Telegram 创始人被拘留给加密货币风险投资行业带来冲击

- Telegram 创始人 Pavel Durov 的拘留在加密货币风险投资领域引起了反响，一些最大的参与者投资了与消息应用程序密切相关的数字代币。

Venture capital firms are bracing for the impact of Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s detention on their investments in Toncoin, a digital token closely linked to the messaging app.

风险投资公司正在准备应对 Telegram 创始人帕维尔·杜罗夫 (Pavel Durov) 的拘留对其对 Toncoin 投资的影响，Toncoin 是一种与消息应用程序密切相关的数字代币。

Pantera Capital Management, Animoca Brands and Mirana Ventures are among more than a dozen firms that poured money into Toncoin, whose blockchain is being used on Telegram to handle things like instant payments. Pantera, one of the largest crypto VC funds, put more than $100 million into Toncoin earlier this year, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

Pantera Capital Management、Animoca Brands 和 Mirana Ventures 等十几家公司向 Toncoin 注入资金，Toncoin 的区块链被 Telegram 用于处理即时支付等事务。一位知情人士表示，最大的加密货币风险投资基金之一 Pantera 今年早些时候向 Toncoin 投资了超过 1 亿美元。

The funds were drawn by a notion that’s bewitched crypto: that Telegram would morph into a digital-asset “super app” akin to China’s WeChat, with its 900 million users relying on Toncoin for everything from payments to playing blockchain-based games. The token surged fourfold from February to early July and assets locked on its blockchain, TON, briefly surpassed $1 billion.

这些资金是由一个令人着迷的加密货币概念吸引的：Telegram 将演变成一个类似于中国微信的数字资产“超级应用程序”，其 9 亿用户依赖 Toncoin 进行从支付到玩基于区块链的游戏的所有操作。从 2 月到 7 月初，该代币飙升了四倍，锁定在其区块链 TON 上的资产短暂超过 10 亿美元。

But Durov’s detention on allegations he didn’t do enough to combat crime on Telegram laid bare the risks. French authorities seized Durov outside Paris on Aug. 24 and charged him for complicity in the spread of sexual images of children and other crimes including drug trafficking on the app. Telegram said in a Sunday statement that it abides by European laws.

但杜罗夫因被指控没有采取足够措施打击 Telegram 上的犯罪行为而被拘留，这暴露了其中的风险。法国当局于 8 月 24 日在巴黎郊外逮捕了杜罗夫，并指控他共谋传播儿童色情图片以及在该应用程序上贩运毒品等其他罪行。 Telegram 在周日的一份声明中表示，它遵守欧洲法律。

Toncoin plunged roughly 20% after Durov was seized before paring some of those losses. Total value locked on TON has fallen to $573 million, according to data provider DefiLlama.

Durov 被扣押后，Toncoin 暴跌约 20%，随后又弥补了部分损失。根据数据提供商 DefiLlama 的数据，TON 锁定的总价值已降至 5.73 亿美元。

“The majority of the investors thought that obviously the app itself is going to foster and promote, or at least seed, the adoption of the Toncoin network,” said Lasse Clausen, founding partner at crypto VC firm 1kx. “Now we have a case where a black swan event happens to the company itself and its founder — that might raise some questions about the future.”

加密货币风险投资公司 1kx 的创始合伙人 Lasse Clausen 表示：“大多数投资者认为，显然该应用程序本身将促进和促进（或者至少是）Toncoin 网络的采用。” “现在我们有一个案例，黑天鹅事件发生在公司本身及其创始人身上——这可能会引发一些关于未来的问题。”

Total value locked, or TVL, is an indicator of how much a blockchain is being used for its stated purpose, be it gaming or decentralized-finance applications.

锁定总价值（TVL）是区块链用于其既定目的（无论是游戏还是去中心化金融应用程序）的程度的指标。

VC investors who poured money into Toncoin — often with agreements not to sell for at least a year — are now trying to assess whether France’s move against Durov could cause users to flee Telegram. The app became popular in crypto circles in large part because of the ultra-lax approach to oversight that landed him in legal trouble.

