Animoca Brands Remains Bullish on Blockchain Gaming

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.

Kazakhstan Launches NPC With CBDC Implementation by 2025Kazakhstan’s National Bank (NBK) has unveiled the National Payment Corporation (NPC), a dedicated entity responsible for spearheading the development and launch of the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), known as the digital tenge.In a press release published last Friday, the NBK set out that the launch of the NPC is effectively a restructuring of the Kazakhstan Center for Interbank Settlements. The new entity has been entrusted with overseeing the national payment system.This mandate includes overseeing critical functions like interbank clearing services, facilitating money transfers, and managing digital identification. However, the NPC’s central mission revolves around establishing a robust “digital financial infrastructure” with a primary focus on realizing the digital tenge.Photo by Uladzislau Petrushkevich on Unsplash2025 targeted launch dateThe journey toward the digital tenge began in February of this year, with an ambitious launch date set for 2025. Deputy Governor of the NBK, Berik Sholpankupov, initially articulated a vision centered on a “collaboration between traditional finance and DeFi,” aimed at significantly improving financial inclusion and strengthening international trade.As of now, the CBDC pilot in Kazakhstan has advanced to a controlled environment pilot phase involving actual consumers and merchants. One of the key partners in this venture is Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Binance is actively supporting the pilot through its technical solution, BNB Chain, marking a convergence between traditional financial institutions and the blockchain-based cryptocurrency sector.Kazakhstan’s pursuit of CBDCs aligns with a global trend as numerous countries worldwide explore the potential of CBDCs. An astounding 105 countries, representing a substantial 95% of the global gross domestic product (GDP), are currently exploring the concept, highlighting the collective recognition of the transformative potential of digital currencies in shaping the future of finance.Last week it emerged that the NBK had entered into a collaboration with the global financial messaging service SWIFT relative to the beta-testing of a CBDC.Attracting global exchangesIn a move that bolsters the development of crypto in the central Asian country, Binance launched a regulated digital asset platform in collaboration with the local Freedom Finance Bank. Around the same time, Bybit secured in-principle approval to trade within the country from the local regulator.Kazakhstan’s proactive stance toward cryptocurrency is also evident in its taxation policies. In 2022, the government collected approximately $7 million in tax payments from cryptocurrency mining entities following the implementation of revised regulations governing the fiscal responsibilities of cryptocurrency mining.Additionally, the government introduced legislation aimed at curbing excessive energy consumption by domestic crypto miners, instituting licensing requirements, and making minor adjustments to the taxation framework.Kazakhstan’s steps in establishing the National Payment Corporation and venturing into the realm of CBDCs reflect the country’s interest in embracing the digital era and staying at the forefront of financial innovation. As the industry looks on, Kazakhstan’s digital tenge project could serve as a model for others seeking to bridge the gap between traditional finance and the exciting possibilities of DeFi.

LINE NEXT Captivates NFT Aficionados with Beta Launch of DOSI LandLINE NEXT, an American-based NFT platform subsidiary of Tokyo-headquartered messaging app developer Line Corporation, has launched the beta version of DOSI Land, the FINSCHIA token (FNSA) reward program on its global non-fungible token (NFT) platform, DOSI. This program aims to provide opportunities for its membership owners, known as DOSI Citizens, to win FNSA.Photo by Markus Winkler on PexelsWeekly token rewardsDOSI Land is a weekly program that rewards FNSA to lottery winners. However, only DOSI Citizens with Level 2 or above are eligible to participate in this event. DOSI Citizens are categorized into four levels, ranging from Level 1 to Level 4. Users can achieve attendance goals, invite friends, and make NFT transactions to elevate their Citizen status. It’s important to note that this program is not available in some countries, including the United States and Japan.DOSI Land comprises three lands: Emerald Orbit, Sapphire Starlight, and Golden Galaxy. Each land is accessible to Citizen Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4 users, respectively. Every week, a total of 3,000 FNSA will be distributed, with each land offering different chances of winning the token. Furthermore, each land has three zones, and users can participate in one zone per land. Participation in each zone requires DON, a membership point earned based on the total NFT transaction amount, and Level-up Passes, which are needed to improve Citizen status.DOSI operates the DOSI Citizen Membership system, which rewards users based on their contributions to the ecosystem. Alongside DOSI Land, DOSI has also implemented other reward programs such as DOSI Adventure and DOSI Arcade, offering a variety of NFTs to membership owners.As part of its efforts to expand the DOSI ecosystem, LINE NEXT incentivizes FNSA rewards to users actively engaging in DOSI through DOSI Land. The company plans to continue offering various benefits to DOSI users.DOSI’s presenceSince its beta launch, DOSI has attracted 4.6 million membership owners, facilitating over 410,000 transactions and involving 190,000 traders. These figures are as of May 2023. LINE NEXT cites NFT data analysis platform NFT Go’s statistics to state that DOSI is Asia’s largest and the world’s third largest platform in terms of monthly NFT traders. With its mission to establish a global ecosystem for NFTs and Web3, LINE NEXT aims to foster a thriving NFT platform business.The Finschia FoundationIn March of this year, the Finschia Foundation was established in Abu Dhabi, UAE, by Line Tech Plus, a Singaporean-based subsidiary of Line Corporation. This establishment was an effort to expand the corporation’s global Web3 endeavors. Line Corporation is a subsidiary of Z Holdings, jointly owned by South Korea’s Internet search engine provider Naver and Japanese technology investor Softbank Group.The Finschia Foundation operates Line’s open blockchain mainnet Finschia and rebranded its native crypto asset LINK (LN) to FINSCHIA (FNSA) last month. FNSA is currently listed on crypto exchanges Bithumb, Bittrex, and Huobi, according to CoinMarketCap.