Gyeonggi Officials with Cryptocurrencies Clear of Professional Conflicts in Virtual Assets

German multinational investment bank Deutsche Bank, is collaborating with Singapore's central bank on asset tokenization.  Project GuardianThe company announced on May 14 via a press release that it has joined the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Project Guardian. Project Guardian is an international collaboration between a number of market regulators, led by MAS. Other participants in the initiative include the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) and Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). The project focuses on asset tokenization relative to wholesale funding markets and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.Photo by Mariia Shalabaieva on UnsplashThe bank outlined how it intends to participate as part of the collaboration, stating: “As part of the asset and wealth management workstream, the bank will test an open architecture and interoperable blockchain platform to service tokenized and digital funds. It will then propose protocol standards and identify best practice to contribute to industry progress.” The bank’s participation in the project will be headed up by its Asia Pacific (APAC) head of securities and technology, Boon-Hiong Chan. Anand Rengarajan, Head of Securities Services for Asia Pacific and the Middle East, commented on the development, stating:“Contributing to Project Guardian will bolster our efforts to help shape the new frontier of asset servicing, and strongly position us to contribute to industry progress, and not only anticipate our clients’ needs but exceed their expectations.”  Memento Blockchain partnershipDeutsche Bank outlined that it intends to work closely with Memento Blockchain on the project. In fact, it has an existing ongoing collaboration in place with Memento, the developer of a decentralized asset management platform. Memento has developed multi asset swap products and it is currently working towards the development of a zero knowledge layer-2 solution. The duo have worked together over the course of the past two years. A proof-of-concept known as Project DAMA (Digital Assets Management Access) emerged from that partnership. That body of work will be extended into DAMA 2.  Memento Blockchain is the software developer behind the Domani Protocol. It stated on X that more technical details relative to the collaboration will be released in the coming weeks. It added that the collaboration will also involve Interop Labs, the developer of the Axelar Network, the programmable Web3 interoperability platform.  Earlier this year, the Axelar Foundation established a partnership with payment technology firm Ripple Labs with a view towards tokenizing real world assets (RWAs) on top of the XRP Ledger, enabled via Axelar. Axelar co-founder and Interop Labs CEO Sergey Gorbunov told Cointelegraph that “it’s now clear that secure blockchain interoperability is required to unlock the trillion-dollar potential in asset tokenization.” Gorbunov added that “Deutsche Bank and Project Guardian are leading innovation toward establishing the open systems that will enable this technology.” He highlighted the relevance of the Axelar Network in that endeavor, suggesting that “Axelar is critical infrastructure for institutional adoption."

The global cryptocurrency market is poised for unprecedented growth, potentially reaching $200 trillion within a decade, according to Yat Siu, co-founder of Animoca Brands, a prominent Hong Kong-based Web3 game software company and venture capital firm. 2-3x within 18 monthsCurrently valued at approximately $2.7 trillion according to data from crypto aggregator CoinGecko, the cryptocurrency market is set to double or triple in the near term, Siu predicted on The Valr Podcast on May 28. “In the near term — within 12 to 18 months — we can conceive of a doubling or tripling of the space,” he stated, expressing strong confidence in the industry's future milestones. Siu elaborated on his bold forecast, suggesting that over a five to ten-year period, the market could accelerate by 100 to 200 times, potentially reaching a valuation of $200 trillion or even higher. In conversation with Farzam Ehsani, the co-founder of Valr, a platform that allows users to buy, sell, store and transfer crypto assets, Siu said:“I think we could reach that kind of number within a decade.” This explosive growth, according to Siu, will be driven by billions of people becoming digital property owners within the Web3 ecosystem. Siu stated: “It is entirely conceivable that we’re going to have a billion property owners because we’re going to have a billion token holders. This is not possible in the physical world.”Photo by Pierre Borthiry - Peiobty on UnsplashAsia fastest growing marketSiu also pointed out the regional dynamics within the Web3 space, noting that Asia has emerged as the fastest-growing market. “Right now, the leading force in Web3 is clearly Asia,” he argued, citing robust adoption rates in regions such as Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Japan. In contrast, jurisdictions like the United States are lagging behind, primarily due to regulatory uncertainties. Siu pointed out that historically, the United States has tended to take a leadership role where new technology is concerned. Web3 is turning out to be the exception to that rule. With that, he thinks that it is Asia that will lead the way and that it will continue to lead for the foreseeable future where Web3 is concerned. Bullish on BitcoinHis optimism about the Web3 market's potential aligns with his bullish stance on Bitcoin, currently standing at a market capitalization of $1.3 trillion. Siu made another bold prediction recently, expressing confidence that Bitcoin would eventually reach $1 million. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $68,346. While that’s far from his $1 million unit price prediction, he did state at Web Summit Rio in April that it would do so “over time.”  That bullishness from the Animoca founder has also manifested itself within the company itself. In early May, the company announced its entry into the Bitcoin ecosystem by endorsing the Opal Foundation, a Bitcoin-centric protocol. At the time, Siu suggested that Bitcoin is now primed for Web3. Siu's projections reflect a broader optimism in the cryptocurrency industry, where rapid technological advancements and increasing adoption rates are expected to drive significant growth. As more individuals and institutions embrace digital assets, the potential for exponential market expansion becomes increasingly plausible.

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Flybit, which is operated by the Korean Fintech Industry Association, has passed the post-audit for its Information Security and Privacy Management System certification (ISMS-P), according to local news website News1 on Wednesday (KST).Photo by FlyD on UnsplashRigorous certification standardsThe ISMS-P is a security management system jointly operated by South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT and the Personal Information Protection Commission, representing the highest level of security management in the country. It combines 80 requirements for Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification and 22 requirements for Personal Information Management System (PIMS) certification, totaling 102 requirements that must be met. Once obtained, certification is valid for three years, and annual post-audits are required to maintain its validity. Flybit’s commitment to security"Cryptocurrency exchanges are businesses that manage customers' valuable assets. All Flybit members approach their work by recognizing the fact that the protection of personal information is our most important value,” the exchange said. "We will continually strive to maintain security accidents since the establishment of the exchange." Flybit first obtained the ISMS certification in December 2020 and the ISMS-P certification two years later in December 2022. The most recent ISMS-P follow-up audit was conducted last month. After a thorough examination, the results of the audit were delivered by the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) on Dec. 12, which stated that the exchange could maintain its certification. In October last year, the firm also received the highest rating in the comprehensive anti-money laundering (AML) evaluation conducted annually by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission.