Aptos charts success in South Korea through bridging Web2 and Web3

Animoca Brands Holding $3.4B in Cash and ReservesDigital entertainment, blockchain and gamification firm Animoca Brands provided an update on its financial position on Thursday, disclosing $3.4 billion in cash and assets as held on its balance sheet and in tokenized reserves as of April 30.Photo by regularguy.eth on UnsplashA financial breakdownThe Hong Kong-based Web3 firm published the interim financial report to its website. Breaking that down further, the company is holding $194 million in cash and stablecoin reserves. Additionally, $566 million is being held in liquid digital assets. This includes reserves of $SAND, the native token of the Ethereum-based Sandbox virtual metaverse.Beyond this, Animoca holds $2.7 billion in a varied portfolio of digital asset reserves, linked to its majority owned Web3 subsidiaries and portfolio companies. The firm outlined that it intends to release additional financial updates in the near future. That will include an audited financial statement for 2020. Furthermore, a summary statement of business activity for 2022 will be released, together with similar business highlights pertaining to Q1, 2023.Adjusting to changing market conditionsIt’s likely that Animoca took the decision to release this data at this point to bolster confidence in the company, off the back of a number of announcements that may have led some in the industry to question the overall financial health of the company.According to a report published in March by Reuters, Animoca Brands cut its target for its metaverse fund by 20% to $800 million. The scaling back was understood by many crypto sector commentators to be a reaction by the company due to changing market conditions within the crypto space. It was the second such adjustment the company made. In November 2022, the firm was working on the new fund, initially proposing a target of $2 billion. Once January came around, Animoca took the decision to scale that target back by half to $1 billion.Subsequent to reports of the fund scale-back being published, Animoca Brands CEO Yat Siu reacted, telling one crypto media outlet that “the claim that the Animoca Capital fund target was ‘cut’ from $2 billion to $1 billion is not correct, because $1 billion has always been within the range declared.”Playing down the news further, the company added: “There’s no doubt that the FTX and banking crises have had a serious impact on available venture capital, but fundraising for the Animoca Capital fund is in progress. When the raise is concluded, we will inform the market with the appropriate details, including the final size of this fund.”Siu stated that as the source of that report was an unnamed source, it was difficult to figure out the agenda of that person in broadcasting that claim.Animoca is perceived in the industry as a key player, particularly so when it comes to NFTs, blockchain-based gaming and the metaverse. The firm is classed as a Crypto Top 40 company by Forbes, while being a winner of Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 award. Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 program ranks fast growing companies based upon their percentage revenue growth over the course of three years.

Taiwan to Restrict Offshore Non-Complaint ExchangesTaiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has been working towards taking proactive steps to regulate the cryptocurrency industry within its borders recently. One key guiding principle it has developed is to impose strict regulation on offshore crypto exchanges operating in Taiwan.Photo by Vas on UnsplashTen guiding principlesTaiwan’s Central News Agency reported on Thursday that in an effort to ensure compliance and protect consumers, the FSC has developed ten guiding principles for virtual asset service providers (VASPs). These principles are set to be officially released by the end of this month, according to a government official.The guiding principles will encompass several important aspects of the crypto industry. They will emphasize the need for enhanced information disclosure, requiring businesses to establish clear review standards for the listing and delisting of virtual assets. Additionally, there will be a focus on ensuring the separation and proper custody of assets belonging to both companies and customers.Focusing on offshore complianceThe FSC intends to make it clear that offshore crypto exchanges must adhere to proper compliance registration if they want to conduct business onshore. The move is in line with what appears to be a commitment by the Taiwanese authorities to promote responsible and secure cryptocurrency operations.One particularly significant restriction is the prohibition of illegal solicitation of business by foreign crypto firms. The FSC is determined to enforce this rule strictly. Foreign VASPs that fail to register according to company law and declare their compliance with anti-money laundering regulations to the FSC will be barred from soliciting business in Taiwan or catering to domestic residents.It’s worth noting that Taiwan has been proactive in implementing anti-money laundering laws for VASPs since July 2021. Although this particular measure has been in place, the cryptocurrency industry in Taiwan has largely operated in a regulatory vacuum. However, recent developments suggest a shift towards greater oversight and accountability.One notable example is Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, which has initiated the process of registering for anti-money laundering compliance in Taiwan. Despite not being fully regulated in the country, Binance has established a local entity, “Binance International Limited Taiwan Branch (Seychelles),” and received government approval for company registration.Building a regulatory frameworkIn addition to these regulatory efforts, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has proposed the creation of a new business category within relevant regulations. This move aims to facilitate the formation of cryptocurrency-related industry associations, encouraging the development of self-regulatory guidelines.The forthcoming guiding principles for VASPs are expected to provide much-needed clarity and structure to the rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrencies within Taiwan’s borders.Many leading jurisdictions have been behind the curve in developing a clear, workable regulatory framework for crypto. That has led to many exchanges establishing themselves in offshore locations where light touch regulation is applied. It’s highly likely that the Taiwanese have examined the fallout from this development, best exemplified by the spectacular collapse of Bahamas-based FTX last November.

