The market always moves forward amid controversy, progresses amid disagreement, and grows amid iteration. We have always liked to follow the movements of smart money, and most of the time we can catch some early crypto opportunities. For example, #YGG, for example, #FET, but little do we know that among these smart money that we follow, there is a common shadow - #DWF(Take Me Flying) DWFLabs.
Although DWF is controversial, it is cute. The controversy lies in the mixture of market makers and VC investments, with referees and athletes on the field together (within the compliance framework). The cute thing is that their actions are relatively open and transparent, and the wallet address is also very open. If you spend some time thinking about the specific token classification and proportion, you can make statistics by making a Python filter. Basically, it is an open card operation, and most of the ambushes can be eaten. Another name: DWF [Take Me Flying], very interesting.
Here is a brief introduction to DWF. DWF Labs was founded in 2018 by Managing Partner Andrei Grachev - CEO of Huobi Russia and several crypto trading companies. DWF Labs is a leading global "digital asset market maker and Web3 investment firm" with operations in Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and the British Virgin Islands. It is a subsidiary of Digital Wave Finance, a "one of the world's largest high-frequency cryptocurrency trading entities, trading in spot and derivatives markets on more than 40 top exchanges."
I looked at the experience and LinkedIn of the founder Andrei Grachev, which is quite inspiring. He studied organizational management at Orenburg State University, entered the logistics industry at the age of 18, and worked in logistics for 8 years. Later, he switched to e-commerce and used his spare time to learn about financial markets and other aspects. In 2016, he operated a small Ethereum mine and entered the world of cryptocurrency. In the bull market of 2017, Ethereum rose from $7 to $350. Andrei Grachev sold some ETH and started his crypto journey. He then started a crypto trading company and served as the CEO of Huobi Russia. In 2018, he founded DWF LABS.
This experience is undoubtedly an inspirational story of Web3 youth. In addition to the exponential growth of the industry, this rapid growth is inseparable from the dedication and hard work behind the founders. What many people don’t know is that DWF has never raised funds from the outside and has no investors. Instead, it started from scratch. This growth rate and development potential are awe-inspiring.
So Web3 never lacks opportunities, but lacks the courage and determination to fight and take risks, which is exactly what Andrei Grachev, as a Russian, has in his sturdy bloodline. He doesn't care about life and death, and he will fight if he doesn't obey. This kind of fighting style of the founder has led a strong iron army and created amazing performance: in just 16 months of history, it has invested in 470 projects and established cooperation with about 35% of the projects in the top 1,000 tokens by market value.
Among the publicly known large investments, DWF invested $20 million in Synthetix, $28 million in the blockchain platform Conflux, $40 million in the artificial intelligence platform Fetch.AI, $45 million in the EOS Network Foundation, $50 million in the Algorand Foundation, and strongly supported the Russian project TON, investing tens of millions of dollars in it. The recent outstanding performance of#NOTis obvious to all.
Many times, the icing on the cake of a bull market is not important, but the help in a bear market is often more valuable. In 2022, the crypto market has experienced the collapse of Three Arrows Capital, Celsius, Voyager, FTX and other events, which have dealt a severe blow to the crypto industry. The crypto winter is harsh, the financial market is cold, and the global economy is filled with fear and uncertainty of the coronavirus epidemic; at a time when everyone is afraid to talk about investment and avoid crypto, DWF Labs chooses to go against the current and inject confidence and capital into the market.
For example, it supports Binance Industry Recovery Fund Plan and TON Foundation's "Rescue Fund", provides blood transfusions and guarantees operations to many projects through over-the-counter transactions. In addition to providing financial support, it also helps projects formulate market strategies, conduct market research, media cooperation, etc., as well as talent recruitment and technical service support through DWF Ventures, technical teams, and incubation departments. This kind of timely service has undoubtedly brought warmth to many projects to survive the cold winter of the bear market, and most importantly, it has conveyed confidence and hope to the entire Web3 industry. And this spirit of timely assistance is undoubtedly rare and commendable.
Finally, here is a list of projects invested by DWF:
https://rootdata.com/Projects/detail/DWF%20Labs?k=NDA3NQ%3D%3D…
And the DWF on-chain wallet tracking list (from ARKM):
https://platform.arkhamintelligence.com/explorer/entity/dwf-labs…
Summary: Web3 is a chaotic market, but it is chaos that gives people the opportunity to achieve success and career. We cannot follow the rules and we cannot accept it. Only by breaking the shackles and red tape can we open up a new era. The story of DWF (Take Me Flying) and its founder Andrei Grachev proves this point: not being bound by the secular world and tradition, as long as it is within the compliance framework, anything is allowed. Through market makers, investments, high-frequency trading, OTC and other multi-market strategies, while making profits, do not forget to give back to the Web3 market. The official website of DWF Labs once stated: Regardless of the market conditions, DWF Labs invests in 5 projects on average every month.
The active investment strategy brings forward-looking development opportunities to Web3, while also continuously iterating and evolving Web3's technological innovation. A positive feedback flywheel is being perfectly formed, investment-iteration-innovation-verification (failure/success)-investment again-iteration-innovation, and the cycle repeats. Only in this way can an industry grow and develop actively. As an emerging industry, Web3 cannot do without the active investment and development of VC. Blockchain infrastructure, DeFi, NFT, GameFi, DAO, SocialFi, data analysis, privacy, etc. are all key areas of DWF investment, and these areas are the backbone of Web3.
At the beginning of the response, the market always moves forward in controversy, progresses in disagreement, and grows in iteration. Only with more patience, more perspective, and a long-term view can we see the mountains and embrace the mountains and rivers.
