Singapore’s MAS gears up for live CBDC pilot

Incheon Joins Hands with The Sandbox to Promote City in the MetaverseIncheon Metropolitan City is partnering with global metaverse platform The Sandbox to create innovative marketing content aimed at promoting its urban landscape within the virtual realm and establishing an overseas promotional network. This move makes it the first South Korean public institution to work with a metaverse platform.Photo by Jiho Choi on UnsplashThe Sandbox’s virtual worldBuilt on the Ethereum blockchain, The Sandbox enables users to employ non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for creating play-to-earn (P2E) games that can be monetized. The ecosystem’s utility token, SAND, facilitates this mechanism as it is used for in-game purchases. Currently, the platform boasts one of the highest cumulative NFT collection volumes among virtual world projects on the world’s largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea. It has also formed partnerships with over 400 entities around the world.City marketing strategyThrough this collaboration, Incheon plans to develop and introduce engaging content for users to experience the city virtually, such as a variety of events. Furthermore, the city also intends to utilize its intellectual property (IP) for activities such as NFT donation campaigns and metaverse creator training programs to implement extensive NFT content within The Sandbox’s virtual world.“We plan to continually develop content that enables people around the world to experience Incheon through our collaboration with the global metaverse platform,” said Lee Se-woong, Head of Incheon’s City Branding Division.

Korea’s Busan City to Develop Blockchain-Based Carbon Neutrality PlatformBusan Metropolitan City, known for being home to South Korea’s largest port, announced today that its consortium won the bid for the 2023 new local energy facilitation project offered by the Korea Energy Agency, an organization under the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE). The consortium consists of five entities, including Busan City, tech solution provider Nuri Flex, and gas distributor Busan City Gas. As the winning bidder, Busan City and its collaborators will proceed with the development of a blockchain-based platform that promotes carbon neutrality.Photo by BERK OZDEMIR on PexelsCarbon neutralityThe primary aim of this project is to create a system that leverages surplus renewable energy to achieve carbon neutrality in the city’s port and industrial infrastructure. The initiative includes providing eco-friendly renewable energy to port and industrial facilities, establishing a blockchain-based carbon credit system to support businesses in joining the global corporate renewable energy initiative RE100, and facilitating the trading of surplus electricity. These measures are intended to save energy, enhance power system stability, and create greater value.Boosting green energy proportionThe project is set to take place from June 2023 to December 2024, with an estimated cost of 3 billion KRW ($2.3 million). The national and local governments will each finance 25% of the project, while the private sector will cover the remaining 50%. Upon completion of the project, Busan aims to increase the proportion of renewable energy within the city. Leveraging surplus energy and engaging in carbon credit trading, Busan expects to gain a competitive edge in the carbon-neutral sector.

Zodia Custody to Commence Yield Offering on StablecoinsIn a play that’s designed to entice institutional investors, Zodia Custody, a portfolio company of Japanese financial services conglomerate SBI, is gearing up to offer a yield on digital assets.Photo by CoinWire Japan on UnsplashIntroducing “Zodia Custody Yield”The crypto startup has introduced “Zodia Custody Yield,” a crypto staking option designed to reward holders of crypto assets stored within its platform. The initiative has been launched in partnership with Singapore-based DeFi platform OpenEden. It promises returns on stablecoins although full details on the offering remain undisclosed.Jeremy Ng, Co-Founder of OpenEden, expressed his belief in the potential of cryptocurrencies to generate substantial passive income for their holders. Ng stated:“There are billions of dollars worth of stablecoins sitting on the sidelines when they could easily be generating yields for investors.”TradFi embracing digital assetsZodia’s move aligns with a growing trend in the financial industry. Yesterday, a leading US bank, Citi, disclosed its collaboration with Maersk to facilitate services that convert funds into digital assets. The primary goal is to enable the bank’s customers to execute nearly instantaneous payments, unrestricted by traditional business hours.Simultaneously, several prominent asset management firms are awaiting a pivotal decision from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding their applications to launch a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). This list includes major players such as BlackRock, Invesco, WisdomTree, ARK Invest, Valkyrie, and Franklin Templeton. BlackRock, the frontrunner in the efforts being expended towards ETF approval, submitted its application for a spot Bitcoin ETF on June 16.In a recent interview, Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas said that he expects $150 billion in capital to flow into the Bitcoin market within two years of a spot Bitcoin ETF approval in the US.The financial strategies of these entities now prominently feature blockchain and crypto-based products, once considered niche but now integral to their operations. Nonetheless, even with widespread anticipation of the approval of BlackRock’s ETF, the firm faces substantial obstacles. US regulators have subjected BlackRock to intense scrutiny due to concerns regarding its ties to China. Additionally, political figures have criticized the asset manager for prioritizing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria over investor returns.Zodia was spun out of British multinational banking firm Standard Chartered. The bank has a positive outlook relative to crypto. In a bold prediction made in June, the UK-based bank forecasted that the value of Bitcoin could potentially surge to $50,000 by the end of the year, with an even more optimistic projection of $120,000 for 2024.In 2021 Standard Chartered, in collaboration with Northern Trust, a leading asset servicing firm, founded Zodia Custody. Since its inception, the venture has garnered a respectable level of success. It successfully secured $36 million in investments and solidified a partnership with SBI Digital Asset Holdings, enabling its expansion into the Japanese market.In May, the firm launched its crypto custodian service in Dubai, having signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC). In June, Zodia partnered with blockchain infrastructure provider Blockdaemon, in an effort to further its crypto staking offering. Earlier this month, the company announced its arrival in Singapore, with a view towards expanding its digital asset custody service there.