Coins.ph Suffers 12M XRP Exploit

Lion Group Holding Ltd (LGHL), a Nasdaq-listed financial services firm that provides an all-in-one platform for traders, has announced that it has secured $600 million to fund a Hyperliquid (HYPE) treasury. In a press release published by PR Newswire on behalf of the firm on June 18, the company outlined that a $600 million funding facility has been put in place by ATW Partners, a New York-headquartered investment firm that manages a number of private equity funds. Global investment bank Chardan Capital acted as the placement agent in facilitating the funding, with the first closing of $10.6 million, as per the subscription agreement.Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashCorporate treasury strategyLion Group will use that money to launch a new corporate treasury strategy built around Hyperliquid’s HYPE token. Hyperliquid is a decentralized exchange (DEX) which was created by Hyperliquid Labs, a startup founded by Jeff Yan.  The HYPE token is the native token of the Hyperliquid platform. It’s used to secure the network through staking and for project governance. The token is also used to provide transaction incentives, while the Hyperliquid platform buys back HYPE tokens using trading fee revenues. Lion Group’s platform offers its users access to contract-for-difference (CFD) trading, total return swap (TRS) trading, over-the-counter (OTC) stock options trading, while also acting as a futures and securities brokerage. Up until 2022, the firm was based in Hong Kong, opting to relocate to Singapore at that point. Primarily, the company serves corporate clients, individual professional investors and retail investors located in China and throughout the Southeast Asian region. Future of trading is on-chainIn explaining its rationale for pursuing a HYPE treasury strategy, the company’s CEO, Wilson Wang, stated: “Hyperliquid represents a natural extension of LGHL's existing derivatives business into decentralized markets, and reflects our conviction that decentralized on-chain execution is the future of trading." Going forward, the company will pursue a strategic accumulation of HYPE, with the token serving as the firm’s primary reserve asset. In addition to HYPE, Lion Group outlined that it may also allocate funds to purchase Solana (SOL) and Sui (SUI), with these tokens to be staked and custodied with institutional-grade digital asset custodian, BitGo. Lion Group asserted that both of these assets would form “key pillars” of a treasury strategy “focused on execution-first protocols.” Wang added that the company views “protocols like HYPE, with decentralized sequencing, as foundational to building scalable DeFi systems.” The company is not the first mover in terms of launching a HYPE-based corporate treasury. On June 17, Eyenovia, Inc. (EYEN), a Nasdaq-listed ophthalmic technology firm, announced that it had entered into a securities purchase agreement with a view towards financing a $50 million HYPE treasury. Additionally, the firm plans to change its name to Hyperion DeFi and its stock ticker to HYPD later this week to reflect its new HYPE-based reserve strategy. Shares in Eyenovia closed at $4.83 on June 18, down 30.7% over the course of 24 hours. Lion Group shares closed at $3.33, up 19.78%.

In a statement published to Vietnam.vn on Oct. 23, a website run by the Office of Foreign Information Service under Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications, Vietnam revealed its official National Blockchain Strategy. Key objectives In announcing its National Blockchain Strategy, the Vietnamese government articulated several key objectives that it feels will lead to Vietnam eventually taking a leadership role in blockchain development within the region.  These key objectives include an emphasis on research relative to the further roll-out of blockchain innovation. The Vietnamese authorities intend to promote blockchain research, innovation and international cooperation. Another specific action area has been identified as perfecting the legal environment with respect to blockchain development.  The development of infrastructure has been cited as a key objective, with the Ministry proposing that this should incorporate the formation of a blockchain industrial ecosystem. Additionally, the statement highlighted the need to focus on developing human resources in respect of blockchain, while also pointing to an overall need to promote blockchain development generally and the application of the technology. A number of branches of the Vietnamese government have been tasked with achieving these key objectives, including the Government Cipher Committee, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Science and Technology, as well as the Ministry of Information and Communications.Photo by Hugo Heimendinger on PexelsPositive reaction The plan has been broadly welcomed by Vietnam-based crypto stakeholders. Jenny Nguyen, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Ho Chi Minh City-based crypto venture fund Kyros Ventures, suggested the development was bullish. She wrote: “This is the most bullish policy on blockchain from the Vietnam Government in history, which not only acknowledges the importance of blockchain, but also defines clear expectations for the development of this technology sector in the years to come.“ Nguyen also pointed out that regulations on digital assets are currently being discussed within Vietnam’s National Assembly, with legislators working towards a 2025 completion date. On the basis of these two developments, she believes that “the future for blockchain and crypto in Vietnam is looking brighter and brighter day by day.” KardiaChain, a hybrid blockchain infrastructure provider to governments in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries, outlined on social media that it had been a key contributor in shaping the strategy. The project believes that the strategy “will enable us as builders more opportunities to impact the country's blockchain development, and further accomplish our mission of mass adoption that we set out on day one.” Laura Nguyen, head of Vietnam at Ava Labs, said that the strategy was forward-thinking and that consequently Vietnam is “primed to become a blockchain powerhouse, pushing the boundaries of technological innovation and fostering global collaboration.” As part of the strategy, the Vietnamese government plans to bring about the development of 20 blockchain brands for platforms, products and services. Additionally, the strategy aims to put in place three testing centers located in major Vietnamese urban centers as part of an effort to create a national blockchain network. 

KDIC Seizes Crypto from Debtors Linked to Losses at Financial FirmsDuring the first half of this year, the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) tracked the cryptocurrency holdings of 1,075 individuals and debtors responsible for causing losses at financial entities, including savings banks, according to documents obtained by local news outlet Herald Economy, from the office of lawmaker Kim Han-kyu, a member of the National Assembly’s National Policy Committee. From this scrutiny, KDIC identified 29 wrongful cases and proceeded to confiscate cryptocurrencies in 16 of those instances.KDIC is a semi-state body that has been instrumental in tracing and recovering assets from culpable employees at troubled financial firms and debtors in arrears. Meanwhile, methods for hiding wealth have become more sophisticated, typically unfolding behind the curtain.Photo by Georg Bommeli on UnsplashFirst crypto seizureOut of these individuals, 900 had taken out loans of at least KRW 3 billion ($2.2 million) from beleaguered financial institutions, while the remaining 175 were employees of these institutions, held responsible for their failures. This occasion represents the KDIC’s first seizure of virtual assets.Until recently, the KDIC struggled to reclaim hidden assets funneled into cryptocurrency exchanges, given their limited authority to seek documentation. KDIC’s purview mainly extended to requesting information from public institutions, banks, insurance companies, and securities firms. However, KDIC has now found a way to seize crypto assets by investigating the bank accounts linked to these exchanges. In Korea, crypto exchanges facilitating Korean won trades are legally mandated to secure real-name accounts from banks.Call for expanding KDIC’s authorityGiven the evidence of using cryptocurrencies to conceal wealth, many suggest that amendments to the Depositor Protection Act are necessary, enabling KDIC to directly request relevant data from exchanges and recover more hidden assets effectively.Furthermore in August KDIC secured a court order allowing them to liquidate these assets. Following this successful confiscation, the debtors’ cryptocurrencies have been frozen in their wallets, rendering them unresponsive to any market shifts. Discussions are now underway regarding the method of liquidating the debtors’ cryptocurrencies at market value on exchanges. This includes deliberations on whether KDIC will assume ownership of the cryptocurrencies and directly proceed with their sale.In a chat with Herald Economy, Lawmaker Kim emphasized the need for KDIC to have the authority to access information from virtual asset service providers. This would enable them to more effectively retrieve assets from responsible debtors. Kim further stated that such steps would enhance both the efficiency of debt collection and overall market fairness.