SEC - Page 334

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc is facing a patent lawsuit related to its digital trading technology, brought by a crypto company whose digital token offering led to a settlement with U.S. securities regulators in 2019.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday by Veritaseum Capital LLC in Delaware federal court, claims Coinbase infringed a patent awarded to Veritaseum founder Reggie Middleton by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last December.

Veritaseum Capital accused several Coinbase services, including its blockchain infrastructure for validating transactions, of infringing the patent. It asked the court for at least $350 million in damages.

Coinbase, one of the world’s largest platforms for trading cryptocurrency, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Veritaseum formerly issued the token VERI. In 2019 Middleton and two of his Veritaseum entities paid the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission more than $9.4 million, including a $1 million penalty against Middleton himself, to settle charges of a “fraudulent scheme” to sell the token in 2017 and 2018.

The SEC had accused them of misleading investors about demand for the tokens and manipulating their price, among other things. They agreed to the settlement without denying or admitting to the underlying charges.

Middleton and Veritaseum argued to a Brooklyn federal court earlier in 2019 that they did not make any fraudulent statements, that the tokens were not securities, and that trading at issue was “actually an effort by Mr. Middleton to test out a new online cryptocurrency exchange.”

Veritaseum’s website says it “builds blockchain-based, peer-to-peer capital markets as software on a global scale.” Thursday’s lawsuit accuses Coinbase features including its website, mobile app and Coinbase Cloud, Pay, and Wallet services of infringing a patent covering a secure method for processing digital-currency transactions.

Veritaseum Capital’s attorney Carl Brundidge of Brundidge Stanger said Friday that Coinbase was “uncooperative” when they tried to settle out of court.

Middleton and Veritaseum separately sued T-Mobile in 2020, alleging the telecom company’s security lapses led to hackers stealing $8.7 million in cryptocurrency from them. T-Mobile contested the claims, and the case was sent to arbitration in August.

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US, NY, 22nd September, 2022, Chainwire

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As the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) continues to reign the NFT space and going well beyond towards the mass adoption, we see the rise of projects using the full potential of renowned jpegs – as BAYC owners have full intellectual property rights over their NFTs. Recently the ecosystem has attracted a lot of big names that utilize IP offered by BAYC, like Snoop Dogg and Eminem who smashed the VMAs rocking their ape personas like nobody’s watching.

Now the Yuga Labs IP ecosystem is joined by the Bored & Lucky, the world’s  first Bored Ape raffle platform. The platform offers everyone a fair chance to win blue chip NFTs and join some of the most exclusive NFT-gated communities in Web3, like BAYC, MAYC, and CryptoPunks.

How it works

The whole process is fully transparent – all Bored & Lucky raffles are Ethereum smart contract based. The NFT prize and the funds received from the ticket sales are locked in the contract and the only way to release them is via a raffle process that is 100% fair for all parties involved.

The winning ticket is determined in a completely random and fair manner. To guarantee transparency and unbiased approach the winner is determined by smart contract via transaction on blockchain using Chainlink VRF to independently generate a random number to draw a winner.

There are currently 3 open raffles featuring a MAYC, a BAYC, and a CryptoPunk, with the very first DeadFellaz #1175 NFT already raffled away to a new winner.

Who is BAYC #4619

BAYC #4691 is an incredibly lucky ape who has made his fortune on smart crypto investment choices. A real connoisseur of art and all things classy, he’s now chasing away the boredom by spreading the luck and organizing raffles with life-changing blue chip NFTs.

For more information on Bored & Lucky visit https://boredlucky.com/

About Chainlink

Chainlink is the industry standard for building, accessing, and selling oracle services needed to power hybrid smart contracts on any blockchain. Chainlink oracle networks provide smart contracts with a way to reliably connect to any external API and leverage secure off-chain computations for enabling feature-rich applications. Chainlink currently secures tens of billions of dollars across DeFi, insurance, gaming, and other major industries, and offers global enterprises and leading data providers a universal gateway to all blockchains.

For more information on Chainlink visit https://chain.link/

About Yuga Labs

The possibilities for blockchain’s impact on culture are endless. Yuga Labs is a Web3 platform building most known for the creation of the Bored Ape Yacht Club and a recent Metaverse project Otherside, as well as acquisition of CryptoPunks and Meebits. 

