Ubisoft Joins Cronos as a Network Validator

Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX), the city-state’s primary asset exchange, is in the process of establishing Bitcoin perpetual futures trading on the platform.Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashInstitutional product offeringAccording to a report published by Bloomberg earlier this week, the exchange platform intends to launch Bitcoin futures sometime during H2 2025. The product launch will be subject to regulatory approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). A spokesperson for the company told Bloomberg that the product offering will be geared exclusively towards institutional investors and traders in an effort to “significantly expand institutional market access.” Retail access to the product will be prohibited. Once launched, these Bitcoin perpetual futures contracts, being offered through a traditional finance (TradFi) outfit like SGX, will help to blur the lines between TradFi and the emerging crypto sector. Perpetual futures have no expiry date. They offer a means for traders to bet on price changes in an underlying asset while doing away with the need to take ownership of the asset itself. Cautious approachSGX has been cautious in listing crypto assets and derivative products. Last year the firm’s CEO, Loh Boon Chye, said that the time was not yet right for such listings.  His concern back then was that any such product launches would need “sustainable ecosystem support,” adding that “that means demand, that means governance, that means structure.” While spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) had been approved in the United States at that point, there has been much further development in the crypto-sphere since then, following the election of a pro-crypto administration in the U.S. That event has had knock-on effects globally. Singapore’s SGX isn’t the only traditional exchange platform to respond. Japanese futures exchange, the Osaka Dojima Exchange (ODEX), is gearing up to file an application with the Financial Services Agency (FSA) to list a Bitcoin futures product later this month. Closer to home, an American digital asset marketplace that focuses on institutional trading, EDX Markets, has plans to introduce Bitcoin perpetual futures products to the Singaporean market, according to a report which emerged in January. In May 2024, EDX launched EDXM Global, a settlement platform, in Singapore. This product launch by SGX serves the purposes of decision-makers in Singapore, who have been trying to position the city-state as a digital asset industry hub. Additionally, the move will bring greater acceptance of the digital assets sector from traditional market participants. Crypto perpetual futures contracts were first pioneered by crypto derivatives exchanges like BitMEX back in 2016. Since then, other crypto-native platforms like Binance and OKX have offered these products. In the case of unregulated offshore exchanges, the products have proven to be controversial, as at times, they have been used in a manner that has exposed market participants to counterparty risk. Failed crypto exchange FTX, together with its sister company Alameda Research, relied on the products in their trading activities. SGX, as a seasoned, regulated TradFi operator, which holds an Aa2 rating from Moody’s, is likely to prove to be a more palatable option for institutional players.

Recent developments relative to governance of the CRO token, a native token belonging to the Cronos blockchain, have proven controversial, with many in the community unhappy with the actions of Singapore-headquartered Crypto.com.Photo by Markus Winkler on UnsplashProposal controversyThe controversy surrounds a proposal put forward by Crypto.com, which originally developed the Cronos blockchain in 2021, to mint 70 billion CRO tokens. The move would effectively roll back a CRO token burn that took place in 2021. The governance process applicable to the proposal meant that CRO token holders could vote on the proposal between March 2 and March 16. For the majority of that voting period, the outcome appeared to be uncertain. The “yes” vote had a narrow lead, but it would have been insufficient to reach the required 33.4% quorum of eligible votes. Exceeding the quorumHowever, at 14:00 UTC on Sunday, a last-minute influx of 3.35 billion tokens tipped the balance firmly in favor of the proposal while well exceeding the minimum turnout as 70.18% of eligible votes were cast. 61.18% voted in favor, with 17.61% against. Many CRO token holders who opposed the proposal are aggrieved at the manner in which this late voting surge came about. It’s understood that these last-minute votes came from blockchain validators controlled by Crypto.com. Crypto.com is understood to hold in the region of 80% of the voting power. In exercising that voting clout, many CRO holders feel that it has undermined the will of the community. Some commentators believe that increasing the token supply will result in a loss of trust in the project, damaging investor confidence going forward. Earlier this month, Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek responded to community pushback against the proposal. Marszalek suggested that the proposal ties in with an overall strategy for the success of the Cronos blockchain and its CRO token in the long term.  He pointed to four items that are relevant in achieving success for an altcoin like CRO. These included finding product-market fit, the need to redeploy free cashflows, successfully launching exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and participating in reserve-building initiatives.  ‘Free to vote and free to sell’The strategy relies upon building demand in order to achieve longer-term success. On X, Marszalek wrote: “People who do not agree that this is the right approach are free to vote & free to sell. We will stay laser focused on building towards new ATHs [all-time-highs].” In another X post on March 19, the Crypto.com CEO outlined that the company generated $1.5 billion in revenue in 2024 while servicing the needs of 140 million users on the platform. The company spent $700 million on branding, user acquisition and user incentives in 2024. Its operations turned a net profit of $300 million.  Crypto.com has also made further headway on the compliance front over the course of the past week. The company received licensing approval in Dubai to offer derivatives from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). On March 17 the company announced that it had successfully achieved Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) registration with the Argentine regulator.

