Korean Police Establishes Task Force to Tackle Virtual Asset-Related Crimes

South Korean crypto exchanges list USDTBithumb and Coinone, two of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, have recently listed Tether (USDT) — the USD-pegged stablecoin issued by Tether Limited — according to an article by local news outlet Kyunghyang Games on Thursday (local time). Both exchanges support Tether trading on the TRON network.Photo by DrawKit Illustrations on UnsplashTether gains momentum in South KoreaBithumb listed the currency today at KRW 1,316 in response to high investor demand. Meanwhile, Coinone, which listed Tether on Nov. 30 to become the first fiat-to-crypto exchange in the country to facilitate USDT/KRW trading, cited reasons such as Tether’s reliability and transparency, demonstrated by regular updates on its audits and reserves. The listing price was KRW 1,289.Industry sources anticipate that USDT/KRW trading in South Korea will eventually lead to reduced transaction fees and a simplified transaction process for domestic traders. Previously, in order to access most overseas markets where USDT is used as the default currency, users have had to sell their assets overseas first and then repurchase USDT to participate in trading.Simplified transactions are also expected to contribute to balancing pricing across different markets and reducing the Kimchi premium — a term used to describe the difference between trading prices of cryptocurrencies in Korea and in other foreign exchanges.Promotional eventsTo mark the occasion, Bithumb is offering a promotional event where 0.02% of the price of maker orders placed by Dec. 11 will be distributed to users in Bitcoin on Dec. 14. Maker orders are those that are placed at an asking price that differs from the current price, which means it is added to the order book instead of being matched or executed immediately. These orders add liquidity to an order book.Bithumb users can also make USDT withdrawals free of extra fees until Dec. 11. Coinone, on the other hand, requires a withdrawal fee of 1 USDT.According to CoinMarketCap, Tether has the third-largest market capitalization at approximately $90.1 billion as of this writing. The token’s trading volume in the last 24 hours was $49.3 billion.

Korean Crypto Exchange Operator Airdrops NFTs to Raise Biodiversity AwarenessDunamu, the operator of Upbit, one of South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, made an announcement on Thursday regarding its initiative to raise awareness about biodiversity threatened by climate change. In collaboration with four organizations affiliated with the Ministry of Environment, Dunamu plans to transform Climate-Sensitive Biological Indicator Species (CBIS) into non-fungible tokens (NFTs), as reported by news media Daily Hankook.Photo by Alin Andersen on UnsplashAffected biological speciesCBIS encompasses biological species that have experienced significant changes in their seasonal activities, distribution areas, and population sizes due to climate change. These species require ongoing research and management by the government. The National Institute of Biological Resources (NIBR) of the Ministry of Environment compiled a list of 100 such species in July 2010. This list was created to facilitate the efficient monitoring of climate change’s impact on the distribution and vulnerability of biological species on the Korean Peninsula.The initiative is part of the Resource Circulation Climate Action Campaign organized by Dunamu with four environment agencies, namely the NIBR, the Nakdonggang National Institute of Biological Resources (NNIBR), the Honam National Institute of Biological Resources (HNIBR), and the National Institute of Ecology (NIE). Its key objective is to protect the habitats of plants and animals while raising awareness about biodiversity conservation.Species vanishing every 15 minutesWith climate change causing the extinction of one species every 15 minutes, the project aims to raise awareness about this distressing trend. In pursuit of this goal, 15 NFT editions will be distributed through four separate events over the course of a year, commencing on May 19. The participating artists include Jjawook, an artist with developmental disabilities; Jin Kwan-woo, an artist renowned for depicting endangered species using the Korean alphabet Hangul; and members of the Botanical Artists Society of Korea.NFT release planThe initial set of NFTs to be airdropped includes three species: the warbling white-eye, the common camellia, and the house holly-fern. These species have historically inhabited coastal regions of islands. However, as a result of climate change, their distribution and habitat have been shifting towards inland or northern areas.To obtain CBIS NFTs, individuals can visit Dunamu’s metaverse platform 2ndblock. Once there, they will have the opportunity to engage in a resource collection mission. Upon successfully completing the mission, users will receive an NFT gift code. To claim their NFTs, they need to register the provided NFT gift code on the Upbit NFT marketplace.Dunamu CEO Lee Sirgoo expressed his hope that the project would have a positive impact on raising awareness about biodiversity conservation on the Korean Peninsula, which is under threat from climate change. He stated that Dunamu intends to continue utilizing its technology and expertise in diverse ways to contribute to a sustainable future and environment.HNIBR Director Ryu Tae-chul believes that the campaign will encourage recycling in communities to reduce carbon emissions and serve as an inspiration for individuals to actively engage in initiatives that promote a sustainable and biologically diverse planet.

Bullish Emerges as a Bidder for Bankrupt FTX ExchangeBullish, a Gibraltar-based crypto exchange with strong ties to Asia, has emerged as a prominent bidder for the bankrupt trading platform FTX, which filed for bankruptcy protection in November last year.Photo by Kelly Sikkema on UnsplashValuable customer baseUp until that point, FTX was a thriving player in the cryptocurrency market. However, it is now in the process of seeking new ownership or financial restructuring to resurrect its operations. In a report published on Tuesday, The Block outlined that according to sources familiar with the situation, Bullish is eager to acquire FTX primarily for its valuable customer base.The news follows the filing of a stakeholder brief to the bankruptcy court in Delaware in the United States by the FTX Debtor on Monday. The brief outlined that the Debtor, led by new CEO John Ray, has reached out to more than 75 bidders to evaluate the potential relaunch of the FTX exchange business.Bullish aims to leverage FTX’s existing user network, intending to convert as many of them as possible into Bullish customers. However, it’s worth noting that this complex negotiation process may face challenges and uncertainties along the way.Asian connectionsAlthough it’s incorporated and registered in Gibraltar, only 4% of the company’s staff are Gibraltar-based. Meanwhile, the firm has offices in Singapore and Hong Kong with those locations accounting for 49% of the company’s overall workforce, according to LinkedIn data. Back in November the firm confirmed that it wasn’t one of the many crypto businesses with exposure to the FTX collapse.Bullish was founded by Brendan Blumer, with Bloomer currently acting as the exchange’s Chairman. Blumer previously founded Block.one, the developer behind the EOS blockchain. He also successfully founded and later exited Okay.com, Hong Kong’s largest digital property agency.Other Asia-centric players in the crypto sector had expressed interest in buying the FTX business (or parts of the business) earlier in the year. These included Singapore’s BSQ Capital and Gamepay, India’s CoinDCX, Japan’s 5G networks developer Docomo and e-commerce giant Rakuten, and Hong Kong’s OKC Holdings.Tribe Capital interestThe Block article also outlines that US-based Tribe Capital is another significant bidder in the running. Tribe Capital had FTX within its venture portfolio prior to the exchange’s downfall and subsequent bankruptcy at the close of the previous year. It had also appeared on the list of 363 sales parties back in June, and prior to that still, it had expressed its interest in buying the business.To establish a clear timeline for its business restructuring efforts, the estate has set a deadline for new bids, which falls on September 24. The FTX estate is still at an early stage in trying to resuscitate the business. Even if it’s successful in that endeavor, it’s not expected that a new business will emerge until Q2 2024 at the earliest.Separately, a criminal prosecution against FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried is progressing with a trial scheduled to take place in New York in October. Presently Bankman-Fried is incarcerated in a New York City jail while he awaits trial, having been found to have breached his bail conditions on the grounds of witness tampering.