For more information on Yuga Labs visit https://www.yuga.com 

Contact

• BAYC #4619
• boredlucky@gmail.com

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Zug, Switzerland, 22nd September, 2022, Chainwire

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Unveiling multiple technological breakthroughs, SupraOracles is excited to announce its novel cross-chain oracle infrastructure enabling highly accurate, robust data porting across a multitude of blockchains and DLTs with only 3-5 second finality. Now, with over 550+ signed integration partners, they’re officially announcing the launch of their Alpha testnet as they progress towards mainnet in early 2023.

To jumpstart momentum, Supra has partnered with Dorahacks, the host of BNB Grants and BNB Global Hackathons, by sponsoring and providing its oracle service to over 4,000-5,000 developers worldwide. Developers interested in adding this new, institutional grade oracle to their Web3 toolkit are invited to apply to the Supra Network Activate Program: https://join.supraoracles.com/network-activation-program

Oracles play a key role in Web3 projects. Developers need oracles to securely connect their decentralized applications (dApps) with timely, accurate data originating from other blockchains or real-world sources. This opens up a world of use cases such as exotic derivatives backed by real-world assets, options markets, multi-lateral clearing and settlement across public blockchains and DLT networks, that otherwise are simply not feasible with incumbent oracles today. 

Supra’s PhD driven research team, led by the renowned Dr. Aniket Kate, has prioritized a number of novel principles in their design that brings a new gold standard to how oracles should perform. The most crucial being security of the core data, decentralization of nodes and consensus, auditability of data provenance, and cost efficient, predictable budgeting for consumers. 

With these innovations, Supra has received recognition from Web3 incubators like Mastercard’s Start Path program, Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator, and Silicon Valley’s Plug and Play, which recently named Supra among their top 10 up-and-coming Web3 projects.

Supra is drawing near to the launch of their incentivized testnet in Q4, with a roadmap that includes activities for developers to begin their testing:

• 2022 Early October: Launch Data Dashboards, documentation for Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Avalanche, Aptos testnet chains
• 2022 Late October: Supra’s VRF service documentation
• 2022 November: Node Operators Onboarding launch
• 2022 December: Incentivized testnet live, whitepapers unveiled
• 2023 Early Q2: Mainnet goes live

Node Operators interested in learning about Supra’s block rewards and incentivization programs are invited to join the Discord community to know more: https://discord.io/supraoracles.

SupraOracles CEO, Joshua Tobkin commented, “We’ve built oracles that will undoubtedly exceed the typical expectations of cross-chain solutions, and we’re proud to bring forth a world-class product to the industry to help blockchains do even more incredible things.” 

About SupraOracles

SupraOracles is supercharging oracles for a better, decentralized future. Blockchains need better, faster, accurate, and more secure off-chain data. SupraOracles provides a next-generation cross-chain oracle solution so smart contracts and blockchain apps work better.

After 5+ years of research, and thousands of hours of R&D and simulations, SupraOracles’ revolutionary technical breakthrough helps solve the Oracle Dilemma while improving performance across the board. The team’s academic mindset forms the bedrock of the organization and reinforces their commitment to deep research and a rigorous scientific process in everything they design and build.

Contact

Media contact

• Christopher Sealey
• SupraOracles
• chris@serotonin.co

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Majuro, Marshall Islands, 21st September, 2022, Chainwire

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What’s better than low fees? No fees. Gate.io is excited to announce ZERO trading fees on most spot and contract market trading pairs. The no-fee structure was launched in two phases, first on September 16 (UTC) and then on September 20 (UTC), for spot and other markets, respectively.

After a breakthrough year for the exchange, this radical change in fees is an ambitious move to give back to the crypto community. The removal of fees on this scale is unmatched by any other mainstream exchange, making Gate.io the industry’s most affordable platform for crypto trading.

Zero-fee breakdown

As a gesture of goodwill to millions of users worldwide, maker and taker fees on all spot market USD, BTC, and ETH quote currency trading pairs and BTC/USDT have been completely removed as of September 16 (UTC). As of September 20 at 10:00 (UTC), there will be no fees on all spot ETF pairs, USD-M and BTC-M perpetual futures pairs, USDT-M and BTC-M delivery futures pairs.

USD-pegged stablecoins such as USDC, TUSD, PAX, BUSD, and HUSD are denominated in USD and can be traded as USD spot pairs without the need for conversion and with no fees. With USD-pegged stables being the most commonly traded stablecoins on the market, having no fees helps make trading much cheaper. These reduced fees will remain in place indefinitely until further notice.

United with the crypto community

The crypto market has been pretty sluggish so far this year, so Gate.io is lending a hand to users so they can weather the storm together.

