Gaming Industry Pioneers to Gather at Korea Blockchain Week 2023

Binance Japan Sets Out Market VisionDuring a virtual business discussion recently led by Takeshi Chino, the Head of Binance Japan, the firm provided insights into its vision within the Japanese market.Photo by David Edelstein on UnsplashIntegrating international version featuresSince its recent launch, Binance Japan has primarily been offering cryptocurrency spot trading and its “Simple Earn” crypto lending service. Expansion into leverage trading is on the horizon, aligning with the international version once regulatory requirements are met.Other key services that Binance has been offering on an international basis include its Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) platform “Launchpad” for emerging projects, staking services, and an NFT marketplace. While the exact timeline for introducing these services in Japan remains undisclosed, Chino assured attendees that there would be a gradual roll-out in compliance with local regulations.The vision that has been set out will see a particular focus being placed on potential collaborations involving stablecoins. Elaborating further on the company’s plans, Chino outlined that domestic expansion would encompass equities management, leverage trading, and the integration of features present in Binance’s global version.In reporting on the event, local crypto media outlet Coinpost explained that Chino further expressed Binance Japan’s ambition to establish connections between its ecosystem and Japanese private entities and government bodies, going beyond the scope of crypto transactions.Focusing on stablecoinsCentral to this vision is the integration of stablecoins into the existing financial infrastructure, with active partnerships leveraging Binance’s technology stack and track record.Chino recognizes the recent regulatory developments regarding yen-based stablecoins as a positive development for business expansion. While Japan’s stablecoin issuance framework remains stringent, collaborations for joint developments are being considered. The potential of yen-backed stablecoins for trade settlements and programmable payments is also being explored.Expanding crypto asset offeringBinance Japan has already made a significant mark by managing 34 equities since its inception, establishing itself as a leader in the Japanese equities landscape. Notably, Binance’s native BNB (Build and Build) token and the Algorand ALGO token have made successful entries into the Japanese market.In its take on the online briefing, Bloomberg outlined that Chino has an initial target of one hundred crypto assets. The global version of the company offers in excess of 350 assets to its users. In adding new assets, a focus will be placed on those particular digital assets that resonate with Japanese market preferences.Other short-to-mid-term goals include facilitating Security Token Offering (STO) payments through stablecoins, merchant onboarding for “Binance Pay,” educational initiatives, among others.Binance Japan emerged following the acquisition by Binance of Sakura Exchange Bitcoin (SEBC), a local crypto exchange, in November of last year. A regulatory backlash following a number of high profile crypto platform failures in 2022 led to Japanese regulators issuing Binance with a warning letter for failing to attain full registration.A response to past difficulties in Japan, in particular relative to the failure of Mt.Gox in 2014, meant that crypto market traders were protected better by comparison with market participants overseas.

HashKey Group, a Hong Kong-headquartered digital asset financial services firm, has partnered with Bosera Asset Management (International) Co., the Hong Kong subsidiary of Chinese asset management firm Bosera Asset Management, to launch the world’s first tokenized money market exchange-traded funds (ETFs). In a press release published by PR Newswire on behalf of HashKey Group on March 28, HashKey outlined that the two funds are titled “Bosera HKD Money Market ETF (Tokenised Class)” and ”Bosera USD Money Market ETF (Tokenised Class).”While the products were launched last Friday, they won’t officially go live until April. Both products have been approved by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). Photo by Vighnesh Dudani on UnsplashArising out of Project EnsembleThis latest product offering has its origins in Project Ensemble, an initiative launched by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) back in March 2024. The original aim of Project Ensemble was to support the development of the tokenization market in Hong Kong. The SFC got involved later that year, collaborating with the HKMA in the launch of a regulatory sandbox aimed at advancing the tokenization of assets in various financial sectors. In October 2024 it emerged that HashKey was participating within that sandbox, with these new products arising from those efforts. The company claims that these tokenized products improve upon what’s currently on offer via traditional finance, providing greater transparency and operational efficiency, thanks to the use of blockchain technology.  HashKey Tokenisation, the tokenization arm of the firm, takes care of full-process design and execution for tokenized issuance. Subsequently, these products will be deployed on HashKey Chain, a regulatory-compliant, institutional-grade layer-2 network geared towards bridging the gap between traditional finance and Web3. On that subject, HashKey Group Chairman and CEO Dr. Xiao Feng stated:"Bringing money market ETFs on-chain through blockchain technology is a crucial step for traditional finance to embrace Web3.” Looking towards the future, Feng added that the company expects “more traditional financial institutions to actively enter the crypto finance sector through innovative tokenisation products.”Anna Liu, CEO of HashKey Tokenisation, told the South China Morning Post (SCMP) that “the biggest advantages of this product are that the underlying assets are mature and high-quality, and it fully considers security and regulatory compliance while reducing investor costs and improving overall liquidity.” Liu added that the firm hopes that this product offering is the first of many, paving the way for subsequent tokenized real-world asset (RWA) offerings. Last month, Hong Kong-based digital asset platform OSL launched a tokenized mutual fund, the ChinaAMC HKD Digital Money Market Fund. The retail tokenized fund has been issued by China Asset Management (Hong Kong), with Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) acting as tokenization agent, digital platform operator and administrator. In the U.S., financial services company Fidelity Investments recently filed documents with the intention of rolling out a tokenized U.S. money market fund. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, launched its tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, last year. The fund is expected to surpass a market cap of $2 billion in the coming weeks.

CrossAngle undergoes rebranding, shifting focus to ERP solutionAccording to industry sources on Wednesday (KST), CrossAngle, the operator of digital asset data research platform Xangle, is in the process of rebranding. The company recently changed its name to Xangle, and the research platform’s name will be changed to Xangle Portal. Its Web3 enterprise resource planning solution formerly known as Xangle Beacon will also be renamed Xangle ERP.Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on UnsplashService transitionPreviously, Xangle’s main services involved evaluation and disclosure for crypto-related projects. However, in the first half of this year, these services were suspended due to uncertainty surrounding crypto regulations, and the company started shifting its focus to data research. It had also announced plans to launch a business-to-business (B2B) solution for companies that are looking for crypto asset accounting services.Now, Xangle is gearing up to establish Xangle ERP — scheduled for release at the beginning of next year — as its main service. This solution is targeted toward Web3 enterprises and uses on-chain data to provide accounting services, manage tokenomics systems and evaluate the performance of blockchain projects. The firm announced on Monday that it would host a closed beta test for companies that signed up for pre-registration.Strategic allianceXangle also recently formed a partnership with Samjong KPMG, the South Korean branch of accounting giant KPMG, to jointly research how on-chain data can be used for accounting in the crypto sector. This is a crucial opportunity in the development process for Xangle ERP, as Xangle will be able to ascertain the various real-world problems that Web3 businesses face.“Xangle has been focusing on building infrastructure that can process on-chain data and conducting research to understand it. Through our partnership with Samjong KPMG, we will be able to expand our knowledge and expertise on accounting and taxes,” said Lee Hyun-woo, Co-CEO of Xangle.