Wemade Partners with Katnappe to Bring Arcade Game to Blockchain Platform

Kazakhstan shuts out 980 non-compliant crypto exchanges in 2023Kazakhstan has implemented stringent measures in 2023 when it comes to regulating the crypto sector, resulting in the closure of 980 crypto exchanges that failed to comply with government regulations.That’s according to a press release published by the Central Asian country’s Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA), the state entity responsible for anti-money laundering (AML) policy. These measures, taken over the course of the year, were highlighted during the 39th Plenary Week of the Eurasian Group (EAG) in the resort city of Sanya, in Hainan province in China.Photo by Kuralbek Djumagaziev on UnsplashCombating money laundering threatsThe seminar served as a platform for participating countries to exchange experiences, with an emphasis on leveraging advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, to effectively combat emerging threats related to money laundering and terrorist financing. The Kazakhstani delegation played a leading role in discussions on virtual assets.Ruslan Ostroumov, the Head of Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency, showcased the country’s legislative regulations and robust measures to combat the illegal turnover of digital assets. Ostroumov reported the blocking of 980 illegal cryptocurrency exchange platforms in the current year. Additionally, nine investigations into illegal exchange operations, amounting to $36.7 million, have been initiated, accompanied by ongoing preventive measures.Registration process complexityWhile the seminar’s organizers commended Kazakhstan for its proactive stance against financial crimes in the virtual assets space, the country’s crypto laws have added complexity to the registration process for exchanges.In November, the Kazakhstani authorities blocked local access to the Coinbase website due to potential violations of the country’s digital asset legislation. This decision aligned with the law on digital assets, effective since February 2023, which prohibits the issuance and trading of digital currencies and cryptocurrency exchange businesses without proper licensing.While challenges remain for crypto platforms within Kazakhstan, some have been successful in their efforts. In May, crypto derivatives trading platform Bybit was successful in gaining approval to offer its services within the country. Binance followed suit in June, securing preliminary approval. Other platforms such as CaspianEx, Biteeu, ATAIX, Upbit, Xignal and MT have been granted permission to conduct trade in Kazakhstan.In December 2020, Kazakhstan formally legalized cryptocurrency mining, and on May 6, 2021, the National Bank of Kazakhstan announced plans to issue a “digital tenge,” their version of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Various CBDC-related projects have followed. In September, the National Payment Corporation, an entity which will be responsible for CBDC development, was launched. The same month, the National Bank of Kazakhstan entered into a collaboration with financial messaging service SWIFT to work on an interoperable CBDC connector.For the most part, these comprehensive regulations and the issuance of a CBDC signify Kazakhstan’s broader acceptance and adaptation to the cryptocurrency landscape. Authorities internationally are trying to find a balance between adequate regulation and enabling innovation to take place. Kazakhstan is no exception, and with that, there are bound to be challenges as regulatory frameworks are optimized and tweaked along the way.

