Evening News | Zhao Changpeng claims the cryptocurrency industry has begun to recover; WazirX accuses Binance of coercing it to issue misleading statements

Organizer: Cookies, ChainCatcher

"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"

1. Zhao Changpeng: The industry has begun to recover, and last year's failed crypto projects may indirectly affect the development of traditional financial practitioners

Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng tweeted, "In the short term, several failed cryptocurrency projects last year hindered the growth of the cryptocurrency industry. But the industry has begun to recover. In the long term, the failure of these projects has hindered traditional financial practitioners from adopting crypto technology, which may lead them to fall further behind on the adoption curve, potentially impacting their career survival in the next 10 to 20 years." (Source link)

2. Bloomberg: SkyBridge Capital's largest fund lost 39% last year due to wrong bets on cryptocurrencies and FTX

According to Bloomberg, citing insiders, the well-known asset management company SkyBridge Capital's largest fund lost 39% last year due to wrong bets on cryptocurrencies and some investments related to FTX. SkyBridge's largest fund had $1.3 billion in assets at the end of the third quarter last year, but after FTX filed for bankruptcy protection in November, the fund's net value significantly shrank. Among them, cryptocurrency assets accounted for 28% of the fund, while shares of FTX and other crypto companies accounted for 14%.

The decline in stock prices triggered a massive redemption by investors, who demanded to redeem 60% of the company's capital before the September 30 deadline. According to a document from January, only 10% of the funds have been returned to investors so far. SkyBridge had previously offered investors four redemption periods, promising to return at least 25% of cash each quarter, but the redemption periods have now been reduced to two. (Source link)

3. Sources: BH Digital has acquired the entire liquidity strategy team from Dragonfly

According to The Block, citing two sources, Kevin Hu, the former partner and head of liquidity strategies at Dragonfly, has recently joined Brevan Howard's crypto division BH Digital, and BH Digital has acquired the entire liquidity strategy team from Dragonfly. Both BH Digital and Dragonfly declined to comment on this.

It is reported that Brevan Howard manages over $30 billion in assets for institutional investors, such as sovereign wealth funds and corporate and public pension plans. (Source link)

4. Binance demands crypto exchange WazirX to issue a clarification statement and remove all Binance-related content from its terms of service

Binance sent a letter to Indian crypto exchange WazirX, requesting WazirX to issue a pre-written "clarification statement" retracting the statement made by WazirX co-founder Nischal Shetty regarding Binance's ownership of WazirX. Additionally, Binance demanded that WazirX remove all mentions of Binance from its terms of service, or else Binance may terminate its service agreement with WazirX before February 3.

WazirX refused to retract its previous statement that Binance had acquired WazirX, stating that the so-called "clarification statement" is "unethical" and attempts to use "media pressure and threats to force Zanmai (the parent company behind WazirX) to issue false and misleading statements as 'clarifications'." Shetty also stated in the letter that Binance has profited significantly from its control over the exchange.

Previously, ChainCatcher reported in August that WazirX's Mumbai office was raided by Indian officials due to the exchange's alleged assistance in laundering money for 16 fintech companies. Binance immediately took steps to publicly distance itself from WazirX. The blog post initially celebrating the acquisition was modified to "limited to an agreement to purchase certain assets and intellectual property." On August 5, Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng stated on Twitter, "Binance does not own any equity in Zanmai Labs, which operates WazirX." (Source link)

5. Adidas' Web3 studio "/// Studio" will vote to elect 15 council members on February 7

Adidas' Web3 studio "/// Studio" will vote to elect 15 council members through Snapshot on February 7, with 8 members elected by users and 7 by "/// Studio." Participants will use "adidas ITM NFT" to vote, with the voting ending on February 14, 2023.

It is reported that council members will be awarded a council honor badge (Non-Transferable Token), which grants exclusive Discord roles and access to "/// studio" exclusive channels, with an opportunity to meet with the adidas team each year.

According to ChainCatcher's previous report, Adidas established the Web3 studio "/// Studio," which will be responsible for developing and delivering global Web 3.0 initiatives. (Source link)

6. Crypto financial services company Matrixport announces 10% layoffs and restructuring of leadership

According to Bloomberg, Wu Jihan's Singapore-based crypto financial services company Matrixport announced it is restructuring its leadership and will lay off 10% of its staff. Additionally, insiders revealed that Matrix Asset Management CEO Damien Loh and Head of Business Development and Investor Relations I Z Wong have both left the company. (Bloomberg)

7. Azuki "official Twitter hacked" incident resulted in user losses of approximately $780,000, with one user's address hacked for 751,000 USDC

According to The Block, users lost approximately $780,000 in the Azuki "official Twitter hacked" incident. Additionally, data provided by Web3 security researcher Fantasy shows that few addresses were affected in this incident, with one user address starting with 0x3ec hacked for 751,000 USDC, while other users lost small amounts of ETH, NFTs, and other project tokens. The hacker has since converted all USDC into ETH. (Source link)

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

1. "A Great Start! In the Past 7 Days, You Might Have Missed These Hotspots and Ecological Opportunities"

In this article, ChainCatcher has selected all hotspots and ecological opportunities from the past 7 days, allowing readers to quickly capture the dynamics of the crypto field while enjoying the Spring Festival. Including Aptos's surge, Xiaohongshu's Web3 ambitions, Injective deploying ecological funds, and FTX disclosing the complete list of institutional creditors…

2. "Bankless Co-founder: Ethereum Will Ignite the Industrial Revolution of the Internet"

Ethereum is the first profitable blockchain in existence, with its economic engine generating a large output, but this energy has not been captured by Ethereum's actual economy. The revenue obtained by the Ethereum-focused PoW industry represents the total economic leakage that Ethereum has failed to contain. Some mistakenly believe that ETH deflation will suppress Ethereum's economic activity. On the contrary, ETH deflation increases the availability of all other forms of capital and encourages investment and activity of that capital.

3. "A&T Capital: 2023 Web3 Trend Report (Essence Edition)"

In 2022, the crypto industry experienced significant events such as the FTX collapse, Luna crash, and Ethereum's upgrade merge. The market is adjusting, but the power of innovation has not stopped flowing in. A&T Capital has released the "Web3 Trend Report 2023," making 6 predictions about this year's innovation tracks and applications, and this article is the Chinese essence edition.

4. "Adam Cochran: 23 Crypto Projects to Watch in 2023"

The annual Crypto "shopping list" is here again. When the market drops significantly, you may not have time to research individual assets, and you might miss a great buying opportunity. This Crypto shopping list starts with establishing themes and purchasing plans. The themes are catalysts that will drive the market in the next 3-5 years, and the purchasing plan refers to the scale of purchasing each asset and the conditions under which to buy.