Foblgate teams up with GLEN Studio to introduce NFT game to investors

Korean Blockchain Startups to Showcase Products in KINTEX in NovemberSouth Korean blockchain startups are set to benefit from increased opportunities to participate in exhibitions organized by the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX) in Ilsan, located northwest of Seoul, the nation’s capital.According to a report by local news outlet Dailian, KINTEX recently announced a collaboration with Onoffmix, a social gathering platform, with the aim of expanding exhibitions and bolstering the startup ecosystem.Under the newly signed agreement, KINTEX and Onoffmix will leverage the latter’s startup business network and event platform to encourage startups to take part in more than 20 exhibitions organized and hosted by KINTEX. Onoffmix, boasting a subscriber base of 1.45 million, will serve as a valuable resource in this partnership.Photo by Seungwon Lee on UnsplashGlobal trendThis move aligns with the global trend of increasing startup participation in exhibition shows. One notable example is the Consumer Electronics Show, a prominent annual tech trade show in the United States that features Eureka Park, an event for startups to showcase their products. With 1,340 startups participating this year, Eureka Park has been witnessing consistent growth in participation year after year.Another instance is 4 Years From Now (4YFN), the startup event held during the annual mobile tech show, Mobile World Congress. 4YFN offers opportunities for over 2,000 startups to connect with potential buyers and investors.Startup exhibition in NovemberIn line with this global shift, KINTEX and Onoffmix aim to assist local startups in exhibiting their cutting-edge technologies, establishing connections with industry experts and investors, and participating in conferences and pitching events. One of their first such endeavors is the Digital Media Tech Show (DMTS) scheduled for November. DMTS will showcase innovative products in various tech areas such as metaverses, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and blockchain. In addition to the exhibition, conferences will be held to facilitate knowledge sharing among startups regarding industry trends, business ideas, and investment opportunities.Lyu Jaewon, the Chief Business Officer at KINTEX, said that this partnership will contribute to the convention center’s expansion of exhibitions and promotion of sustainable growth.Onoffmix CEO Yang Joon-cheol highlighted the company’s commitment to collaborating with KINTEX to expedite the growth of local startups and support their expansion into overseas markets.

Crypto Exchange Loss Deters Temasek from Investing in Crypto FirmsSingapore’s state-owned investor Temasek has ruled out investing in crypto companies for now, following a $275 million loss in the bankrupt US crypto exchange FTX.Photo by Plato Terentev on PexelsRegulatory uncertainty concernsTemasek’s Chief Investment Officer Rohit Sipahimalani said in a CNBC interview on Tuesday that the regulatory uncertainty in the crypto sector made it very difficult for the fund to make another investment in an exchange.“There’s a lot of regulatory uncertainty in this environment. And I do think that it will be very difficult for us to make another investment and exchange in the middle of all this regulatory uncertainty,” Sipahimalani said.He added that Temasek was not interested in investing in cryptocurrencies, but rather in exchanges that could generate fee-based revenue without taking balance sheet or trading risks. In May, it was reported that Temasek had invested in algorithmic currency system, Array. However, the global investment company was quick to deny those reports.“We’ve never been looking to invest in cryptocurrencies. Even the investment in FTX, we’ll be talking about investing in an exchange, which allowed us to get fee-based revenue without thinking [of] balance sheet risk or any trading risks,” he said. However, he said that Temasek would not be comfortable investing in exchanges given the way things are right now, and that it would depend on the right regulatory framework and investment opportunity.“If you have the right regulatory framework, and we are comfortable with it, and you have the right investment opportunity, there’s no reason for us to not to look at it,” he said. Temasek’s FTX investment was part of its early-stage investment strategy, where it invests in new disruptive technologies and tries to find the next winners, Sipahimalani said.But the strategy backfired when FTX filed for bankruptcy in November, with more than 1.4 million creditors and billions of dollars in liabilities, according to bankruptcy filings.Reputational damageTemasek wrote down its $275 million investment in FTX to zero soon after the collapse of the exchange. However, the bigger concern for the company is the posting of its worst returns since 2016 amid macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges. In the financial year ending in March 2023, the investing behemoth posted a $7.3 billion loss.The FTX loss sparked criticism from Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, who called it “disappointing” and damaging for Singapore’s reputation. And that is the greater issue for Temasek relative to FTX.The amount of that particular loss is not that significant, given the size of the company and the scale of losses incurred elsewhere. The issue has been the reputational damage that the company has experienced as a direct consequence. Temasek maintains that it carried out competent due diligence, as have all of the venture capital investors who have all had their FTX investments wiped out.Further details on that due diligence are likely to emerge as Temasek, alongside many other leading investors in FTX, is being sued by creditors on the basis that they gave credence to what transpired to be a fraud. Temasek announced in May that it would cut the salaries of the staff responsible for the FTX investment, after conducting an internal review of the deal.

SK C&C to provide ChainZ Security Token service for Hana SecuritiesSK C&C, a comprehensive digital solutions provider and the affiliate of South Korean conglomerate SK Group, announced Tuesday (local time) that it will provide the blockchain-based ChainZ Security Token service to Hana Securities for the securities firm’s construction of a security token system.Security tokens enable the conversion of assets such as real estate, art and carbon credits into digital tokens. These digital representations open up opportunities for retail investors to make fractional investments in assets that were previously beyond their reach due to high minimum investment requirements.Hana Securities’ involvement in security tokens emerged when its parent company, Hana Financial Group, joined a consortium called the Next Finance Initiative (NFI) in June to expand the security token ecosystem. In this collaborative effort, Hana Securities is set to develop infrastructure that will enable the establishment of extensive security token services. This infrastructure will support functions such as the issuance, distribution and procurement of security tokens.Photo by Shubham Dhage on UnsplashSecurity tokens on EthereumThe ChainZ platform allows the creation, issuance and trading of tokenized assets on the Ethereum network by simply calling an application programming interface (API). The company explained that being compatible with several Ethereum standards, including ERC-20, ChainZ enables users to create diverse token-related services with just a few clicks.SK C&C will leverage the ChainZ platform, which supports distributed ledger services, to manage token offerings and allocations. Additionally, the company will offer security token-related services, which will include processing investor orders and facilitating the buying and selling of tokens.Choi Cheol, Head of SK C&C’s Web3 and Convergence Group, said that the security token system of Hana Securities will lay a foundation for securities firms to adopt security token services and engage in business collaborations with each other. According to Choi, SK C&C is committed to providing secure trading services for security tokens, catering not only to securities companies but also to a broader range of enterprises and general investors. The tech company is also planning to take an active role in NFI and other consortiums with securities firms as a part of its strategy to enhance these efforts further.