South Korean FIU rejects Hanbitco’s bid to become fiat-to-crypto exchange

BitOasis Obtains First Early-Stage Broker Dealer License in DubaiBitOasis, a leading platform within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for the purchase, sale and trading of cryptocurrency, has become the first crypto company to be awarded a broker-dealer license by the Dubai regulator.Photo by ZQ Lee on UnsplashMinimum viable productIn a blog post published to the company’s website on Monday, BitOasis outlined that it has received a minimum viable product (MVP) Operational License from the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) of Dubai. An MVP incorporates the minimum features necessary to satisfy early adopter clients.It’s a means through which a basic offering can be brought onto the market, feedback can be solicited and the product offering can be improved upon on that basis. From the regulator’s perspective, by offering an MVP licensing programme, it too can adjust regulation as products are further developed.BitOasis CEO and Co-Founder Ola Doudin took to Twitter to welcome the news, outlining that the award of the license is “an important milestone for @bitoasis , the Emirate of Dubai and the growing UAE crypto ecosystem.”The license award now allows BitOasis to provide broker-dealer services in respect of virtual assets under VARAs regulatory oversight, to qualified institutional and retail investors, while basing operations out of Dubai.Serving GCC and MENA regionsBitOasis was founded in 2016 by Doudin alongside Daniel Robenek. It’s focusing its efforts on servicing the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) area (which covers six Arab countries, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), together with the broader MENA region. BitOasis has also obtained “in-principle” approval from the regulator in Bahrain.The platform offers clients the ability to trade in excess of sixty cryptocurrencies in trading pairs with fiat currencies such as the US dollar (USD), the United Arab Emirates dirham (AED), the Saudi rial (SAR) and the Turkish lira (TL). In developing the business, BitOasis has undergone six funding rounds to date, including two initial seed rounds, together with Series A and Series B-level funding. Its backers include companies such as Banvest, Pantera Capital, Digital Currency Group, Wamda Capital and Global Founders Capital.Strategic partnershipsThe company stated that it intends to leverage the license to “launch strategic partnerships in Dubai and across the United Arab Emirates.” Additionally, the licensing will enable the company to launch new virtual asset products “with a continued focus on driving accessibility, consumer protection and utility across the virtual asset ecosystem.”VARAs CEO Henson Orser welcomed BitOasis to the Dubai regulator’s MVP programme phase and outlined that “the VARA ecosystem aims to strike a balance between value creation, risk mitigation, and enhanced investment opportunities with consumer protection at its core.”Dubai and the United Arab Emirates more broadly, have been moving at pace more recently in an effort to develop a regional hub for the virtual assets industry. Last month it emerged that the UAE had begun accepting licensing applications from crypto companies and only a number of weeks later, Dubai’s VARA has already awarded its first license.A number of weeks ago, crypto exchange Bybit announced that it was basing its operations out of Dubai. VARA is licensing crypto companies on a stage by stage basis. In response to a number of high profile crypto firm failures in other jurisdictions in 2022, the Dubai regulator outlined in April that it was stepping up its level of scrutiny of crypto businesses.

