Swing Launches Blockchain-Based Service to Offer Financial Incentives for Scooter Riders

Com2uS’ partnership with Thailand’s SHIN-A to boost Web3 gaming presence in Southeast AsiaCom2uS Holdings, a South Korean game developer, announced on Thursday that its subsidiary, Com2uS Platform, has forged a reselling partnership with SHIN-A, a Bangkok-based marketing and game service firm. This collaboration aims to bolster the expansion of Com2uS Platform’s all-in-one gaming platform, Hive, marking a significant step in its global outreach and growth strategy.Photo by Lisheng Chang on UnsplashBlockchain-powered, all-in-one platformHive offers a comprehensive suite of services, including authentication, payments, promotions, customer support, analytics, and Web3 integrations, all integrated within a single software development kit (SDK). Since opening its services to external game companies in 2021, the blockchain-powered platform has secured contracts with 51 games from 39 different publishing clients, demonstrating its growing influence and utility in the gaming industry.Against this backdrop, the newly established partnership between Com2uS Platform and SHIN-A paves the way for cooperative marketing and sales efforts aimed at promoting the Hive platform to a broader range of global gaming companies. To facilitate this goal, SHIN-A is planning to establish a dedicated support team in Thailand, which will focus on the resale of Hive products.SHIN-A, a key player in game publishing and global marketing, covers a wide range of business areas, including Web2 and Web3, across mobile, desktop and console platforms. The company has forged game publishing contracts with global giants like HoYoverse and Tencent, and has successfully conducted local marketing for Com2uS’ game, Birdie Crush: Fantasy Golf. Additionally, SHIN-A collaborates with major Thai firms like mobile phone network AIS and is involved in entertainment ventures, including organizing large-scale K-pop concerts.Thailand’s growing gaming marketWith almost 40% of its 70 million population engaging in games, Thailand presents a significant market opportunity. This is further underscored by the fact that the country boasts the highest average in-app purchase spending per person in Southeast Asia. It is also witnessing rapid growth in the gaming sector as the second-largest gaming market in Southeast Asia, trailing only behind Indonesia.In this vibrant market, Com2us’ action RPG, Summoners War: Chronicles, has achieved notable success, becoming one of the top-grossing games on the Steam platform in Thailand. This success signals a promising landscape for the introduction of Com2uS Platform’s Hive, which is likely to further enhance customer engagement and expand the company’s footprint in the region’s booming gaming market.Com2uS Platform’s Business Director, Kim Jong-moon, stated that the reselling partnership with SHIN-A is poised to significantly enhance Hive projects in the Southeast Asian market, a region known for its dynamic gaming and blockchain sectors. Kim highlighted the company’s plans to earmark the upcoming year as a pivotal period for Hive, marking the beginning of its global strategy implementation.

Leading cryptocurrency exchange platform Bybit has joined a growing list of competing platforms by applying for a Virtual Asset Trading Platform Operator (VATP) license with the Hong Kong Securities and Exchange Commission (SFC). The application, submitted through the Bybit affiliate business entity Spark Fintech Limited on Jan. 31, is currently under review along with 13 similar VATP applications.Photo by Simon Zhu on UnsplashStrategic licensing playIn the dynamic landscape of cryptocurrency regulations, obtaining a VATP license in Hong Kong is a strategic move. Currently, only two crypto exchanges, OSL and HashKey Exchange, are licensed by the SFC in Hong Kong. OSL secured its license on Dec. 15, 2020, while HashKey Exchange was licensed on Nov. 9, 2022. Under a partnership agreement with OSL, Interactive Brokers has been enabled in its ability to commence trading in Hong Kong. Exchanges who have followed through on the license application process include OKX, Gate.io, and KuCoin, among others. It’s not something that is being taken on without these platforms weighing up the long term potential due to the cost implications. It emerged last year that companies were spending up to $25 million in their efforts to obtain licensing in Hong Kong. VATP vs. VASP licensingThe VATP license holds significance as it allows Hong Kong-based firms to cater to retail customers in contrast to the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license, which restricts companies to serving professional investors. In Hong Kong, investors must have portfolios valued at a minimum of eight million Hong Kong dollars ($1.03 million) to qualify for professional investor status. Hong Kong has positioned itself as a leading destination for crypto companies, particularly in 2023, owing to its favorable regulatory approach compared to mainland China's stringent crackdown on digital assets. The SFC has introduced crypto-oriented regulations, opening doors for both institutional and retail investors to participate in the crypto market. This regulatory environment has contributed to the city-state's emergence as a hub for crypto activities. Dubai-headquartered Bybit's move to seek a VATP license aligns with the growing trend of crypto companies finding a home in Hong Kong. In a statement, Ben Zhou, the founder and CEO of Bybit, emphasized the city's strategic location and established financial infrastructure as ideal for their operations and serving institutional clients across the Asia Pacific region. Institutional offeringAs part of its strategy to grow its institutional customer base, the company revamped its institutional market offering last October. With that institutional business in mind, it has also formed strategic partnerships, including collaborating with Talos, an institutional digital asset trading technology provider, and joining forces with Copper to offer custodial and settlement services for institutional clients through Copper's ClearLoop service. Bybit, launched in 2018 by Zhou, boasts a substantial user base, serving over 22 million registered users in 160 countries globally. Claiming a daily trading volume of $16.53 billion, Bybit holds the fifth-highest score among spot exchanges worldwide and is the second-ranked derivatives exchange, trailing only behind Binance, according to CoinMarketCap data. The exchange has consistently ranked in the top positions for futures and perpetuals trading throughout the last calendar year.   

