Paxos gets green light from Singapore regulator for USD stablecoin

Metaplanet, the Tokyo-headquartered Bitcoin corporate treasury firm, has purchased an additional 696 BTC, following a stock split, bringing its total Bitcoin holding to 4,046 BTC.Photo by Kanchanara on Unsplash$341 million in BitcoinThe company publicized details of its latest Bitcoin purchase on X on April 1. It outlined that funding of this purchase was enabled through the allocation of cash held by the firm as a consequence of the sale of put options.  The average purchase price of the 696 BTC was 14,586,230 yen ($97,694). The average price the firm has paid per Bitcoin in relation to its entire holding of the leading digital asset is 12,943,181 yen ($86,689). Its overall Bitcoin holding has a total value of approximately $341 million. Taking to X, the firm’s CEO, Simon Gerovich, said that Metaplanet’s Bitcoin Income Generation business achieved 770 million yen ($5.2 million) in Q1 revenue, while year-to-date its Bitcoin yield has reached 95.6%. Stock split & bond issuanceThis purchase follows both a stock split and the issuance of bonds worth 2 billion yen ($13.3 million). On March 31, Metaplanet filed a disclosure outlining details of the bond issuance. The company issued the zero interest bonds via its Evo Fund. Buyers will be permitted to redeem the newly issued bonds at face value by Sept. 30. In an X post, Gerovich suggested that the bond issuance was being implemented in order to facilitate the company “buying the dip,” taking advantage of a downturn in the Bitcoin unit price over recent weeks. In a notice filed on Feb. 18, Metaplanet outlined details of its 10-to-1 stock split. The company described how it executed a reverse 10-to-1 stock split last August. This has created a problem for investors as in the interim, the stock price has increased significantly. Consequently, the share price is unwieldy, placing a substantial financial burden on investors. On that basis, the latest stock split will enable greater investor accessibility and improved liquidity. Arising from that, Metaplanet expects that it will gain a broader investor base. On March 30, Gerovich reported that Metaplanet stock is now a component within Betashares’ Crypto Innovators ETF. Betashares is an Australian asset manager with over $50 billion in assets under management.  The Metaplanet CEO suggested that the development pointed towards “growing interest from institutional investors,” while expressing his satisfaction with Australians now having access to Metaplanet’s Bitcoin First Strategy via the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). The ‘Asian MicroStrategy’Metaplanet is being regarded by many industry commentators as the “Asian MicroStrategy,” referring to the American Bitcoin treasury firm that recently rebranded to Strategy, having pioneered a particular approach to building a position in Bitcoin within a corporate treasury. Metaplanet appears to have adopted the same Bitcoin playbook. In an appearance on the Coin Stories Podcast recently, Metaplanet’s Gerovich said that he encourages his friends to put “100% of their net worth into Bitcoin.” Last month, the company confirmed that it was pursuing a strategy to accumulate 10,000 Bitcoin in 2025 and 21,000 Bitcoin by 2026. The firm is now ranked ninth in the world as a corporate Bitcoin holder. Within Asia, it is the leading corporate holder of the world's largest digital asset.

