Rotonda holds blockchain hackathon at GBIC 2023

BPMG joins XPLA as validatorSouth Korean blockchain platform developer BPMG has joined South Korean gaming corporation Com2uS Group’s layer 1 blockchain mainnet XPLA as a new node validator, following a partnership deal signed in July agreeing to collaborate on developing Web3 content and technology, according to CoinDesk Korea. As a validator, BPMG will play a crucial role in strengthening transparency, stability and scalability within the XPLA ecosystem.Photo by Shubham’s Web3 on Unsplash“We anticipate that this partnership will not only enhance the XPLA ecosystem’s credibility but also achieve qualitative growth through our collaboration in content and technology,” said Paul Kim, leader of the XPLA team.Competitive gaming and rewardsBPMG operates a Play-to-Earn (P2E) blockchain gaming platform called GemHUB, under which the company recently launched GemPION, a sub-platform dedicated to competitive gaming. GemHUB offers various games, including Number Shoot, Jelly Snake, Find Bird, Push Push Cat and Mayan Cryptex. GemPION allows users to engage in various forms of gaming tournaments and participate in missions to receive rewards.Ecosystem expansionThe two companies also said that they would onboard each other’s games onto their respective platforms. GemPION users will thus be able to participate in gaming leagues using XPLA tokens. “We are delighted to become a validator on XPLA after the previous signing of our content and technology partnership deal. We will work on strengthening our collaboration further by onboarding a variety of XPLA games on GemPION as well,” said Cha Ji-hoon, CEO of BPMG.This comes after Japanese gaming company Gumi recently joined XPLA as a validator as well. XPLA is steadily increasing its number of validators from 50 to 80 this year to build a more robust and trustworthy ecosystem.

LG Group Hosts Super Start Day to Promote Innovation and Collaboration in Blockchain and MoreSouth Korean conglomerate LG Group recently hosted its open innovation festival at LG Science Park in Seoul from Thursday to Friday. The festival, dubbed Super Start Day, is an annual event dedicated to discovering and supporting promising startups. Since its inception in 2018, it has welcomed more than 260 startups from 26 countries and over 20,000 participants.Photo by Johannes Plenio on UnsplashForging novel technologiesThis year, 40 startups from various fields, including artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, clean technology, and lifestyle, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), showcased their technologies and services while seeking out opportunities for collaboration. Among the participants were companies like Zkrypto, which developed a public blockchain voting system that prevents fraudulent voting; Basgen Bio, which created a drug development platform based on genomic data; and Netspa, which possesses the technology to extract recycled materials from fishing nets.Nine startups supported by LG Group also shared their joint achievements from over the past year. Some noteworthy examples include Ujura Company, which is developing technology to detect and predict the development of diseases in domestic pets based on behavioral data, and We Meet Mobility, which offers AI-based solutions for optimal logistics operations and transportation.Additionally, speakers like Ahn Ikkjin, CEO of Moloco, the first unicorn company in Silicon Valley founded by a Korean, and Kim Dong-Su, CEO of LG Technology Ventures, LG’s corporate venture capital arm in Silicon Valley, shared their insights on global expansion strategies and investment trends.Month-long celebration of innovationLG is set to host more events this month at LG Science Park, including the LG Software Developer Conference from September 14 to 15, aimed at sharing achievements in research and development, as well as Culture Week from September 20 to 22, where LG employees, families, local residents, and industrial experts can interact. These events, along with Super Start Day, are collectively referred to as LG SPARK, which is dedicated to promoting innovation and collaboration across diverse sectors.

Terraform Labs seeks summary judgment to dismiss SEC allegationsLawyers representing bankrupt Singaporean crypto firm Terraform Labs and its co-founder, Do Kwon, have requested a summary judgment from a New York judge in their legal battle against the United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).If granted, such a dismissal could potentially spare them from a full-blown trial. In their motion, the legal team argued vehemently that they are innocent of the SEC’s allegations, maintaining that the regulator has failed to provide any compelling evidence of wrongdoing.Photo by Bermix Studio on UnsplashDefining a securityThe motion, which was filed last Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, asserts that the implicated cryptocurrencies of Terra Classic (LUNC), TerraClassicUSD (USTC) and Mirror Protocol (MIR), together with its Mirrored assets (mAssets), are not securities as claimed by the SEC in its complaint.The heart of the matter revolves around the SEC’s assertion that Terraform Labs offered or sold securities, a claim vehemently denied by the defendants. The SEC initially brought the case in February, referencing algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD, which famously collapsed in May 2022.Lawyers claim case is unsubstantiatedBoth Kwon and Terraform Labs’ attorneys argued that despite over two years of investigation, more than 20 depositions, and the exchange of a staggering two million pages of documents, the SEC’s case remains unsubstantiated.The SEC’s original complaint in February accused Kwon and Terraform of raising substantial sums from investors by offering and selling an inter-connected suite of crypto asset securities, many of which were unregistered transactions. SEC Chair Gary Gensler added that Terraform and Kwon had failed to provide investors with full disclosures, notably concerning LUNA and TerraUSD.A key element of the dispute centers on the SEC’s allegation that Kwon and Terraform moved millions of dollars into Swiss bank accounts for personal gain. According to the agency’s complaint, the company and Kwon transferred 10,000 bitcoins to a financial institution based in Switzerland. The legal team representing Kwon and Terraform vehemently denies this allegation, characterizing it as baseless and unfounded.Flawed stablecoin designAlgorithmic stablecoins, such as TerraUSD, operate using market incentives via algorithms to maintain a stable price. Terra was tied to Luna, a governance token, in an attempt to stabilize prices. Unfortunately, the collapse of TerraUSD in 2022 destroyed in excess of $40 billion in value held by investors. It also had a domino effect, leading to a series of other crypto platform collapses later in 2022.Judge Jed Rakoff, presiding over the case in the Southern District of New York, had previously denied an attempt by Terraform Labs and Kwon to have the case dismissed. This new motion for summary judgment represents their latest effort to put an end to the legal proceedings.In a separate but related action, lawyers representing Terraform Labs Co-Founder Daniel Shin asserted that Shin played no role in the collapse of TerraUSD. In a Seoul district court, they emphasized that Shin had nothing to do with the collapse despite being indicted in South Korea in April on various charges, including fraud.