Huobi Falls Foul of Malaysian RegulatorMalaysia’s Securities Commission, the regulator responsible for investor protection and market integrity in the South East Asian country, has closed down the Malaysian operations of Seychelles-headquartered global crypto exchange Huobi.Photo by Zukiman Mohamad on PexelsThe regulator announced the shutdown via a press release published to its website on Monday. The Commission outlined that it has taken action against both the exchange, Huobi Global Limited, and its CEO Leon Li. It cites “operating illegally in Malaysia,” given that it was operating as an unregistered digital asset exchange (DAX) as the rationale for the decision.With the enforcement action has come an order to Huobi from the regulator to “cease circulating, publishing or sending any advertisements, whether in email or on social media platforms, to Malaysian investors, and to stop its operations in the country, including to disable its website and mobile application on several platforms such as Apple Store, Google Play and any other digital application platform.”Compliance concernsThe Securities Commission is putting the onus on the Huobi Global CEO to ensure that this order is complied with. The regulator said that it had concerns about the platform’s compliance with local regulatory requirements. It further outlined that it is an offense in Malaysia to operate a DAX without having completed registration with the Commission as a Recognized Market Operator (RMO) under Section 7 (1) of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007.The Malaysian regulator also took the opportunity to warn citizens that they should only seek to trade on platforms that are registered RMOs and that for right now, those that have funds on the Huobi platform should withdraw their assets and cease trading on the platform.Expected newsHuobi doesn’t seem to have made an official statement relative to the Malaysian Security Commission’s decision via its official media channels. However, it did provide the following response to CoinTelegraph on Monday:“In response to recent reports, we would like to clarify that the situation outlined pertains to the previous Huobi entity and former shareholders. This is not associated with the current Huobi platform, which adheres to strict regulatory compliance globally.”Taking that response at face value, the company doesn’t seem to be particularly bothered about the enforcement action. It seems as if Huobi were already prepared for this eventuality, by starting a new corporate entity from scratch.In August 2022, the Malaysian regulator issued Huobi Global with a lesser enforcement action by adding the company to its investor alert list. It chastised the firm for operating without regulatory approval.Malaysia hasn’t been a hotbed of activity where crypto and digital assets have been concerned and certainly doesn’t compare with Asian centers like Hong Kong and Singapore who are actively chasing crypto business. However, in March of last year, the country’s Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Zahidi Zainul, said that the Southeast Asian country should recognize crypto assets like Bitcoin as legal tender.In 2021, Malaysia’s central bank joined a Bank of International Settlements (BIS)-led trial to explore the proof of concept of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), in order to enhance technical and policy capabilities should there ever be a need to issue one.

Emurgo Looks to Fill in Missing Cardano Ecosystem ComponentsEmurgo, the Singapore-based commercial arm and a founding entity of the Cardano blockchain network, plans on working towards filling in the gaps relative to needed Cardano ecosystem components.So said Emurgo Founder and CEO Ken Kodama, in a recent discussion with Andrew Fenton, the Editor of Cointelegraph’s magazine. Emurgo is one of the three entities governing Cardano and has taken on the task of addressing what it perceives as “missing” components in the Cardano blockchain when compared to other leading blockchains.Photo by Traxer on UnsplashAddressing 21 categoriesKodama outlined a strategic shift in Emurgo’s approach, describing it as a transition to a venture studio model to address 21 specific categories that he and his team believe require attention. According to Kodama, the solutions to these gaps will either be built by Emurgo themselves or sourced through investments, hackathons, or grants to incentivize developers within the Cardano community. Kodama stated: “So, that’s what we need to focus on, shifting from where we are today into a venture studio model.”One area that the Emurgo CEO is looking to address is the need to introduce layer 2 solutions to enhance Cardano’s scalability. While other blockchains have seen significant development in this area, Kodama feels that Cardano needs to catch up. Therefore, it’s a priority for Emurgo to cultivate a similar environment within the Cardano network.Along those lines, Emurgo is exploring zero-knowledge rollups and optimistic rollups, indicating the firm’s commitment to exploring and investing in what is the latest cutting-edge blockchain technology. To this end, they’ve already organized hackathons centered around these themes.Developer proficiency issueThe Emurgo boss feels that one of these 21 shortfalls is more pressing than the rest. Kodama acknowledged that the barrier of having developers proficient in more obscure programming languages like Haskell and Plutus is a difficulty. He believes the current pool of developers with expertise in these languages is insufficient. To address this, Emurgo is keen to promote Aiken, a toolkit and a new programming language designed to facilitate the development of smart contracts on the Cardano blockchain.Another one of the highlighted gaps is the absence of a robust decentralized identity (DID) system for enterprise adoption within the Cardano ecosystem. Kodama voiced his concern in this respect, stating: “We don’t see that much DID application being built on Cardano. So, that’s the first gap, or primary gap that we need to fill in.”“Aiken and other programming language applicability are quite important to broaden the number of builders able to build on top of Cardano. We have been educating builders to code in Haskell and Plutus. We had more than 2,000 graduates. However, that’s not really enough,” Kodama added.Emurgo has high hopes for Aiken and similar programming languages that can be integrated into Cardano, with the aim of diversifying the pool of developers capable of creating smart contracts on the platform, using a variety of programming languages.