From Hype to Drop to Zero: The Rise and Fall of a Blockchain Project

The most popular tech startup tracks currently are AIGC and Web3. In 2017, the hottest tracks were Blockchain, artificial intelligence, and VR. For entrepreneurs who keep up with the trends of the times, neither of these two waves can be missed.

Adam Zheng( is such an entrepreneur who is at the forefront of the times.

VR+AI+Blockchain

In March 2014, a social media giant acquired the leading VR company Oculus for $2 billion, sparking a global investment boom in VR. In February of the same year, the company ObEN was founded in California, USA, with CEO Nikhil Jain and COO Zheng Yi.

Public information shows that Nikhil Jain previously founded two startups. Zheng Yi co-founded China's largest marriage and dating platform and later served as a partner and investment director at several well-known investment institutions. Zheng Yi graduated with a bachelor's and master's degree from Tsinghua University and later obtained a Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis, and a master's degree in financial engineering from Berkeley.

In the two years since its establishment, this tech startup that creates VR virtual avatars has not attracted much attention domestically.

In November 2016, ObEN announced that it had secured $7.7 million in Series A funding, led by a well-known investment group. Since then, ObEN's visibility in the domestic market has continued to rise, with several technology media outlets reporting on it.

In March 2017, ObEN became the first AI project invested in the US by a certain Japanese tech giant.

In July 2017, ObEN received a strategic investment of $5 million, led by a well-known internet company.

In January 2018, ObEN announced the completion of a $10 million Series B convertible bond financing from a real estate group.

As a darling of capital spanning the VR and artificial intelligence startup sectors, ObEN could have continued to develop along conventional paths. However, it chose a shortcut - ICO.

In October 2017, the ProjectPAI white paper was released. Although it missed the hottest ICO period, ProjectPAI still raised 1 billion RMB in the following time, far exceeding its total equity financing over the years.

![Blockchain project drop to zero, can AIGC Chain help "big cut" turn around and become the big brother?])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-041d789f6458c42af33c08c8e127048a.webp(

Raised 1 billion, coin price drop to zero

According to the ProjectPAI white paper, this is a new public Blockchain protocol based on a Bitcoin fork, used for the certification, management, data learning, and application development of artificial intelligence. PAI is described as the world's first personal artificial intelligence technology and product.

To mitigate risks, ProjectPAI has listed ObEN as an innovation partner, with blockchain technology development led by Alex Waters, one of the early core developers of Bitcoin.

PAI is the system token issued by ProjectPAI, with a total supply of 2.1 billion. Investors account for 35%, which is known as the "private placement" share. According to participant feedback, ProjectPAI raised approximately $150 million through private placement.

In June 2018, PAI was listed on a well-known exchange, skyrocketing 500% in four days, and reached its highest price of $1.43 on July 9. After that, PAI began to decline, dropping below $0.1 on November 19.

In October 2022, a certain exchange announced the delisting of a batch of tokens including PAI.

In November 2022, the ProjectPAI Blockchain stopped producing blocks, related websites were shut down, and the PAI price dropped to zero.

![Blockchain project drop to zero, can AIGC Chain help "Big Cut" turn around and become the big boss?])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-260568beb587dd5f54c4243eeeee9b62.webp(

Questions continue to arise

In July 2018, Project PAI faced intense scrutiny. Media pointed out several issues, including the ambiguous relationship between ObEN and PAI, as well as doubts regarding the project's technical team information.

ProjectPAI issued a statement saying that for tax and other reasons, American project parties generally do not update their resumes in public media.

Project PAI's code has also been pointed out to be a copy of Bitcoin, merely replacing "bit" with "pai". Therefore, it is questioned whether the core technical members have developed for PAI.

In July 2018, the official website of ProjectPAI wallet was suspected to be hacked, revealing the project's insider information. The open letter pointed out that ProjectPAI had issues such as illegal fundraising, tax evasion, and market manipulation. ProjectPAI subsequently issued a statement, claiming that this incident was a hacker hijacking.

After that, as the market entered a bear market, Project PAI's AI business stagnated, and the project party was unable to fulfill previous commitments.

![Blockchain project drop to zero, can AIGC Chain help "big cut" turn around and become the boss?])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-40a56585ceeda7e4ac8f90fe570b07a8.webp(

Routine

Looking back at the operation methods of Project PAI, it is clear that there are obvious packaging tricks.

1. ObEN harvesting fame, Project PAI monetization
2. Good at leveraging well-known institutions
3. The founder's resume is impressive
4. The team lineup is luxurious.
5. KOL call
6. Raising a flag to pull a tiger's skin

At the same time, Zheng Yi gradually faded out after the issuance of tokens for Project PAI, frequently appearing on major platforms as the founder of an artificial intelligence company. ObEN is also actively participating in various AI activities and product showcases.

![Blockchain project drop to zero, can AIGC Chain help "Big Cut" turn around and become the big boss?])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-e8aae315dd72a01ff1cd7933a4507468.webp(

Official website cannot be accessed

Currently, the official website provided by ObEN is inaccessible, and the social media accounts have been canceled.

ObEN has several physical companies in China, including Chengdu Obang Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. and Beijing Zhipai Technology Co., Ltd. These companies are facing multiple infringement lawsuits.

The official website and public account of the relevant company have also stopped updating.

AIGC+Web3

In 2023, AIGC became the hottest track in the tech circle. To facilitate quick financing, AIGC Chain was born, with Zheng Yi once again emerging as a contributor to the integration of AI and Web3.

AIGC Chain adopts a packaging approach similar to ProjectPAI:

1. Please have well-known figures endorse.
2. Maintaining an ambiguous relationship with ObEN
3. Packaged as an overseas project but mainly aimed at the domestic market
4. Borrow the reputation of ObEN investment institution
5. KOL vigorously promotes

The AIGC Chain plans to issue fungible tokens and non-fungible tokens. Its NFT project Metanaut has a total of 60,000, and if all are minted, it could bring approximately $2.16 million in revenue to the project team.

Whether AIGC Chain can help investors "turn around" in the future remains to be seen.

![Blockchain project drop to zero, can AIGC Chain help turn the "big cut" around and become the boss?])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-591149cc54e4b17b7f0e9b2c1baae614.webp(