China Mobile Establishes Metaverse Industry Alliance

Korea’s DAXA Prohibits Relisting of Delisted Cryptos for a YearThe Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA) in Korea will prohibit the relisting of cryptocurrencies delisted from its member exchanges for a year, according to Korean media outlet Edaily.©Pexels/Jan van der WolfDAXA’s arbitrary regulationSome criticize this regulation, arbitrarily created by DAXA, which consists of five major Korean cryptocurrency exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax), as this rule poses a significant impact on crypto issuers and investors.In fact, a blockchain industry insider said that when cryptos are designated by DAXA as a risky asset, their operators receive a notification from the group that relisting is possible after a year once delisted. So far, assets that have been delisted or designated as such are WEMIX, PCI, BASIC, SRM, and OMG.Coinone’s relisting of WEMIXDAXA added this stipulation, as it faced criticism for the absence of relisting regulations in its guidelines when Coinone, one of its members, exclusively relisted the WEMIX token. This raised doubts about the self-regulation of the industry because DAXA had decided the delisting of WEMIX on the grounds that the information on its circulation supply was unreliable.Crypto enterprises are complaining about DAXA’s devising of strict penalties when delisting processes are not transparent. DAXA has stated that a consensus has been reached for the first draft and it will be continuously revised.Stronger DAXA presenceThe Korean crypto industry forecasts that this regulation will empower DAXA’s presence in the crypto scene, considering that its members are responsible for 98% of the domestic trading volume.Experts note that DAXA needs to establish fairness and transparency in order for it to gain trust as a self-regulatory body. Park Yong-beom, Chairman of the Korea Society of Blockchain, said rules on listing and delisting have to be fair and transparent, and if market participants find them unconvincing, it would undermine the credibility and authority of the self-regulatory body.In an interview with Economic Review, Former KB Kookmin Bank CEO Lee Kun-ho suggested that DAXA should prioritize market vitalization and ecosystem strengthening. He believes that instead of focusing on market management and supervision, DAXA should concentrate on enhancing investor protection.

Animoca Brands, a company focused on Web3 and metaverse projects, has gotten together with the Hong Kong subsidiary of British banking giant Standard Chartered to establish Anchorpoint Financial Limited.In a press release published to its website on Aug. 8, Animoca Brands outlined that the joint venture company has been established with the objective of building a business model that will concern itself with the issuance and advancement of licensed stablecoins. The move follows Hong Kong’s Stablecoins Ordinance, which went live on Aug. 1.Photo by Andres Garcia on UnsplashHKT involvementThe partnership also involves Hong Kong Telecom (HKT), one of the largest telecommunications companies in Hong Kong. This collaboration is not something that has just been formed. The trio had been participants in a regulatory sandbox related to stablecoin issuance established by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in 2024.  Back in February, it emerged that the three companies had entered into an agreement to establish a joint venture with a view towards applying to the HKMA for a license to cover the issuance of a Hong Kong dollar-pegged stablecoin. By June, the companies had formed that company. Applying for a licenseAnchor Financial has already informed the HKMA of its intention to apply for a stablecoin license. A recent Bloomberg report asserted that somewhere in the region of 50 companies have expressed an interest in obtaining stablecoin licensing in Hong Kong. However, the regulator is likely to issue no more than 10 licenses. Additionally, disclosure by the HKMA of strict customer identification rules related to the city’s new Stablecoins Ordinance has sparked concern among industry stakeholders. Know-your-customer (KYC) rules will put an onus on stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong to verify the identity of every stablecoin holder. Bo Tang, head and assistant director at the HKUST Institute for Financial Research, told Reuters that the rules were “a bit too strict and not good for acquiring users.” Ricky Xie, a crypto trader based in Hong Kong, pointed out that these KYC rules aren’t just for those who would hold accounts with the stablecoin issuer, but instead they will apply to every stablecoin holder. A number of Hong Kong stablecoin-concept stocks, that had been performing well in the market, fell by as much as 20% when these stringent rules were disclosed by the HKMA. Evan Auyang, group president of Animoca Brands, expressed contentment with Animoca’s partnership with HKT and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), while adding:”Stablecoins represent one of the most compelling use cases within Web3, and we believe we are still at the early frontier of widespread adoption across institutions and retail alike. As assets continue to move on-chain, the HKMA-regulated fiat-referenced stablecoin is important in reinforcing Hong Kong’s position as a leading international financial center.” The first stablecoin licenses are expected to be issued by the HKMA early next year.

Coins.ph Suffers 12M XRP ExploitCoins.ph, a leading cryptocurrency exchange in the Philippines, is grappling with the alleged loss of over 12 million XRP tokens, valued at $6 million, in a purported exploit.That’s according to various reports that have been emerging from the Philippines in recent days. The incident not only spotlights serious questions about the security protocols and regulatory oversight of crypto exchanges in the Philippines but it also sparked fears of an impact on market sentiment relative to the XRP unit price.Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashHacker used various platformsThe reports revealed that an exploit targeted Coins.ph, resulting in the unauthorized transfer and exchange of 12 million XRP tokens in a mere 30 minutes. The hacker behind this incident managed to navigate through various platforms, including OKX, WhiteBIT, OrbitBridge, SimpleSwap, ChangeNOW, and Fixed Float, leaving users and investors alarmed.Coins.ph’s wallet, the focal point of the exploit, has a connection to BitGo, a California-based crypto custody firm, which initiated its activation back in 2018. At present, neither Coins.ph nor BitGo has issued any official statements regarding this reported breach.The alleged exploit brings to the forefront once again, the importance of robust security protocols and regulatory oversight within the cryptocurrency industry in the Philippines and elsewhere. Coins.ph is a major player in the crypto sector in the Southeast Asian country, having more than 10 million users.The hacker responsible for the exploit attempted to execute several transactions, trading nearly 13 million XRP tokens, with one transaction seemingly failing to go through. Following the successful acquisition of approximately 12.2 million XRP tokens, the hacker swiftly moved these assets to different exchanges.Responding to the incident, some platforms promptly blocked or marked the stolen XRP tokens and sought assistance from blockchain analysis firms such as Cristal and Chainalysis. This exploit is being deemed as one of the most substantial thefts of XRP tokens in recent history.It’s understood that WhiteBIT blocked the movement of some of the XRP that has been implicated in the hack. WhiteBIT told The Block: “WhiteBIT, as soon as received a request from the Philippines-based exchange Coins, promptly reacted and blocked 445,000 Ripple.”XRP impactXRP, the native cryptocurrency of the Ripple network, which primarily focuses on facilitating cross-border payments, has been grappling with its price stability in recent times. This has been largely due to the ongoing legal disputes between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over allegations of conducting unregistered securities offerings.While it had been speculated initially that the hack would have impacted the XRP unit price, XRP seems to have held up well. At the time of writing, it was trading at $0.526. There has been an overall uplift in the crypto market as a whole over the course of the past 24 hours which may be a contributing factor, with digital asset market cap being up 2.7%.As the crypto community waits for official responses from Coins.ph and BitGo, the incident serves as a stark reminder of the importance of safeguarding digital assets and enhancing regulatory oversight in an industry that continues to evolve and expand.