Evening News | Sequoia Capital launches new fund and plans to expand investments in the Web3 sector; multiple crypto companies significantly reduce staff

Organizer: Biscuit, Chain Catcher

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

1. Bitcoin falls below $21,000, with $1.12 billion liquidated in the crypto market in 24 hours

According to Coinglass statistics, 258,042 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with a total liquidation amount of $1.12 billion. Bitcoin fell below $21,000 around 9 AM Beijing time, and Ethereum dropped below $1,100. (Source link)

2. BitMEX founder: Bitcoin and Ethereum face significant selling pressure at $20,000 and $1,000 respectively

BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes tweeted that due to a large number of traders selling put options, they must sell spot to hedge delta, and as the strike price approaches, filling the hedge position will lead to significant selling pressure.

Arthur Hayes believes that once Bitcoin falls below $20,000 and Ethereum below $1,000, the spot market will face pressure due to traders' hedging, and some over-the-counter traders may go bankrupt due to improper hedging. (Source link)

3. Sequoia Capital launches two new funds totaling $2.85 billion to expand investments in the Web3 space

Sequoia Capital's Sequoia India and Southeast Asia announced the launch of two new funds: the Sequoia Capital India Early Stage Venture and Growth Fund (approximately $2 billion) and the Sequoia Capital Southeast Asia Dedicated Fund (approximately $850 million).

It is reported that the two funds will continue to focus on areas such as SaaS and fintech while further expanding their investment scope to include Web3, having previously invested in Web3 startups like CoinSwitch Kuber and Polygon. (TechCrunch)

4. JPMorgan downgrades Coinbase rating from overweight to neutral

JPMorgan has downgraded Coinbase's rating from overweight to neutral and lowered its target price for the stock COIN from $171 to $68.

It is reported that JPMorgan stated in a report on Tuesday that the extreme decline in the cryptocurrency market in the second quarter of this year, combined with Coinbase's increasing external investments, means that the exchange is unlikely to generate profits in the short term. JPMorgan estimates that Coinbase's trading volume will decline by more than 30% in the second quarter after a 40% drop in the first quarter.

After the report was released, Coinbase's stock price fell more than 11% in pre-market trading to $52.01. (Coindesk)

5. Amber Group acquires Hong Kong SFC-licensed financial group Celera Markets

Cryptofinancial service provider Amber Group announced the acquisition of financial group Celera Markets Limited, which previously obtained full licensing from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).

Through this acquisition, Amber Group has obtained five types of SFC licenses, including Type 1, Type 2, Type 4, Type 5, and Type 9, enabling the company to provide a wide range of services, including consulting and trading for securities and futures contracts, as well as asset management services. (Source link)

6. Binance currently has over 2,000 job vacancies, expanding recruitment and accelerating M&A activities

According to Fortune magazine, Binance co-founder Yi He stated that Binance currently has over 2,000 job vacancies, including positions in engineering, product, marketing, and business development.

Additionally, Bloomberg reported that Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao stated in a recent meeting that bear markets are a great time for cryptocurrency companies to hire more staff and increase investments. He mentioned that Binance has a "very healthy" war chest and is indeed expanding recruitment, while also "accelerating M&A activities." Zhao believes that there are many projects during bull markets, but the premiums are usually high, and Binance is looking to increase investments and grow its expanding portfolio to "maximize the benefits of the crypto winter." (Bloomberg)

7. Due to continued market downturn, Crypto.com to lay off 5%, and crypto lending company BlockFi to lay off 20%

Due to the ongoing market downturn, Crypto.com will lay off 260 employees, accounting for 5% of the company's total workforce. Crypto.com CEO Marszalek stated that the layoffs are a "difficult but necessary" decision aimed at "ensuring long-term sustainable growth."

Additionally, BlockFi CEO Zac Prince tweeted that the company will lay off about 20%, stating, "Like many others in the tech industry, we are affected by the sharp changes in macroeconomic conditions, which have negatively impacted our growth rate. Therefore, our top priority is to achieve profitability so that we can extend our runway and control our destiny."

"What excellent articles are worth reading in the past 24 hours?"

1. “Foresight Ventures: The Present, Obstacles, Competition, and Future of Rollups”

This article focuses on the Ethereum Layer 2 Rollup universe (only including Secured rollups), starting from simple and understandable core concepts and mechanism designs to explore the pros and cons of current Rollups and envision their potential routes and solutions for decentralization, further scalability, composability, and privacy features in the future.

2. “What problems are likely to arise as DAOs rapidly develop?”

DAOs are continuously securing increasingly "huge" funding in our view, while there has also been much heated discussion about DAOs in the market. As more newcomers join DAOs and the pace of business expansion does not keep up with the influx of personnel, will many problems arise? This article will attempt to explore the common dilemmas and solutions faced by DAOs in rapid development.

3. “In-depth Analysis of PoS Economic Landscape: Will Staking Drive the Next Bull Market?”

Most blockchains have shifted to Proof of Stake, as it allows them to achieve high performance, faster settlement speeds, environmental sustainability, scalability, lower security costs, and flexible architecture compared to Proof of Work methods. This article will analyze how the staking market will develop next, based on data from Ethereum's competing chains, node providers, and liquid staking pools.