Taiwan’s Comma3 Ventures Raises $45M Crypto Fund

SKYPlay and 3D Factory join forces to bring Web3 to everyday lifeSKYPlay, a Seoul-based blockchain gaming platform, announced Monday (local time) that it has signed a business agreement with 3D Factory to create content that integrates Web3 into everyday life, thus facilitating the rapid expansion of Web3 technology.Photo by Medienstürmer on UnsplashSynergizing Web3 realmsThrough this business agreement, SKYPlay aims to combine its Web3 capabilities in gaming and art with 3D Factory’s Web3 capabilities in sports. The two enterprises will ultimately establish a technological foundation for accelerating the integration of Web3 into society and expanding its uses.Pioneering paths in gaming, sports and moreEstablished in 2021, SKYPlay is a Play-to-Earn (P2E) platform that offers several games and related services, including a gaming community and forum, to some 300,000 users. Previously, the company secured large-scale investments worth $3 million and $10 million from Hong Kong-based startup accelerator 1st Soul Group and U.S.-based investment group LDA Capital, respectively. It is also expected to participate in an outer space mission led by NASA and SpaceX through a partnership with Web3 community BitBasel.3D Factory is a global blockchain-based meta platform that provides a range of services like gaming, NFT sales and metaverse memberships. Notably, it is deeply engaged with Spanish soccer. Having signed an NFT sponsorship agreement with the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in November last year, 3D Factory was able to create its own metaverse. This partnership involves not only the Spanish national team but also club teams in the Copa del Rey and Super Cup competitions, featuring some of the world’s biggest football teams like Real Madrid FC and FC Barcelona.

Chinese Court Recognizes Virtual Assets as Legal PropertyAccording to a recent report published by the People’s Courts of the People’s Republic of China, a Chinese court has recognized the legal status of virtual assets, having analyzed their attributes within the framework of Chinese criminal law.The court unequivocally stated that virtual assets are considered legal property under the current legal policy framework and are thus protected by law.The People’s Courts of the People’s Republic of China exercise judicial power independently, free from interference by administrative or public organizations. They have responsibility for adjudicating civil, criminal, and administrative cases.Photo by Christian Lue on UnsplashProperty classificationLocal news source Odaily News reported on the development on Friday, indicating that the report, titled “Identification of the Property Attributes of Virtual Currency and Disposal of Property Involved in the Case,” explicitly recognized the economic attributes of virtual assets, leading to their classification as property.This declaration is particularly significant in light of China’s sweeping ban on decentralized cryptocurrencies. Despite this ban, the report argues that virtual assets held by individuals should enjoy legal protection within the existing policy framework.Furthermore, the report proposed recommendations for addressing crimes involving virtual assets. It emphasized that in cases where money and property are involved, confiscation should be based on the integration of criminal and civil law. The approach taken aims to strike a balance between safeguarding personal property rights while also addressing broader social and public interests.Contentious approach to cryptoWhile China has been making every effort to promote its central bank digital currency (CBDC) and the development of blockchain and metaverse-related technology within the country, its stance on decentralized cryptocurrencies has been contentious at best.Its approach in that respect has been marked by a blanket ban on crypto-related activities such as mining and trading and the prohibition of foreign crypto exchanges from serving customers within mainland China. Nevertheless, Chinese courts have consistently taken a more nuanced view without necessarily contradicting the government’s approach.Differing interpretationsThe divergence between national policy and court rulings first emerged in 2019 when the Hangzhou Internet Court found that Bitcoin is a form of virtual property, and on that basis, it is safeguarded by the law from the point of view of property rights. In May 2022, a Shanghai court affirmed that Bitcoin qualifies as virtual property and, as such, falls under the purview of property rights.Global issueIt’s not just the Chinese courts that are grappling with the issue of clarifying property rights relative to virtual assets. In April of this year, a case in Hong Kong involving defunct crypto exchange Gatecoin resulted in the courts determining that cryptocurrency is property and that on that basis, it’s “capable of being held in trust.”In July a Singaporean court determined that cryptocurrency is capable of being held in trust and on that basis, it should be recognized as property. Earlier this year, the High Court of Justice in London recognized non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as property.The report from the People’s Court reaffirms the legal status of virtual assets as protected property under Chinese law. This development highlights the ongoing divergence between China’s regulatory policy and the judicial interpretation of virtual assets, signaling a potential evolution in the country’s approach to cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin layer-2 project Elastos sees ELA token surgeSingaporean blockchain developer Elastos has unveiled its BeL2 layer-2 network set to run on top of the Bitcoin blockchain, eventually prompting a token price surge.50% increaseThe project aims to address challenges such as transaction volume limitations and the complexity of programmable contracts within the Bitcoin ecosystem. Despite the initial muted response from the crypto community after the late November announcement, Elastos’ native token, ELA, has experienced an extraordinary surge on Wednesday. Over the course of the past 24 hours, the token’s unit price has jumped from $2.06 to $3.09. That represents a 50% increase.Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashBringing smart contracts to BitcoinOn Dec. 2, the project released its BeL2 whitepaper, describing it as “a transformative approach to enhancing Bitcoin’s functionality.” BeL2 has the potential to bring about significant advancements by leveraging SmartWeb technology to introduce staking solutions and incorporate zero-knowledge proof technology.A zk proof is a cryptographic method through which one party can prove to another party that a particular statement is true, all the while avoiding the leakage of any additional information aside from confirming the statement is true. Up until now, zk proofs have been largely the preserve of Ethereum-centric projects.Alongside zk proofs, BeL2 will utilize Bitcoin-powered Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) smart contracts. This approach is expected to expedite transactions within the network and introduce governance through a decentralized model.BeL2 roadmapThe roadmap for BeL2 includes a three-month development phase for a proof-of-concept, followed by an additional three months dedicated to the decentralization of relayers. These relayers, acting as third-party services facilitating communication and data transactions between different blockchain networks, play a crucial role in the overall implementation of BeL2.Elastos envisions BeL2 as a Layer 2 network built on Bitcoin, introducing sophisticated BTC transactions on its blockchain. Beyond staking, the network aims to provide direct yield and affordable transactions on native decentralized applications. The move marks a significant shift, allowing Bitcoin holders to stake their assets directly, unlocking potential value exceeding $700 billion.Looking ahead, Elastos plans to chart the decentralized finance (DeFi) course on BTC by enabling smart contract deployment and irreversible digital agreements between participants.As interest in Bitcoin continues to rise, driven by innovations like inscriptions and spot ETF discussions in the United States, Elastos’ BeL2 initiative is garnering greater attention, relative to the potential to usher in a new era of possibilities for the world’s most popular digital currency.The project was founded in 2017 by Rong Chen, a former senior software engineer at Microsoft. Taking to the X social media platform earlier this month, Chen wrote:“I don’t see any other paths to the final #Web3 destination except:(1) A #BTC merge mining blockchain, plus smart-contract sidechains as needed;(2) A #SmartWeb operating system (OS) to facilitate personal node to own data, plus personal-node to personal-node direct communication links;(3) Personal Cloud Compute (#PC2) Runtime sandbox, so individuals are on the same footing as big brothers;(4) Digital goods software-development-kits (embedded OS #SDKs), entrusting your data to nobody else but yourself, i.e., your own code to check access tickets/tokens before loading and rendering data.”The Elastos ecosystem employs three-layer consensus mechanisms: auxiliary proof-of-work, proof-of-integrity and bonded proof-of-stake. It’s hoped that the project can improve upon the original layer-2 solution for Bitcoin, the Lightning Network, which has had issues in terms of scalability and centralization risk.