SK Telecom and Polygon Labs Team Up for Web3 Ecosystem Development

Galaxia Moneytree Forms Aviation Asset Tokenization ConsortiumKorean financial platform services provider Galaxia Moneytree announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a consortium for the development of a security token offering (STO) platform that issues tokenized aviation assets — the first of its kind in the country. Shinhan Securities, Eugene Investment and Securities, VMIC Aviation, and Cirium have signed on as members.Photo by John McArthur on Unsplash“This consortium will be a significant step in our endeavors to become a leading entity for innovation in the field of the tokenization of aviation assets. Our agreement will promote the advancement of the Korean aviation industry and enhance global competitiveness, providing investors with new opportunities through alternative investments,” said Shin Dong-hoon, CEO of Galaxia Moneytree.Shaping the future of aviationThe consortium aims to issue security tokens for leasing core aviation equipment such as aircraft engines, which would secure private funding and ease the burden that is imparted by leasing fees. Also, given that the most important aspect of STOs is asset valuation, the consortium has committed to issuing reliable aviation token securities to investors based on the accurate valuation of aircraft engines as determined by Cirium. Cirium is a global aviation data analytics company with 114 years of experience that provides solutions such as the valuation of aircrafts and engines, risk analytics for carbon emission reduction, and flight schedule changes.Galaxia Moneytree said that the consortium recently applied for a financial regulatory sandbox — a program introduced by the Korean government that offers special and provisional regulatory exemptions for financial services that have been recognized for their innovativeness.Partners with varying attributesGalaxia Moneytree will be responsible for overseeing the consortium as well as developing and operating the STO platform, which Shinhan Securities and Eugene Investment and Securities have agreed to provide funding for. The two securities firms will also provide management services for related trusts and accounts.Meanwhile, VMIC will take over asset management for aircraft engines and contribute various insights based on its expertise in aviation finance. VMIC Aviation is a Korean startup that specializes in innovative aircraft engine technologies by leveraging its technical and financial expertise.Discussions are also underway for cooperation with relevant government agencies such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Civil Aviation Association.The company has been working with its partner companies and communicating with government entities to tokenize a wide range of assets, from certified emissions reductions to renewable energy and horse racing. It is also taking the initiative to position itself as an industry leader by investing in joint ventures.

Bitfinex Turkiye Facilitates Zero-Cost Deposits via VakıfBank PartnershipIn a strategic move to bolster its presence in Turkey, cryptocurrency trading platform Bitfinex has introduced a seamless and cost-free method for Turkish customers to deposit Turkish lira directly into their accounts.According to a press release published by the company on Thursday, this integration comes as a result of collaboration between Bitfinex Turkiye and VakıfBank, Turkey’s second largest bank in terms of asset size, and a significant player in the Turkish banking sector.Photo by Meg Jerrard on UnsplashExpanding market accessBitfinex’s Chief Technology Officer, Paolo Ardoino, emphasized the user-centric benefits of this partnership. He stated that Turkish customers can now deposit lira effortlessly and economically, streamlining their access to the cryptocurrency market.This development could potentially aid Bitfinex in expanding its operations within Turkey, which stands as one of the largest markets for leading global crypto exchange Binance. Ardoino stated that the move facilitates “the ability to deposit [lira] seamlessly and cost-effectively.” Additionally, Ardoino maintained that market access was being enabled “by integrating with VakıfBank,” and that “[Bitfinex] is making it easier” for customers to participate.Collaborating with the crypto sectorFounded in the 1950s, VakıfBank has 935 brick-and-mortar branches, a network of over 4,000 ATMs and almost one million point-of-sale (POS) terminals in use. This latest partnership is not the first touch point for the bank when it comes to the crypto sector. It has a similar deal in place with Istanbul-based crypto platform, CoinTR. In that instance, CoinTR customers can deposit or withdraw Turkish lira to or from their CoinTR accounts via VakifBank instantly, 24/7 and with zero fees.The bank has also participated in a blockchain-based trade finance initiative, the Turkish Trade Chain Project. In a press release published by the bank last year, it expressed the belief “that blockchain technology will make data sharing more transparent, traceable, verifiable and controllable by reducing the communication traffic between parties in the foreign trade process that requires many documents.”Partnering with TradFiBy aligning its services with a traditional financial institution, Bitfinex joins the ranks of other industry players like Fidelity, BlackRock, and PayPal, which have demonstrated increasing openness to cryptocurrencies despite the ongoing bear market.Turkey has proven to be an important market for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and USDT, the US dollar stablecoin issued by Bitfinex’s sister company, Tether. Runaway inflation in recent years has led to an outsized interest in decentralized money in the country.Bitfinex’s business in Turkey has not been without its hiccups. Earlier this year, a Wall Street Journal report alleged that Bitfinex Turkiye user accounts had been implicated in terrorist financing. One particular account was alleged to have been used for money laundering purposes by the armed wing of Palestinian militant group, Hamas.This latest initiative follows Bitfinex’s recent announcement of the launch of Bitfinex P2P, a peer-to-peer exchange catering to clients in Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia. With such expansions and collaborations, the cryptocurrency sector continues to evolve, demonstrating resilience and adaptability in the face of bear market conditions and regulatory challenges.

