Incheon Launches Blockchain Hub Center to Lead Web3 Era

Newly founded bankruptcy claim trading platform OPNX has provided further details about the entities backing the fledgling startup. Taking to Twitter on Friday, Open Exchange CEO Leslie Lamb outlined a number of venture capital backers, with a mixture of international and Asia-centric firms among them. Global backersLamb’s tweet via the firm’s official Twitter account, together with a similar announcement published to the firm’s website, outlined AppWorks, a leading Taiwanese venture capital firm and startup accelerator, as an investor in the company. Other Asian backers include Hong Kong-based crypto fund, Token Bay Capital and the Hong Kong-based arm of one of China’s largest banks, China Merchant Bank International.With the firm based in Dubai, Middle-Eastern interest is represented through the involvement of Saudi digital asset fund, Tuwaiq Limited. Otherwise, the company lists a number of other international backers, including US equity options exchange MIAX Group, DeFi-focused venture and trading firm Nascent, top tier global venture capital firm Susquehanna and the investment arm of market maker and early stage investor, DRW. Questionable founding teamOnly hours after the disclosure by Open Exchange, DRW reached out to CoinDesk to confirm that it is not an investor in the bankruptcy claims exchange. Nascent and Susquehanna also denied that they are involved. The companies are still being listed by OPNX as backers of the project on its website.The launch of OPNX has been mired in controversy from the outset as its founding team includes the founders of the former crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) which failed spectacularly in 2022. Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, the founders of 3AC are now the founders behind OPNX. Before their involvement, OPNX was preceded by Seychelles-based crypto yield platform CoinFLEX. That business also failed during the 2022 crypto bear market. It entered into a restructuring process with the consent of the courts in the Seychelles. Emerging from it is OPNX with the 3AC duo of Zhu and Davies having gotten involved at that point. Industry push-backMany in the crypto space have been highly critical of the development of OPNX on the basis of the involvement of both Zhu and Davies. The duo are being blamed for the collapse of the crypto hedge fund due to mismanagement and the knock on effects the firm’s demise had on other entities within crypto. Many of the series of crypto lenders who failed at a later stage in 2022 had major exposure to the wayward hedge fund.There had been some speculation as to who was backing the new project. Earlier this month, BitMEX co-founder and former CEO Arthur Hayes claimed that the 3AC duo had received substantial funding from Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund to establish the project. In February, Hayes suggested that the crypto bull market must be starting based on news of Zhu and Davies wanting to launch the OPNX platform.Crypto-focused venture capitalist Michael Arrington also spoke out around that time, stating on Twitter, that 3AC founders successfully raising capital for their latest venture was “the saddest bulls**t I’ve heard in a long time.”Upon its launch earlier this month, industry commentators quickly declared the project a flop citing a trading volume of $13.64 on its first day of trading. Five days in, OPNX made light of the situation, declaring a win on the basis that it had progressed to $12,398 in trading volume, representing a 90,000% increase in trading.Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) issued an investor and marketplace alert on April 12 stating that while OPNX may be Dubai-based, it is not regulated by VARA and instead operates on an unregulated basis. It warned investors against using any unregulated crypto entity.

Hong Kong Broadens Pilot Program for China’s Digital YuanA senior Hong Kong official announced last week that the Chinese autonomous territory plans to expand its pilot program of the e-CNY, China’s digital yuan, to include additional banks and payment platforms.Photo by Chi Lok TSANG on UnsplashDriving cross-border payment efficiencyThe e-CNY project is China’s ambitious endeavor to bring a digital counterpart to its national currency, the yuan, into mass market, everyday use. The primary objectives of this latest initiative are to enhance the efficiency and convenience of cross-border payments and to bolster greater use of the digital yuan on an international basis.Given Hong Kong’s status as a special administrative region of China and bearing in mind that it is a global financial hub, its role in the e-CNY project is likely to be of paramount importance to the Chinese administration.Hong Kong has been actively involved in the e-CNY project for some time. Previously, the local regulator, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), and the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) jointly explored and tested e-CNY’s feasibility and interoperability in cross-border scenarios.Ongoing collaborationOver the years, these two authorities have conducted numerous technical trials to assess the practicality of implementing the e-CNY. The PBOC initiated e-CNY testing in mainland cities in 2019, followed by cross-border trials involving Hong Kong and Macau. Collaboration between Hong Kong and the mainland relative to the digital yuan was initiated in December 2020 when a pilot program was launched.That program enabled Hong Kong residents to utilize e-CNY wallets for purchases at specified merchants in Shenzhen, aligning at the same time with a separate initiative, the objective of which is to achieve closer economic and social integration between Hong Kong, Macau, and nine cities in Guangdong province.Hong Kong and Mainland China had also partnered on technical testing in 2021 aimed at evaluating the technical feasibility, operational efficiency, regulatory implications, and legal considerations of employing the e-CNY for cross-border trade settlement between the two areas. That testing program is likely to be providing valuable insights, which Chinese authorities can use to expand the e-CNY’s scope and use cases relative to cross-border transactions.Completion of initial testing phaseHong Kong recently successfully concluded the first phase of its e-CNY trial, featuring local banks and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). This phase primarily focused on assessing the technical feasibility of employing the e-CNY for cross-border payments between Hong Kong residents and mainland merchants.What Christopher Hui, Secretary for Hong Kong’s Financial Services and the Treasury, was referring to last week at a fintech event, is effectively the second phase of that overall trial program. This upcoming phase will involve a broader array of banks, payment service providers, and use cases, expanding the scope of e-CNY testing.Taking this latest development into account from the point of view of e-CNY development by the Chinese government, it’s patently obvious from the myriad of initiatives that keep coming week after week that the Chinese authorities are determined to drive the e-CNY towards ever greater real-world use.

Intella X and CARV Team Up to Revolutionize Web3 GamingIntella X, the Web3 blockchain gaming platform developed by South Korean gaming company Neowiz, has entered into a partnership with CARV, a company that is currently building gaming credential infrastructure. Together, they intend to lead the era of innovative and cutting-edge Web3 gaming by improving the gaming experience, such as boosting player engagement and fostering an active gaming community.Photo by Mateov on UnsplashElevating the gaming experienceCARV’s platform provides a multifaceted experience for gamers, allowing them to explore a diverse range of games, collect rewards, and interact with fellow gamers around the world. In particular, they can also create a profile where they can organize all of their gaming achievements into verified and evolving credentials. On the other hand, Intella X offers service protocols like Proof of Contribution to cater to game developers and users in its ecosystem.Expanding horizonsUnder the partnership, CARV will onboard a selection of Intella X games to its CARV Play platform, the first of which will be the mobile Play-to-Earn (P2E) game Crypto Golf Impact and the MMORPG EOS Gold. The company will also support Intella X in order for it to expand its global presence and gain a larger user base, which entails leveraging CARV’s data analysis technology to create effective marketing and in-game quest campaigns to optimize user acquisition.“CARV is excited to partner up with Intella X in an effort to help their games scale by providing targeted user acquisition through player credentials as well as providing user insights that allow Intella X games to truly understand their communities. The Intella X team is filled with industry veterans who know how to disrupt an industry. CARV couldn’t be happier to align with such a strong brand in the space,” said Paul Delio, Head of Business Development at CARV.