Welcome Savings Bank Implements Blockchain-based Bank ID for Enhanced Customer Convenience

Indonesia Embraces XRP, ADA as Tradable Crypto AssetsIn a significant move towards cryptocurrency acceptance, the Indonesian government has taken a momentous step by including a range of digital assets, including XRP and ADA, in a recently published regulatory document.Photo by Nick Agus Arya on Unsplash501 digital assetsThe document, published earlier this month, comprises an extensive list of 501 cryptocurrencies that are eligible for trading within the country. Unsurprisingly, BTC and ETH feature on the list. Other notable cryptocurrencies that have been listed include SOL, LTC, DOT, SAND, and UNI. This development is seen as a positive stride towards wider crypto adoption and holds the potential for broader use of all of these assets. In the case of XRP, it provides it with greater potential to become a viable means of payment within the region in the future, even though current regulation within Indonesia prohibits payments for goods and services in anything other than the rupiah.Defining tradable assetsThe regulatory document, officially titled “Supervisory Body Regulation Commodity Futures Trading Number 4 of 2023,” signifies an amendment to the Trade Controlling Agency Regulations Commodity Futures Number 11 of 2022. Its main objective is to identify the assets that can be traded in the physical market of crypto assets within Indonesia.Colin Wu, a prominent Chinese reporter, shared this significant development on Twitter, sparking interest and discussions within the crypto community. The news has been met with a mix of optimism and caution from Indonesian individuals. One Indonesian YouTuber expressed enthusiasm for the country’s XRP-friendly stance and voiced hope for XRP to eventually attain legal tender status. However, others, like Twitter user Pondok Indah, urged the government to focus on regulatory oversight and taxation rather than direct involvement in the crypto business.This development takes place in the broader context of Indonesia’s evolving crypto landscape. According to a 2022 research report titled “The 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index: Emerging Markets Lead in Grassroots Adoption ‘’ by Chainalysis, Indonesia ranked at the top among the 20 countries analyzed in terms of peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange trade volume. The country has demonstrated its active participation in the crypto market, with Indodax, the largest Indonesian exchange, adding support for FLOKI, an up-and-coming cryptocurrency, back in April.That said, as we’ve seen in many other jurisdictions, the development of regulation and policy relative to digital assets has not been without its hiccups. Last month, the governor of Bali warned the foreign tourists that flock to the Indonesian island that there would be consequences for those that flouted Indonesian law and used crypto as a form of payment for goods and services.Indonesia’s recognition of the potential benefits of digital assets demonstrates a path forward for other nations to follow. Providing regulatory clarity with regard to digital assets bolsters investor confidence but also opens doors for innovation and financial inclusion. In taking this approach, the Southeast Asian country is setting the stage through which digital assets can contribute to economic growth and technological advancement.

Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, the conversion of tangible assets into digital tokens on a blockchain, is gaining momentum in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to a number of industry professionals working in the sector.Photo by ZQ Lee on Unsplash‘No lack of demand’Scott Thiel, founder and CEO of Dubai-based RWA token marketplace Tokinvest, recently outlined to Cointelegraph that the company is experiencing “no lack of demand” for tokenized RWAs. Thiel believes that demand is coming from real estate developers and large property owners who “want to explore how they can use this as an alternate means of financing or selling their property.” The Tokinvest CEO explained that a booming property market in the UAE,  particularly in Dubai, is contributing towards RWA tokenization demand in the country. He stated: “What’s the hottest real estate market in the world? Well, I think today it’s probably Dubai, and so, everyone would like to own a piece of this or to get access to the economic benefits of being a participant in that marketplace.” RWA tokenization dealsLast year, Liv Digital Bank, a subsidiary of Emirates NBD, the second largest bank in the UAE, signed a deal with RWA tokenization firm Ctrl Alt. At the time, Ctrl Alt CEO Matt Ong pointed to a Boston Consulting Group report that forecast a $16 trillion business opportunity with regard to the tokenization of global illiquid assets by 2030. In January, MANTRA, a layer-1 blockchain project that focuses on RWA tokenization, inked a $1 billion deal with Damac Group, an Emirati property development company. The objective of the partnership is to bring transparency, security and access to Damac’s assets using blockchain. Last month, MANTRA was awarded a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license by Dubai regulator, the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). MANTRA Co-founder and CEO John Patrick Mullin described the license award as “a validation of our purpose, which is to provide developers and institutions with a purpose-built RWA Layer 1 Blockchain, that’s capable of adhering to real world regulatory requirements.” Proactive regulationIt is with regard to regulation that many in the industry feel that the UAE is gaining the upper hand where RWA tokenization is concerned. Tokeninvest’s Thiel provided input into the formulation of VARA’s regulatory framework back in 2022. He said that the authorities there have taken a proactive approach to digital asset regulation, with a genuine desire to provide regulatory clarity. The Tokinvest CEO was sufficiently impressed by the regulatory approach in the UAE to relocate the company there. Back in January, VARA awarded the company a trading license for its tokenized RWA marketplace. Commenting following the announcement of the Damac deal, MANTRA’s Mullin complimented the UAE authorities on their business-friendly approach: “The UAE has shown time and again that they can lead the crypto industry in innovation.”  In a series of posts on X recently, Julian Kwan, CEO and founder of IXS, a Singapore-based institutional bridge for tokenized RWAs, cited the Damac tokenized real estate deal while asserting that tokenized “RWAs are no longer a concept — they are an unstoppable financial movement.”