Though recently, Ethereum’s Merge has managed to spark the interest of its supporters and the entire crypto community. The ability to trade ETH at no cost will support the Ethereum community and, as an extension, its thriving ecosystem. And regardless of the ongoing bear market, Bitcoin still stands as the most traded digital asset by a wide margin. Making BTC a no-fee asset helps ease the trading experience for millions of users.

Fewer fees. Fewer worries.

Gate.io makes trading a secure, easy, and low-cost experience so traders can better focus on their positions and strategies and worry less about the rest.

Eliminating trading fees is another user experience enhancement following Gate.io’s 9th anniversary, which also included refreshed branding, lower and more flexible fees platform-wide, trading competitions with multi-million dollar max prize pools, and much more.

On Gate.io, user asset security is always priority number one. It was the first exchange to provide verifiable user asset reserves audit by a certified firm and is currently in the process of another audit. Meaning all user assets on the exchange are genuinely held and available for withdrawal at any time.

With nearly a decade of refinement, fine-tuning, and industry experience, Gate.io provides a comprehensive and safe trading experience trusted by millions of crypto users worldwide. Users can trade over 1,500 cryptocurrencies on over 2,500 trading pairs in the spot and futures market and access lending, contracts, options, NFTs, Web3, copy trading, exclusive fee discounts and bonus rewards.

About Gate.io

Established in 2013, Gate.io is one of the pioneers in the crypto industry. It has established a comprehensive ecosystem, which includes a cryptocurrency exchange, public blockchain, decentralized finance, research and analysis, venture capital investing, wallet services, startup incubator labs, and more.

Gate.io offers services related to trading multiple leading digital assets, and it has grown to serve over 10 million users worldwide. It has been consistently ranked as one of the top 10 cryptocurrency exchanges based on liquidity and trading volume on CoinGecko and has received a rating of 4.5 by Forbes Advisor, making it one of the Best Crypto Exchanges for 2021.

Contacts

Head of PR & Communication

• Dion Guillaume
• Gate.io
• dion@gate.io

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San Francisco, California, 21st September, 2022, Chainwire

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As part of a drive to strengthen its contribution to the Nigerian economy, the Lekki Free Zone Development Company (LFZ) is in talks with Gluwa, a blockchain technology company. The pair are looking to partner and use blockchain to foster trade collaboration, growth, and sustainability among new and existing Free Zone enterprises. The partnership would also explore the creation of a Virtual Free Zone within the Lekki Free Zone.

Lekki Free Zone’s Head of Strategy, Innovation & Special Projects, Mr. Tomiwa Idowu, has disclosed that discussions are ongoing between LZF, the Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority, and the Gluwa team.

In a statement, Idowu explained that the partnership, when finalized, will create a dashboard for the tokenization of goods into NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and provide digital asset-backed loans for new and existing enterprises who are looking to fund operations and/or expand their businesses, similar to the integration of OpenSea and Compound.

Idowu shared his vision for innovating the trading and industrial sector in Nigeria and Africa as a whole, bringing it into the modern information age with the Lekki Free Zone at the epicenter.

“I am extremely excited by the enormous potential of such a partnership, which would further establish Lagos State as Africa’s leading sub-national in terms of innovation, economic development and revenue generation,” said Idowu.

He commended the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as a beacon of progress and hope for the nation in general, saying: “Our Governor has always been a firm believer in fast-paced development, which involves using technology to leapfrog bureaucracy and going straight to solving immediate problems.”

Chief Executive Officer at Gluwa, Tae Oh, noted that the firm is keen to partner with the Lekki Free Zone as it is the largest and most developed Free Zone in Nigeria with proximity to the deep-sea port as well as the Dangote refinery, saying: “Trading has been the bedrock of the Nigerian economy, with annual volumes running into billions of dollars.”

He added: “We believe the digitization of the sector can allow us to harness its full potential. For instance, a standard process to digitize goods manufactured or processed within the zone in tandem with a market system on web3 will allow manufacturers to trade globally via the blockchain.

“All trades will be registered and benefit from the incentives of the Lekki Free Zone, such as zero taxation and free circulation of goods. As soon as the goods get settled for export by the in-Zone Customs Processing Center, they will get shipped out straight from the Lekki Free Zone via the deep-sea port.

“This will reduce delays, eliminate human errors, exponentially drive up Nigeria’s non-oil exports and sustain a positive trade balance for the nation. While we are still working out the fine details and a specific framework with NEPZA, we believe it is the future of commerce and trade in Africa.”