Linear Finance Dealing With LUSD ExploitLinear Finance, the Hong Kong-based DeFi protocol, made an announcement by way of a blog post published to the project’s website on Thursday, suggesting that the project’s native stablecoin, LUSD, has come under attack.Photo by Markus Spiske on UnsplashTaking precautionary actionThis security breach has prompted the team to take immediate action to safeguard user accounts and the project’s integrity. The project team is actively investigating the exploit attack on LUSD. It has issued a stern warning to its users, advising them against buying or trading LUSD until the team can confirm the situation’s status.This measure is aimed at preventing further complications and ensuring the community’s interests remain protected. Furthermore, the project has temporarily suspended liquidations to secure users’ accounts. This step has been taken to mitigate immediate concerns and ensure that no user faces undue losses as a result of the exploit.Assets disposed on PancakeSwap & AscendexAmid the ongoing investigation, Linear Finance’s team has pledged to provide timely updates as soon as more information becomes available. In explaining away the nature of the attack, the project team clarified:”The attacker was able to mint an unlimited supply of LAAVE and subsequently traded the liquid asset to LUSD on the Linear Exchange, prior to selling it on PancakeSwap and Ascendex.”Project responseIn its efforts to deal with the issue, the Linear Finance project team has engaged an on-chain data specialist to track down the attackers. The Linear bridge contract has been disabled relative to LUSD. All protocol contracts that allow tokens to be minted, exchanged, or burnt have been paused. Meanwhile, wallets identified as having been involved in the protocol exploit have been shared with the authorities and major cryptocurrency exchanges.Synthetic asset protocolLinear Finance creates synthetic assets with the protocol design enabling unlimited liquidity. The network has been built on top of the Ethereum blockchain. As a consequence of activity surrounding the exploit, trading of LUSD over the course of the past 24 hours has proven to be out of the ordinary. At the time of writing volume over the past 24-hour period had increased by 8412%. The current market price of the stablecoin stands at $0.9874.Protocol and network hacks and exploits have been coming in thick and fast in recent days. Hong Kong crypto exchange CoinEx has been trying to recover from a $70 million hack on the platform over recent days. Meanwhile, Seychelles-headquartered peer-to-peer crypto platform Remitano suffered a $2.7 million hack late last week.On Wednesday, the project team behind DeFi protocol Balancer warned network users that the Balancer front-end user interface was under attack. The Ethereum-based DeFi network fell victim to another exploit last month, resulting in losses in the region of $900,000.In the dynamic crypto sector, unforeseen events like potential exploits can disrupt the market and sow uncertainty. The issue remains a major challenge both for centralized exchange platforms and DeFi protocols.