Wallets belonging to the defunct Japanese Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox have transferred over 140,000 Bitcoin (BTC), valued at approximately $9 billion, to an unknown address.  Sell-off fearsThis significant movement began in the early hours of Tuesday morning in Asia, marking the first such transfer from Mt. Gox’s cold wallets in over five years. Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, initially confirmed that 12,239 Bitcoin had been transferred from Mt. Gox over the course of an hour. A short time later, he provided an update on X, stating:"All coins have been transferred to a new address." Despite market disquiet, the prevailing view which subsequently emerged is that the transfer is believed to be part of a plan to distribute assets back to creditors before the October 31, 2024 deadline. Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, shared his perspective on X, suggesting that most of the transferred Bitcoin would likely be held by creditors rather than being sold on the open market. Despite these reassurances, the market reacted negatively for a time. Bitcoin's price dropped by 1.4% since the start of Asian trading hours, falling to a low of $67,680 from a Monday high of over $70,000.Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashNo Bitcoin FiresaleTo quell fears of a massive Bitcoin sell-off, Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of Mt. Gox, addressed the situation on X. He stated: “As far as I know, everything is fine with MtGox. The trustee is moving coins to a different wallet in preparation for the distribution that will likely happen this year. There is no imminent sale of bitcoins happening." Rehabilitation trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi also issued a press release, clarifying that no sale of Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash (BCH) had taken place. He assured that the group was "managing bitcoin and bitcoin cash in a secure manner." Wallet activity reveals that these movements were executed through thirteen transactions. A test transaction worth $3 was made on May 20, followed by another smaller transaction of $160 early Tuesday. The remaining transactions varied from $1.2 million to $2.2 billion worth of Bitcoin. Bitinfocharts data shows that all of Mt. Gox's Bitcoin has now been consolidated into a single wallet. A long road to repaymentIn September 2023, Mt. Gox’s trustee announced that the repayment deadline had been extended by 12 months to October 31, 2024. It looked like repayments were imminent in November. However, those communications referenced cash repayments rather than the distribution of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. Some cash repayments had started in December 2023. Speculation in January that the bankruptcy estate would begin the distribution of Bitcoin led to market fears of the impact that would have on the Bitcoin unit price. The extension provided a longer timeframe for preparing the distribution of assets to creditors. Mt. Gox, launched in 2010, quickly rose to prominence, becoming the largest Bitcoin exchange by 2013, handling 70% of all Bitcoin trades worldwide. However, the exchange faced a dramatic downfall in early 2014.  It suspended trading and stopped all withdrawals after losing hundreds of thousands of Bitcoin in a hack. Subsequently, the site went offline, and the company filed for bankruptcy protection after losing over 800,000 Bitcoins. Creditors have been waiting for repayment ever since.

Bitcoin's global merchant acceptance witnessed a substantial surge, growing by 174% throughout 2023, with the Philippines proving itself in leading the way within the Asian region.Photo by rc.xyz NFT gallery on UnsplashRegion facing regulatory restrictionsThat’s according to BTC Map, a provider of bitcoin merchant mapping services. The data, derived from BTC Map's open-source mapping data via OpenStreetMap, revealed that the number of venues accepting bitcoin payments surged from 2,207 at the beginning of the year to 6,126 by the year's end. This diverse array of businesses included restaurants, bars, shops and various services. The expansion of bitcoin vendors is a global phenomenon, with concentrations notably observed in Europe, the United States and Latin America. The Philippines stands out in Asia with hundreds of vendors, while regulatory restrictions in East Asia, especially China, have limited adoption. While it's great to see a high level of direct adoption among Filipino merchants, it's easy to understand why this level of adoption hasn’t been matched within Asia’s largest market. China has had a long-standing ban on cryptocurrency trading, mining or its use as a means of payment. Despite the ban, it appears that crypto trading is still alive and well in China, although beneath the surface. With mining too, while the sector shrank considerably once a ban was imposed, there is believed to be a significant ongoing level of bitcoin mining occurring still within China’s borders. However, when it comes to vendors, this is likely to be an activity that is far too visible to the authorities and with that, China’s 1.4 billion citizens are not getting the opportunity to buy goods and services with the world’s leading cryptocurrency. Compounding matters, the Chinese authorities have been working diligently on a myriad of projects to bring about day-to-day retail use of the country’s central bank digital currency, the digital yuan. Those efforts are not likely to be aligned with an accommodation of or tolerance of bitcoin payments. The increase in merchant listings showcased a slight decline from the peak in September, which reached 6,590 merchants. BTC Map's platform allows businesses and users to tag locations accepting bitcoin payments, with the rise in numbers potentially attributed to increased user contributions to the database. This surge in bitcoin adoption globally occurred against the backdrop of the cryptocurrency's price volatility throughout the year. Despite potential limitations in data collection due to its reliance on volunteer contributions, the overall trend indicates a growing acceptance of bitcoin. Ongoing challenges to adoptionA panel of bitcoin leaders at the Plan B conference in October discussed the challenges and opportunities of global bitcoin adoption. Notably, they highlighted the difficulty of onboarding new users and merchants, particularly in diverse cultural contexts. In El Salvador, where bitcoin is legal tender, obstacles persist in convincing merchants to accept bitcoin payments. Geographically, concentrations of bitcoin-accepting vendors were more prevalent in Central and South America, while Africa and Asia demonstrated fewer such establishments. The United States and Europe led in the global count of crypto-friendly merchants. The panel stressed the importance of education in overcoming these challenges, emphasizing the need for user-friendly applications to facilitate mainstream adoption, moving away from complex technologies. As bitcoin continues its global expansion, the industry recognizes the vital role education and user-friendly solutions play in fostering broader acceptance.