About Gluwa

Gluwa is an Open Finance platform, connecting capital from developed markets to emerging market lending opportunities using blockchain technology. By providing the decentralized infrastructure rails to raise and disburse capital anywhere in the world, investors can use the Gluwa Invest platform to partake in debt-financing deals with emerging market fintech lenders, earning up to 15% APY.

Contacts

VP of Business

• Aston Lee
• Gluwa
• support@gluwa.com

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San Francisco, United States / California, 20th September, 2022, Chainwire

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Vehicle theft is a common concern in Europe and Roole, a French automobile club, announced today their partnership with Nodle to help car owners trace and recover their cars. Nodle is a decentralized network of smartphones that work together to locate and connect smart objects, such as Bluetooth tags embedded within vehicles. Nodle users are rewarded with the NODL cryptocurrency in exchange for helping grow the mobile network and locating stolen vehicles.

Off-the-shelf Bluetooth tags are placed on the vehicle, and when an owner reports a vehicle is stolen, the Nodle Network searches for the tag in question. When a vehicle is discovered, the detection is securely routed to Roole.

The entire process, from contributing to the Nodle network to locating vehicles, is based on privacy-first principles where no direct personal data, such as first or last names, are collected.

“We are excited to pilot the Nodle network with our fleet,” says Thomas Fournier, CEO of Roole.  “Multiple, low-cost smart sensors prevent stolen vehicle disassembly, a common practice in Europe where stolen vehicles are sold for parts,” says Fournier. “If a car is stolen from France, for example, and ends up in another country, there’s a good chance we’ll find it, thanks to our partnership with the Nodle Network”

“Roole represents the first step in moving enterprise asset tracking towards a more secure and private model leveraging a decentralized architecture,” says Micha Benoliel, Nodle Founder and CEO. “On-chain services such as Roole provide a powerful, real-life use case for the Nodle network and drive value that anyone with a smartphone can benefit from in the form of Nodle’s native token, NODL.”

Using the Nodle Network’s on-chain API to locate vehicles, Roole works anywhere Nodle exists. This means that if a vehicle ends up in another country, the vehicle can still be located. There are no complex roaming agreements, expensive cellular modules, or GPS. With Bluetooth already running on billions of smartphones, Nodle just works. 

“Roole represents a compelling real-world use case for on-chain smart asset tracking,” says Garrett Kinsman, a Nodle Co-founder. “It represents a shift where non-blockchain or Web2 companies are using decentralized technologies to create new experiences for their customers.” 

In the automotive industry, the Nodle Network has many other potential applications. For instance, ridesharing services want to ensure that drivers are using the vehicle declared on their platform and doing their rides instead of sharing it with somebody else. The Nodle Network can be used to prove that the rider is in the right vehicle, driven by the right driver. Cryptographic proof would be issued without the need for personal data to be shared, tying the vehicle to the driver and the rider. 

In the future, vehicles could even natively support Nodle, allowing anti-theft security to be built into vehicle hardware. In this forthcoming solution, Nodle-enabled vehicles would be extremely difficult to steal, deterring thieves. 

To learn more about Roole you can visit www.roole.fr. To earn cryptocurrency by helping locate Roole vehicles, and other smartphone devices, download nodle.com/cash. 

About Nodle

Nodle connects the physical world to Web3 by using smartphones as edge nodes. The edge nodes read devices and sensors in the physical world using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and connect that information to the blockchain. Creating a geolocation-based layer one that can be used by many unique applications built for the hyper-connected, mobile-oriented world we live in, including real-time asset tracking. Nodle creates an economic model that is secure, private, and scalable. Anyone with a smartphone can join the network in return for Nodle Cash tokens ($NODL). Nodle provides insights for consumer electronics manufacturers, enterprises, smart cities, the finance industry and beyond. Since its creation in 2017, Nodle has become one of the world’s largest wireless networks by number of base stations. To join, download the Nodle app for iOS or Android.

Twitter | Telegram | Discord | YouTube | Medium | GitHub | Website

Contacts

• Carolina Mello
• carolina@nodle.com

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Hackers have stolen digital assets worth around $160 million from crypto trading firm Wintermute, its CEO tweeted on Tuesday, the latest heist to hit a sector long plagued by cybercrime.

The theft targeted London-based Wintermute’s decentralised finance operations, Evgeny Gaevoy said in a tweet. The firm, which provides liquidity across major crypto exchanges and trading platforms, remains solvent after the hack, he added.

