Gravity Reports Strong Q2 Revenues, Outlining Blockchain Game Roadmap

Blockchain Mainnet FNCY to Collaborate with Web3 Community Platform GALXENetmarble F&C, a subsidiary of South Korean game developer Netmarble, announced on Tuesday that FNCY, the blockchain mainnet of its subsidiary Metaverse World, has established a strategic partnership with Web3 digital credential network GALXE.Photo by Shubham’s Web3 on UnsplashEmpowering the Web3 communityGALXE is a platform with over 11 million users dedicated to building the Web3 community. In collaboration with some 2,900 partners — including networks like Optimism, Polygon, and Arbitrum, among others — it offers rewards like non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and on-chain achievement tokens (OATs) to users when they contribute to their favorite Web3 community.Strengthening the FNCY chainThrough the new partnership, FNCY and GALXE plan to hold various events and campaigns to bolster the FNCY Chain. In addition, various decentralized applications (dApps) onboarding the FNCY Chain will be able to open channels and hold events themselves.“This partnership will play a significant role in adopting blockchain technology on a global scale and providing users with new experiences,” said Charles Wayn, CEO of GALXE.Seo Woo-won, CEO of Netmarble F&C, also described GALXE as the most suitable partner for forming and expanding the Web3 community and FNCY’s blockchain ecosystem.FNCY, previously called CUBE, is a Web3 entertainment platform where users can enjoy various content, including games, webtoons, and web novels. Users can also view transactions, blocks, wallet addresses, and other on-chain data.

HTX Hacker Returns FundsThe hacker responsible for the nearly 5,000 ETH exploit on the Seychelles-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange HTX (formerly known as Huobi) last month has decided to return the stolen funds.Towards the end of last month, the exchange fell victim to a hack, resulting in a loss estimated at around $8 million. According to on-chain data, the hacker has repatriated the pilfered cryptocurrency, marking a significant development in the aftermath of the cyberattack.Photo by Shubham Dhage on UnsplashHacker rewardedThe returned funds were sent back in two separate transactions, one consisting of approximately 4,000 ETH and the other totaling around 1,000 ETH. HTX advisor and Tron Founder, Justin Sun, took to X (formerly Twitter) to officially confirm the recovery. In his statement, Sun revealed that HTX had not only received all the stolen funds as promised by the hacker but had also extended a gesture of goodwill. HTX rewarded the responsible party with a “white hat bonus” amounting to 250 ETH, equivalent to a substantial $400,000.Sun expressed his satisfaction with the hacker’s decision, stating:“We have confirmed that the hacker has fully returned all funds, as promised, and we have also paid the hacker a white hat bonus of 250 ETH. The hacker made the right choice. We would like to express our gratitude to everyone in the industry for their help.”Hacker advisory messageDuring the return of the funds, the hacker conveyed a message on-chain, shedding light on the reason behind this act of restitution. The message read:“Received your message. White hat bonus to0x1Fc8674A51D6b97C968BE384337519CE7003152B. Your system hot wallet private key leak, you should change system hot wallet address and reduce the system hot wallet rate.”HTX, in response to the hacker’s decision to return the funds and in accordance with its commitment, promptly sent the white hat bonus to the specified address. The exchange also requested the hacker to provide a detailed security vulnerability analysis report to the email address htxsafe@htx-inc.com.This request aims to prevent similar incidents in the future, with assurances that the hacker’s privacy will be safeguarded.Justin Sun had confirmed the original hack in September, at the time reassuring the community that HTX had covered all losses arising from the attack and resolved associated issues satisfactorily.While acknowledging the severity of the hack, Sun pointed out that the stolen amount represented a relatively small fraction of the $3 billion in assets held by HTX’s users. To incentivize the return of the funds, HTX had even offered a reward of 5%, which equated to $400,000.However, Sun also emphasized that if the funds had not been returned within a seven-day window, the company would have been compelled to involve law enforcement authorities.Thankfully, it did not come to that, and the cryptocurrency exchange can now move forward with the confidence that its users’ assets are secure. This incident highlights the importance of cooperation and ethical choices within the crypto community, as well as the potential for resolution even in the face of cyberattacks.

American crypto exchange and custodian Gemini announced via its blog on Oct. 29 that it has been awarded in-principle approval for a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). In an X post on Oct. 23, Dan Clarke, who worked for Gemini in Singapore in an International Marketing & Operations role in 2021, outlined that back then the company ran the first crypto-related full page ad in the Straits Times with the slogan “We’re in Singapore. For Good.” Fast forward three years and it appears that Gemini is making good on that commitment through this latest regulatory-compliant milestone.Photo by Swapnil Bapat on UnsplashSingapore to play a crucial roleThe MPI license will enable Gemini to offer digital payment tokens and cross-border money transfer services in Singapore. Gemini’s Asia-Pacific (APAC) business is headed up by Saad Ahmed. Ahmed commented that Singapore has been at “the heart” of its operational expansion within the APAC region. Expanding on that further, he stated:“While the United States remains our largest market and global headquarters, Asia and Singapore in particular play a crucial role in our global strategy.”  Ahmed outlined that Singapore represents the company’s second-largest market, with plans to double its current Singaporean workforce and move to a larger office space. The Gemini executive believes that this in-principle licensing approval takes the company one step closer to offering services that cater to the needs of residents of the city-state.  Serving users across the APAC regionIn its blog announcement, the firm said that “since establishing our regional headquarters in Singapore, we’ve focused on expanding our footprint, ensuring that we bring a localized, secure, and compliant trading experience to users across the region.” With the regulatory environment in its home market being currently hostile to crypto, Gemini has pursued a strategy followed by many of its peers in looking for growth opportunities overseas instead. In April of last year, the company announced that it was in the process of opening an engineering center in India.  In June 2023 the company publicized its intention to pursue a crypto trading license within the United Arab Emirates (UAE). At the time the company’s co-CEOs, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, referred to the “hostility and lack of clarity” when it came to the regulatory environment within the United States. Regulatory clarity to drive growthAhmed believes that regulatory clarity in Singapore will be a driver of growth, leading to greater adoption across the region. With regard to the U.S., he has the expectation that the crypto industry will grow regardless of whether former U.S. President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris wins the upcoming presidential election.  Notwithstanding that, Gemini’s Winklevoss twins have donated over $2 million to Trump’s campaign, while also contributing funds to a super political action committee (PAC) supporting John Deaton, a Republican challenger to the Senate seat of fierce crypto critic Senator Elizabeth Warren.  Regulatory conditions in Canada have proven to be too much to handle for the company. At the end of September, Gemini announced that it would close all customer accounts in Canada by December 31 as a direct consequence of new regulations which have been introduced by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA).