Hong Kong’s SFC Issues Warning Against Unlicensed Crypto Platforms

Taipei-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange Woo X has announced the launch of tokenized United States Treasury Bills (T-Bills), marking a significant milestone for the crypto-sector retail investment landscape. In a press release, the company outlined that it has partnered with London-based institutional tokenization platform OpenTrade in order to bring its Earn Vaults product backed by real-world assets (RWAs) to market. The product is being heralded as the first protocol offering tokenized T-Bills accessible to retail investors.Photo by Jorge Salvador on UnsplashStable yield accessWilly Chuang, Chief Operating Officer of Woo X, expressed enthusiasm about the initiative, highlighting its potential to bridge the gap between conventional financial securities and the cryptocurrency market. He told CoinDesk in an email that “for the first time, retail users on a centralized exchange can instantly access an interest-bearing account backed by U.S. Treasury Bills.” With RWA Earn Vaults, Woo X users now have access to stable, predictable yields on their USDC holdings, backed by U.S. Treasury Bills, without encountering additional complexities. These yield-bearing products offer attractive annual percentage rates (APR) ranging from 4.5% to 4.7% for USDC holders. Subscriptions accrue real yields, fully backed by U.S. Treasury Bills, with current annual percentage rates (APRs) for seven-day and 28-day terms standing at approximately 4.5% and 4.75%, respectively. OpenTrade is a tokenization platform supported by Circle, the issuer of the world's second-largest stablecoin, USDC, lending further credibility to the partnership, with USDC boasting a market cap of $34 billion. OpenTrade had established links with Centre, the now-dissolved collaboration between Circle and Coinbase, and the Marco Polo enterprise blockchain project. Interest in RWA tokenizationRecent institutional interest in the RWA tokenization sector is exemplified by BlackRock's launch of the USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, valued at over $298 million. This development underscores the increasing recognition of digital assets as viable investment instruments by traditional financial giants. Additionally, a recent report by CoinGecko highlighted the profitability of tokenized RWAs in the crypto space, positioning it as the second most lucrative narrative in the first quarter of 2024. Lim Yu Qian, an analyst at CoinGecko, noted the substantial profitability of the RWA narrative compared to other sectors, emphasizing its growing prominence.Franklin Templeton's Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX) has emerged as a notable treasury tokenization fund, reflecting the sector's maturation and investor confidence.  Woo X's product offerings extend beyond tokenized T-Bills, encompassing index-linked perpetuals covering crypto meme coins and layer-2 tokens in collaboration with market maker Wintermute. The exchange's native token, WOO, plays a pivotal role in governance and incentivization, offering users the opportunity to stake WOO and earn an average APR of 12.66%. The recent robust performance of WOO, experiencing a price surge of about 30% since its April 13 low, has served to boost the platform further. Tokenization of U.S. T-Bills has witnessed significant growth, with over $1.15 billion worth of assets tokenized through various products by April 2022, highlighting the growing appeal of digital asset-based offerings in the financial sector. This latest product offering benefits retail market participants, giving them increased access to diverse and lucrative investment opportunities in the burgeoning digital asset space. 