Funding Round Sees HashKey Target Unicorn ValuationLeading financial technology company, Hong Kong-based HashKey Group, is looking to raise between $100 million and $200 million based on a $1 billion dollar company valuation that sees it take on unicorn status.According to an initial report by Bloomberg, early stage talks on the fund raise are progressing positively. It cites sources familiar with the matter in suggesting that as the fund raise negotiations progress, the terms of the offering, extent of the capital raise, and the valuation upon which its all based could change.Photo by Annie Spratt on UnsplashLeveraging a crypto-friendly environmentThe Web3 infrastructure developer and digital asset management firm has decided to take advantage of favorable conditions in Hong Kong in order to raise capital. The current business backdrop in the Chinese autonomous territory is particularly positive, and something that’s likely to make the capital raise a much easier task.Hong Kong has sought to create a crypto-friendly environment by way of both word and deed over the course of the past six months. With that being the case, it’s logical that there is tremendous opportunity for businesses like HashKey to achieve rapid growth in the nascent digital assets sector.Under the supervision of the Hong Kong regulator, Hashkey has already started to offer its services, one of only two companies (alongside OSL) to be permitted to trade in advance of the full implementation of licensing next month.While there have been some difficulties relative to banking the digital assets sector in Hong Kong, ZA Bank, Hong Kong’s largest virtual bank, has stepped up with the aspiration of banking the sector. ZA Bank is expected to facilitate crypto-fiat conversions with both of the currently licensed exchanges, HashKey and OSL, where customers can swap crypto into fiat currencies. The bank will also offer basic banking services to local web3 startups, a category that is currently underserved by traditional financial institutions.HashKey itself is cognizant of the conditions being right on the ground in Hong Kong and the opportunity that presents. Its chairman, Xiao Feng stated that Hong Kong is “very serious about building an international virtual asset center,” when speaking at the city’s Web3 Festival recently, an event that drew 13,000 attendees on its first day.Diversified service offeringThe firm’s activities in Hong Kong extend to HashKey Pro, a Hong Kong-compliant virtual asset exchange, and HashKey Capital, an investment firm. In April, the company established HashKey Wealth.This wealth management service offers investors access to a wide range of digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies, together with alternative investments such as decentralized finance (DeFi) projects and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).The program is designed to meet the needs of both institutional and high net worth individual investors. The investment strategies offered vary, ranging from passive to actively managed portfolios. Different risk profiles are employed to suit investors’ preferences. The program also provides a range of other services, including custody, trading, and portfolio rebalancing, to ensure that investors can manage their investments with ease.

Gate.io Threatens Legal Action Against SpeculatorsGate.io, the erstwhile legacy Chinese cryptocurrency exchange currently headquartered in the Cayman Islands, has issued a stern warning to individuals spreading rumors of imminent bankruptcy.The exchange intends to take legal action against those responsible for causing panic among investors by disseminating baseless rumors without any concrete source of information. This announcement, originally written in Turkish, was posted on Gate.io’s official Twitter account on June 4.Photo by Kai Pilger on UnsplashInsolvency rumorsThe insolvency rumors surrounding Gate.io emerged following a series of events involving Multichain, a troubled cross-chain protocol. Multichain has been facing technical difficulties since May 24, when a node issue resulted in transaction delays. Several days later, the Multichain team revealed that they were unable to contact their CEO to access the servers and resolve the problem.These circumstances fueled speculation that the protocol’s leadership had been arrested and that Chinese authorities had seized over $1.5 billion in smart contract funds.On May 24, data from blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence indicated a significant inflow of Multichain tokens ($MULTI) from Gate.io’s platform. In response to mounting concerns, Gate.io categorically denied any liquidity issues on May 31. The exchange asserted that its operations were running smoothly and that withdrawals were not a problem. Despite reports on Twitter and Telegram channels of traders withdrawing funds, Gate.io’s trading volume has remained relatively stable in recent days.As of now, Gate.io’s native token, GateToken ($GT), is trading at $4.01, representing a 18% decline over the past week, according to CoinGecko data. Gate.io, which although headquartered in the Cayman Islands, has recently expanded its presence to Hong Kong, Turkey, and Dubai.Multichain falloutThe ongoing issues faced by Multichain have prompted other cryptocurrency exchanges to take action. Binance, for example, suspended deposits for 10 bridged tokens on the BNB Smart Chain, Fantom, Ethereum, and Avalanche blockchain networks on May 25. Furthermore, transaction downtime compelled the Fantom Foundation to remove 449,740 $MULTI ($2.4 million) from liquidity on the decentralized exchange SushiSwap.Gate.io’s firm denial of insolvency rumors coupled with its threat of legal action underscores the exchange’s determination to combat the spread of this speculation. The exchange is seeking to protect the interests of its investors and maintain the stability of its operations.All stakeholders need to rely on continued vigilance in the crypto space. However, if Gate.io is to be afforded the benefit of the doubt in this instance, then it could be interpreted that it is demonstrating a commitment to transparency and swift action in the face of seemingly baseless rumors. On that basis, the firm’s response could be perceived as a demonstration of its resolve to navigate the challenges presented by the Multichain situation and uphold its reputation as a reliable cryptocurrency exchange.