Decentralised finance platforms and software, which aim to provide crypto-based financial services without traditional gatekeepers such as banks, have been targeted by numerous heists in recent years. The sector is little-regulated and victims of crime rarely have recourse.

Gaevoy and Wintermute did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Wintermute calls itself “one of the largest players” in global crypto markets. It says it manages “hundreds of millions” in assets and trades more than $5 billion a day.

Gaevoy said on Twitter “there will be a disruption in our services today and potentially for next few days,” adding that some 90 assets were hacked.

“If you are a lender to Wintermute, again, we are solvent, but if you feel safer to recall the loan, we can absolutely do that,” Gaevoy said.

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Sheridan, United States, 20th September, 2022, Chainwire

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Coinshift, the leading treasury management and infrastructure platform that enables DAOs and web3 businesses to manage treasury operations securely and efficiently, is pleased to announce its native integration of Superfluid Protocol (“Superfluid”) within its V2 Dashboard is now live. Coinshift’s native integration of Superfluid allows users to create, view, manage & edit real-time money streams directly from the Coinshift dashboard, enabling them to put web3 payroll on autopilot.

As programmable and automatable second-by-second token flows, salary streams help treasury managers save hours in administrative labor and reduce complexity. 

“We are thrilled to partner with Superfluid – a pioneer in real-time finance and the leading asset streaming protocol for EVM networks – to bring the utility of money streaming to DAOs and crypto-native businesses. Superfluid is a key part of our product roadmap going forward as we build out the foremost treasury management solution for crypto-native organizations, and we look forward to further incorporating Superfluid streaming throughout Coinshift’s treasury management workflows.” – Tarun Gupta, CEO of Coinshift

In addition to being able to start multiple streams in one transaction, web3 treasury managers using Coinshift to stream salaries can enjoy a variety of Coinshift’s best-in-class treasury management features (e.g., tagging and labeling transactions for seamless accounting, adding detailed notes, the ability for non-signers to create proposals). Moreover, when starting/stopping streams via Coinshift, tokens are automatically wrapped just-in-time to keep the streams running without any intervention required from the multi-sig signers.

Salary Streaming Benefits for Crypto-Native Organizations

Reduced time & cognitive effort: Salary streams only require one transaction to start, and they flow in perpetuity until you decide to stop them – drastically reducing the time and cognitive effort of manually managing payouts every month.

Scaleable, gas-efficient payouts: You can set up multiple streams in bulk (including multiple tokens) in a single transaction, and the longer you keep your streams running, the more significant your gas savings are over the long term.

Salary Streaming Benefits for Employees and Contributors

Enhanced financial flexibility: By streaming salaries with Superfluid, employees and contributors receive their income every second as opposed to bi-weekly or monthly, allowing them to spend and invest their money in DeFi as they earn it over time.

Continual reward & incentivization: By using the Perpetual Conditional Rewards token (an UMA KPI option that streams token rewards in proportion to the condition met), employees and contributors can be consistently rewarded and incentivized for achieving certain KPIs.

“Superfluid is a ubiquitous solution for web3 value transfer, and by partnering with Coinshift, we’re making it widely accessible to a diverse range of crypto-native organizations. We’re excited for DAOs, web3 businesses, and their stakeholders to experience the benefits of salary streaming — be it enhanced treasury efficiency or capital flexibility — as they focus on building radically new technologies.” –  Francesco Renzi, Co-Founder and CEO of Superfluid

About Coinshift

Coinshift is the leading treasury management and infrastructure platform that enables crypto-native organizations to manage their treasury operations securely and efficiently. Built on Gnosis Safe and live on seven chains, Coinshift provides an easy-to-use solution for payout management, collaborative multi-signature transactions, and comprehensive reporting for Ethereum and Polygon, allowing users to reduce operational costs and save up to 90 percent on gas fees. Hundreds of crypto businesses, including blue-chips like Aave, Messari, and Polygon, trust Coinshift to manage over $1bn in crypto assets.

About Superfluid

Superfluid is the leading asset streaming protocol that enables Web3 native subscriptions, salaries, and rewards for DAOs and crypto-native businesses. Superfluid streams transfer value in a constant flow over time between wallets in a non-custodial and permissionless manner.

Superfluid Protocol can be used to describe cash flows and execute them automatically on-chain, over time, and in a non-interactive way. Money streams are programmable, composable, and modular, allowing developers to build custom applications on top of the protocol.

