XPLA and PERPLAY join forces to bolster rewarding mechanism to Web3 games

Korean Metaverse Platforms Face Uncertain Future Amidst Mounting ChallengesSeveral Korean metaverse platforms, which had promised to usher in a new world bridging online and offline experiences, have found themselves in premature jeopardy, according to industry observations. Various companies that had earmarked metaverse platforms as their future growth driver failed to establish an effective revenue structure to bring this to fruition, leading to speculation that there are limits to successfully developing this branch of business.Photo by GuerrillaBuzz on UnsplashDwindling popularityMetaverse platforms first garnered significant attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, but interest has waned since then — in Google Trends, the keyword “metaverse” has been showing a clear decline since reaching its peak in November of 2021.The actual usage rates of such platforms have also been low. According to the Korea Information Society Development Institute, last year’s usage rate was a mere 4.2%, and some local government-funded platforms had only about 200 daily visitors despite considerable budget sizes.As a result, companies struggling with financial difficulties have opted to downsize their operations, strategizing for mid- to long-term approaches to improving efficiency until an era of metaverse popularization arrives.Roadblocks for small and large companies alikeAccording to industry sources on Friday, platforms like Cytown, developed by social networking space Cyworld, have shut down after just a year, while Kakao Games’ collaborative metaverse venture Colorverse and Com2us Group’s Com2Verse have entered into restructuring phases.Com2verse’s decision comes just two months after the official release of its all-in-one metaverse platform. The company plans to provide three months’ salary to those applying for voluntary resignation and prioritize hiring new faces when expanding the workforce in the future. The scale of voluntary resignation has not been disclosed.The restructuring process will affect all employees except those involved in core functions such as development and services. Employees opting for voluntary resignation will also have the option to transfer to other subsidiaries under Com2us Group.Founded in April of last year, Com2Verse recorded an operating loss of KRW 8.3 billion (approximately $6.2 million) in the first half of this year. Its parent company, Com2us, also recorded consecutive deficits, starting with an operating loss of KRW 19.4 billion in last year’s fourth quarter, followed by losses of KRW 14.8 billion and KRW 5.6 billion in this year’s first and second quarters, respectively. Despite maintaining a stable revenue in its game business, the company faced challenges due to the poor performance of its subsidiary companies and the mounting labor costs needed for accelerating new business endeavors.Com2us has thus determined that it would be difficult to boost revenue and improve cost structure in the short term. Hence, the company chose to restructure its organization while retaining key personnel working under the Convention Center, an event platform on Com2Verse, which is expected to drive the business forward.Com2us emphasized that its commitment to the metaverse market remains unchanged, stating, “Given the current situation of local and international metaverse industries, we believe that significant time and investment will always be necessary. Therefore, we have decided that choosing our priorities and focusing on them is the best way to respond to long-term market changes.”Similarly, Kakao Entertainment had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) last year with Neptune, a game developer in which Kakao Games owns a 35% share, and Colorverse, a metaverse company in which Neptune owns a 44% share, to jointly work on an open three-dimensional metaverse platform also called Colorverse. However, Colorverse has also undergone restructuring since earlier this year to reduce its workforce after it posted an operating loss of KRW 11.5 billion last year.Industry analysts have attributed Colorverse’s business slump to the departure of Namkoong Whon, the former CEO who had pinned his hopes on a metaverse as one of the conglomerate’s promising enterprises.Korean game developer NCSOFT had also said that it is building its own metaverse platform dubbed “Miniverse,” which allows various types of online gatherings from community meetups and study groups to remote classes and work. The company had even conducted a welcome presentation for new employees through Miniverse, but news regarding the project has been scant since then.As these major corporations have been struggling to overcome such hurdles, smaller startups have undoubtedly been facing increasingly dire circumstances as well, with some even resorting to unexpected suspensions of service operations without prior notice. Others have promoted themselves as metaverse platforms and issued virtual assets that can be used within the virtual world, but in many cases, these assets have proven to be of little benefit or use.“A revenue structure that can generate income from metaverse platforms has not yet been established. With the gradual decline in remote education, meetings, and telecommuting after the easing of the pandemic, the value of metaverse platforms has also decreased. Also, factors like increased information technology (IT) labor costs and the overall state of the global economy are influencing business momentum,” an industry insider commented.

