OSL Prepares for Fund Launch Following License Approval

Turkey crafts new crypto regulations with FATF grey list removal objectiveIn an effort to secure removal from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) “grey list,” Turkey is in the process of crafting new regulations governing crypto assets.The FATF, established by the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies, serves as a guardian of the international financial system. It’s an international organization dedicated to combating financial crimes, which added Turkey to its “grey list” in 2021. In 2019, it cautioned Turkey about significant deficiencies in procedures for freezing assets linked to terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.Photo by Michael Jerrard on UnsplashCrypto compliance for FATF upgradeTurkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek recently discussed this matter with a parliamentary commission, according to a report published by Reuters. Simsek highlighted the FATF’s evaluation of Turkey’s adherence to 39 out of the 40 standards set by the organization. The single outstanding issue pertains to crypto assets, and Simsek revealed plans to introduce a crypto assets law in parliament to address this concern. However, he did not delve into specific legal changes.The Turkish government is taking action to align with international standards and remove the shadow of the “grey list.” The Turkish Presidential Annual Program for 2024, as published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Turkey on October 25, outlines a commitment to establish comprehensive cryptocurrency regulations in the country by the end of 2024. Within the extensive 500-page document, Article 400.5 sets the goal of providing clear definitions for crypto assets, potentially subjecting them to taxation in the future.Additionally, the document seeks to establish legal definitions for crypto asset providers, including cryptocurrency exchanges. However, it refrains from specifying the finer details of the upcoming regulatory framework.Crypto popularityTurkey has been an outlier in terms of cryptocurrency use by comparison with many of its international peers. A report by KuCoin earlier this year validated that reality, indicating a significant increase in the number of crypto investors in Turkey over the course of the previous 18 months. In the aftermath of a devastating earthquake which hit the country on Feb. 6, crypto was reported to have been used as a means to get aid to those affected quickly and easily.However, developments in the crypto space have also included difficulties. It was reported in July that the use of crypto for the earthquake relief effort in Turkey was also being used as a cover by an affiliate of the terrorist group ISIS to launder money and receive funding. Turkish users of the Thodex crypto exchange platform were the victims of fraud in 2021, with the founders of that business having been sentenced for that fraud in September. In 2021 the country moved to ban crypto payments against a background that has seen the Turkish lira experience hyper-inflation.CBDC developmentTurkey’s central bank has been making strides in the digital currency arena, successfully conducting the initial trial of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital lira, by December 2022. The central bank has expressed its intention to continue testing and exploring digital currency development throughout 2024.The move to enhance regulation and compliance in the crypto sector in Turkey aligns with global efforts to ensure transparency and accountability in financial systems.

Coinone adds asset analysis service and fiat currency deposit featureSouth Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinone has added a new asset analysis service, which allows users to easily track their profits and losses, as well as asset trends over time. The latest feature is designed to provide investors with comprehensive insights into their investment performance, including detailed information on their asset history. It is accessible through the “Assets” category on the Coinone website and mobile app.Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash“Coinone has been dedicated to enhancing user convenience, conducting over ten service updates this year alone. Moving forward, we will prioritize user needs by conducting in-house analysis and receiving customer feedback in order to provide the best crypto trading services,” said the exchange’s CEO Cha Myung-hun.Charting profit pathsUsers can analyze the trends of their profits and losses over certain periods ranging from weeks to years, the exchange explained, which are displayed on various charts and tables. They can choose to view either daily or cumulative figures along with other relevant information. The “Asset Trends” category also offers a detailed overview of the fluctuation in the total value of a user’s assets. This includes easily accessible data on how the values of the fiat currency (Korean won) and virtual assets that they hold have changed over time.Seamless transactionsCoinone has also added another feature where users can make fiat deposits directly during transactions. In the case that a user does not have enough fiat currency deposited into their account when purchasing virtual assets, a pop-up window appears, leading to a screen that displays the necessary amount that must be deposited and a function that allows them to do so. Upon completing the deposit, users can continue with their purchase. They can also navigate to the fiat deposit screen by selecting the plus symbol icon next to the available purchase amount.

ZkLink Snags $10M Funding Ahead of Mainnet LaunchZkLink, a layer 2 multi-chain blockchain network project based out of Singapore, has secured $10 million in funding in advance of its mainnet launch which is scheduled for Q3, 2023.Photo by Markus Winkler on UnsplashStrategic funding roundThe Singaporean project offers a blockchain infrastructure layer that enables the ability to trade digital assets across various disparate blockchain networks. Coinbase Ventures, the investment arm of US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, focuses its attention on early-stage cryptocurrency and blockchain projects.That’s precisely why it has now participated in a $10 million investment in the Singaporean start-up, given that the ZkLink network doesn’t launch on mainnet for a number of months yet. Other participants in the funding round included Ascensive Assets, SIG DTI, BigBrain Holdings, Efficient Frontier, among others.In posting news of the funding to social media, ZkLink confirmed that the fresh strategic funding round has brought total funding to date to $18.5 million. “The funds raised take zkLink a step further to envision a multi-chain future with unified liquidity and seamless multi-chain user experience while remaining fully trustless and self-custodial,” the project stated.Its previous $8.5 million funding round was completed in October 2021. Among the early investors on that occasion were Arrington Capital, DeFi Alliance, Huobi Ventures, Ascensive Assets, Morningstar Ventures, GSR, Marshland Capital, Skynet Trading, ZBS Capital, and others. New York-based blockchain financing and investment platform, Republic Crypto, was the lead investor at that time.Bridging assets securely acrossZkLink uses zero knowledge technology in order to connect various layer one and layer two networks. A zero knowledge proof is the core innovation that the approach relies upon, with the proof presenting as a cryptographic technique that ensures that no data is revealed during a transaction, save for the exchange of some known value already evident to both prover and verifier.That approach makes for efficient cross-chain bridging, guaranteeing strong security without external trust assumptions. By connecting various layer one and layer two networks, zkLink claims that it empowers the next generation of decentralized trading products.Developers can access ZkLink application programming interfaces (APIs) in order to create order book decentralized exchanges (DEXs), NFT marketplaces, among other use cases. The project is harnessing zero knowledge technology to abstract away all the complexity of multi-chain trading while keeping it ultra secure and true to the ethos of crypto.A multi-chain futureWith blockchain networks being highly fragmented, the concept of a multi-chain future is one that is being increasingly embraced within the crypto space. Various projects have been launched in an effort to effect such a scenario. However, the first generation of bridging solutions have proven to be weak from a security perspective. Zero knowledge technology is seen as a potential solution to this issue.Effecting a seamless multi-chain will also bring about greater efficiencies. As a case in point, currently USDT-Ethereum and USDT-Solana exist as separate assets on distinct blockchains representing the very same USDT stablecoin. With seamless bridging, there would be no need for the duplication.In recent days, the ZkLink project team has been busy working on safety features related to securing decentralized finance protocols. In a press release associated with that work, ZkLink Co-Founder Vince Lang stated: “It is unacceptable that billions of dollars are lost each year due to custody fraud or cross-chain bridge exploits, so we encourage other DeFi protocols to conduct the same test to prove self-custody of user’s funds.”