Hong Kong and Israel Collaborate to Expand CBDC Access Beyond BanksIn a collaborative effort, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Bank of Israel (BoI), and the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub have jointly released a comprehensive report on Project Sela, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiative.Photo by POURIA 🦋 on UnsplashBroadening the role of intermediariesThe report was published to the BIS website on Tuesday. In keeping with the trend of many CBDC projects, Project Sela is characterized by a robust public-private partnership. However, its particular focus lies in broadening the spectrum of intermediaries, aiming to offer retail CBDC services through a more diverse array of service providers, thereby reducing dependency on traditional banks and major payment providers.Andrew Abir, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Israel, emphasized the importance of fostering a dynamic and open ecosystem with a wide variety of service providers. He stated:“Competition and innovation require a flourishing and open ecosystem with many different types of service providers. This was our initial goal in Project Sela as a proof-of-concept, and the project proved the feasibility of the model we had in mind.”Involving retail banksIn a previous model explored through Hong Kong’s Project Aurum, retail banks were entrusted with customer-facing tasks while maintaining the central bank’s operation of the wholesale ledger for the eHKD. In contrast, Project Sela introduces a novel approach where the central bank operates the retail ledger — a model akin to Israel’s digital shekel.The primary actors in Project Sela, known as Access Enablers (AEs), notably do not have control over CBDC balances, distinguishing them from conventional payment providers. Moreover, AEs are not required to maintain liquidity to support CBDC services. Their role encompasses facilitating user onboarding and CBDC access, fulfilling know-your-customer (KYC) and compliance obligations, and routing payments. The role of banks and other “funding institutions” primarily revolves around enabling the conversion of cash and deposits into CBDC.The rationale behind this approach is rooted in the emergence of technological advancements in open banking and DeFi, which have demonstrated the potential to disentangle financial services by granting users greater access to their financial data and control over their own funds.Enabling participation among the unbankedProject Sela envisions the unbanked population utilizing ATMs to convert cash into CBDC. A similar approach has recently been taken by the Chinese authorities. In the resort city of Sanya, authorities have introduced e-CNY ATMs in order to enable e-CNY access for foreign tourists.However, it is noteworthy that in many countries, the primary function of ATMs is to dispense cash rather than accept it. Consequently, the inclusion of AEs could pose challenges to traditional banking institutions, as CBDC adoption could potentially impact bank deposits.Privacy and cybersecurity considerations are implicated within Project Sela. As the central bank operates the retail ledger, ensuring the confidentiality of personal information becomes imperative. To safeguard privacy, AEs employ a hashing mechanism to obfuscate personal identifiers, although the report does not delve into the subject in detail.While Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron admitted that a CBDC can never be anonymous, he claimed that “if we choose to issue a digital cash shekel, it will provide at least as much privacy as other digital means of payment.”