SK C&C and NEAR Foundation Forge Strategic Partnership to Fuel Web3 Growth

Stables Money, an Australian platform that claims to be on a mission “to make stablecoins usable for everyday use,” has partnered with Philippines-based digital assets platform Coins.ph to use the latter’s peso-pegged stablecoin (PHPC) for remittances. Peso-denominated stablecoinIn a press release published to the Coins.ph website on Aug. 28, the firm laid out details of the deal. PHPC is a retail stablecoin which is backed by Philippine peso-denominated cash reserves and pegged to the peso on a 1:1 basis. The stablecoin was launched by Coins.ph in July.  It’s an ERC-20 token which runs on the Ethereum virtual machine (EVM)-compatible Ronin blockchain network. The stablecoin was accepted into the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ regulatory sandbox in May.Photo by Aeron Oracion on Unsplash$35 billion in remittancesThe Philippines has always been seen as a lucrative remittance market due to the high number of Filipinos who work outside of the country, sending funds home to family on a regular basis. In 2020, remittances back to the Philippines from overseas were just shy of $35 billion, according to data from the World Bank. It appears that Australia’s Stables Money has identified this opportunity, with the company entering the Philippine market back in March. The Philippine peso already accounts for over 25% of all outward transactions sent via the platform. Stables Money CEO Bernardo Bilotta spoke to the opportunity that the company is trying to exploit. He stated: "Recognizing the Philippines as a key player in global remittances, we expanded to deliver smooth PHP transactions. With 28.44% of our send transactions now in PHP, this move highlights our commitment to making cross-border payments hassle-free for those sending money to the Philippines.” Coins.ph has the intention of engaging in further industry partnerships in an effort to expand the reach of PHPC. That will mean additional collaborations with crypto exchanges, digital asset wallet providers and those financial institutions who are increasingly delving into the world of stablecoins. Commenting on this latest development, Wei Zhou, Coins.ph CEO, stated:”We’re encouraged to see growing adoption of PHPC among our user base. Our partnerships with Stables and Ronin underscore the vast potential of PHPC in cross-border transactions, trading and other financial activities.” Stables has also made efforts to expand through the use of Circle’s USDC stablecoin. Last month, it partnered with global payments card platform Mastercard in a collaboration which facilitates Stables users in purchasing goods using USDC at locations across 27 European countries where Mastercard is accepted. The firm’s partnership with Mastercard dates back to March 2023 when it entered into a similar collaboration relative to the Asia-Pacific region. Previous peso-based stablecoin projectsCoins.ph is not the first entity to try and drive adoption of a Philippine peso-based stablecoin. The Southeast Asian country’s UnionBank launched a similar product back in 2019. However, the product failed to find product-market fit and ultimately, it was withdrawn from the market. The company tried once again in 2022, attempting to launch a similar product through its digital bank subsidiary UnionDigital, in an effort that seems to have failed. More recently still, UnionBank subsidiary company UBX launched a peso-based stablecoin on Polygon back in March.

DeFiance Capital Secures Interim Victory in Dispute With 3ACSingapore’s DeFiance Capital, a Web3 and crypto investment firm, has notched up a small triumph in its ongoing $140 million legal clash with failed Singaporean crypto hedge fund, Three Arrows Capital (3AC).Photo by Sasun Bughdaryan on UnsplashFavorable rulingAccording to a statement provided via a Medium blog post by DeFiance Capital Founder and CEO Arthur Cheong on Tuesday, the High Court of Singapore has delivered a favorable ruling for the firm, endorsing its preference for jurisdiction in Singapore, rather than the British Virgin Islands, which had been advocated by 3AC.The tussle between 3AC and DeFiance Capital centers around the ownership of certain assets. The liquidators appointed by the British Virgin Islands Court, from Teneo, assert that these assets essentially belong to 3AC’s creditors. However, DeFiance Capital argues vehemently that these assets must be partitioned and returned to its stakeholders.Struggle over assets and jurisdictionAt the heart of the matter are assets totaling $115 million, encompassing digital currencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which currently remain under the control of DeFiance Capital. Additionally, there are 69 SAFE (simple agreement for future equity)/SAFT (simple agreement for future tokens) agreements linked to 3AC. Although Teneo places the collective worth of these assets at roughly $141 million, DeFiance Capital’s estimation is more conservative, pegging it at around $120 million.Beyond asset ownership, jurisdiction has become a pivotal point of contention in the legal discourse. DeFiance Capital has steadfastly advocated for legal proceedings to take place in Singapore, where it operates, as opposed to the British Virgin Islands. The recent ruling from the High Court of Singapore lends support to this stance, challenging Teneo’s argument.DeFiance articulated its position, asserting: “Our position was that all the important witnesses and documents are in Singapore and the dispute ought to be heard by the Singapore Courts to ensure all relevant evidence would be available.”With the court’s decision aligning with DeFiance’s jurisdictional preference, the firm hopes that this development will pave the way for more substantive engagement between the parties, rather than being embroiled in procedural wrangling. The firm believes that this will allow the focus to shift towards addressing the core issues at hand.Business riftThe genesis of this legal saga dates back to 2020 when DeFiance was established as part of the 3AC group, operating autonomously under the stewardship of its founder, Arthur Cheong. The rift escalated in February 2022, when Cheong declined 3AC’s proposal to relocate to Dubai, eventually leading to the formation of two Singapore-based firms in May of that year.Furthermore, in the same month, DeFiance extended a loan of $35 million worth of USDC to 3AC, effectively becoming a creditor. Complications arose when 3AC’s founders transferred legal rights related to DeFiance Capital, a transaction that remained incomplete as 3AC filed for bankruptcy.In light of the ongoing dispute, 3AC asserted that DeFiance’s assets should be harnessed to settle its debts. However, DeFiance firmly stood its ground, upholding its ownership claims over the assets.With liquidators advocating for resolution in the British Virgin Islands — a move that DeFiance rejected due to its Singaporean management ties with 3AC — the stage was set for the legal clash that has now taken a notable turn with this recent court ruling.

