Five Foreigners Detained in Thai Crypto Scam Crackdown

South Korean gaming publisher Wemade attended this year’s Taipei Game Show – the largest gaming exhibition in Taiwan – from Thursday to Sunday, where it showcased its upcoming games Night Crows and Fantastic 4 Baseball, according to news site Bridge News.Photo by Mateo on UnsplashUnveiling upcoming blockbustersAt the event, Wemade operated an exclusive booth with game demos and promotional videos. There was also a cosplay of characters from the Night Crows game and a special performance by the TSG Hawks' cheerleading team, the Wing Stars. The TSG Hawks is a professional baseball team that joined the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) last year. The Wing Stars are led by the famous Korean cheerleader Ahn Ji-hyun. In addition, Lee Jung-wook and Lee Kun-hee, the CEOs of Night Crows developer Madngine, and Fantastic 4 Baseball developer Round One Studio, took to the stage to interact directly with gamers. "Night Crows is the first MMORPG developed with Unreal Engine 5, and you can enjoy top-notch visuals with Mad Engine's unique know-how," said Lee Jung-wook. "We promise to provide new fun and stable services to our global users." "While developing Fantastic 4 Baseball, we put a lot of thought into capturing the essence of baseball and making the players' faces and batting forms look realistic," Lee Kun-hee added. "We plan to bring the game to the global market when the Taiwanese baseball league begins." Market-dominating releasesNight Crows has been popular among gamers in South Korea, where it launched in April last year, topping the popularity and revenue rankings on major app markets. The global version of the game utilizes blockchain technology to implement an advanced tokenomics ecosystem. Global pre-registration will open on Jan. 11. On the other hand, Round 1 Studio’s Fantastic 4 Baseball is a realistic baseball game where players can create their own team with famous players from various leagues, including the CPBL. The demo version includes single-player and home run derbies. Both games are slated for global release in March.

About three years ago, in March 2021, the South Korean financial regulators implemented the Specific Financial Transaction Information Act to ensure that local cryptocurrency exchanges provide safe and sound crypto trading services to investors. It was also a move to prevent exchanges and investors from engaging in illicit money laundering practices.  However, the law has come across as a hassle to many crypto exchanges, as they were required to undergo verification processes to prove their reliability and to receive real-name accounts from banks. These accounts enable their users to trade crypto against the Korean won, helping exchanges stand out in the fiercely competitive crypto market amid surging Bitcoin prices. At the moment, only five crypto exchanges in Korea are qualified to provide such services. Bithumb, one of these few qualified fiat-to-crypto exchanges, has renewed its real-name account contract with NH Nonghyup Bank (NH Bank) for six more months, according to local news media Yonhap News Agency. Photo by Robin Jonathan Deutsch on UnsplashVarious factors in play for relatively short renewalCrypto insiders say that extending the contract for only six months appears to be quite a conservative move, as Bithumb has been making a year-long contract with NH Bank every year since 2018. Experts suggest various factors may have influenced Bithumb's decision, including the volatile crypto market, the Virtual Asset User Protection Act becoming effective in July and the exchange's planned initial public offering (IPO).  Some say the relatively short renewal of the contract comes after a flurry of complaints from Bithumb users about the unfavorable user experience, including the cumbersome process they must go through to increase the deposit limit of their real-name accounts linked to Bithumb. This appeared to have prompted Bithumb to feel reluctant about the 6-year-long collaboration and seek a partnership with another bank such as KB Kookmin Bank or the online-only Kakao Bank, according to local media Bizwatch. One bank official said that the relatively short renewal reflects Bithumb and NH Bank's commitment to addressing the inefficiencies of crypto transaction services, as the two companies plan to enhance their investor experience and marketing efforts over the next six months.  Crypto boom drives partnership between exchanges and banks NH Bank appears to be persuading Bithumb to maintain their partnership, one bank official said, because providing real-name accounts to crypto exchanges not only benefits exchanges but also banks. Having young crypto investors – mostly in their 20s to 40s – open real-name accounts at banks is seen as a significant opportunity to expand their customer base. One crypto insider said the ability to issue real-name accounts usually puts banks in a superior position when entering a partnership with crypto exchanges, but that doesn't seem to be the case in times like this when the crypto market is bullish more than ever.  

SK Securities introduces fractional investment service with three partnersSK Securities, a major South Korean securities firm, announced on Friday (local time) that it has launched a service aimed at enabling fractional investments.Photo by Mathieu Stern on UnsplashReal estate, artworks and luxury goodsThis service involves three fractional investment companies: real estate platform Funble, online art auction house Seoul Auction Blue and luxury goods platform Treasurer.This offering represents the first phase of the fractional investment alliance, delivering a wide array of investment insights from these platforms. Funble presents details on housing subscriptions, special housing supplies and key real estate market indicators. Seoul Auction Blue provides analyses of the art market along with information on individual artworks. Additionally, Treasurer offers insights into an assortment of luxury collectibles, including fine wines. Customers of SK Securities can easily access this service through the company’s mobile trading system called Frequency 3.0.Second phase in H1 2024As part of the second phase, SK Securities is developing an API-integrated system designed to link with assets on these fractional investment platforms. This system is slated for launch in the first half of the upcoming year.An SK Securities spokesperson explained that the firm has rolled out this novel service to guide its clients through the emerging arena of fractional investments, while also enriching their investment options. Beginning with this offering, SK Securities aims to broaden its collaborative efforts with fractional investment entities. Furthermore, the firm is committed to advancing the security token ecosystem, which will involve channeling investments into blockchain startups and participating in security token consortiums.On a related note, SK Securities inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Woori Bank and Samsung Securities in September, targeting the development of business models for security tokens within the bounds of regulatory compliance.