Blockchain Storage App ArDrive Raised $17.2 Million: Report

The blockchain storage app ArDrive managed to raise $17.2 million after it gained attention last year when activists in Hong Kong used it to avoid censorship by the Chinese government as we reported in our blockchain news.

The Blockchain storage app ArDrive raised $17.2 million in a seed round led by Blockchain Capital, Arweave Team, Sino Global Capital, and others. ArDrive houses over 6 million files from across the globe like photos, videos, and text. While most users trust services like Google Drive or Dropbox, they can be susceptible to data leaks while ArDrive allows users to maintain ownership and to control their data on the Arweave blockchain. Ardrive became popular last summer after Hong Kong activists used the service to store content that was suppressed by the Chinese governemnt.

Sen. Pat Toomey (@SenToomey) praised the applications of crypto beyond a form of currency by mentioning @ArweaveTeam in a senate hearing on Tuesday.

"This technology makes it impossible for the Chinese govt. to destroy Apple Daily's work, no matter how hard it tries". 💣 pic.twitter.com/e0Y7rycOHn

— arweave.news 🐘 (@ArweaveNews) July 29, 2021

One of Hong Kong’s most popular pro-democracy papers was forced to shut down with the new national security laws but the anonymous group dAppleDaily managed to save up to 5600 pieces of news by uploading them to ArDrive. On the other hand, Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey cited the developments of how the blockchain technology can make it impossible for the Chinese governemnt to destroy Apple Daily’s work as ArDrive is being used to archive files that are related to worldwide developments such as the current situation with Russia and Ukraine.

Also, fundraising with digital currencies is illegal in China already but now the prosecutors will go after offenders that have major penalties in tow. China’s Supreme court issued a ruling that specifies penalties for offenders that use crypto to raise funds. The penalties range up to 10 years in prison and fines up to 500,000 yuan. China’s crackdown on BTC stepped up another level thanks to the new Supreme Court ruling which paved the way for fines and long jail sentences for people that are found guilty of fundraising via crypto tokens.

The law takes effect on March 1 and the potential penalties can vary based on the amount that is involved in the alleged crimes. If found guilty, the offender could face up to 10 years in prison as well as fines as high as 500,000 yuan. China gradually increased the rhetoric and rulings against crypto in the past few years but it took most of its actions in 2021.