Gemini Announces Singapore Expansion Plans

DeSpread and Crypto Times Team Up to Bridge Blockchain Information Gap in Korea and JapanDeSpread, a Web3 consulting company based in South Korea, has announced a partnership with Crypto Times, a blockchain media outlet owned by Japanese digital media company Rokubunnoni. The goal of this collaboration is to tackle information asymmetry in the blockchain industries of both countries and expand their global blockchain services.Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on PexelsLeveraging respective expertiseDeSpread intends to leverage its knowledge of the Korean and global markets to assist international Web3 projects in entering the Japanese market, with the ultimate aim of integrating the global Web3 industry into Japan. Recognizing Crypto Times’ thorough understanding of the Japanese market and its culture, DeSpread has chosen to collaborate with them.Sharing market analysesAs part of their partnership, both companies will localize their research reports on a regular basis to share market analyses of the two countries. To start off, Crypto Times will distribute a paper related to the latest trends of zkSync for free. Subsequent papers will be published on DeSpread’s Scribe channel on the digital content monetization platform Access Protocol.The collaboration also aims to provide a comprehensive consulting and marketing solution for Web3 projects seeking to expand into Korea, Japan, and other markets.Creating synergiesRokubunnoni Co-founder Shingo Arai expressed his belief that the cooperation between DeSpread and Crypto Times will create synergies within the Korean and Japanese blockchain industries. Arai expects that the combined expertise of the two firms will offer valuable insights into the Web3 market, delivering new perspectives. He also highlighted that Crypto Times’ research platform, CT Analysis, will improve its services and provide a greater variety of content to its readers, further contributing to the Japanese crypto market.Echoing similar sentiments, Earl Cho, the head of the Japanese business division at DeSpread, emphasized that the collaboration will facilitate the entry of more Web3 companies from Korea and abroad into the Japanese market. Cho expressed hope that this opportunity would unite the efforts of both countries, enabling the East Asian market to better connect with the global market in the Web3 sphere and positioning East Asia as a leader in the crypto industry.

Komainu Partners with Copper to Enable Off-Exchange SettlementsKomainu, a well-established and regulated custody service provider and subsidiary of Japanese financial services conglomerate Nomura, has recently unveiled a new partnership with Copper, a digital asset solutions firm.This collaboration offers institutional clients of Komainu a means through which they can access off-exchange settlements. At a broader level, it is another significant development in progressing digital assets infrastructure.Photo by Gerd Altmann on PixabayClearLoop network accessKomainu, which was originally launched by Nomura in conjunction with Ledger and CoinShares, will be accessing Copper’s ClearLoop network as part of this collaboration. This partnership brings a host of possibilities for institutional clients of Komainu.What makes this collaboration particularly noteworthy is its ability to merge Komainu’s regulated, on-chain custody with the advanced off-exchange settlement capabilities of ClearLoop. As the institutional adoption of digital assets continues to gain momentum, the focus on managing custody and counterparty risk has never been more critical. Recent events, such as the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX alongside a plethora of crypto lending platforms, have served as stark reminders of the significance of robust custody solutions in this space.ClearLoop network growthClearLoop, with its distinctive feature of holding assets until just before a trade execution, effectively mitigates counterparty risk by seamlessly connecting multiple exchanges within a single trading network. This innovative approach eliminates the need to transfer assets to an exchange-based wallet, streamlining and fortifying the institutional trading process.UK-based Copper has been making market in-roads with its off-exchange settlement tool which it first launched in 2020. In March crypto exchange platform Huobi signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Copper with the intention of joining the ClearLoop Network. Bitstamp, the world’s oldest crypto exchange, followed in April with its intention to integrate with ClearLoop.Singapore’s Matrixport was next to join in May, followed by Seychelles-headquartered crypto exchange Bitget in August.The leaders of both companies, Nicolas Bertrand, CEO of Komainu, and Dmitry Tokarev, CEO of Copper, expressed their enthusiasm for this partnership. Bertrand highlighted the importance of diversifying counterparty risk and commended the partnership’s ability to offer clients the best of both worlds. He emphasized that by combining Copper’s proven processes and connectivity with Komainu’s on-chain, segregated, and regulated custody platform, this partnership is set to raise the industry’s standards significantly.UK regulatory approvalEarlier this month, Komainu achieved a further milestone when it received regulatory approval from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to operate as a custodian wallet provider. This achievement aligns with the regulatory framework established to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and fund transfers.In a landscape where institutions are increasingly embracing digital assets, the partnership between Komainu and Copper demonstrates that the industry is moving towards ushering in a new era of more secure, efficient, and trustworthy financial markets. With the FCA’s regulatory approval, Komainu is solidifying its attempts towards adhering to the industry’s most rigorous security and compliance standards.

Korea’s FSS Seeks to Protect Investors from Crypto Exploit LossesLee Bokhyun, Governor of the Korean Financial Supervisory Service, said the agency will seek to protect investors from losses resulting from cryptocurrency exchange exploits, according to Korean newspaper Donga Ilbo.©Pexels/RODNAE ProductionsEfforts to enact legislationWhile delivering a congratulatory speech at a forum co-hosted by Donga Ilbo and its subsidiary broadcasting company Channel A on Wednesday, Lee underlined that the agency will be committed to enacting legislation that obligates crypto exchanges to be held accountable for customer asset losses caused by hacks.He explained that amidst a continued crypto winter triggered by multiple failures, such as the collapse of the stablecoin Terra last year, cases of security vulnerabilities are subsequently occurring.Cold wallet requirementsIn response to this situation, financial authorities and the National Assembly are collaborating on legislation that would require crypto exchanges to store a portion of their custody assets in cold wallets, which are disconnected from the Internet, or face liability for damages resulting from hacks.A February report from blockchain data platform Chainalysis showed that losses to crypto hacks last year amounted to $3.8 billion. Earlier this month, Korean crypto exchange GDAC suffered an exploit of 20 billion KRW (~$15 million).Lee said the agency will work with the financial industry to bolster the fraud detection system and build an immediate response system that prevents uncanny transactions when abnormalities are detected. These efforts are to curb the rise in financial crimes, which followed the growing popularity of remote banking services.Experts’ inputsAt the event held to discuss the protection of consumer information in the digital age, senior researcher Kim Gap-rae at Korea Capital Market Institute said that a law should be introduced to penalize unfair practices, such as market manipulation and use of undisclosed information, in the virtual asset market.Lee Joo-hwan, head of the information security management division at Hana Bank, suggested the approach used in the US, which is recovering ill-gotten gains from financial crimes to compensate victims.Kang Byung-hoon, a professor who teaches cyber security at KAIST, anticipated that the financial industry would accelerate the adoption of confidential computing, a highly secure system, to which even administrators have limited access.