South Korean FSC updates definition of virtual assets and VASP regulations for Virtual Asset User…

Aptos and Lotte Group Collaborate on Pink Bear NFTs to Drive Web3 ExpansionLayer-1 blockchain network Aptos took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce a partnership with Lotte Group, an industrial conglomerate based in South Korea with a specialization in the retail business. This strategic collaboration aims to propel Lotte’s expansion into the dynamic Web3 landscape.Photo by 김 대정 on PexelsPink bear NFTsThe initial focus of their collaboration will center around Bellygom, the pink teddy bear mascot of Lotte Home Shopping — a major player in the Korean media commerce industry. NFT projects associated with Bellygom, including the Bellyland universe, are under the stewardship of Daehong Communications, a marketing solutions company affiliated with Lotte. Aptos will play a pivotal role by providing the backend support for the development of Super Jelly, a reward system within Bellyland. These Super Jelly rewards, slated to be launched on the Aptos mainnet, will be attainable through engaging in Jelly Adventures — a collection of diverse games and missions within Bellyland.Aptos and Lotte Group have expressed their enthusiasm for venturing into Web3 initiatives throughout multiple business areas of the South Korean retail giant. Aptos noted that more updates will follow as this collaboration unfolds.Earlier partnership with PolygonThe momentum behind Daehong Communications’ Bellygom NFT initiatives for global expansion grew as it joined hands with blockchain company Polygon in February. This partnership led to the migration of Bellygom NFTs from the Klaytn blockchain to the Polygon blockchain in April.Lotte’s hospitality business and NFTsIn June, Daehong employed NFTs to attract customers to various Lotte entities. Through Korea’s largest NFT trading platform, Pala, the marketing affiliate sold Magic Ride NFTs, aiming to enhance customer engagement for the Lotte World amusement park, Lotte Duty Free, and Lotte Hotels.

Euroclear, a Belgium-based financial services company that specializes in post-trade services relative to the clearing and settlement of securities, has announced that it has invested in Singaporean digital market infrastructure firm Marketnode. The investment, which the firm announced via a press release published to its website on Oct. 17, is the company’s first in the Asian market. Established with a distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based financial infrastructure, Marketnode offers its services via two distinct platforms. The company claims that through its Gateway platform it offers a one-stop issuance, data, workflows and tokenization services.  Meanwhile, Fundnode streamlines fund transactions, processing and record-keeping, while using blockchain technology in doing so. Euroclear’s CEO for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, Philippe Laurensy, set out the company’s thinking in making this strategic investment, stating: “Partnering with Marketnode demonstrates our shared commitment to developing a new generation of funds market infrastructure by leveraging Euroclear’s global footprint, established fund infrastructure and digital capabilities. This first strategic investment in Asia also reinforces the region’s importance to Euroclear’s positioning and business growth. We are excited to join Marketnode’s pioneering journey in the rapidly growing area of digital assets and support the company’s international service expansion.”Photo by Thomas Somme on UnsplashProminent backersMarketnode is backed by Temasek and the Singapore Exchange Group (SGX), having been established in 2021 as a joint venture by the two firms. Notable financial firms such as Citi, HSBC, Deutsche Bank and State Street joined the pilot phase of Marketnode’s Fundnode platform in 2022.  Back in May, HSBC doubled down on its involvement, leading Marketnode’s Series A investment round. HSBC also partnered with Marketnode and Singaporean bank UOB in 2023, in the build-out of an end-to-end, issuance-to-distribution wealth management product infrastructure, run on blockchain rails. That project formed part of Project Guardian, a collaborative initiative led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), designed to explore tokenization and network interoperability. Marketnode CEO Rehan Ahmed spoke about what this latest investment means for the company. He stated: “Euroclear’s global connectivity, operational expertise and market-leading position as a trusted financial market infrastructure will catalyse the growth of Marketnode’s platforms, especially Fundnode.” Ongoing blockchain interestWhile this may be Euroclear’s first foray into the Asian market, it’s not its first step into the world of blockchain and tokenization. The European clearinghouse launched a tokenized securities issuance service in 2023. The Digitally Native Notes (DNN) service enables the issuance, distribution and settlement of fully digital international securities, running on R3’s Corda blockchain. The first DNN was issued using the system by the World Bank, raising €100 million to finance its sustainable development activities. Earlier this month, it emerged that Euroclear, alongside the World Gold Council and international law firm Clifford Chance, had collaborated on a pilot project led by real-world asset (RWA) tokenization firm Digital Asset. The project concerned itself with the tokenization of UK bonds (gilts), Eurobonds and gold, using the Canton Network protocol.

Among various accounts within a bank, a demand deposit account is considered a “station” where people can temporarily store their money and easily withdraw it for future investments. These accounts are highly liquid, since users can deposit or withdraw funds at any time without having to pay a penalty to a bank.  Following the recent cryptocurrency boom, the five major banks in Korea – KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, Woori Bank and NH Nonghyup Bank – are seeing a significant influx of funds into their demand deposit accounts, according to local media outlet Money Today. This is partly attributed to an increasing number of youths who are seeking to invest in crypto assets, parking their money in these banks’ demand deposit accounts. Shinhan Bank and Nonghyup Bank have seen the highest increase in their deposits, owing to their affiliation with local crypto exchanges that have access to real-name accounts from these banks. Photo by André François McKenzie on UnsplashBTC’s surge attracting young investors to cryptoExperts say that these deposits could be potentially transferred to the crypto market by owners as Bitcoin’s value continues to climb. An insider from a crypto exchange noted that the bullish crypto market, spurred by the U.S. approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, is driving a number of young investors to turn to crypto investments, encouraging them to channel their deposits into buying crypto tokens.  Data from these five major banks shows their total demand deposits by the end of February exceeded KRW 614 trillion ($460 billion), seeing a month-over-month increase of about KRW 23.5 trillion. During the same period, the banks’ combined regular savings grew by KRW 23.6 trillion, while their combined installment savings saw a decrease of KRW 13.3 trillion. This came after the government-led savings product “Youth Hope Installment Savings” reached its maturity, which returns users their principal with relatively large interest gains.  Banks scrambling to attract crypto investors with new savings productsIn response to the potential decline in interest rates in the second half of this year, an increasing number of customers are seeking to put their money into savings products with an interest rate of as low as 3%, according to a banker. In a bid to attract more users, local banks are busy introducing new savings products.  KB Kookmin Bank launched a savings product offering a relatively high annual interest rate of up to 4%, and Shinhan Bank rolled out a savings product targeting youths with an annual interest rate of up to 3.85%.  Meanwhile, Kbank, an online-only bank, is deemed among the largest beneficiaries of the crypto boom, as the bank saw its average daily new customers triple compared to last year. Since 2020, Kbank has served as the provider of real-name accounts to Upbit, the leading crypto exchange in Korea.  Ha Joon-kyung, a professor at the Department of Economics at Hanyang University, said the sudden surge in demand deposits means that a significant portion of these funds will be invested in high-yielding but risky assets, including cryptocurrencies, stocks and real estate.