Checkout.com Partnership Sees Alchemy Pay Extend Global Reach

TransFi, renowned for its global payment solutions, is collaborating with Coinbase Wallet to streamline the process of purchasing cryptocurrencies, with a particular focus on enhancing user experience in Asia.Photo by Traxer on UnsplashFacilitating seamless onboardingBy integrating with Coinbase Wallet, TransFi aims to simplify the onboarding process for businesses and individuals, ultimately fostering greater adoption of cryptocurrencies in the region. This strategic integration is designed to eliminate barriers to entry and make cryptocurrency transactions more efficient and accessible. Enhanced payment options across AsiaIn a significant move, users in the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia now have access to expanded payment options through Coinbase Wallet. In the Philippines, GCash and PayMaya, popular digital payment platforms, have been integrated, while Vietnam sees the addition of Viet QR, Momo and Viettel Pay. Indonesian users can utilize OVO and Dana, leading payment apps in the country. These partnerships leverage existing, widely-used payment infrastructures to provide users with more convenient avenues for purchasing cryptocurrencies. The expansion into the Asian market reflects the growing demand for cryptocurrencies in the region and highlights Coinbase's commitment to broadening its reach by collaborating with local payment services. This trend underscores the increasing integration between crypto platforms and local payment solutions, signaling a positive trajectory for cryptocurrency adoption across Asia. 

The Asia Web3 Alliance Japan, an agency that regards itself as a bridge between the Web3 ecosystem in Asia and Japan’s broader business sector, has reached out to the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States with a view towards establishing a strategic collaboration.Photo by Clement Souchet on UnsplashFocus on Web3 regulatory innovation & tokenizationThe President of the organization, Hinza Asif, wrote to SEC Crypto Task Force Chairperson and SEC Commissioner, Hester Peirce, on the subject, on March 25. The letter, subsequently published by the SEC, sets out a proposal that centers on a strategic U.S.-Japan partnership relative to Web3 regulatory innovation and tokenization. The Japanese agency, which has set out cross-border synergy as one of its objectives, calls for collaboration between Japan’s Financial Services Agency, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Bank of Japan with the U.S. regulator. The Alliance proposes that the goal of that partnership would be the establishment of regulatory clarity in respect of the Web3 sector, together with the fostering of interoperability between a developing Web3 ecosystem in the U.S. and the one that’s developing in Japan. Token classification frameworkDelving deeper into proposal specifics, Asif sets out the formation of a harmonized token classification framework as a key objective. The proposal suggests that a distinction needs to be made between tokenized securities, utility tokens and non-security digital assets.  The alliance believes that right now, token classification is unclear, with projects struggling to understand what category their token falls within from a regulatory perspective. There’s a lack of token offering frameworks. While it sees that further work is required, the Asia Web3 Alliance Japan is encouraged by progress made by the SEC’s Crypto Task Force in identifying security categories. With this cross-border collaboration, the Japanese crypto advocacy group believes that there is an opportunity to achieve regulatory interoperability on an international basis. That would facilitate compliant cross-border token issuance. On that basis, the alliance suggests that standards be developed such that regulatory consistency is achieved internationally when it comes to items such as digital asset trading, custody and token issuance. The proposal sets out a need for reciprocal disclosure requirements between the two jurisdictions where cross-border token issuance is concerned. It advocates for mutual recognition of what it terms “compliant tokenized offerings.” Bringing safe harbor to JapanAnother focus area contained within the proposal is the suggestion of a need to implement a safe harbor approach in Japan for early-stage token projects in line with what has been put forward in the U.S. Peirce first put forward a token safe harbor proposal in the U.S. in 2020. It sets out to provide exemptions over a defined initial period for certain token issuances. The idea behind it is to enable these early-stage projects to innovate and mature without getting bogged down in a regulatory quagmire. The establishment of a U.S.-Japan Web3 regulatory roundtable is another strand contained within the proposal. This would provide a mechanism for ongoing dialogue between stakeholders such as regulators, industry leaders and legal experts.

US DOJ Charges Two Russians With Mt. Gox HackTwo Russian nationals have been charged by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) for their involvement in hacking of the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox, and in causing the collapse of the infamous exchange.Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on UnsplashCulpable for collapseThe indictment, which has been unsealed, was originally filed on June 7, and identifies the individuals as Alexey Bilyuchenko, 43, and Aleksandr Verner, 29. They are accused of not only hacking the exchange but also conspiring to launder approximately 647,000 bitcoins, which is valued at around $17.1 billion based on Bitcoin’s unit price on Friday.Additionally, Bilyuchenko has been charged with collaborating with Alexander Vinnik to operate the illicit exchange known as BTC-e between 2011 and 2017. BTC-e was shut down by U.S. law enforcement in 2017, and Vinnik was later extradited from Greece to the U.S. in 2022 on charges of running BTC-e and engaging in money laundering.Mt. Gox, which experienced a major theft, declared bankruptcy and closed its operations in 2014. Bilyuchenko and Verner played a significant role in the theft, leading to the exchange’s insolvency, according to Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. The indictment states that “in or about September 2011, [the defendants] and their co-conspirators gained and caused others to gain unauthorized access to the Mt. Gox server in Japan.”BTC-e exchange money launderingFurthermore, it is alleged that Bilyuchenko utilized his ill-gotten gains from the Mt. Gox theft to establish the BTC-e exchange, which facilitated global money laundering activities for criminals. US Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey for the Northern District of California stated that Bilyuchenko and his co-conspirators operated a digital currency exchange that enabled criminal entities, including hackers, ransomware actors, narcotics rings, and corrupt officials, to launder billions of dollars.In March, there were reports from CoinDesk about movements of BTC-e funds on the blockchain. An exchange wallet linked to BTC-e made its first transaction since 2017, transferring approximately 3,299 bitcoins to a crypto wallet in November 2022. Additionally, six years ago, the exchange wallet sent around 10,000 bitcoins to two unidentified recipients. However, the recent DOJ filing does not specify whether these recipients were Bilyuchenko and Verner.Slow processMeanwhile, the long-suffering creditors of the hacked exchange are only beginning to reach the final stages of the bankruptcy process. Japan’s bankruptcy process is incredibly slow and it’s taken the best part of ten years for it to reach the distribution phase. It became apparent in April that the bankruptcy estate was moving to distribute $4.5 billion in cash and digital assets to creditors. It’s understood that the process will be completed in October.While creditors are taking a haircut in bitcoin terms, on a US dollar basis, they are not fairing out badly given that the leading cryptocurrency has seen massive dollar price appreciation in the intervening years.