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS).
Voyager attorney Joshua Sussberg stated that Voyager plans to eliminate any risks of CFIUS opposing the transaction. If CFIUS blocks the deal, Voyager will be forced to repay customers with the cryptocurrencies it holds, but the funds received by customers will be reduced. (Source link)
5. AEX Founder Huang Tianwei: Will Actively Assume Responsibility, Main Task is to Promote Asset Exchange to Address User Demands
AEX founder Huang Tianwei tweeted, "The situation has improved somewhat; it is not as pessimistic as imagined, but we are not yet at an optimistic stage. Since things are not yet concluded, many things are inconvenient to discuss, but my attitude has always been clear, and I will actively assume the responsibilities I should. The main task in the future is to work hard to bring AUSD closer to USDT and to exchange the assets on hand to resolve everyone's demands more quickly and effectively, even though this is not something that can be resolved in the short term, I believe that one day the goal will be achieved."
ChainCatcher previously reported that in July 2022, AEX announced it would suspend platform services at the request of the police; in January this year, AEX released Solution 2, proposing to transfer some platform assets at a discount to customers for AUSD destruction. (Source link)
6. Goldman Sachs Launches New Emerging Digital Asset Platform GS DAP
Goldman Sachs has officially launched its new emerging digital asset platform, GS DAP. The platform is developed based on the Daml smart contract language and the privacy blockchain Canton, ensuring that digital assets are shared only with qualified stakeholders through its privacy protocol, while supporting the scalability required for globally connected assets.
It is reported that in November 2022, the European Investment Bank (EIB) used the platform to issue €100 million in two-year digital bonds, which were accepted by the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. (Source link)
7. Gitcoin Announces Alpha Round Funding to Take Place from January 17 to January 31, Supporting Open Source Software, Ethereum Infrastructure, and Climate Solutions Projects
Gitcoin officially announced that the Gitcoin Alpha Round secondary funding will take place from January 17 to January 31, 2023, supporting 200 beneficiaries dedicated to open source software, Ethereum infrastructure, and climate solutions, with a total matching fund of $1 million.
It is noted that in the Alpha testing round, donors can claim a POAP for each round they participate in, and users who collect all POAPs will be eligible to enter a lottery to win a Schelling Point VIP package, including $150 worth of Gitcoin products.
Additionally, in 2023, Gitcoin will transition to a blockchain-based grant protocol, allowing anyone to initiate secondary funding grant projects. This protocol will enable funders to establish a grant project at any time, increasing flexibility for beneficiaries who can apply across different rounds and for donors wishing to provide small amounts of funding. (Source link)
8. Venture Capital Firm 1confirmation Releases Year-End LP Letter, Allocating $119 Million in Cash
Nick Tomaino, founding partner of venture capital firm 1confirmation, announced on Twitter the year-end LP letter stating that 1confirmation Fund I and Fund II allocated $119 million in cash to partners, while Fund III and NFT Fund have made 15 new investments and currently hold shares and tokens in projects such as Ethereum, OpenSea, Cosmos, dYdX, and SuperRare.
It is reported that Fund I currently has a net distribution of 4.47 times the paid-in capital, with an IRR of 144.28%; Fund II currently has a net distribution of 1.2 times the paid-in capital, with an IRR of 173%. (Source link)
"What Interesting Articles Are Worth Reading in the Last 24 Hours"
1. “Wang Feng Talks with He Yi: How to Face the Dilemma of Web3 Today?”
Recently, the "POWER Hong Kong Web3 Innovators Summit" was held in Hong Kong, where MarsBit founder Wang Feng connected via video with Binance co-founder & CMO, and head of Binance Labs, He Yi. They discussed Binance's recent situation and market investments, and this article is a transcript of their conversation.
2. “Full Text of DCG Founder’s Letter to Shareholders: 19 Questions Address Everything”
Regarding DCG's business model, the true relationship with wholly-owned subsidiaries, how much is owed to Genesis Capital, the relationship with FTX, the relationship with Three Arrows Capital, and whether there is a relationship with Terra Luna, the DCG founder responded to market questions through these 19 questions.
Lootex is a player-centric cross-chain NFT trading platform that successfully completed a $9 million financing in January 2022, and its token LOOT was also launched on Huobi IEO. This article is an interview with Lootex co-founder Zeng Yingjie, invited by ChainCatcher. Zeng discussed the entrepreneurial story and development plan of Lootex, community operations, and experiences adapting to overseas markets. Additionally, he shared his thoughts on GameFi, gaming guilds, and P2E models. In his view, despite the proliferation of NFT trading platforms, collaboration outweighs competition, and market differentiation should be sought. A reasonable direction for future development should be to increase the intersection of NFT collectors and players.
4. “Bankless Talks with Vitalik: Where Will Ethereum and the Crypto Industry Go in 2023?”
This article comes from a podcast featuring Vitalik Buterin and Bankless. In this conversation, Vitalik shared his reflections on the crypto industry in 2022 and his hopes for 2023. He also presented his views on various use cases of Ethereum (such as currency, DeFi DApps, identity, DAOs, and hybrid applications).
