The Paper: Douyu CEO’s disappearance may be related to virtual currency gambling activities

It has been confirmed by multiple sources that Chen Shaojie, the founder and CEO of Douyu, a live broadcast platform listed on Nasdaq, has disappeared. The reason for his disappearance is rumored to be related to the "Changsha Rural Daredevil Team" in Douyu's live broadcast room. According to public media reports, the "Changsha Rural Daredevil Team" uses various lottery rules of Douyu to conduct suspected gambling activities. Users can participate in virtual currency lotteries worth 10,000 to tens of thousands of yuan by purchasing specified props within a certain period of time. The "Changsha Rural Daredevil Team" then purchases virtual currency equivalent to the bonus through third-party channels such as Alipay or "Backpack Merchants". According to third-party live broadcast data platform statistics, the "Changsha Rural Daredevil Team" earned as much as 177 million yuan in 2020, with a daily turnover of as high as 13.1767 million yuan, and the highest income in March, with a monthly turnover of 74.87 million yuan and a daily turnover of about 2.41 million yuan. As of now, Douyu has not responded to this matter. A Douyu insider said that the company is operating normally and has not been affected.