Korean Crypto Firms Organize Consortium for Real-World Asset Tokens

SK C&C and NEAR Foundation Forge Strategic Partnership to Fuel Web3 GrowthSK C&C, the information and communications technology affiliate of the South Korean conglomerate SK Group, last week announced its strategic partnership with the NEAR Foundation, the organization supporting the NEAR Protocol blockchain, aiming to broaden its Web3 business initiatives.The partnership ceremony was held earlier this month at a hotel in Seoul and saw attendance from Choi Cheol, the Head of Web3 and Convergence Group at SK C&C, along with Marieke Flament, the CEO of the NEAR Foundation.NEAR Protocol is a layer 1 blockchain that enables enterprises to build private shards that can be connected to the public blockchain.Photo by Shubham Dhage on UnsplashBlockchain research and global marketingThrough this agreement, the two companies will establish a mutual support system to strengthen their business networks, cooperate on research and business projects related to blockchain technology, spanning all industries, and execute global marketing strategies to elevate their brands and accelerate the Web3 ecosystem.SK C&C’s ChainZ and NEAR ProtocolAs part of this initiative, the two sides seek to link SK C&C’s own blockchain platform, ChainZ, with NEAR Protocol to develop a Web3 market that supports both public and private blockchains. Focusing on the financial infrastructure sector, SK C&C aims to inject momentum into its ventures in domains like the sharing economy market — a flourishing ground for second-hand item trading platforms — and in the gaming, content, and commerce sectors, where the issuance of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is expected.Tailored corporate solutionsThey will delve into the development of Web3 solutions tailored for corporations, concentrating on areas like supply chain management and enterprise resource planning (ERP). ChainZ’s Key Recovery System will play a pivotal role in enhancing security and simplifying account management, while NEAR Protocol will support high transaction speeds, scalability, and interoperability between multichains.For example, assets like inventories, orders, loans, and bills of lading can be marked with tokens based on NEAR Protocol. These can then be verified at each stage of an entire trade process through digital signatures recorded on ChainZ.Moreover, SK C&C will leverage the NEAR Foundation’s global network as a stepping stone for global market entry, while NEAR Protocol will utilize the business network of SK C&C to garner customers in the Korean market. This effort to expand NEAR’s presence in South Korea also aligns with its joining hands with Dongdaemun, an administrative district in Seoul, earlier this month.SK C&C’s Choi Cheol underscored the efforts underway across various industrial sectors, including public, finance, manufacturing, and commerce, to develop Web3 services driven by public blockchains. He stated that beginning with NEAR Protocol, SK C&C would intensify collaborations with different public blockchain projects to broaden the ecosystem for Web3 services.

Singapore Judge Says Crypto Not MoneyIn recent years, legal processes in various jurisdictions worldwide have seen judges comment on whether cryptocurrency is actually money. The latest such determination has been made by Justice Vinodh Coomaraswamy who outlined in a Singapore court that while being a component of financial transactions, cryptocurrencies are not money.The consideration emerged in a recent court hearing at Singapore’s High Court in a case involving the Algorand Foundation and failed Singapore-based hedge fund, Three Arrows Capital (3AC). Justice Coomaraswamy’s comments arose due to a discussion in the midst of the court proceedings involving the Judge and counsel representing the Algorand Foundation.©Pexels/EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVASeashells as moneyIn setting out his rationale for the need for 3AC to be wound up, Daniel Chan, a lawyer for the WongPartnership law firm that was representing the Algorand Foundation in the proceedings, told the judge that despite foreign currencies not being recognized as legal tender in Singapore, or used broadly as a medium of exchange within the city state, those foreign currencies are recognized by Singapore law as money. Using that analogy Chan suggested that by implication, the same scenario should be considered where cryptocurrencies are concerned.The judge provided a counterpoint: “What if you had a [community] in the world that used seashells as its internal medium of exchange? Would the Singapore courts have to recognize that as money.” Chan claimed that the judge had used an extreme example although Coomaraswamy remained steadfast in his view, pointing out that seashells had indeed been used as a form of money in the distant past.Coomaraswamy proceeded to dismiss the Algorand Foundation’s winding up application. He acknowledged that the Foundation did have standing in bringing the application. However, as he determined that cryptocurrency couldn’t be classed as money, on that basis he dismissed the application. In conveying his decision, he stated: “The word indebtedness, in my view, must require a debt which is in fiat currency. Determining whether or not a particular intangible, such as cryptocurrency, is money would require a detailed examination of evidence which is not appropriate in the context of insolvency.”Legal tenderThus far, bitcoin has been recognized as legal tender in two countries — El Salvador and the Central African Republic. In 2020, a French court referred to the leading cryptocurrency as money, agreeing that Bitcoin loans can be recognized as customer loans in the same way as loans denominated in fiat currencies. Earlier that year, an Australian court recognized bitcoin as a legally legitimate form of investment. In the United States, a Federal court recognized bitcoin as “money” or “funds” in a prosecution taken against Silk Road website operator Ross Ulbricht.There have been many similar instances in courts globally where judges have had to grapple with the consideration of whether bitcoin and crypto more generally can be regarded as money. Similar to the difficulty authorities are having in regulating cryptocurrency, it’s an issue that in most cases lacks complete clarity and in which we can expect further discussions on, similar to this most recent consideration in the Singaporean high court.

Puzzle Monsters Wins Investment from CRIT Ventures for Web3 Game ExpansionSouth Korean blockchain game developer Puzzle Monsters has secured an investment from CRIT Ventures, a venture capital subsidiary of Com2uS Group, during its recent Pre-A investment round. The amount hasn’t been disclosed.The investment comes as part of CRIT Ventures’ efforts to expand its investment portfolio with promising companies specializing in Web3 content and platforms.“Through CRIT Ventures’ investment, we look forward to honing our game development expertise and securing a faster and more meaningful gateway to the blockchain infrastructure and community,” said Yang Jin-hwan, CEO of Puzzle Monsters.Photo by Precondo CA on UnsplashAbout Puzzle MonstersPuzzle Monsters is known for its away-from-keyboard massively multiplayer online role-playing game (AFK MMORPG) called “Idle Ninja Online,” which began incorporating blockchain technology at the end of 2021 and earning popularity among users.The developer’s mounting success can be accredited to its creative game ideas and a keen understanding of market trends. Its other flagship game, Ninja Survivors Online, is also enjoyed by many users both domestically and overseas.“We want to present better products to the market, both in terms of gameplay and blockchain integration,” CEO Yang emphasized.Boosting the market for Web3 gamingCRIT Ventures’ parent group Com2uS has been focusing on leading the Web3 market with various games and game platforms that are based on the XPLA blockchain mainnet. It has also recently launched the immersive online community space SPAXE in Com2uS’s all-in-one metaverse service Com2Verse. Earlier this year, Com2Verse partnered with Microsoft Korea to apply artificial intelligence technology to the metaverse.Com2uS additionally unveiled plans to onboard Puzzle Monsters’ current and future games onto XPLA, aiming to create maximum synergy.