Gemini to Invest $24M as Part of India Expansion Plans

Hana Financial Group, one of South Korea’s largest financial institutions, plans to establish a new task force focused on digital assets, according to a report by News1. The move comes as the cryptocurrency market continues to expand and institutional adoption grows worldwide.Photo by POURIA 🦋 on UnsplashGroupwide crypto task forceThe company intends to use the task force to develop a coordinated response system linking its banking, card, and securities subsidiaries. It also plans to introduce crypto-related products, services, and infrastructure in line with forthcoming legislation on digital assets. As its first initiative, the task force will focus on stablecoin-related projects, including issuance and reserve management. Another key objective is to build a merchant network that enables customers to make payments using stablecoins. Beyond its crypto initiatives, Hana Financial Group also aims to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to advance its digital finance capabilities. Ongoing AI research at the Hana Institute of Technology will serve as the foundation for integrating AI across the group’s subsidiaries, with a particular focus on enhancing sales divisions. Commenting on the initiative, Chairman Ham Young-joo said the group will strengthen its capabilities in both crypto and AI, underlining the transformative potential of digital assets in capital markets and payment networks. Paycoin expands retail acceptanceThe rising adoption of cryptocurrencies in South Korea is reflected in Paycoin’s (PCI) recent expansion into the convenience store chain Emart24. Operated by Danal Fintech, the blockchain affiliate of Danal, Paycoin now allows customers to make purchases with its PCI tokens at Emart24 locations, according to a report by Etoday. With 7-Eleven scheduled to start accepting PCI later this month, the digital asset will soon be usable across all four major convenience store chains in the country, joining CU and GS25, which already support it. Building on this momentum, Paycoin aims to expand its utility across a wider range of sectors, including restaurants, sports facilities, shopping malls, and accommodations. The platform has already established a presence at well-known eateries such as Domino’s and Pizza Hut, as well as at Dal.Komm, Danal’s coffee chain. Market manipulation probesHowever, the growing acceptance of digital assets has also brought side effects—specifically, a rise in crypto-related crimes. Amid stricter oversight, South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has voted to refer alleged cryptocurrency market manipulators to law enforcement. The decision concerns two separate cases, Edaily reported. In the first case, a suspect is accused of generating illicit profits by artificially inflating the price of a particular cryptocurrency. The individual reportedly accumulated tokens worth billions of Korean won before placing a series of sell orders at higher prices. Using an application programming interface (API), the suspect repeatedly executed these orders, prompting ordinary investors to buy in and drive prices even higher—ultimately securing profits for the manipulator. The second case involves multiple individuals accused of employing similar methods across various tokens. They allegedly used APIs to automate trades, creating false impressions of high trading volumes and inflated prices to reap unlawful gains. These developments offer a broader view of how South Korea’s nascent digital asset industry is taking shape. The growing presence of cryptocurrencies in everyday life reflects Seoul’s push to align with the global trend of embracing crypto as both a new payment method and an emerging asset class. While crime prevention and investor protection remain key concerns, forthcoming legislation is expected to give regulators clearer guidelines. Ranked 15th worldwide in crypto adoption in this year’s Chainalysis study, South Korea continues to stand out as a market that merits close attention from investors and industry observers alike. 

American digital asset prime brokerage FalconX has unveiled its strategic expansion into Hong Kong, doubling down on its growth within the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.Photo by Chapman Chow on UnsplashOTC brokerage servicesThe move, announced by the company through the release of a statement on Thursday, represents the firm’s latest stride in pursuing a global expansion strategy. In February 2023 the company announced that it was establishing its APAC headquarters in Singapore. FalconX intends to provide tailored over-the-counter (OTC) brokerage and OTC virtual asset derivatives services to professional investors in Hong Kong, including proprietary trading firms, family offices and fund managers. Leading the charge in this expansion is Belle Leung, who assumes the role of commercial lead in Hong Kong. Leung brings a wealth of experience from her previous position as head of SaaS sales for digital assets at OSL in Hong Kong. Her primary focus will be on raising awareness of FalconX’s offerings within Hong Kong's rapidly expanding institutional Web3 community.Leung expressed enthusiasm for Hong Kong's proactive regulatory approach, noting the strong market certainty it has generated. She emphasized FalconX's support for and alignment with the regulatory landscape. This expansion aligns with ongoing efforts by Hong Kong regulators to shape a conducive environment for virtual assets and related products, thereby providing market certainty and fostering innovation. The recent guidelines set by Hong Kong's regulators aim to align the region’s regulatory framework with international best practices, positioning it as a leading global center for digital asset innovation and investment. Executing an expansion strategyThe company is likely to have been planning its Hong Kong expansion for some time. Earlier this month, FalconX confirmed that it would be expanding its APAC operations. In November, the company was actively recruiting to fill Hong Kong-based positions. That same month, FalconX announced a partnership with Bullish, a digital assets exchange with 110 employees in Hong Kong. As part of that integration, the prime broker gained access to further digital asset liquidity on the Bullish platform.In its home market in the United States, the company has also been furthering its market influence. With spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) having been approved in the U.S. in January, FalconX executed over 30% of all bitcoin creation transactions for ETF issuers on the first day of trading. Matt Long, FalconX's APAC general manager, underscored the pivotal role of Hong Kong in the virtual asset innovation landscape, noting its historical significance as a hub for such innovation. He emphasized the region's leadership in the market with a clear focus on Web3 technologies. Long expressed FalconX's commitment to global growth and confidence in Hong Kong's progressive stance on virtual asset regulation and its leading position in the Web3 ecosystem. FalconX's expansion into Hong Kong follows its recent strategic moves in the Asia Pacific region, including the appointment of Ivan Lim as Trading Manager, APAC derivatives, based in the firm’s Singapore office. These developments underscore FalconX's intention to expand its footprint in the region and cater to the evolving needs of institutional investors in the digital asset space.

Netmarble’s Blockchain Platform Plans Tokenomics Overhaul for MBX TokenNetmarble, a South Korean gaming company, announced today that its blockchain subsidiary MARBLEX revealed a plan to revamp the tokenomics of its native MBX token.Fate of 670 million MBXAs part of this overhaul, MARBLEX will conduct a vote to determine whether to burn 670 million MBX tokens, which do not belong to the distribution plan. The total number of issued MBX tokens amounts to 1 billion.The vote will be held on its Discord channel and the decentralized governance platform Snapshot. Participants eligible to vote are holders of Marbleship NFTs and MBX tokens. The final decision will be reached on July 10. If consensus is reached to burn the tokens, the specific burn schedule will be disclosed at a later date.Photo by Sergio Vilches on UnsplashEnhancing MBX utilityStarting from the third quarter of this year, MARBLEX plans to introduce an improved token burn policy and system. The aim is to expand the utility of the MBX token and establish an ecosystem that is sustainable, transparent, and reliable.MARBLEX is a gaming blockchain ecosystem that offers users the opportunity to play games while earning and trading cryptocurrencies. The platform currently supports games such as A3: Still Alive, a battle royale MMORPG; Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds, a fantasy MMORPG; and The King of Fighters ARENA, a fighting game.According to Coinmarketcap, the MBX token is listed on six centralized cryptocurrency exchanges (Bithumb, Huobi, Bybit, Gate.io, MEXC, and Indodax) and Klayswap, a Klaytn-based decentralized exchange. Klaytn is an open source public blockchain developed by Korean social media giant Kakao Corp.