向 Toncoin 投入资金的风险投资者（通常签订至少一年内不出售的协议）现在正试图评估法国针对 Durov 的举措是否会导致用户逃离 Telegram。该应用程序在加密货币圈子中流行，很大程度上是因为其超宽松的监管方式让他陷入了法律麻烦。

Pantera has described Toncoin as its largest investment, without providing an amount. A spokesperson for the Menlo Park, California-based firm, which oversees almost $5 billion, didn’t respond to emails and calls seeking comment. The TON Foundation, which governs the blockchain, said in an email that it has never raised money. Animoca Brands didn’t comment on its investment and Mirana Ventures didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry.

Pantera 将 Toncoin 描述为其最大的投资，但未提供具体金额。这家总部位于加利福尼亚州门洛帕克的公司管理着近 50 亿美元的资产，该公司的发言人没有回复寻求置评的电子邮件和电话。管理区块链的 TON 基金会在一封电子邮件中表示，它从未筹集过资金。 Animoca Brands 没有对其投资发表评论，Mirana Ventures 也没有立即回应询问。

Some Toncoin backers see an opportunity. DWF Labs, a crypto market maker which invested in the token, spent “millions” of dollars buying Toncoin in the open market over the weekend after its price crashed, co-founder Eugene Ng said.

一些 Toncoin 支持者看到了机会。联合创始人尤金·吴 (Eugene Ng) 表示，投资该代币的加密货币做市商 DWF Labs 在价格暴跌后，周末在公开市场上花费了“数百万美元”购买了 Toncoin。

Over-the-counter investments by VCs and other crypto funds into projects like TON are referred to as “token deals” because investors receive tokens instead of traditional equity, and they are unique to the cryptocurrency universe. To carry them out, venture capitalists often set up separate vehicles known as liquid funds designed to hold assets for a shorter period of time. Because many token deals are done bilaterally, there aren’t any reliable estimates for their prevalence.

风投和其他加密基金对 TON 等项目的场外投资被称为“代币交易”，因为投资者收到的是代币而不是传统股权，而且它们是加密货币领域所独有的。为了实现这些目标，风险资本家通常会设立称为流动基金的单独工具，旨在在较短的时间内持有资产。由于许多代币交易都是双边完成的，因此对其流行程度没有任何可靠的估计。

There are several advantages for VC firms and their investors, most notably that tokens tend to involve quicker exits. One common structure is that the tokens start to become unlocked after 12 months, after which the investors can gradually sell them off. Fluctuations in the token also give backers a more up-to-date picture of how a project is doing, said Clausen.

对于风险投资公司及其投资者来说，有几个优势，最值得注意的是，代币往往涉及更快的退出。一种常见的结构是代币在 12 个月后开始解锁，之后投资者可以逐渐出售它们。克劳森说，代币的波动也让支持者能够更了解项目的进展情况。

“If you’re a traditional venture investor with equity, maturity takes about eight to 10 years, and so you really have many years where it’s a company just kind of doing their thing,” he said.

“如果你是一个拥有股权的传统风险投资者，那么成熟期大约需要八到十年，所以你真的有很多年的时间，公司只是在做他们的事情，”他说。

Token deals can also involve large discounts. Pantera bought Toncoin at 40% below the market price at the time, the person familiar said, asking not to be named because the terms were confidential. Using the average price of $6.32 for May, when the deal was announced, the investment would still be comfortably in the black.

代币交易还可能涉及大幅折扣。知情人士称，Pantera 以低于当时市场价格 40% 的价格购买了 Toncoin。该知情人士要求匿名，因为条款是保密的。按照交易宣布时 5 月份 6.32 美元的平均价格计算，这项投资仍将实现盈利。

Pantera is subject to a one-year lockup, after which it can offload Toncoin in batches over several years, the person said.

这位人士表示，Pantera 的锁定期为一年，之后可以在几年内分批出售 Toncoin。

The flip side of token investing is that the assets are extremely volatile — and when an investment goes bad, it’s immediately visible. Funds typically mark-to-market their holdings on a regular basis, meaning a big drop shows up right away in reports to limited partners.

代币投资的另一面是资产极不稳定——当一项投资出现问题时，它会立即显现出来。基金通常会定期按市值计价，这意味着向有限合伙人提交的报告中会立即出现大幅下跌。

Few instances illustrate this risk better than the collapse of Do Kwon’s TerraUSD

很少有例子比 Do Kwon 的 TerraUSD 崩溃更能说明这种风险