Our weekly roundup of East Asia news selects the most important developments in the industry.
Three Arrows Capital (3AC), a Singaporean hedge fund that once flourished worth estimated $10 billion at its peak, was completely wiped out by the bear market last year. However, the carnival that he has created since the initial explosion still lives on, and the main characters of it seem to be doing quite well as well.
One of 3AC's co-founders, Kyle Davies, seems to have finally found some solace in the experience. After much turmoil, the former hedge fund manager has now turned into a wannabe restaurant owner set at A homework โ perfecting the art to cook chicken.
Any seasoned chef would know that cooking tender, well-seasoned, juicy chicken with crispy skin is quite an exquisite skill. Honing it requires keeping a sharp focus on the meat while applying the techniques, which requires eliminating distractions, such as focusing on negative sentiments related to creditors trying to claim $3.5 billion from 3AC's bankruptcy, during the performance.
Generally speaking, chefs don't like rude customers. That's why when a user suggested on April 14 that Davies' new Dubai restaurant be bombed, the now-professional chef immediately threatened legal action against people who post "intentionally false and defamatory reviews of my restaurant."
Meanwhile, Davies and co-founder Su Zhu launched the OPNX exchange on April 5, launched to trade bankruptcy claims from downed crypto entities like FTX and Celsius. Although the daily volume was only around $13 initially, at press time the exchange has reached nearly $1.8 million in daily trading volume.
It's not pretty to be the one to let the crowd down, but these numbers are pretty impressive. Consider the fact that the sum of all the regulated crypto products listed in Hong Kong only generates about $1.19 million in volume per day.
It's not that the exchange is hyping its ties to 3AC. In an April 14 interview, OPNX CEO Leslie Lamb said that "while Su Zhu and Kyle contributed a lot in terms of early-stage ideas and vision, they are currently no longer involved in OPNX's day-to-day operations." .
In other 3AC news, on April 19, Sotheby's auction house announced it would sell a number of NFT collections repossessed by liquidators, including Dmitri Cherniak's artwork "The Golden Goose," purchased by Davies and Zhu with $5.8 million in Ether in August 2021.
Zhu seems to have taken the new philosophically, quoting the famous English poet Alfred Tennyson: โ[Tis] better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all,โ while highlighting the NFT auction for his fans. 3AC's bankruptcy proceedings are currently ongoing.
Wild week for Singapore Bitcoin miners
On April 14, shares of Singapore-based Bitcoin (BTC) miner SAI.TECH, which is listed on the Nasdaq exchange, rose more than 360% in one day to a high of $7.42 before giving back much of it. of your earnings. The stock is currently trading at $3.68 per share at press time. There was no material news preceding the unusual price action, and we certainly tried to identify some.
SAI.TECH develops Bitcoin mining infrastructure hardware, namely Saihub, Tankbox and Rackbox, which uses liquid cooling and waste heat recovery solutions to improve the efficiency of miners.
On April 20, the company consolidated its product lines into three categories; Ultiaas, Boltbit and Heatnuc. Boltbit will focus on providing decentralized transaction system services and technical support, while Heatnuc will focus on "research and promotion of small modular reactors." Ultiaas places an emphasis on hardware and software products that convert heat from the mining chip into reusable energy.
The company finalized its Phase II 90-megawatt (MW) crypto mining and hosting expansion plan in Kazakhstan last year following โforce majeure,โ and will continue to execute its Phase I 15-MW deal for the same purpose. In January 2022, the Kazakh government resigned following protests and close access to the Internet, disrupting the operations of Bitcoin miners in the country. The company is currently emphasizing operations at its testing and distribution facilities in Ohio.
Bruce Lee's NFTs are fading...
Not even the late Hong Kong movie legend could defeat the economic laws of supply and demand with his martial arts prowess. From April 12-14, The Bruce Lee Foundation, led by his daughter Shannon, partnered with video platform NFT Shibuya to launch The House of Lee Collection to celebrate the life and work of the eponymous Kung Fu legend. . A total of 48,691 NFTs were minted at a price of 0.008 Ether (ETH), to 6,452 owners (13% unique).
There was a small problem, only one NFT was unique in the collection, the one of the House of Lee Genesis NFT. With a lot of supply, the collection price floor quickly abandonment to around 0.003 ETH each on OpenSea at press time. The sale still raised roughly $730,000, minus the cost of placing a mega ad for the NFT drop on Broadway.
While the initial sale may have been somewhat lukewarm, NFTs are billed as "Your Ticket to the House of Lee", and there are reports that this is merely a first leg of an ongoing Web3 collaboration. It seems that the martial arts legend may continue to fight in the blockchain realm after all.
