Korean Prosecutors Allocate $734K Budget for Crypto Crime Investigations

Zodia Custody to Commence Yield Offering on StablecoinsIn a play that’s designed to entice institutional investors, Zodia Custody, a portfolio company of Japanese financial services conglomerate SBI, is gearing up to offer a yield on digital assets.Photo by CoinWire Japan on UnsplashIntroducing “Zodia Custody Yield”The crypto startup has introduced “Zodia Custody Yield,” a crypto staking option designed to reward holders of crypto assets stored within its platform. The initiative has been launched in partnership with Singapore-based DeFi platform OpenEden. It promises returns on stablecoins although full details on the offering remain undisclosed.Jeremy Ng, Co-Founder of OpenEden, expressed his belief in the potential of cryptocurrencies to generate substantial passive income for their holders. Ng stated:“There are billions of dollars worth of stablecoins sitting on the sidelines when they could easily be generating yields for investors.”TradFi embracing digital assetsZodia’s move aligns with a growing trend in the financial industry. Yesterday, a leading US bank, Citi, disclosed its collaboration with Maersk to facilitate services that convert funds into digital assets. The primary goal is to enable the bank’s customers to execute nearly instantaneous payments, unrestricted by traditional business hours.Simultaneously, several prominent asset management firms are awaiting a pivotal decision from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding their applications to launch a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). This list includes major players such as BlackRock, Invesco, WisdomTree, ARK Invest, Valkyrie, and Franklin Templeton. BlackRock, the frontrunner in the efforts being expended towards ETF approval, submitted its application for a spot Bitcoin ETF on June 16.In a recent interview, Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas said that he expects $150 billion in capital to flow into the Bitcoin market within two years of a spot Bitcoin ETF approval in the US.The financial strategies of these entities now prominently feature blockchain and crypto-based products, once considered niche but now integral to their operations. Nonetheless, even with widespread anticipation of the approval of BlackRock’s ETF, the firm faces substantial obstacles. US regulators have subjected BlackRock to intense scrutiny due to concerns regarding its ties to China. Additionally, political figures have criticized the asset manager for prioritizing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria over investor returns.Zodia was spun out of British multinational banking firm Standard Chartered. The bank has a positive outlook relative to crypto. In a bold prediction made in June, the UK-based bank forecasted that the value of Bitcoin could potentially surge to $50,000 by the end of the year, with an even more optimistic projection of $120,000 for 2024.In 2021 Standard Chartered, in collaboration with Northern Trust, a leading asset servicing firm, founded Zodia Custody. Since its inception, the venture has garnered a respectable level of success. It successfully secured $36 million in investments and solidified a partnership with SBI Digital Asset Holdings, enabling its expansion into the Japanese market.In May, the firm launched its crypto custodian service in Dubai, having signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC). In June, Zodia partnered with blockchain infrastructure provider Blockdaemon, in an effort to further its crypto staking offering. Earlier this month, the company announced its arrival in Singapore, with a view towards expanding its digital asset custody service there.

Xxsoft, an information technology firm based in South Korea, announced today that it entered a partnership with a blockchain firm Infinite Block, local media outlet Kyunghyang Games reported. Xxsoft is the operator of CryptoTax, a tax and accounting service specializing in crypto assets. The two companies aim to provide crypto custodial and accounting services for companies and enterprises.Photo by Sarah Elizabeth on UnsplashCryptoTax specializes in handling crypto investors’ taxation using algorithms designed to process crypto tax and accounting. These algorithms were developed with participation from tax accountants and accountants with expertise in crypto assets. CryptoTax also offers a solution as a service (SaaS) called Cryptotax Enterprise, which offers corporate clients the advantage of automated tax processing with direct access to accounting documents.  Meanwhile, Infinite Block is a key management service (KMS) provider based in Korea, serving clients ranging from startups to big firms. The company provides crypto wallets catering to individual clients’ needs, from internet-enabled hot wallets to cold wallets that keep private keys offline. Infinite Block employs multi-signature technology and multi-party computation to securely protect clients’ private keys. Rising demand for institutional crypto accountingYoon Dong-hwan, CEO of Xxsoft, said the shift in crypto regulations – as seen in events like the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission – will result in higher demand for crypto custodial services compliant with financial authorities. He stated that the partnership with Infinite Block will allow the company to provide a convenient service tailored to the needs of corporate clients.  Jeong Gu-tae, CEO of Infinite Block, highlighted the importance of companies being equipped with a fully compliant internal control system when it comes to crypto taxation and accounting, because firms are subject to stricter regulations compared to individual investors. Jeong reaffirmed the company’s commitment to building a healthy local crypto market, saying that it will continue developing effective crypto asset management systems for corporations in close cooperation with CryptoTax.  

Indian Railways (IR), the state-owned manager of India’s railway network, plans to issue non-fungible token (NFT)-based train tickets to transport pilgrims to Maha Kumbh Mela, the world’s largest religious festival. The Hindu festival is of particular significance given that it only occurs once every 144 years. ChainCode Consulting partnership According to a report published by Indian news outlet Pune.news on Jan. 13, IR has collaborated with ChainCode Consulting, a Bangalore-headquartered enterprise blockchain development and consulting firm, to provide the digital tickets. The Polygon blockchain has been chosen as the network upon which the NFT tickets will be minted. The tickets will then be made available to end users via NFTtrace, a real-world assets (RWA) tokenization and traceability platform run by ChainCode Consulting.Photo by Choong Deng Xiang on UnsplashLong-running collaborationService users and railway personnel will be free to check the validity of tickets on the public blockchain. This announcement is just the latest installment of a long-running collaboration between ChainCode Consulting and IR. In March 2024, a similar project was pursued by both parties. On that occasion, the collaboration involved the release of a series of NFT tickets for use on a train line running from Lucknow, the capital of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, to the Indian capital, New Delhi.  In that instance, NFTs were minted on the Hyperledger blockchain. A previous collaboration, earlier in 2024, saw NFTs minted on Polygon for digital tickets covering journeys to the sacred Hindu city of Ayodhya. Commenting on the choice of Polygon relative to this latest collaboration, Alok Gupta, CEO of ChainCode Consulting, stated: “By partnering with IRCTC and leveraging the Polygon blockchain, we are enabling a digital-first experience that complements the spiritual and traditional significance of the Mahakumbh while introducing a new level of engagement through NFTs.” Polygon is an Ethereum ecosystem scaling network. With that, it has fast throughput and low gas fees and it's on this basis that it’s understood that Polygon was chosen in this instance. Aishwary Gupta, global head of payment and fintech at Polygon Labs, the key developer behind the Polygon blockchain, told Cointelegraph that public blockchains are playing an important role in doing away with middlemen and intermediaries.  The Polygon Labs executive stated that at both state and central government levels in India, Polygon has been used on a number of projects. He added: ”With its low cost and high throughput, we are sure that the NFTs being issued around Maha Kumbh Mela would be yet another great success.” $94 billion market opportunityTicketing remains one of the proposed use cases for blockchain technology that has the potential to gain traction. That potential hasn’t gone unnoticed by ticketing industry leader Ticketmaster. In 2023 the company rolled out token-gated ticket sales. The feature enables artists to reward fans who hold NFTs with access to exclusive pre-sale events, prime concert seating and many other incentives and rewards. NFT technology offers a solution to a number of issues experienced within the events industry, including ticket scalping, fake tickets and security issues. The live events business is a $94 billion industry, underscoring the opportunity available to be exploited by innovative NFT-based ticketing startups.