Japanese Crypto Firm Pafin to Introduce DeFi Asset Management Platform

Rotonda, a subsidiary of crypto exchange Bithumb that operates Burrito Wallet, announced yesterday that it held “Partners Day 2024.” According to a report by local news outlet Etoday, the event was prepared to share the company’s business plan for this year and its partnership strategies and was attended by 50 stakeholders from 30 companies partnering with Burrito Wallet. The soon-to-be-released service, “Burrito Partners,” was also introduced in the venue.  Following the official launch in February last year, Bithumb’s Burrito Wallet has been collaborating with Web2 and Web3 firms in blockchain service development and co-marketing. Burrito Wallet is dedicated to contributing to bridging Web2 and Web3 ecosystems through forging partnerships.Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on UnsplashSoon-to-be-launched service, Burrito Partners Burrito Partners is Rotonda’s new service to help its partners with marketing efforts. It has been designed to enhance the workflow and boost the quantitative growth of its partners that struggle with a lack of workforce.  Burrito Wallet will leverage Burrito Partners to provide services that can monitor user events, manage follower and marketing indexes, strengthen user community, provide airdrop solutions and secure transaction data, all of which are expected to maximize marketing performance. “By making partnerships with various companies that share the same values with Bithumb’s Burrito Wallet, we have been able to actively expand the blockchain ecosystem,” said Shin Min-chul, CEO of Burrito Wallet. “We are also planning to roll out a rewarding service for users sometime during next month. Burrito Wallet is dedicated to developing a system where all partners can thrive,” he added. 

Cryptotax and KODA Team Up For Transparency in Virtual Asset TaxationSouth Korean virtual asset tax service platform Cryptotax said Tuesday it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Korea Digital Asset (KODA), a virtual asset custody provider, to jointly enhance the transparency and reliability of processing virtual asset taxes.Photo by charlesdeluvio on UnsplashFostering financial complianceCryptotax plans to initiate a broad range of cooperative efforts targeting companies that utilize KODA’s virtual asset custody services, the company said. These efforts include providing its solution dubbed “Cryptotax Enterprise” — which provides services related to virtual asset taxation and accounting to corporate clients — and exploring business models with KODA to ensure the credibility of accounting for virtual assets.In Korea, the imposition of taxes on virtual assets is slated to commence in 2025.The agreement was formalized in a signing ceremony attended by Yoon Dong-hwan, CEO of Cryptotax, and Moon Geon-gi, CEO of KODA, along with key executives from both companies.Elevating accountability“Through this collaboration with Cryptotax, we will be able to offer transparent accounting services for virtual asset taxation and accounting,” said CEO Moon of KODA. “We will also take a leading approach in responding to the recently announced government guidelines and disclosure amendments related to the supervision of accounting for virtual assets.”CEO Yoon also added that Cryptotax and KODA would provide diverse measures for support so that companies can alleviate the uncertainty and challenges that come up in the accounting process for virtual assets.This collaboration aims to facilitate a more streamlined and straightforward virtual asset taxation and accounting process, addressing the evolving regulatory landscape and industry demands.

According to a report by Nikkei Asia, Kasikornbank (KBank), Thailand’s second-largest bank, has entered into a partnership with Bangkok-based firm Orbix Technology and Singapore’s StraitsX to roll out a cross-border payments solution based on the use of stablecoins. StraitsX provides payments infrastructure for digital assets in Southeast Asia. It also issues XSGD, XUSD and XIDR, stablecoins that are pegged to the Singapore dollar, the U.S. dollar and the Indonesian Rupiah. Orbix Technology contributes towards the collaboration by providing blockchain infrastructure, in this case, its Quarix blockchain, which was developed to support transactions in both foreign currencies and baht, convert real-world assets into digital tokens and enable real-world identity confirmation of the blockchain user.Photo by Mathew Schwartz on UnsplashProject Carina The groundwork for this latest collaboration was accomplished through a partnership between KBank and American investment bank JPMorgan’s JPM Coin (now known as Kinexys Digital Payments) in April. Known as Project Carina, the collaboration explored wholesale cross-border payments using Q-money, KBank’s digital Thai baht, which runs on Orbix Technology’s Quarix blockchain and forms part of Thailand’s regulatory sandbox. The objective of Project Carina was to effect the transfer of Thai baht, using Q-money, to a U.S. dollar-denominated bank account, via Kinexys Digital Payments. Using that process, a cross-border multi-currency transfer could be effected efficiently in real time. Spending Thai baht in Singapore In part, building upon that earlier project, this latest collaboration, which commenced at the end of November, brings StraitsX into the fold alongside KBank and Orbix. The service targets Thai tourists visiting Singapore, enabling them to spend their Thai baht-based Q-money at retail outlets in Singapore. Thai visitors account for 2.4% of arrivals to the city-state each year. Many retail stores in Singapore now enable the use of payment systems like PayNow, a real-time payment service offered by a group of Singaporean banks; GrabPay, a payments wallet that features as part of the Grab super-app; and Alipay+, another cross-border mobile payments system. StraitsX has collaborated with these payment systems, opening up access to this latest offering led by KBank. In November, StraitsX added access to the GrabPay and Alipay+ systems. Users of the Q-money app can scan the codes generated via these payment systems, enabling the user to pay in Thai baht for the item they are purchasing priced in Singaporean dollars. Effectively, the system enables and exchange and conversion of digital baht for the StraitsX XSGD Singaporean dollar stablecoin. The three companies showcased their blockchain-based cross-border payment innovation at the Singapore FinTech Festival last month. At the time, Orbix Technology Managing Director Yarnvith Raksri stated:”Quarix has played a significant role in driving the Q-money by KBank app and integrating it with the StraitsX system to allow seamless cross-border payments via blockchain, making them as convenient as domestic transactions.” KBank competitor Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), Thailand’s oldest bank, announced in October that it was partnering with fintech firm Lightnet to launch a stablecoin-based remittance service.