Barunson Labs and EQBR forge partnership to develop film-based security tokens

UBS Pioneers Tokenized Money Market Fund on EthereumUnderscoring what is very much an ever-evolving financial sector, large-scale investment manager UBS Asset Management has taken a pioneering step by launching a pilot project for a tokenized money market fund on the Ethereum blockchain.Photo by Bastian Riccardi on UnsplashBlurring the lines of TradFiThe initiative, announced by UBS in Singapore on Monday, promises to streamline the traditionally cumbersome processes of fund subscriptions and redemptions. Additionally it highlights the increasing integration of blockchain technology into traditional finance, effectively blurring the boundaries between the two worlds.The UBS project aligns with Singapore’s Variable Capital Company (VCC) fund structure and falls within the scope of Project Guardian, championed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).Structured in this way, UBS believes that the project design lends itself to the ability to bring various forms of real-world assets (RWAs) to the blockchain. Furthermore, it establishes a favorable rapport with regulatory authorities in Singapore, a jurisdiction known for its forward-thinking, crypto-friendly financial regulatory environment.Public blockchain useThis new offering relies upon a smart contract that’s run on the Ethereum public blockchain, encapsulating the money market fund. Through this smart contract use, the subscription and redemption processes can be simplified. That will represent a major change, given that those processes have traditionally been laden with paperwork and delays.In the first iteration, large TradFi firms like UBS considered the use of private blockchains but as Matt Hougan, the CIO of crypto asset manager Bitwise, pointed out, this particular initiative is indicative of a shift towards public blockchains. Hougan stated:“Remember when TradFi projects were built on private blockchains? They are all being built on Ethereum today. Progress.”RWA tokenization potentialThe tokenization of real-world assets has the potential to revolutionize digital asset investments by offering transparency, security, and trust. It not only paves the way for a better understanding of digital assets but also accelerates their adoption. UBS’s pilot project represents another significant move in this direction.With increasing support from regulatory bodies like MAS, the fusion of digital assets with traditional financial structures is likely to witness a myriad of large-scale implementations in the not too distant future.UBS TokenizeUBS harnessed the power of its in-house tokenization service, UBS Tokenize, to seamlessly conduct the controlled pilot of the tokenized money market fund. The initiative falls squarely within the purview of UBS’s global distributed ledger technology strategy, which aims to elevate fund distribution and issuance to greater levels of efficiency by leveraging the capabilities of both private and public blockchains.UBS Tokenize also featured in a separate initiative earlier this year in Hong Kong, facilitating the issuance of digital structured notes on the Ethereum blockchain via the Bank of China Investment (BOCI).The momentum behind the tokenization of real-world assets has been building in recent years, with various protocols focusing on real-world assets consistently outperforming other sub-sectors of decentralized finance.

Hacking Attempts on Upbit Reach 160,000 in First Half of the YearThere have been approximately 160,000 hacking attempts on Upbit, Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, in the first half of this year alone, according to a report submitted by Upbit’s operator Dunamu to lawmaker Park Sung-joong of the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee.“Cryptocurrency hacking incidents are increasing both domestically and internationally, and hacking attacks on exchanges such as Upbit, which have daily trading volumes exceeding KRW 2 trillion, are a serious issue,” Park said.Photo by Clint Patterson on UnsplashAn uptick in hacking attemptsThe data revealed that the number of cyber breach attempts in the first half of the year totaled 159,061–2.17 times higher than the number of attempts in the first half of last year, which stood at 73,249.Hacking attempts on Upbit have been steadily increasing in recent years, from 8,356 in the second half of 2020 to 34,687 and 63,912 in the first and second half of 2021, respectively. In the first half of last year, there were 73,249, and 87,242 in the second half. Notably, the exchange suffered losses of approximately KRW 58 billion (approximately $43 million) from a hacking attack in 2019.Ramping up securitySubsequently, Dunamu has taken action to enhance security by managing over 70% of its assets in cold wallets and operating hot wallets in a distributed structure instead of a singular one. Hot wallets refer to online crypto wallets, whereas cold wallets are crypto wallets that are offline and disconnected from the internet. Hot wallets offer the advantage of direct deposits and withdrawals, but they have weaker security levels — most known exchange hacks have thus occurred through this medium. On the other hand, cold wallets store private keys on offline sources like external hard drives and portable storage devices, making real-time trading difficult but providing better security and stability.“We have taken various preventive measures since the hacking incident in 2019, such as operating hot wallets in a distributed manner. There have not been any successful cyber breaches to date,” Upbit said.Regarding the role of the Ministry of Science and ICT in managing and overseeing crypto hacking incidents, Park pointed out that this still remains ambiguous. “The Ministry should conduct large-scale white-hat hacking tests and security assessments for crypto exchanges that are frequently faced with hacking attempts, as well as for hospitals and subway systems that manage large amounts of personal information,” he said.

Korean Survey: High Hopes for New Tech, Less for Blockchain and MetaverseA survey report on the perceptions and acceptance of evolving technology among the South Korean public was released yesterday by the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) in collaboration with the Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI). The survey, conducted from October 5, 2022, to January 13, 2023, involved 5,378 smartphone users who accessed the Internet at least once a day.Photo by Алекс Арцибашев on UnsplashTech toolsThe report titled “The 2022 User Panel Survey on Intelligent Information Society” revealed that Korean individuals generally hold high expectations for technological tools. Among the respondents, 89.3% expressed their belief that robots would enhance our lives, making it the most anticipated technology. This was closely followed by autonomous driving (87.8%) and kiosks (87.6%). On the other hand, blockchain and AR/VR were slightly less popular, with 73.4% and 72.4% of respondents showing interest, respectively. AR/VR stands for augmented reality and virtual reality.Information servicesThere was also significant anticipation for advanced information services among the respondents. Algorithm-based content recommendations garnered approval from 86.9% of participants, while artificial intelligence-based healthcare received support from 86.5%. However, metaverse-related services received a more moderate level of enthusiasm, with approximately 66% of respondents expressing interest.Metaverse usageThe survey also delved into the usage of metaverse platforms among respondents, revealing that only 12.7% had prior experience with such platforms. This finding suggests that the level of metaverse usage remains relatively low. Among the metaverse-experienced respondents, the most popular platform was ZEPETO, which accounted for 39.4% of usage. On average, users spent 1 hour and 4 minutes on the platform daily. ZEPETO is a Korean communication service that allows users to create and interact as 3D avatars in a virtual world. The cyberspace platform is operated by NAVER Z, an affiliate of the nation’s search engine giant NAVER Corp.Regarding the activities conducted on metaverse platforms, 77.9% of users stated that they primarily utilized them for gaming purposes. This was followed by “communicating with friends” (67.8%) and “communicating with strangers” (66.6%).When discussing the advantages of the metaverse, respondents highlighted its ability to transcend physical and temporal limitations, with 65.7% and 62.6% mentioning “less constraint by time” and “less constraint by space,” respectively. Additionally, 60.1% of respondents mentioned the metaverse’s capacity for self-expression as a benefit. However, respondents also expressed concerns about the metaverse, including risks such as sex offenses (65.7%), personal data infringement (62.6%), hacking (60.1%), and addiction (57.8%).