Real-World Assets Emerge as a Beacon of Hope for the Blockchain Industry Amid Crypto Winter

The UK affiliate of Banxa, the Australia-headquartered financial infrastructure firm, has clinched a coveted spot as the first entity to grace the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) crypto register for the year 2024.Photo by Susan Q Yin on UnsplashAuthorized VASPThe company drew attention to this milestone on Tuesday, through the publication of a press release. The approval catapults BNXA UK VASP (virtual asset service provider) into the realm of authorized providers of crypto-related services to clients residing in the United Kingdom. Notably, the UK subsidiary company's managing director, Brinda Paul, formerly held the director of compliance position at Banxa in Melbourne. She struck an optimistic note in her comments on the approval, stating:"I am incredibly proud to have led this registration process to a successful outcome, especially considering the low approval rate of 7% for FCA registrations in 2023, - only 4 companies received their registration. Banxa believes the FCA's high standards, focusing on robust business models, corporate governance, risk management and compliance validates the Company's commitment to support cryptoasset adoption and the development of the crypto market in the UK while doing so in a compliant manner." Banxa's stature extends to its listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange, solidifying its position as a key player in the payments infrastructure domain. The company claims to be following a mission to “build the infrastructure to extend the benefits of crypto to every merchant & consumer in the world.” The firm includes Asian crypto service provider and investor OK Group among its list of initial investors. Other early stage investors include KuCoin and Australia’s Thorney Investment Group. Fiat processing servicesThe company specializes in fiat-processing services tailored for various cryptocurrency exchanges, including heavyweights like Binance and OKX. It’s interesting to note that in the case of these two companies, neither Binance nor OKX holds FCA approval for their crypto operations, although OKX has been making a concerted effort of late towards coming into compliance. Banxa has been accumulating money transmitter licenses in the United States. As of September, the company held 32 such licenses for various U.S. states. A pivotal aspect of FCA registration pertains to promotional endeavors targeting UK customers. Entities aiming to disseminate promotional materials to UK-based clients must either secure registration with the FCA or obtain approval for their promotions through an authorized entity. Responding to legislative changes, the FCA has rolled out updated guidance, extending its oversight to crypto promotions targeting UK consumers. This move aims to enhance consumer comprehension of crypto investments and associated risks, in line with the FCA's commitment to consumer protection and market integrity. New UK marketing rulesNew marketing rules have led to exchanges like Bybit withdrawing services from the UK market. Recent developments have also seen crypto platforms like KuCoin and HTX added to the FCA’s warning list of unregulated entities. Drawing insights from industry consultations, the FCA has refined its rules and accompanying guidance, integrating feedback from stakeholders to ensure coherence and effectiveness in navigating the evolving regulatory terrain. 

Klaytn Foundation partners with CoinMarketCap to support Web3 startups and developersThe Klaytn Foundation, South Korean conglomerate Kakao’s Layer 1 public blockchain, announced on Monday (local time) that it has been selected to be one of the official partners of CoinMarketCap Labs (CMC Labs), a Web3 startup accelerator program operated by the crypto information platform CoinMarketCap.Photo by Shubham Dhage on UnsplashEmpowering buildersThe CMC Labs program offers builders an array of benefits that serve to promote their projects, boost discoverability, communicate with users, and more. This includes the “Learn and Earn” campaign, where startup owners can attract users through a system that distributes token rewards after engaging in educational content. The Airdrop Campaign, on the other hand, helps participants keep up to date on a startup project’s important developments, such as price movements. Startups can also promote their projects through a long-form article or YouTube video published on the CMC Deep Dive platform.Fostering the growth of dAppsCoinMarketCap, in turn, has agreed to be a partner in the Ignite On Klaytn (IOK) Program — a program run by the Klaytn Foundation to support promising developers both in Korea and abroad in their endeavors to bring their decentralized apps (dApps) to the Web3 market, thus cultivating the Klaytn ecosystem. Developers stand to benefit because they can concentrate their efforts on product development, while the program provides support for other crucial aspects like wallets, API nodes and development outsourcing.Through this latest collaboration with CoinMarketCap, the Klaytn Foundation plans to assist various projects in their entry into the global market. It also aims to play a bridging role, enabling more projects within the Klaytn ecosystem to participate in the CMC Labs program.“We are looking forward to the mutual participation of Klaytn Foundation and CoinMarketCap in our respective programs, which is expected to provide momentum to Klaytn’s ongoing efforts to expand its reach into Asia and global markets,” explained Seo Sang-min, Representative Director at the Klaytn Foundation.

Zetrix, a layer-1 blockchain project for real-world applications, has launched an electronic Know Your Customer (KYC) verification product for Chinese nationals. The Malaysian enterprise, which is a subsidiary of digital services company My E.G. Services Berhad (MYEG), has launched ZCert. The offering is available to Chinese nationals who opt to have their digital identities published to the Xinghuo BF network, a Chinese national blockchain infrastructure network developed under the guidance of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and managed by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.Photo by Diego Jimenez on UnsplashFirst-of-its-kind applicationZetrix acts as an international super-node relative to the Xinghuo blockchain. In a press release published by PR Newswire on Oct. 3, the company outlined that ZCert had been launched as a first-of-its-kind application, enabling Chinese nationals “to be authenticated and verified digitally overseas, paving the way for a seamless, efficient, and secure verification process for verifiers and identity holders. ” The service simplifies the issue of identity verification for verifiers located outside of China, as a consequence of Zetrix’s integration with the Xinghuo BIF network.  Connecting to ‘China Web3’Xinghuo signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Zetrix’s parent company, MYEG, to establish the international super-node back in November 2022. The tie-up was seen as an opportunity to provide access to Chinese government agencies and businesses internationally.  At the time, MYEG Managing Director and Zetrix Co-Founder Wong Thean Soon said that “with the commencement of the Xinghuo International Supernode, the rest of the world can connect and be part of the China Web 3 evolution that will promote the establishment of international communities and facilitate global trade and finance.”  On this occasion, Wong said that the new product “enables a new wave of services powered by smart contracts.” He added that KYC processes can be simplified and automated, while “user data is retained by users at all times and only critical information is shared in an encrypted manner." The company has already digitized Chinese driving licenses for the purpose of overseas verification. Furthermore, it has plans to expand its offering beyond ID verification soon. In April of this year, Zetrix and MYEG signed an MOU with MaiCapital, a Hong Kong-based virtual assets manager, with a view towards collaborating on the launch of a digital asset fund or digital asset-based exchange-traded fund (ETF). Last year Zetrix engaged in a pilot project with the Bank of China with the aim of offering supply chain financing products. On a similar theme, its parent company entered into a partnership with the Philippines Bureau of Customs (BOC) and Cargo Data Exchange Center Inc. (CDEC), also in 2023. The collaboration involved the use of Zetrix’s ZTrade product, a Web3 platform that enables digitized trade document verification. Zetrix launched its ZETRIX token in October 2023 through an initial exchange offering (IEO) facilitated by the Coinstore exchange.