The Tragedy of the Nightingale: The Rise and Fall of a Web3 Pioneer

The Wings of the Nightingale

In April 1985, 10-year-old Tian Xingzhi stood at Beijing Capital International Airport with a one-way ticket to New York. Twenty years later, he would return to China as Andy Tian, creating a storm in the gaming industry.

After studying computer science at MIT, Andy joined Boston Consulting Group. In 2005, he joined Google China, responsible for mobile business, assisting in the introduction of the Android system.

In 2008, Andy left Google to join a social gaming company founded by his friends. The game "Medical Mayhem," launched in 2009, achieved success on Facebook.

In 2010, Zynga acquired Andy's company and appointed him as the head of the China region. However, as users shifted to mobile platforms, Zynga's development in China faced obstacles.

In 2013, Andy started a new venture and founded Asia Innovation Group (AIG). In 2014, he launched the first product "Bump", which achieved success in the Southeast Asian market.

AIG adopted a "burning money to exchange for market" strategy, but failed to accurately hit the pain points of users. In 2015, traditional social media platforms saw a sharp decline in traffic, and AIG's growth model became ineffective.

To maintain traffic monetization, AIG has begun to attempt marginalizing content. Andy is contemplating the idea of transformation.

Every step of the road counts as you come.

In 2015, the live streaming industry exploded, and AIG quickly invested in this wave. In July 2016, Uplive was launched, focusing on the overseas market.

Uplive replicates the Chinese live streaming model and is very popular in the Southeast Asian market. By the end of 2017, Uplive had over 60,000 active hosts and total revenue surpassed 100 million USD.

In 2017, the ICO craze swept the globe. Andy and his friend Charles Thach came up with the idea of packaging Uplive for an ICO, leading to the birth of the Gifto project.

Gifto has received support from multiple top VCs, raising $20 million. The project has reached its peak momentum.

However, on September 4, 2017, China banned ICO activities. Andy then collaborated with Binance to create the IEO model.

On December 14, 2017, Gifto completed its public offering on Binance, with an oversubscription of 1066 times. Four days later, the GTO token was listed for trading, and its price skyrocketed by 10 times.

Nightingale Chasing the Sun

The Gifto team's morale is at an all-time high. Andy and Charles have begun to participate in multiple project investments and advisory roles.

The Gifto team also attempted to venture into the exchange business by launching Kryptono Exchange. In February 2018, Gifto collaborated with photographer Kevin Abosch to launch the "Forever Rose" NFT project.

However, in the second half of 2018, the crypto market entered a bear market. Gifto's business stagnated, and Kryptono fell into difficulties.

In July 2019, Kryptono suddenly shut down. Andy's Twitter has not been updated since January 2019.

Gifto entered a "dormant" period lasting three years. In April 2021, Gifto was classified as an "inactive/dead" project.

Cold Winter · Scorched Earth · Rebirth · Sigh

In 2022, Gifto re-emerged as "Gifto Metaverse". In January 2023, it secured a $2.5 million investment from Poolz.

Gifto announced a token swap, with GTO upgrading to GFT. However, on February 6, 2023, Andy Tian passed away due to sudden health issues.

On February 8, GFT was listed on Binance, briefly leading the market.

Squeeze out the last bit of dignity

In November 2024, Binance announced the delisting of GFT. On November 28, the GFT official suddenly issued an additional 120% tokens on the BNB chain.

Binance has delisted GFT ahead of schedule, becoming the first exchange to do so due to the project's manipulation of circulation.

Afterword

In February 2025, GFT announced a merger with the GOTG project. In April, it was requested that all GFT be exchanged by the end of the month.

A Web3 project that was once highly anticipated has once again vanished at the end of people's trust.

Every step in the crypto world has been a path walked by veterans.