Wemade’s NILE Launches Ticket NFT Sales for Blockchain-Assisted Golf Tournament

BitMEX Chalks Up Two New Perp Contract ListingsSeychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange and derivative trading platform BitMEX announced recently that it has added perpetual contracts relative to two additional digital assets.A perpetual contract is a crypto futures contract without an expiry date. Just like with a more conventional futures contract, a perpetual contract is a derivative product, deriving its value from the underlying crypto asset.$SUI tokenTaking to Twitter, the company outlined that it has added perpetual contracts for the $SUI token. The contracts will be available in $SUI/USD and SUI/USDT pairings. Leverage relative to the contracts is being made available up to a maximum of 50x.$SUI is the native token of the Sui blockchain platform. Sui is a layer one blockchain which launched earlier this week. It’s a smart contract platform maintained via a network of permissionless validators. The blockchain network claims to offer a scalable network with ultra low latency. Such low latency can enable diverse use cases such as retail point of sale payment systems and gaming.The contract allows users to post bitcoin as collateral, earning or losing in bitcoin as the SUI/USD rate changes. Maximum risk limit is set at 50 bitcoin. Meanwhile maker and taker fees have been set for the product at 0.02% and 0.075% respectively. A base initial margin of 2% applies while base maintenance margin of 1% applies.$PEPE tokenOn Wednesday, BitMEX also launched perpetual contract products relative to the $PEPE token at 04:00 UTC. There are two listings, PEPE/USD and PEPE/USDT. Pepe coin is a meme token project, inspired by the Pepe the Frog meme. The origins of the cartoon character stem from the Boy’s Club comic in 2005. It later became an internet meme, and later still it was adopted as a meme within the crypto space.The token itself was launched in April, sky rocketing to a $502 million market capitalization since then, representing a 2,100% rise in the token’s unit price since its launch.As in the case of the $SUI token, $PEPE is also available to trade on BitMEX with leverage as high as 50x. In an interview with one crypto news publication, a representative of BitMEX commented on the launch as follows:“PEPE needs a Perp! Perpetual Contracts are the most traded product in crypto and offer all investors taking a long or short position on tokens with better liquidity and fewer network risks. At BitMEX, we offer Tether-margined and Bitcoin-margined perpetual contracts. We are proud to be the inventor of the Perpetual Swap and have long been a leading trading venue for crypto derivatives, offering uncompromised security, a reliable platform, and deep liquidity — as professional traders deserve.”Many commentators in the crypto space have repeatedly pointed to the high risks involved with leverage. In this instance 50x leverage is incredibly high risk, making the product suitable only for those traders that fully and thoroughly understand the risk that comes with such leveraged trading.Photo by Shubham Dhage on Unsplash

Wemade Partners with Etherscan to Enhance Transparency in WEMIX 3.0 EcosystemWemade, a leading company in the South Korean blockchain gaming industry, announced on Monday a partnership with Etherscan, a renowned block explorer and analytics platform. The objective of this collaboration is to enhance transparency within the WEMIX 3.0 ecosystem.Photo by Shubham Dhage on UnsplashNew block explorerAs part of this partnership, both companies will work together to develop a dedicated block explorer for the WEMIX 3.0 mainnet and Kroma, an Ethereum Layer 2 project developed by Lightscale, a subsidiary of Wemade. The new block explorer will provide advanced functionality, enabling users to access a more transparent transaction history. The explorer is expected to be launched in the first half of this year.InteroperabilityKroma is Lightscale’s Ethereum Layer 2 project whose goal is to establish a layer 2 blockchain based on zero-knowledge rollups. Thanks to Kroma’s interoperability, the WEMIX ecosystem is anticipated to extend beyond the WEMIX blockchain, linking to external blockchains.Etherscan, one of major block explorers for Ethereum, is an established platform offering extensive analytics capabilities. It has previously developed and operated various block explorers, including BscScan for Binance Blockchain, PolygonScan for Polygon Blockchain, and Arbiscan for Arbitrum Blockchain.Through this partnership, Wemade continues its commitment to decentralizing the WEMIX 3.0 mainnet and driving innovative advancements of a transparent mega-ecosystem.

OKX Enters Final Stages of Securing VASP License in Hong KongSeychelles-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange OKX is on the verge of securing its virtual asset service provider (VASP) license in Hong Kong, with approval expected as early as June 2024.That’s according to Li Zhikai, OKX’s Global Chief Commercial Officer, who, in a recent interview with Infocast, shed light on the exchange’s preparations, including collaborations with banks and other related technological integrations.Photo by Simon Zhu on UnsplashThe Road to a VASP LicenseObtaining a VASP license in Hong Kong is no easy feat. Regulatory requirements impose a 30% cap on investors’ crypto investments, ensuring they do not risk more than one-third of their net income.Furthermore, the Hong Kong regulator has implemented stringent crypto asset storage protocols, mandating that crypto exchanges securely store 98% of their crypto assets in cold wallets. Additionally, they must provide insurance and compensation arrangements to protect clients’ interests.Cost has been another issue. In June it emerged that Web3 businesses have been shelling out anywhere between 20 million and 200 million Hong Kong dollars ($2.55 million and $25.5 million) in order to see out the licensing application process.Alongside these licensing difficulties, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a warning last month aimed at unregistered crypto businesses engaging in “improper practices” within the Chinese autonomous territory.OKX’s remarkable growthWith OKX having reported growth within the Hong Kong market earlier this year, pointing to the onboarding of over 10,000 new users in just one month, it’s likely that licensing is both worthwhile and necessary for the firm despite the difficulties in obtaining it. In March the exchange established OKX Hong Kong, a local entity, with the primary objective of securing a VASP license and operating as a virtual asset trading platform within the city.Hong Kong’s decision to open its doors to retail investors as of June 1 generated significant interest, with more than 80 foreign and Mainland China-based crypto companies expressing their intent to establish a presence in Hong Kong and obtain local licenses. Among these firms are Gate.io, Huobi, CoinEx, and Interactive Brokers.Expanding global reachNotably, OKX has been actively acquiring licenses in various jurisdictions worldwide as part of its strategic expansion plan. The exchange secured a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) license from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in June. This licensing milestone followed the establishment of a new office at the Dubai World Trade Center by OKX.Before venturing into the Middle East, OKX took steps to obtain a French digital asset service provider (DASP) license in May, aiming to position France as its regional hub in Europe. To facilitate this, OKX established a local subsidiary, OKX France. The application and registration process with the French regulator is expected to enable OKX to operate in full compliance with European regulations.Hong Kong embarked on its journey to become a crypto-friendly jurisdiction over the course of the past 12 months, but particularly so when it unveiled its licensing framework for cryptocurrency exchanges catering to retail customers earlier this year. However, only a handful of platforms, such as HashKey and OSL, managed to secure licenses for offering retail crypto trading services. Others, including Huobi and Gate.io, are still awaiting that regulatory nod.