XPLA joins hands with Carbonated to spearhead mobile Web3 gaming era

Upbit lists Tottenham Hotspurs fan tokenSouth Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit listed a fan token for the Tottenham Hotspurs — a world-renowned football club of the English Premier League and home to captain Son Heung-min, who also leads the South Korean national team — on its BTC market on Thursday (KST), according to an official announcement on the exchange’s homepage. Listed under the ticker symbol SPURS, the token is worth about KRW 6,000 ($4.60) as of this writing.Photo by Memories on 35mm on UnsplashExpanding football’s presence in cryptoUpbit added a total of 23 tokens to its BTC market this year, eight of which are fan tokens associated with football clubs, including Tottenham Hotspurs, AC Milan, Arsenal F.C., Atlético de Madrid, FC Barcelona, Manchester City F.C., Inter Milan and SSC Napoli, which the exchange signed a two-year partnership contract with in January. The team notably houses one of South Korea’s top footballers Kim Min-jae. Upbit also previously listed a Paris Saint-Germain token in 2021, which player Lee Kang-in recently joined this year.With the most recent addition of SPURS, Upbit now supports a total of ten football club fan tokens — all of which can only be traded on the sports blockchain network Chiliz Chain — highlighting its recognition of the sport’s popularity among Koreans. In particular, the Chiliz token (CHZ) also experienced a 10% price boost on Thursday when SPURS was listed.Upbit’s focus on footballHowever, Upbit’s consistent listing of football-related tokens contrasts with its overall modest approach to listing new cryptocurrencies this year. The exchange has introduced just 12 cryptocurrencies so far this year on its Korean won-denominated market, which is just a fraction of the 88 that were listed by Bithumb, South Korea’s second-largest exchange.Bithumb, which had already been supporting trading for SPURS on its Korean won-dominated market, also saw the token’s price double as a result of Upbit’s listing, jumping from around KRW 5,500 to KRW 11,300.

Silence From Multichain’s Chinese Developers Stokes FearA prolonged silence from the project leadership behind Multichain, a cross-chain routing network, is causing growing concern among the users of the cross-chain protocol. The network currently holds $1.5 billion in total value locked (TVL).The protocol has experienced five days of stuck transactions, and multiple cross-chain bridge pathways, including Kava, zkSync, and Polygon zkEVM are still offline. Initially, the project’s China-based team attributed the issues to an upgrade that was being fixed. That explanation was changed recently to an ambiguous “force majeure,” leaving users with more questions than answers.Photo by Santiago Lacarta on UnsplashPossible arrests in ChinaAdding to the uncertainty are rumors circulating on Twitter that the core leadership team may have been arrested in China. Although the rumors remain unconfirmed, they have contributed to the growing sense of unease within the community. DJ Qian, one of the co-founders of Multichain who is no longer involved with the project, took to Twitter to share his attempts to seek clarification. Qian mentioned reaching out to Multichain CEO Zhaojun and founding partner Xu Guochang for technical assistance. When asked about Zhaojun’s availability, Qian stated that he was “not available yet.”Users and investors eagerly await updates and clarity from Multichain’s leadership team. However, the team’s lack of communication extends across various forms of social media. In group Telegram messages with the Multichain team, there have been no responses from Zhaojun, and direct messages through the same app have gone unanswered as well. This silence has left the community members puzzled, with little information to rely on.$MULTI price plummetsMeanwhile, the price of Multichain’s native token, $MULTI, has continued to decline. It currently stands at $4.37, representing a 20% decrease over the past 24 hours. The lack of communication and uncertainty surrounding the project have likely contributed to this downward trend in token price. Over the course of the past seven days, the token has decreased in price by 45%.In response to the situation, layer 1 blockchain project Conflux Network has taken precautionary measures by suspending Multichain’s co-mint privileges. This move prevents Multichain from minting tokens on the Conflux blockchain. The Conflux Network has also assured users that it will work with them in case any losses arise due to the ongoing issues.Flight to safetyOther projects and individuals have also reacted to the silence from Multichain’s team. Hong Kong-based HashKey Group, a crypto investment firm, has transferred $250,000 to crypto exchange Gate.io as a precautionary measure. Tron founder Justin Sun has withdrawn 470,000 of the $USDD stablecoin from the Multichain protocol. These actions reflect a growing concern among stakeholders, representing their efforts to mitigate potential risks associated with the uncertainty surrounding Multichain.Furthermore, the Fantom Foundation has withdrawn $2.4 million in liquidity of the protocol’s native $MULTI tokens from the decentralized exchange SushiSwap. It later tweeted out an update stating that the Fantom-Multichain bridge was operating as normal. These withdrawals signal a loss of confidence in Multichain and its native token, as stakeholders seek to protect their investments.As the silence persists, users and investors remain anxious for updates and clarifications from Multichain’s leadership team. The lack of communication and the circulating rumors have cast a shadow of uncertainty over the project, leaving stakeholders in a state of limbo.

UK Watchdog Adds Crypto Exchanges to Warning ListThe UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has expanded its warning list to include nearly 150 digital asset companies, including crypto exchanges HTX and KuCoin.Photo by Maxim Hopman on UnsplashPromotion without approvalThese firms have been added to the list due to their promotion of services in the UK without obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals. The move comes as the FCA strengthens its oversight of the cryptocurrency sector.The FCA recently broadened its rules on financial promotions, effective from October 8, to encompass crypto-asset service providers, regardless of their geographical location. This means that all crypto platforms are now obligated to display clear risk warnings to UK-based consumers and adhere to more rigorous technical standards. Additionally, they must implement a mandatory 24-hour cooling-off period for new customers.Exchanges respondIn response to the inclusion of their platforms on the FCA’s warning list, both HTX and KuCoin issued statements. A spokesperson for HTX, known until recently as Huobi, clarified that the firm does not operate or market its services in the UK. KuCoin, on the other hand, acknowledged that it doesn’t operate in the UK but expressed its commitment to adapt its products and services to ensure compliance with the relevant laws and regulations in each country.Another exchange, OKX, alongside global exchange Binance, have both indicated that they are working towards complying with the FCA’s regulatory requirements in respect of marketing.The FCA issued a generic warning message for both HTX and KuCoin, stating:“This firm may be promoting financial services or products without our permission. You should avoid dealing with this firm.”Non-compliance with the FCA’s regulations can result in severe penalties, including takedown requests for websites and apps, substantial fines, and potential legal action, which could lead to imprisonment.It’s worth noting that HTX Advisor, Justin Sun, has encountered regulatory challenges in the past. In March, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Sun of fraud and market manipulation related to TRX, the native cryptocurrency of his Tron blockchain. Despite holding licenses to operate in various jurisdictions, HTX’s website does not specifically mention the UK as a prohibited venue.KuCoin has its platform restricted in several countries, including the US, Singapore, Hong Kong, mainland China, Thailand, Malaysia, and Canada’s Ontario province. Notably, the UK is not listed among these restricted locations.The FCA’s decision to rapidly identify and publicize crypto firms violating the expanded rules underscores increasingly stringent regulatory requirements. The regulator is continuously updating its list of violators as new infractions are uncovered. In August, the UK regulator published data that demonstrated that only 13% of crypto businesses who have applied to trade in the UK have been offered permits to do so.Lucy Castledine, the FCA’s Director of Consumer Investments, emphasized the dynamic nature of the list, which is constantly evolving to keep pace with emerging issues within the crypto sector.As the FCA takes a more proactive stance in overseeing crypto businesses, the warning list serves as a tool for consumer protection, signaling the importance of adherence to regulatory standards in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.