Atomic Wallet Hacker Uses Lazarus Crypto MixerThe stolen cryptocurrency from the recent $35 million hack of Atomic Wallet is already being moved to a crypto mixer favored by North Korea’s notorious cyber-hacking group.Photo by Micha Brändli on UnsplashSinbad.ioAccording to UK-based crypto compliance analysis firm Elliptic, the funds have made their way to a crypto mixer used by Lazarus Group, a notorious hacker group that focuses on crypto heists which is believed to have direct ties with the North Korean government.On June 5, Elliptic’s Investigations Team revealed that it had traced the funds from the Atomic Wallet hack to the crypto mixer Sinbad.io. Lazarus had previously used the mixer to launder over $100 million in stolen crypto assets.While the exact amount sent to the mixer was not specified, Elliptic noted that the stolen funds were being exchanged for Bitcoin before undergoing obfuscation through the mixer. Additionally, Elliptic reported that Sinbad.io is likely a rebranded version of Blender.io, another mixer extensively used to launder funds by the Lazarus Group. Blender.io has been sanctioned by the US Treasury.Atomic Wallet hackThe hack of several user accounts on Atomic Wallet occurred on June 3, resulting in losses of up to $35 million. News of the issue broke with the following tweet from the project team (which has subsequently been deleted): “We have received reports of wallets being compromised. We are doing all we can to investigate and analyze the situation. As we have more information, we will share it accordingly.”In a follow-up tweet the next day, the team confirmed that it was investigating the matter with the assistance of a number of “leading security companies.”However, Atomic Wallet later downplayed the incident, stating that less than 1% of its monthly active users were affected. The project team was castigated by users for trying to present the hack as a minor incident. One user took to Twitter to call out the Atomic Wallet team for “having the nerve to come to the networks and say that only 1% of wallets were affected.”The Atomic Wallet project is based out of Tallinn, Estonia, having been founded in 2017. It claims to provide a non-custodial decentralized multi-currency crypto wallet. The product supports over fifty coins and two hundred tokens. It also offers atomic swaps between digital assets, while also supporting integrations with instant exchanges such as Changelly, ShapeShift, and others.Roland Säde, the Chief Marketing Officer of Atomic Wallet, assured users that the team is working tirelessly to recover the stolen funds. He emphasized the need to complete the investigation to develop a concrete plan.Despite the ongoing efforts, Säde urged victims to track the illicit transfers and report them to popular crypto exchanges. By doing so, it was thought that may hinder the scammers from exchanging the funds.Crypto hacking menaceLazarus Group hackers have been the bane of the crypto space in recent years. Elliptic released a report last month that identified Japan as having been the country most adversely affected by the North Korean hackers. It’s understood that the estimated $721 million in stolen crypto from Japan-based entities amounts to nearly nine times the value of North Korea’s exports based on 2021 data.While Atomic Wallet is directly reporting the incidents, Säde believes that having more individuals monitoring the hackers’ activities will make it more challenging for them to move the funds undetected. Unfortunately, Elliptic’s recent findings suggest that for many victims, it may already be too late to prevent further misuse of their stolen cryptocurrency.