Also, Bitcoin computers seized in China, Vietnamese startup Edu2Review raises funding, and more

Binance Founder Zhao Changpeng sued by Sequoia [Bloomberg]

Zhao Changpeng, the billionaire founder of one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance, has been sued by Sequoia Capital, according to Bloomberg report.

According to two court filings in March 26 and April 24, the lawsuit arose after investment negotiations between Sequoia and Zhao broke down in mid-December, when Bitcoin’s value had soared in value. Zhao told Sequoia that Binance’s existing investors felt the firm’s proposed deal undervalued the exchange.

Around the same time, IDG Capital approached Zhao with an offer of two rounds of funding that would place Binance at a much higher valuation: US$300 million and US$1 billion, respectively (Zhao said that a conservative estimate of Binance’s valuation should be around US$3 billion),

Sequoia felt Zhao’s concurrent negotiations with IDG violated their exclusivity agreements. Sequoia has successfully secured an injunction, barring Zhao from talking to other investors.

Zhao and Sequoia plan to settle their dispute in arbitration and further hearings will be held to determine whether Zhao committed any wrongdoing.

Chinese authorities seize 600 Bitcoin-mining computers [Reuters]

Authorities in the Chinese city of Tianjin have seized 600 Bitcoin mining rigs and eight high-powered fans after the local power grid operator flagged unusual electricity usage.

Six people connected to the operations have also been detained.

Last year, China issued sweeping bans on cryptocurrency operations, including ICOs and other cryptocurrency trading. As part of these heavy-handed measures, authorities have cracked down on crypto-mining operations.

Vietnamese edtech platform Edu2Review raises funding [press release]

Vietnamese education review and booking startup Edu2Review has raised an undisclosed funding in a round led by Nest Tech Holdings, a Vietnam and Myanmar-focused VC.

It will use the newly-raised capital to strengthen its team and continue rapid expansion across Vietnam.

Also Read: Here are the 3 hottest edtech trends you should watch for

Founded in 2015, Edu2review’s platform connects learners with quality educational institutions. The company provides parents and students authentic information for assessing the quality of a school before registering.

To date, Edu2Review claims it has served over 4.2 million users and processed over 25,000 bookings.

Alibaba’s travel platform to offer homestay listings [Yicai]

Alibaba’s travel platform Fliggy has tied up with China’s Airbnb equivalent, Xiaozhu, to offer homestay listings on its platform.

Travellers will have the option of checking in and paying later using the Sesame Credit system run by Alibaba’s fintech platform Alipay. Alipay will integrate this system into Xiaozhu’s existing ‘pay later’ feature.

Alibaba and Xiaozhu already have existing business synergies prior to this collaboration. Jack Ma’s investment firm Yunfeng Capital led a US$120 million funding round into Xiaozhu last year.

The company currently has over 28 million active users and over 350,000 listings globally.

SoftBank is moving US$20 billion worth of ride-hailing investments into its Vision Fund

SoftBank plans to move US$20 billion worth of ride-hailing investments, including those in Grab, Uber, Ola, Didi Chuxing and 99, into its US$93 billion Vision Fund.

The transfer of these investments into the world’s largest private equity fund is expected to take place in the coming months.

The goal of this transfer is to help ride-hailing competitors to work closely together.

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