Binance’s venture capital arm, Binance Labs, has made an investment in South Korean blockchain games developer, GOMBLE. Binance Labs is a division of the global crypto exchange entity that identifies, invests, and empowers viable blockchain entrepreneurs, startups and communities. In a blog post published by the company late last month, Binance Labs outlined that it has participated in funding GOMBLE at a seed funding round stage. GOMBLE  is an affiliate of South Korea-based 111Percent, a casual mobile game publisher. Sustainable blockchain gamingFor its part, GOMBLE’s objective is to enable the global casual gamer community to experience blockchain games through reward mechanisms that are sustainable. An additional focus for the project is advancing NFT interoperability, through the development of mobile-based blockchain.The start-up plans to use the funding in order to develop and release its first mobile game, RumbyStars. Furthermore, it will continue to pursue a games-as-a-service (GaaS) model, with funding also being used to expand that GaaS-based platform.While blockchain-based gaming had something of an initial breakthrough through the emergence of Axie Infinity, that success was secured with a focus on blockchain rather than gaming, attracting participation via a play-to-earn approach from those already focused primarily on blockchain. Subsequently, many have questioned the sustainability of this approach from the perspectives of gameplay and the tokenomics that support it. A $25 billion market opportunityGOMBLE is focusing on addressing these two factors through its approach. Casual games in the Web2 sphere have seen an uptick in popularity. The casual games sector has the potential to reach a $25 billion market volume within four years. Bringing that Web3 focus on enjoyable game play to Web3 gaming extends that opportunity to blockchain-based gaming.Additionally, GOMBLE is working towards mistakes made with blockchain based gaming tokenomics in the past. It will focus on more balanced tokenomics using its $CRT token for governance. $CRT can be earned by players through a tournament prize system. From the other perspective, it can be spent on NFT purchases, tournament passes and in buying in-game items.This is how Yi He, Head of Binance Labs interprets GOMBLE’s approach: “Blockchain gaming needs to move away from the concept of ‘earning’ to what truly captures the hearts of billions of gamers: entertaining gameplay. GOMBLE’s experienced team and focus on building engaging, social, and sustainable blockchain games with flexible governance offers a pathway for delivering the value of Web3 to existing casual gamers, thus welcoming new users to the BNB Chain ecosystem.” RumbyStarsThe blockchain gaming start-up is planning for a soft release of its first game, RumbyStars within SouthEast Asia in Q2, 2023. Following that limited regional launch, the project will then broaden the offering to North America, South America, East Asia and Europe.Gomble’s CEO Jihoon Byun said that “Unlike existing blockchain games that focus on core games, GOMBLE aims to target the global market with easy and fun casual games that even non-gamers can enjoy. Starting with RumbyStars, GOMBLE is focused on building to provide users around the world with a pleasant experience and a greater diversity of games in the future.”In order to execute on the roadmap the project has set out for itself, it will recruit more development and design manpower. Furthermore, investment will be made in infrastructure in order to enable real-time service.