Hong Kong Crypto Licensing Yet to Result in Job Surge

Wemade and Mystic Games to bring two new games to WEMIX PLAYWemade has signed a deal with game development studio Mystic Games to onboard Mystic Games’ two new blockchain role-playing games (RPG), Call of the VoYd and Heroes of the VoYd, to WEMIX PLAY, Wemade’s blockchain gaming platform, according to an official announcement by WEMIX on Tuesday. Mystic Games is a subsidiary of the Swedish gaming company App Creation Experts and the first Swedish firm to onboard WEMIX PLAY.Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on UnsplashForging a future of versatile gaming experiencesMystic Games plans to implement inter-game play mechanisms between the two games, meaning that tokens and NFTs from both games can be used interchangeably.“We believe in a future where your time and skill in gaming can be just as valuable as your time spent working and with other hobbies,” said Matthew Buxton, CEO of Mystic Games. “We look forward to a bright future together.”This collaboration signifies WEMADE’s foray into the Swedish gaming market and aims to bring innovative and fun blockchain gaming experiences through Mystic Games’ titles on the WEMIX PLAY platform.Engaging adventuresCall of the VoYd is an active roguelite survival shooting game that involves battling various characters from beasts of ancient worlds to futuristic monster robots. Heroes of the VoYd offers a similar experience where players can battle monsters, but it mainly differs in its idle gameplay.

Newly Published CoinGecko Index Tracks Alleged Crypto SecuritiesKuala Lumpur-based crypto data aggregator CoinGecko has unveiled a ground-breaking index spotlighting prominent cryptocurrency tokens that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has earmarked as potential securities.Through its “Top Alleged Securities Coins by Market Cap” page, the Malaysian aggregator categorizes a spectrum of cryptocurrency assets based on their market capitalization. At the forefront of this classification stands BNB, the native token of the Binance exchange and the BNB blockchain. It is closely followed by other prominent names such as Cardano, Solana, and Tron.Photo by Shubham Dhage on Unsplash$90 billion in valueThe alleged securities amount to a whopping $90 billion in value according to their combined market capitalization right now. Putting this in context, the overall market capitalization of the entire crypto market currently stands at $1.2 trillion, of which Bitcoin accounts for over half a trillion dollars. This estimation paints a vivid picture of the immense scale of the cryptocurrency market and the potential reverberations of regulatory interventions.CoinGecko’s index came to fruition in the first week of August, meticulously pooling the tokens that the SEC has previously classified as securities during legal proceedings. The decision to consolidate these tokens into a single index underscores the increasingly intricate interplay between the cryptocurrency market and regulatory frameworks.Lack of clarityWhen project teams and other market participants have asked for explicit clarity, SEC Chair Gary Gensler has frustratingly indicated that people need to make a simple determination based on the Howey Test — a historic securities case that has been used in the US to determine what constitutes a security. The case dates back to 1946, long before the onset of digitization let alone digital currencies.Another issue is that the SEC is simply expressing an opinion based on its interpretation of existing securities law and securities case law. Without legislation in the US, clarity can only be provided in the courts. This is a flawed approach, as market participants have to wait for actions taken by the SEC against crypto entities to be adjudicated in the US courts in order to get a better understanding of the legal standing of these assets.This comprehensive analysis provided by CoinGecko’s new index presents invaluable insights into the dynamic terrain of cryptocurrency regulation. It underscores the intricate dynamics between the digital currency market and the regulatory bodies that seek to govern it.Taking the regulation of derivatives as a case in point, their emergence led to a very messy process of arriving at regulatory clarity. The very same thing is playing out with digital assets. While it is imperfect, there is no doubt that clarity will eventually be reached.In the meantime, as the US fumbles where digital assets are concerned, regional authorities in East Asia and the Middle East are capitalizing on US regulatory shortcomings, implying that we will likely see further growth in crypto and Web3 in these locations until the US recovers.

Taiwan has built a prototype platform that potentially could provide for a central bank digital currency (CBDC). In light of that development, there are plans afoot to hold a number of hearings and forums in 2025 relative to CBDC development. In a report cited by local news media, Taiwanese Central Bank Governor Yang Chin-long stated that the development of a CBDC is not an international competition. Yang is not motivated by a desire to be the first to launch a CBDC on the basis that such a thing doesn’t ensure a successful outcome.  At the outset, Taiwan intends to introduce a non-interest bearing CBDC although this may be revised as further development and rollout progress. The system may encompass the use of both anonymous and registered digital wallets, the report suggests.Photo by Timo Volz on UnsplashWholesale CBDCReports last year had disclosed that the retail CBDC prototype supports 20,000 transactions per second. The central bank also plans to develop a wholesale CBDC (wCBDC) proof of concept to support three sets of functionality which it plans to test via a unified ledger, developed with the assistance of Taiwan’s commercial banks.  According to feedback from the office of the Taiwanese parliament’s finance committee provided to The Block, Yang is due to present the report on the current state of progress relative to a CBDC on July 10 at the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan’s parliament. While no projected timeline has been provided for CBDC issuance, Yang emphasized that Taiwan’s CBDC project is a long-term affair. He disclosed that the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) will take a three pronged approach to the new digital currency. In the first instance, the wCBDC will be used for for the purpose of interbank settlement relative to tokenized deposits.  In practice, this will mean that when a payee transfers a tokenized deposit to another party, the other party will receive the money instantly. However, in the background, the payee’s bank will need to transfer funds to the second party’s bank. Taiwan’s central bank also plans to trial the settlement of tokenized asset transactions. Settlement of securities in this way is seen as an opportunity to minimize risk when compared with commercially issued stablecoins. Such tests will be similar in nature to the wholesale digital ledger technology (DLT) trials carried out in recent times by the European Union (EU).  Purpose bound money trialLastly, the Republic of China plans to trial purpose bound money (PBM), a concept which covers the middle ground between programmable payments and programmable money. PBM was introduced in a whitepaper in 2023 by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). It enables the sender to specify certain conditions relative to the digital currency being sent. This may include a validity period and further specification as to how the money can be spent. This development represents the latest installment in an ongoing pipeline of announcements from various central banks with regard to CBDC project milestones. Last month, Qatar’s central bank announced the launch of the first phase of its CBDC project.