Singapore-based startup Pontem, a Web3 product development studio, has successfully raised $6 million in a recent funding round. Broad venture capital participationThe firm announced details of the funding round via a press release published on Thursday.  The round was co-led by Faction and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The financing includes participation from notable contributors such as Pantera Capital, Aptos Foundation, market maker Wintermute, Singaporean trading firm Altonomy, Shima Capital and Kraken Ventures. This latest capital infusion brings Pontem's total raised funds to $10.5 million, building upon the $4.5 million secured in June 2021 through a private token sale led by Mechanism Capital, Kenetic Capital, Delphi Ventures and Hong Kong’s Animoca Brands.Pepi Stojanovski on UnsplashExpanding Move utilityThe primary focus of the funds is to empower developers in creating applications that are compatible with both the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and Move, expanding the utility of the Move programming language beyond its current usage on the Aptos and Sui blockchains. Move is a rust-derived programming language which was originally developed by Facebook with the intention of using it to power the Diem blockchain, prior to the company abandoning the project. It’s a platform-agnostic language designed for the writing of safe smart contracts. It distinguishes itself from the EVM's Solidity language by enhancing throughput through parallel processing. Pontem contends that Move is particularly appealing to Web2 developers from traditional finance and tech sectors due to its similarity to familiar static-type languages. Pontem envisions breaking the temporary vendor lock-in associated with the EVM, offering developers a versatile programming language that supports the security and scalability required for widespread adoption. Alejo Pinto, co-founder of Pontem, highlighted the objective of utilizing the capital influx to increase the usage of Move beyond the Aptos and Sui blockchains, providing dApp teams with a programming language that facilitates the addition of new features, promoting security and scalability. Pinto emphasized that Pontem seeks to address the vendor lock-in issue on Ethereum, enabling easier entry for Web2 developers and fostering their confidence in the decentralized space. Banafsheh Fathieh, Partner at Faction, praised Pontem's role in building critical primitives for the Move ecosystems. Pantera Capital Managing Partner Paul Veradittakit expressed excitement about investing in Pontem, recognizing the team's efforts in constructing essential financial and technical infrastructure to attract consumers and developers to the decentralized web. Lumio Layer 2The allocated capital is earmarked for developing Move Virtual Machine products on EVM-compatible blockchains like Ethereum. This includes Lumio, a Move-based Layer 2 solution which the company introduced in December. It operates as an optimistic rollup on Ethereum and leverages alternative Layer 1s like Aptos to process transactions. Pontem disclosed that products deployed on Aptos, such as the Pontem Wallet and Liquidswap DEX, have gained significant traction with 40,000 weekly active users and up to $1 million in daily volume. Looking ahead, Pontem envisions extending its support to the Solana Virtual Machine and other blockchain languages, underscoring its intention to provide a comprehensive development environment for decentralized applications. The funding secured in this round signifies a crucial step for the fledgling company in advancing the compatibility and accessibility of the Move programming language within the broader blockchain ecosystem.