Survey Reveals 45.9% of Korean Crypto Investors Reporting LossesAccording to a recent survey, more than half of South Korean adults have experience of owning cryptocurrency. Most of them bought crypto for investment purposes, with 33% of respondents making gains and 45.9% losing money.Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels2,500 respondentsThe Korea Financial Consumers Protection Foundation, a public research and education institute, conducted an online survey to assess the prevalence and trends of cryptocurrency ownership among South Koreans. The study, conducted between March 3 and March 24, 2023, encompassed 2,500 participants between the ages of 20 and 69 residing in Seoul, its suburbs, and the six major metropolitan areas. The results shed light on the crypto landscape, including ownership patterns, investment purposes, asset holdings, funding sources, and the future intentions of respondents.Crypto ownership trendsAccording to the survey, 30% of the participants currently own cryptocurrency, while 23% revealed they had previously owned crypto assets but no longer possess them, indicating that more than half of the respondents have had exposure to cryptocurrencies at some point in their lives.Among current crypto holders, 74.5% stated that they had acquired their first digital assets between 2020 and 2022, which suggests a surge in crypto purchases during the COVID pandemic period.Purpose of holding cryptoRegarding the purpose of holding crypto, 80.9% of respondents who either currently own or have previous experience owning cryptocurrency (representing approximately 43% of all participants) cited investment as their primary motivation. Furthermore, 17.4% viewed crypto as a trading instrument, while 17.8% held it for specific service utilization. (Individuals were allowed to choose multiple options.) From this result, the authors estimated that around 24.2% of all respondents currently hold crypto for investment purposes.The survey revealed the distribution of virtual asset holdings among respondents, with the values quoted in Korean Won (KRW). Among the participants, 21.5% owned less than 1 million KRW ($760), while 45.8% held more than 1 million KRW ($760) but less than 10 million KRW ($7,600). Additionally, 28.8% possessed between 10 million KRW ($7,600) and 100 million KRW ($76,000), and 3.9% held more than 100 million KRW ($76,000) in crypto assets.Funding sourcesWhen asked about the sources of funds used to purchase virtual assets, 82.5% of individuals with previous crypto ownership experiences mentioned utilizing spare funds from deposits or other sources. Meanwhile, 17.7% disclosed that they had liquidated other assets, such as stocks or real estate, to invest in cryptocurrencies. (Individuals were allowed to choose multiple options.) In addition, 7.8% of respondents acknowledged borrowing from acquaintances, with a higher rate of 11.8% among those in their 20s. The proportion of respondents who borrowed from loans was 6.2%.Among those who borrowed funds to invest in crypto, 47.6% are currently facing difficulties in repaying their loans, while 28.6% experienced repayment challenges in the past. This data suggests that a significant portion of individuals who borrowed to purchase cryptocurrencies encounter difficulties in loan repayment.Regarding the financial institutions from which respondents borrowed, 57.1% borrowed from the banking sector, while the remaining 42.9% obtained funds from non-banking entities. Encouragingly, no respondents reported borrowing from loan sharks.Cumulative returnsRegarding the cumulative returns on crypto assets, 33% of respondents who currently hold crypto reported gains, with an average cumulative return of 25%. Conversely, 45.9% reported losses, experiencing an average cumulative loss of 41.5%.When liquidating their crypto assets, 24.7% of traders made a profit, while 47.9% incurred losses. The data reveals that the proportion of individuals who suffered losses in their crypto investments was nearly twice as high as those who reported gains. Furthermore, higher age groups exhibited a higher percentage of losses compared to younger respondents. Among those who profited, the average return was 38.4%, while those who suffered losses reported an average loss of 37.5%.Future intentionsThe survey also inquired about the future intentions of respondents regarding their crypto holdings. Among current crypto holders, 80.8% expressed their intention to continue holding crypto assets. On the other hand, among those who do not currently own any crypto assets, 72.8% stated that they do not plan to purchase cryptocurrencies in the future.