US DOJ Charges Two Russians With Mt. Gox HackTwo Russian nationals have been charged by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) for their involvement in hacking of the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox, and in causing the collapse of the infamous exchange.Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on UnsplashCulpable for collapseThe indictment, which has been unsealed, was originally filed on June 7, and identifies the individuals as Alexey Bilyuchenko, 43, and Aleksandr Verner, 29. They are accused of not only hacking the exchange but also conspiring to launder approximately 647,000 bitcoins, which is valued at around $17.1 billion based on Bitcoin’s unit price on Friday.Additionally, Bilyuchenko has been charged with collaborating with Alexander Vinnik to operate the illicit exchange known as BTC-e between 2011 and 2017. BTC-e was shut down by U.S. law enforcement in 2017, and Vinnik was later extradited from Greece to the U.S. in 2022 on charges of running BTC-e and engaging in money laundering.Mt. Gox, which experienced a major theft, declared bankruptcy and closed its operations in 2014. Bilyuchenko and Verner played a significant role in the theft, leading to the exchange’s insolvency, according to Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. The indictment states that “in or about September 2011, [the defendants] and their co-conspirators gained and caused others to gain unauthorized access to the Mt. Gox server in Japan.”BTC-e exchange money launderingFurthermore, it is alleged that Bilyuchenko utilized his ill-gotten gains from the Mt. Gox theft to establish the BTC-e exchange, which facilitated global money laundering activities for criminals. US Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey for the Northern District of California stated that Bilyuchenko and his co-conspirators operated a digital currency exchange that enabled criminal entities, including hackers, ransomware actors, narcotics rings, and corrupt officials, to launder billions of dollars.In March, there were reports from CoinDesk about movements of BTC-e funds on the blockchain. An exchange wallet linked to BTC-e made its first transaction since 2017, transferring approximately 3,299 bitcoins to a crypto wallet in November 2022. Additionally, six years ago, the exchange wallet sent around 10,000 bitcoins to two unidentified recipients. However, the recent DOJ filing does not specify whether these recipients were Bilyuchenko and Verner.Slow processMeanwhile, the long-suffering creditors of the hacked exchange are only beginning to reach the final stages of the bankruptcy process. Japan’s bankruptcy process is incredibly slow and it’s taken the best part of ten years for it to reach the distribution phase. It became apparent in April that the bankruptcy estate was moving to distribute $4.5 billion in cash and digital assets to creditors. It’s understood that the process will be completed in October.While creditors are taking a haircut in bitcoin terms, on a US dollar basis, they are not fairing out badly given that the leading cryptocurrency has seen massive dollar price appreciation in the intervening years.

The Turkish Lira (TRY) has become the third largest fiat currency by volume in the cryptocurrency market, according to a report by Kaiko. This milestone was reached as TRY's share of the crypto market hit an all-time high of 19% in early June. The increase in volume is attributed to the country's economic challenges, notably its high inflation rate, which has surpassed 70%, making the lira one of the most volatile fiat currencies globally.Photo by Afdhallul Ziqri on UnsplashFactors influencing the increaseThe shift in the Turkish lira's position in the crypto market is partly due to increased foreign exchange volatility and currency devaluation, common catalysts for cryptocurrency adoption in developing economies. Additionally, geopolitical factors such as a record number of elections and diverging monetary policies have intensified market fluctuations. This environment has favored cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which reached new highs against the lira in recent months. For instance, Bitcoin escalated to 2.3 million TRY in March from 979,000 TRY in October 2023. The recent adjustments in cryptocurrency trading platforms, particularly Binance's delisting of certain fiat trading pairs due to banking issues, have also increased the dominance of TRY in crypto transactions. This series of events underscores the growing interconnection between traditional and digital finance markets, highlighting the increasing role of cryptocurrencies in regions facing economic instability.