No capital is locked up, and all inflows and outflows are netted in real-time at every block without consuming any gas. Ongoing streams can be forwarded as they are received to both wallets and applications, eliminating delays and drastically increasing capital efficiency.

Contacts

Head of Marketing

• David Costello
• Coinshift
• david@multisafe.finance
• +351914156328

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Singapore, Singapore, 19th September, 2022, Chainwire

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Inery, a decentralized data system, announces the official listing of its token on Huobi Exchange is set to go live on September 28, 2022. Huobi Exchange is one of the world’s leading crypto exchanges, supporting over 1000 trading pairs and more than 600 cryptocurrencies.

Inery takes a different approach to decentralizing data and data management for both Web2 and Web3 companies while streamlining the shift to the decentralized web. 

Inery ecosystem is curated to enable decentralized data management by integrating blockchain functionalities like immutability, security, and owner-controlled data assets with the distributed database properties to enable high performance, low network latency, and complex query functions. The ecosystem is secured and powered using the network’s native token, $INR.

“We are pleased to have Huobi Exchange on board with us. Listing Inery token plays an integral role in our roadmap; and with Huobi’s support, we can bring Inery’s vision to the markets and onboard more people in our mission to reshape the world through the paradigm shift in data management,” stated Dr. Naveen Singh, Inery co-founder, and CEO.

When listing on Huobi exchange, the official listing pair of Inery will be INR/Tether (USDT) trade pair will become available for trading at 13:00 UTC on September 28.

The project’s approach is to ensure that data management and storage is not constrained to walled gardens, and the power is handed back to the users as we advance towards the revolution of the internet– Web3.

Huobi is supportive of the innovative projects empowering users in the crypto and blockchain sector and integration of the technology with other verticals, which is why $INR token’s first listing will be on Huobi Exchange.

About Inery 

Inery is a  layer-1 blockchain and decentralized data system. It enables a decentralized, secure, and trusted foundation for database management. Leveraging blockchain technology, Inery introduces a decentralized and distributed infrastructure for database management.

About Huobi

Founded in 2013, Huobi Group is a world-leading company in the digital economy industry, with a mission to make breakthroughs in core blockchain technologies and integration of blockchain technology with other industries. 

Huobi Group boasts of offering world-class security and a global ecological and industrial layout. It has partnered with Sequoia, Fenbushi Capital, Link Capital, Node Capital, SVIEF, CIDA, FBG Capital, and more.

Contacts

Director of Marketing & PR

• Tijana D Gertner
• INERY PTE. LTD.
• tg@inery.io

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Chinese crypto billionaire Jihan Wu is expanding into the physical asset space. 

Wu’s Bitdeer Technologies Holding Co. spent S$40 million ($28.4 million) buying Le Freeport, a maximum-security vault in Singapore, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because the transaction was private. Dubbed Asia’s Fort Knox, Wu acquired the repository for fine art, precious gems, and gold and silver bars, from shareholders led by Swiss art dealer and founder Yves Bouvier, the people said. 

A representative for Bouvier declined to comment. Wu confirmed the transaction in a text message in response to queries from Bloomberg News. The purchase took place in July, according to records with the accounting regulator.

Wu’s acquisition ends years of Bouvier’s troubled attempts to sell Freeport which is located near Changi Airport. Wu is considered one of the most influential people in cryptocurrency markets, having co-founded the world’s largest miner Bitmain Technologies Ltd. Wu, who has long-term residency in Singapore, relinquished control of the Beijing-based company early last year. 

‘Fully Committed’

The price Wu paid represents a sharp discount to the S$100 million it cost to build the facility. Freeport opened in 2010 to fanfare as part of Singapore’s push to lure luxury collectors, wealth managers and bullion-trading banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and UBS Group AG. 

About three quarters of the total price went to creditors including DBS Group Holdings Ltd., according to one of the people. After repaying debt and costs, Bouvier, who held 70% of Freeport, got about S$5 million from the sale, together with other shareholders. 

The new owners are “fully committed” to supporting the Freeport Group with a view to expanding and improving the facilities and services, according to a letter signed by Freeport’s Chief Executive Officer Lincoln Ng to reassure tenants that there would no disruptions. 

Bitdeer is the sole shareholder of Straitdeer Pte., which in turn owns Asia Freeport Holdings Pte., the entity controlling Le Freeport, according to records with the accounting regulator. Asia Freeport reported a loss of S$14.3 million in 2018, based on the latest publicly available financial statement.

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