3D Avatar Platform GoodGang Labs Joins Finschia as Joint Mainnet OperatorGoodGang Labs, a Singapore-based metaverse platform developer, is set to become a joint operator of the public blockchain mainnet Finschia, as reported by South Korean news agency Yonhap.The Finschia mainnet was launched by Line Tech Plus, a blockchain business subsidiary of Tokyo-based messaging app developer Line Corporation. It has been operated by the Finschia Foundations, a non-profit organization established in March in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.Photo by GuerrillaBuzz on UnsplashAdvancing Finschia’s governanceGoodGang Labs’ participation as a joint operator of the mainnet came as part of the Finschia Foundation’s establishment of a new consortium to advance its governance structure. Along with GoodGang Labs, many esteemed companies have joined as governance members to collaborate on operating the mainnet. These companies include Japanese telecom giant SoftBank, NFT platform operator LINE NEXT, blockchain infra-service provider A41, crypto firm AhnLab Blockchain Company, CeDeFi protocol Neopin, quantitative trading firm Presto Labs, and GameFi-oriented platform MARBLEX.GoodGang Labs specializes in developing technology that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to translate users’ facial expressions and behaviors into real-time 3D avatars. Leveraging this technology, the company is currently piloting Kiki Town, a 3D avatar communication platform.Finschia-based NFT projectsWith its involvement in Finschia, GoodGang Labs will allow various Finschia-based NFT projects to have access to the company’s services including the Kiki Town platform. FNSA, the base coin of the Finschia ecosystem, is currently listed on cryptocurrency exchanges Bithumb, Bittrex, Huobi, and Gate.io, according to crypto data tracking website CoinMarketCap.Ahn Doo-kyung, Co-Founder and CEO of GoodGang Labs, said that this partnership demonstrates the company’s capabilities during times of limited investment opportunities. He stated that GoodGang Labs will showcase a profit-generating platform that enables users to express their emotions through avatars and share their knowledge and experiences.The members of GoodGang Labs have acquired their tech expertise from notable entities such as SNOW, a subsidiary of South Korean tech behemoth Naver, and Meta, the parent company of Facebook. The company has received investments from Naver D2 Startup Factory, a startup accelerator; Naver Z, the operator of metaverse platform Zepeto; and Kakao Investment, the venture capital subsidiary of another Korean tech giant, Kakao.

Klasha, a leading global cross-border payment company based in Africa, has officially announced its partnership with Singapore-headquartered FOMO Pay, a digital payment, banking and digital assets solutions provider in the Asian market. Streamlining collections and paymentsIn a press release published on Wednesday, the two companies outlined the nature of the partnership. Through this collaboration, FOMO Pay will optimize collections for its corporate clients by leveraging Klasha’s platform. This synergy enables businesses to receive payments in various local African currencies and methods, with the added flexibility of receiving payouts in their preferred currencies.Photo by George Bakos on UnsplashUnlocking growth opportunitiesThe duo also envision the unlocking of growth opportunities for Asian businesses looking to expand into new markets within Africa. By facilitating seamless cross-border payments, Klasha and FOMO Pay believe that they can help businesses diversify and broaden their customer base. In the joint statement, the management teams of Klasha and FOMO Pay expressed their enthusiasm for the collaboration. Jess Anuna, CEO of Klasha, shared her insights, stating:"With combined efforts, we will continue to enable merchants in Asia to collect payments from the continent more seamlessly through our payment rails and our unique ability to terminate payments in greater Asia." Africa has been undergoing a transformation from the perspective of trade relationships while Asia is emerging as a pivotal trading partner, contributing to over 40% of both exports and imports for the continent. It is with that in mind that Klasha and FOMO Pay have united to introduce a platform aimed at enhancing cross-border payment capabilities for businesses and merchants across Africa and Asia. Crypto credentialsFOMO Pay claims to be Asia’s first licensed gateway connecting fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies. The firm was established in 2015 and is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to conduct cross-border money transfer services, domestic money transfer services, digital payment token services and merchant acquisition services. In 2022 FOMO Pay announced a partnership with enterprise blockchain firm Ripple, which resulted in the fledgling company using Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) offering, a product that revolves around the use of Ripple’s XRP in moving value globally, without the need for correspondent banking relationships. In July of last year, FOMO partnered with crypto compliance and blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. That partnership is aimed at building out a payment ecosystem in Asia that offers seamless interoperability between fiat currency and cryptocurrency. With that same goal in mind, last September FOMO Pay initiated a collaboration with crypto sector decision making specialist, Notabene, who are helping the company optimize in terms of know-your-transaction capabilities. Zack Yang, co-founder of FOMO Pay, emphasized the partnership's significance, stating:"In this era of globalization, the synergy between FOMO Pay and Klasha marks a significant milestone in increasing financial connectivity between Africa and Asia. Our partnership is more than just a business collaboration; it's a commitment to fostering seamless payments and economic growth across continents. This collaboration not only opens up new avenues for African and Asian merchants, facilitating market expansion and easing entry into new territories, but also provides greater opportunity for merchants in those regions to fully benefit from day-to-day use of digital assets in international trade.