Dovey Wan, co-founder of Primitive Ventures, responded to the background of investment in HOOK and the controversy over its listing on Binance, denying the rumors of “listing for friends”.
Recently, Binance has been in the spotlight due to an anonymous report at the end of January, accusing Binance Labs and Binance of insider trading, internal corruption, and other issues, sparking market discussions.
Although Binance co-founder, He Yi, has responded twice to the negative rumors circulating in the market, there is still controversy within the community. In this context, Dovey Wan, who was named as the “chief white glove” of Binance Labs and claimed to be a close friend of He Yi, spoke for the first time with Wu Shuo, the founder of Blocklike, in an AMA this afternoon to address related questions.
Is the claim of being a close friend a misunderstanding?
Regarding the rumor of “listing for friends,” Dovey Wan responded earlier in the AMA, emphasizing that she has no close personal relationship with He Yi, and the claim is not true. She further clarified that she is an investor while He Yi is an entrepreneur, and their roles are different.
Furthermore, she mentioned that He Yi already has multiple children, and their social circles and psychological distances are quite far, so they do not have the so-called “close friend” relationship as claimed by the outside world. The related rumors are baseless.
Unclear about the details of HOOK investment and token unlocking period
Regarding the questions about the HOOK token investment and the unlocking of tokens, Dovey Wan stated:
Primitive Ventures invested in Hooked Protocol with a valuation of $30 million, and the token unlocking period is the same as other venture capital (VC) institutions, starting from the end of 2023, with no special treatment.
She also added that she and Hooked Protocol founder Jason used to be in a romantic relationship, so she intentionally reduced her involvement to avoid potential conflicts of interest. She even admitted that she was surprised when Binance announced the listing of HOOK, questioning:
Why was the product listed so early?
Mixed reactions from the community
Dovey Wan’s response has sparked mixed discussions within the community. Some users support her statements, believing that she has a higher reputation in the industry, transparent investment conditions, and that Wu Shuo’s accusations are too one-sided and lack concrete evidence.
However, more focus has shifted to the projects that Dovey Wan has previously endorsed or participated in.
Some users mentioned that she served as an advisor for a similar project called StepN, which was eventually accused of being a rug pull.
Additionally, she is an investor in the NFT marketplace LooksRare and publicly supported the anonymous team behind the project, emphasizing that transaction fees would be shared with token holders. However, the team later withdrew the transaction fees to Tornado Cash for anonymous money laundering, resulting in significant losses for investors.
The community criticized Dovey Wan, stating that she endorsed projects on one hand, but also emphasized “DYOR,” leaving many users who trusted her with financial losses.
Related reports
Summary of the Binance listing controversy: How did the five friends manipulate the situation? What did He Yi clarify twice? Do the community members believe it?
What did He Yi say in the AMA to clarify the rumors about Binance? How does the community perceive it?
He Yi responds to the “Binance’s top five corruption scandals”: Illegal employees will definitely go to jail, let them be defeated both financially and reputationally!