Blockchain.com Secures License to Expand Operations in Singapore

OKX NFT Marketplace hits the front on trading volumeIn the non-fungible token (NFT) space, OKX’s NFT marketplace has emerged as the leader in daily trading volume, surpassing long-standing frontrunners such as OpenSea, Blur and Magic Eden.According to data from decentralized applications (DApp) tracker DappRadar, on Dec. 18, the OKX NFT Marketplace had recorded a 24-hour trading volume of $50 million. In more recent trading, that has reduced to around $35 million. Nevertheless, it maintains its lead over its main competitors, whose combined 24-hour trading volume stands at approximately $24 million.Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashOrdinals driving volume uptickThe surge in trading volume can be attributed to OKX’s support for Bitcoin Ordinals NFTs and BRC-20 tokens. Notably, the NFT transaction volume on Bitcoin experienced a substantial increase, reaching $121.8 million between Dec. 10 and Dec. 17.Unlike traditional NFTs, Ordinals do not rely on smart contracts pointing to a digital asset. Described as digital artifacts by developer Casey Rodarmor, they lack smart contract features, making their trading reliant on decentralized exchanges and wallets.The Ordinals protocol has been made possible by the Bitcoin Taproot upgrade, which was implemented in November 2021. The upgrade allows digital files to be inscribed on satoshis, the smallest monetary denomination on the Bitcoin network, each with a unique number or ordinal.Strategic focus on BRC-20The OKX NFT Marketplace’s strategic focus on the BRC-20 token standard has also played a role in its success. Collaborating with UniSat, a developer of Ordinals wallets, OKX created an indexing mechanism for BRC-20 transactions built on ordinal inscriptions, further solidifying its position in the market.The Ordinals protocol has not been without controversy, with some, including Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, criticizing it as a misuse of Bitcoin transaction blockspace. Despite the controversy, Ordinals have gained momentum, contributing to $367 million in sales volume on the Bitcoin network, surpassing Ethereum and Solana.Ordinals and the BRC-20 standard have generally been a boon for Bitcoin miners, boosting their revenues through increased fees. This incentivizes miners to secure the network. Over 49 million transactions have resulted in over 2,250 BTC in transaction fees. Around 6 p.m. UTC on Monday, bitcoin fees are averaging out at $38.43 per transaction.Beyond Bitcoin Ordinals, the broader NFT space has seen a resurgence, with the collective volume nearing $1 billion in November. During that month, the average value of NFT transactions experienced a notable 114% increase, rising from $126 to $270. This suggests a willingness among users to engage in higher-value trades compared to previous months.Speaking with The Block, Nick Ruck, COO of ContentFi Labs, a community-owned Web3 tool suite, had this to say on the development:“OKX has become the number one NFT marketplace after enabling trading of BTC Ordinals NFTs. Blur and OpenSea have not yet allowed trading of these Bitcoin-based NFTs, so they’ve started to fall behind in terms of volume due to the huge demand of Ordinals.”

Dunamu’s Luxury Watch Trading Platform Appoints New C-Suite ExecutivesViver, the luxury watch trading platform and subsidiary of Dunamu, the operator of South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, has recently made c-suite appointments, as reported by local news outlet News1.Photo by Jaelynn Castillo on UnsplashNew appointmentsThe new CEO of Viver, Moon Jae-yeon, brings a wealth of expertise in running online e-commerce platforms. Before joining Viver, Moon held the position of Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at Market Kurly, an online platform famous for its early-morning grocery deliveries. Prior to that, he worked at eBay Korea for 17 years.Joining Moon is Seo Hee-sun, who assumes the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Viver. Seo has an impressive background as the Business Group Manager at 11th Street, a major online shopping website in the nation, and has accumulated over two decades of experience in this field.Luxury watchesEstablished just two years ago, Viver aims to leverage Dunamu’s digital asset business know-how to set new standards for trading luxury watches, which serve as both real-world assets and investment vehicles. The appointment of these industry experts is a major step towards achieving this goal.Last year, Viver made noticeable strides in expanding its services. The platform launched its own online application service and also opened a brick-and-mortar store in Apgujeon Rodeo, a bustling hub for fashion enthusiasts in Seoul. Moreover, Viver Labs, the watch trading platform’s repair service, offers expert diagnosis and repair of watches from various high-end brands, including Rolex and Audemars Piguet.Moon has expressed his ambition to elevate Viver’s reputation to the level of renowned timepiece e-commerce platforms like WatchBox in the US and Chrono24 in Germany within the next five years. He emphasized that the company intends to take advantage of Dunamu’s cutting-edge blockchain technology and infrastructure to gain a competitive edge in the market.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has unveiled a new initiative aimed at enhancing the nation’s financial infrastructure through the use of stablecoins and tokenized commercial bank money. Announced on Oct. 16, the project, known as BLOOM, short for Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency, brings together 16 financial sector participants, including Anchorage Digital, Ant International, Circle, Coinbase, and DBS Bank. According to MAS, BLOOM is open to additional participants through a registration form available on its official website.Photo by Jason Leung on UnsplashBuilding on Project OrchidBLOOM operates under Project Orchid, a digital Singapore dollar initiative launched in 2021 to explore potential applications of central bank digital currency (CBDC) in strengthening Singapore’s financial ecosystem. Through BLOOM, it will examine use cases involving G10 and Asian currencies, covering both domestic and cross-border payments, as well as wholesale financial transactions. The project’s focus includes coordinating interoperability between different networks to enable the distribution and clearing of settlement assets. It will also explore automated compliance checks and study methods to make wholesale settlements more efficient and cost-effective. Artificial intelligence (AI) agents are expected to play a supporting role, executing transactions automatically within predefined limits and regulatory parameters. Expanding stablecoin usage in SingaporeThe MAS initiative comes shortly after the listing of XSGD, a Singapore dollar–backed stablecoin, on the U.S.-based crypto exchange Coinbase on Oct. 1. XSGD is issued by StraitsX, a digital payments provider, and is fully backed by reserve assets held with DBS Bank and Standard Chartered. Stablecoin payments have gained traction in Singapore’s retail sector as well. StraitsX recently began supporting settlements in USDT and USDC through OKX Pay. Consumers can use SGQR codes at participating GrabPay merchants to make everyday purchases, such as coffee, with transactions settled directly in Singapore dollars into merchant accounts. Rising local interest in digital assetsSingapore’s growing engagement with digital assets reflects a broader trend of public interest. A report from ApeX Protocol, cited by Cointelegraph, ranked Singapore as the world’s most “crypto-obsessed” nation, awarding it a composite score of 100. The ranking considered ownership rates, adoption growth, search activity, and ATM availability. The study found that 24.4% of Singapore’s population holds cryptocurrency, ahead of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which scored 99.7 despite a 25.3% ownership rate. In a separate development, Channel News Asia reported that three Singaporeans have been implicated in a large-scale fraud scheme linked to Cambodia’s Prince Group. The U.S. Department of Justice recently confiscated 127,271 Bitcoin tied to the operation—the largest seizure in its history. Following the investigation, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on the three individuals as well as 17 Singapore-registered entities. The sanctions block access to any property in their possession and prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with them, citing risks to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.