Dunamu’s Q1 Revenue Drops 28.6% Amid Global Liquidity Contraction

Ret Games Teams Up with Binance to Support Blockchain Acceleration ProgramKorean Web3 gaming studio Ret Games said Tuesday it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, to support a blockchain company acceleration program spearheaded by Incheon Technopark’s Blockchain Center.Bolstering blockchain startupsThe two firms will team up as a single operator of the accelerator program that will supply Incheon-based startups and small companies with the resources required to grow their blockchain businesses and establish Incheon, a city next to the nation’s capital of Seoul, as a blockchain hub. They will also be joined by a third member of the operator — on-chain risk rating solution developer Undefined Labs.Photo by Shubham’s Web3 on Unsplash“We plan to work with Binance to operate an efficient and innovative acceleration program for Incheon-based startups, fostering their growth and development,” said Kim Sung-yoon, CEO of Ret Games.Binance will provide global networking and business consultations in areas such as business modeling and blockchain technology development, while Ret Games will contribute its blockchain infrastructure and development. Additionally, Undefined Labs will provide comprehensive insights into the blockchain industry, covering technology, market trends, and use cases.Five companies for the acceleration program were chosen by Incheon Technopark — AO2, Bemuse, enterBlock, Swan Electronics, and Asia Auto Pacific. They will begin receiving support worth 20 million KRW (approximately $15,000) starting this month.The operator will be required to monitor the progress of these companies during the course of the program, which will end on November 30.Second operatorThere will also be another operator for the program besides the consortium, which solely consists of venture capital firm Nanuhm Angels. It will enable participants to test their business models by granting them access to Rotonda’s launchpad. Rotonda is a subsidiary of the Korean crypto exchange Bithumb and operates the Web3 Burrito Wallet.

Recent developments relative to governance of the CRO token, a native token belonging to the Cronos blockchain, have proven controversial, with many in the community unhappy with the actions of Singapore-headquartered Crypto.com.Photo by Markus Winkler on UnsplashProposal controversyThe controversy surrounds a proposal put forward by Crypto.com, which originally developed the Cronos blockchain in 2021, to mint 70 billion CRO tokens. The move would effectively roll back a CRO token burn that took place in 2021. The governance process applicable to the proposal meant that CRO token holders could vote on the proposal between March 2 and March 16. For the majority of that voting period, the outcome appeared to be uncertain. The “yes” vote had a narrow lead, but it would have been insufficient to reach the required 33.4% quorum of eligible votes. Exceeding the quorumHowever, at 14:00 UTC on Sunday, a last-minute influx of 3.35 billion tokens tipped the balance firmly in favor of the proposal while well exceeding the minimum turnout as 70.18% of eligible votes were cast. 61.18% voted in favor, with 17.61% against. Many CRO token holders who opposed the proposal are aggrieved at the manner in which this late voting surge came about. It’s understood that these last-minute votes came from blockchain validators controlled by Crypto.com. Crypto.com is understood to hold in the region of 80% of the voting power. In exercising that voting clout, many CRO holders feel that it has undermined the will of the community. Some commentators believe that increasing the token supply will result in a loss of trust in the project, damaging investor confidence going forward. Earlier this month, Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek responded to community pushback against the proposal. Marszalek suggested that the proposal ties in with an overall strategy for the success of the Cronos blockchain and its CRO token in the long term.  He pointed to four items that are relevant in achieving success for an altcoin like CRO. These included finding product-market fit, the need to redeploy free cashflows, successfully launching exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and participating in reserve-building initiatives.  ‘Free to vote and free to sell’The strategy relies upon building demand in order to achieve longer-term success. On X, Marszalek wrote: “People who do not agree that this is the right approach are free to vote & free to sell. We will stay laser focused on building towards new ATHs [all-time-highs].” In another X post on March 19, the Crypto.com CEO outlined that the company generated $1.5 billion in revenue in 2024 while servicing the needs of 140 million users on the platform. The company spent $700 million on branding, user acquisition and user incentives in 2024. Its operations turned a net profit of $300 million.  Crypto.com has also made further headway on the compliance front over the course of the past week. The company received licensing approval in Dubai to offer derivatives from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). On March 17 the company announced that it had successfully achieved Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) registration with the Argentine regulator.

HSBC and Ant Group advance blockchain-based tokenized deposit systemThe Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), the largest bank in Hong Kong, and Ant Group, China’s leading financial conglomerate, have successfully conducted tests in a sandbox environment facilitated by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) to explore the potential of tokenized deposits.Photo by Robert Bye on UnsplashIssue, transfer and redemption of tokenized depositsAccording to Cointelegraph, the primary objective of this collaborative effort was to assess a system for issuing, transferring and redeeming tokenized deposits. The trial aimed to gauge the capacity of tokenized deposits to provide for greater efficiency, allowing for real-time treasury fund transfers for corporate accounts within the HSBC network to transpire seamlessly at any hour, 24/7.HSBC expressed its excitement regarding the results, stating that it will open avenues for future research on how blockchain technology and tokenization can drive efficiencies and innovations in corporate treasury management.The test harnessed a blockchain platform developed by Ant Group, leveraging the support of Ant Group’s banking partners. These partners played a pivotal role in enhancing the efficiency of treasury fund transfers by reducing turnaround times, increasing cost efficiency and improving overall visibility.Vincent Lau, Global Head of Emerging Payments and Global Payments Solutions at HSBC, emphasized the bank’s keen interest in integrating tokenized deposits and other financial innovations into its future strategy. This approach is designed to streamline and optimize treasury management services for its clients.Crypto and blockchain project involvementHSBC has maintained a proactive stance in exploring the potential of blockchain technology. The bank has participated in numerous initiatives related to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), notably Project mBridge, a multi-CBDC platform developed by SWIFT. This initiative supports real-time, peer-to-peer, cross-border payments and foreign exchange transactions using CBDCs.It emerged earlier this year that HSBC was collaborating with the HKMA on its e-HKD CBDC pilot program. Part of that project implicated the use of tokenization relative to real world assets (RWAs), an area that the real-time gross settlement platform Ripple was providing expertise on.In June, HSBC took a significant step by launching local cryptocurrency services in Hong Kong, which included support for trading Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) listed on Hong Kong’s stock exchange. The supported products encompass the CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF, CSOP Ethereum Futures ETF and Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF.In the same month, the HKMA encouraged HSBC alongside Standard Chartered to provide banking service support to fledgling crypto businesses in Hong Kong, having identified an issue with the extension of banking services to the sector within the Chinese autonomous territory. Meanwhile, Ant Group has been central to the progression of blockchain technology within China.HSBC’s expansion into crypto-related services aligns with the growing interest in digital assets, occurring in the aftermath of the launch of retail crypto trading in Hong Kong on June 1.