Blofin Expands Into Vietnamese Market

The local government of Busan, the second-largest city in South Korea, announced in a press release that it held the 3rd Busan Blockchain Regulation-free Zone Steering Committee (Committee) meeting at the Busan Eurasia Platform, a community center located near Busan Station.  The meeting took place last Thursday at 15:00 (KST), attended by 12 Committee members, including Busan’s Vice Mayor for Economic Affairs Kim Kwang-hee, Busan Technopark Chairman Kim Hyung-gyun, Busan International Finance Agency Chairman Lee Myung-ho and Busan Information Industry Promotion Agency Chairman Kim Tae-yeol.Photo by Finn on UnsplashThe meeting was intended to discuss strategies to revitalize the blockchain regulation-free zone (blockchain zone) and to attract new blockchain businesses to the region. Busan has been recently struggling with developing and attracting blockchain technology companies to the region, which has cast doubt on the city’s ability to retain its status as the regulatory sandbox zone.   New 24 members, new commitment to invigorating blockchain zone Established in October last year, the 3rd Committee comprises 24 new members who have expertise in blockchain technology. The Committee aims to raise awareness of the blockchain zone’s potential and foster the blockchain industry within the region.  Kim Sang-min, Vice CEO of healthcare company Erom, was appointed Committee Chairman at the meeting. Known as an expert in the blockchain ecosystem, Kim currently serves as a blockchain policy advisor for Busan and has experience in taking the lead in establishing the Busan Digital Asset Exchange (BDX) last year.  More meetings in store to become a blockchain hub The meeting focused on creating subcommittees in an effort to facilitate the Committee’s seamless operation. Moreover, members reached a consensus on holding meetings at any time when warranted, in both online and in-person formats.  During the meeting, Busan Vice Mayor Kim said the newly launched Committee will contribute to identifying innovative businesses with great potential that require both cutting-edge blockchain technologies and a regulatory sandbox environment. 

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has stepped into the realm of the metaverse by forming a working group tasked with setting standards for the burgeoning technology.Photo by Li Yang on UnsplashChinese corporate participationThe announcement, made on Friday, revealed that the working group would comprise representatives from the government, academic institutions and major corporations. In its statement, MIIT explained that the establishment of the metaverse working group aligns with the nation's emphasis on industrial development within the technology sector. Notably, the group will feature key figures from major Chinese tech corporations, including Huawei, Ant Group, ZET, Tencent, Baidu, NetEase, Sense Time and others. Public feedback on the selection of group members is invited until Feb. 18, although the specific areas of focus for the group are not detailed in the document. Initial in-roadsThe working group’s headline tech participants have all made some initial in-roads into metaverse technology. Baidu established its own metaverse project, XiRang, in 2021. Late last year it partnered with Qualcomm on the use of extended reality (XR) technology for use on a new metaverse platform. Huawei is paying attention to the promising metaverse space by building up a catalog of metaverse-related patents. Like Baidu, Tencent is focusing on developing XR technology with metaverse development in mind. Last year NetEase collaborated with a Chinese liquor brand to launch a winery-themed metaverse, while issuing NFTs linked to liquor bottles. Establishing metaverse standardsChina has been contemplating the formulation of metaverse standards for some time. In September 2023, MIIT advocated for the creation of a dedicated working group to address the ongoing challenges in metaverse technology. The government's overarching objective is to ensure the healthy and orderly development of the metaverse industry through standardization and guidance, reducing redundant investment costs and fostering collaborative forces for industrial development. Analysts from JPMorgan foresee a potential uptick in the value of Chinese tech stocks if the metaverse gains traction in the country. According to their analysis, Chinese web giants like Tencent and NetEase stand to benefit significantly from metaverse development. Even non-web companies such as China Mobile, Sony and Agora could witness positive impacts should the technology gain widespread adoption. In fact, China Mobile led the development of a metaverse industry alliance in China in 2023. Regional developmentIn a December document, MIIT outlined plans to formulate strategy documents clarifying the development path of Web3.Last year, several local governments in China committed to the development of the metaverse industry. Sichuan, a province once known as a crypto mining hub, aims to reach a market size of 250 billion yuan ($35.1 billion) in the metaverse industry by 2025. Last May, the city of Zhengzhou announced policy proposals to support metaverse companies. The same month, the province of Henan established a $21.7 million fund to support metaverse-related projects. The following month, an initiative was established in Nanjing to nurture metaverse development. Additionally, Shandong province has plans to grow its metaverse-related initiatives to achieve a market size of 150 billion yuan by 2025. 

NVT Ratio Signals Overvalued BTCThe network value to transaction (NVT) ratio of Bitcoin, which has been staying at a high level since the beginning of the year, has signaled its overvaluation, according to Yonhap Infomax.However, some argue that this will not necessarily lead to a crypto winter, considering that the nature of Bitcoin as an asset has changed and there is no sign of overheating in other indicators.©Pexels/PixabayPrice and NVT ratio correlationYonhap Infomax found out that the correlation between the NVT ratio and the price of Bitcoin over the past six years is -0.35. A value of 1 represents a completely positive correlation, while a value of -1 represents a completely negative correlation.Extending this period to 2010 makes the correlation close to 0, but during the early years, NVT ratios showed high volatility, shooting up to four digits. Such a high volatility doesn’t suggest much correlation. Until 2021, there was a high correlation of up to -0.44.The NVT ratio is calculated by dividing the market cap by the transacted volume. Conceptually, it is similar to the price-to-earnings ratio for the stock market.In 2017, when the crypto market was bullish, the average Bitcoin NVT ratio was 7.3. This number became 8.7 in 2021 when the market experienced a similar pattern. In retrospect, single-digit NVT ratios usually hint at bullish markets.This year so far, Bitcoin has been relatively overvalued, given that the average NVT ratio is 23.6.BTC price recoveryWhen the crypto market sentiment lost its confidence due to the FTX bankruptcy last year, the price of Bitcoin went down to $15,000. It later recovered to the near $30,000 level. The Bitcoin price once had reached an all-time high in 2021, surpassing $65,000.The years that manifested similar patterns as this year were 2018 and 2019. In those years, the Bitcoin NVT ratio plateaued around 20.Uncertain outlookThe NVT ratio itself could point to a possible crypto winter, but researchers say it’s hard to say.Jang Kyung-pil, a research analyst at crypto data platform Xangle, said that people now consider Bitcoin as a store of value rather than a means of transactions, pointing out that BTC’s market value to realized value (MVRV) ratio has hit the bottom at 0.84 and now reached 1.4. According to Jang, MVRV values under 1 indicate undervaluation and those above 3 indicate overvaluation.Jung Seok-moon, head of the research center at crypto exchange Korbit, said that the current NVT ratio signals BTC overvaluation. He added that the Fed is likely to turn dovish in its monetary policy, which would prompt a strong BTC uptrend.