Taiwan weighs up CBDC following feasibility study completion

Do Kwon Loses Fight to Conceal Singapore RecordsDo Kwon, the founder of Terraform Labs has failed in his attempt to deny the United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from accessing company records in Singapore.©Pexels/George BeckerIn February, the SEC filed a complaint against Terraform Labs and its founder in a US court. The move followed an investigation that the agency had carried out into the collapse of a number of digital assets established by the company. The lawsuit claims that both the company and Do Kwon had engaged in fraud, together with the sale of unregistered securities to US citizens.Jurisdictional challengeLawyers for Do Kwon had claimed that in trying to access documents related to the Singapore-domiciled company, the SEC was acting far beyond its jurisdiction. According to court filings, his defense team argued that Do Kwon is a Singapore resident while Terraform Labs is a Singapore-based company that operates on a global basis and not specifically in the United States.The filing pointed to the fact that the Terraform Labs CEO had “limited contact with the US.” “Most of the company’s business is essentially global, and it’s not specifically aimed at the United States,” it stated.His lawyers had filed a request for the SEC to withdraw its documentation request. In a recent hearing, US District Judge Jed Rokoff turned down Terraform’s request. The documents are understood to be held by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) although the specific nature of the documentation sought remains unclear.The SEC claims that in founding the Terra US dollar stablecoin (TUSD) and associated cryptocurrency LUNA, Terraform Labs and Do Kwon were responsible for wiping out more than $40 billion dollars in value following their collapse. The Luna Foundation Guard (LFG), which was established to provide funds to keep the TUSD stablecoin at a $1 value, is another entity that the SEC intends to access documents from with the court’s permission. Singaporean police had stated last month that they had launched an investigation into the collapse of the TUSD stablecoin.Meanwhile, both the South Korean and US authorities are seeking the extradition of Do Kwon to face related charges. He was arrested last month in the southeastern European country of Montenegro where he was charged with having used forged documentation to enter the country. Although he had denied it on social media, in effect Do Kwon had been on the run from the reach of South Korean authorities over the course of a number of months, spending a portion of that time in Montenegro.Asset huntAn investigation by authorities in South Korea in recent weeks revealed that they were unable to find any assets held in the country owned by the Terraform Labs founder. The trail in chasing down any such assets has led to the United States. It is understood that Do Kwon bought real estate in the United States under his mother’s name. This is a common tactic for those who attempt to evade future confiscation of assets.Earlier this week, South Korean prosecutors confirmed that they are investigating a transfer of funds by Do Kwon to a leading law firm based in Seoul.

Mystic Land token to be listed on LBankReal-time open metaverse platform Mystic Land’s governance token is set to be listed on global centralized cryptocurrency exchange LBank’s USDT market at 6 a.m. UTC on Friday under the ticker symbol MYTH, according to an official announcement on the platform’s Medium page.Photo by Markus Winkler on UnsplashExploring decentralized innovationMystic Land is a decentralized open metaverse that is operated in real time. It is open to anyone at any time, and individual participants can earn rewards for creating goods and services, selling and investing assets and more. It also facilitates interoperability with data, digital assets and content, bringing users together in an interactive online environment.MysticLand tokens are the basis of the metaverse’s ecosystem and can be mined in the metaverse platform in a Play-to-Earn (P2E) fashion through participation in various activities like content creation. They can also be used to purchase services and items on various decentralized applications (dApps) in Mystic Land.Empowering global tradersBoasting over nine million users around the world, LBank offers products like spot and margin trading, staking, peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions and crypto futures. According to CoinMarketCap, it is currently the 34th top cryptocurrency spot exchange with a spot trading volume of approximately $1 billion in the last 24 hours.

South Korean banks will soon have to be prepared with adequate anti-money laundering (AML) measures when issuing real-name bank accounts to cryptocurrency exchanges, according to a report by local media outlet News1. This requirement is part of the proposed amendment to the enforcement decree of the Financial Transaction Reports Act, with the Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC) issuing a legislative notice about it today. The FSC will be gathering feedback until March 4, prior to the implementation.Photo by Tuan P. on UnsplashAdequate staff and physical facilitiesThe new amendment requires banks supporting virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to employ adequate staff and establish and uphold physical infrastructure to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Through this revised legislation, the FSC aims for banks to be equipped with the necessary resources to manage risks linked to the provision of real-name bank accounts to VASPs. With the issuance of real-name bank accounts, banks will face ongoing cautionary duties. The FSC plans to offer clearer guidelines to help banks decide whether to continue providing such accounts to VASPs. In its 2024 agenda, the FSC stated its plans to evaluate VASPs' readiness for their responsibilities ahead of the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, set to be implemented in July. Additionally, the regulatory body will develop infrastructure to improve its monitoring of the cryptocurrency market.Intelligence platform focused on financial securityMoreover, the FSC plans to create a specialized intelligence platform focused on financial security. This platform is aimed at enabling proactive responses to cyberattacks and supporting financial institutions in the agile management of risks associated with emerging technologies.