OKX Wallet now supports WEMIX3.0 mainnet

Aptos Labs, the developers behind the Aptos layer-1 blockchain, has entered the Japanese market through the acquisition of HashPalette, a blockchain network concerned with the issuance, management and distribution of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). HashPalette informed stakeholders of the development on Oct. through an X post, alongside a press release published on its behalf by Japanese public relations company PR Times. Photo by Tianshu Liu on UnsplashExpanding Asian presenceUp until now, HashPalette has been a wholly owned subsidiary of HashPort, a blockchain-related consulting and infrastructure provider based in Tokyo. This acquisition sees the project transfer to being a wholly owned subsidiary of Aptos Labs. Accordingly, this will mean that applications developed by HashPalette will be migrated onto the Aptos Network. Similarly, the Palette Chain blockchain will migrate over to Aptos. From Aptos Labs’ perspective, the acquisition enables it to expand its blockchain ecosystem in Japan and within Asia more broadly. Aptos Labs Co-Founder Mo Shaikh described the acquisition as an investment in “the talented builders and creators of the region.”  Deal pending approvals, closing conditionsWhile the parties have announced the acquisition, the deal is still subject to required approvals being granted, together with various closing conditions related to the sale being met. Addressing the need to close out the deal, HashPalette tweeted:“HashPort and Aptos Labs will work closely together in the transition and will take great care to ensure that all stakeholders, including PLT and ELF holders, are not disadvantaged by the migration.” The PLT token is HashPalette’s native token. According to the project’s whitepaper, it has utility when it comes to the payment of NFT issuance fees and node management fees relative to the Palette Chain. Additionally, it can be used to pay for NFTs issued on the Palette Chain and for subscription payments related to applications developed on top of the network. The ELF token is a crypto asset utilized within THE LAND ELF Crossing, an NFT farming game which was developed by HashPalette and issued on the Palette Chain. The game is being marketed in Japan with the assistance of Animoca Brands following a partnership earlier this year. The companies have agreed to gradually migrate NFTs which had been issued on Palette Chain, relative to the EXPO2025 digital wallet developed by HashPort, to the Aptos Network. Once that migration has been achieved, it’s envisaged that the Aptos Network will become the only blockchain associated with the EXPO2025 digital wallet. Unresolved Palette Chain issuesFrom the point of view of the development team behind HashPalette, it was outlined in the press release that the move goes beyond a simple financial transaction. It acknowledged that “Palette Chain still has many issues.”  Against that background, the team believes that in order to further accelerate the social implementation of Web3, it has “considered how to make services built on Palette Chain more scalable and usable, and to enable smoother access to the global Web3 market.” That consideration has brought the project team to the conclusion that migrating to the Aptos Network offers the best path forward. At the time of writing, Aptos’ APT token was trading at $8.93, up 12.44% over the course of 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data.

South Korea is set to allow initial coin offerings (ICOs) next year, easing a ban on crypto fundraising that has been in place since 2017. A draft of the Digital Asset Basic Act, prepared by the Financial Services Commission, would allow domestic sales of digital assets if issuers meet disclosure requirements, the Maeil Business Newspaper reported. The measure is intended to address concerns about tokens that are initially listed on overseas exchanges before becoming available to South Korean investors. The legislation outlines tougher accountability standards for crypto issuers. Projects that provide false information or fail to disclose material details in their whitepapers ahead of an ICO could be held liable for investor losses. Liability would also extend to other parties substantially involved in an offering, including outsourced operators and market makers.Photo by Y K on UnsplashStablecoin issuers need Korean presenceSeparate provisions set out rules for stablecoins, barring tokens issued by entities without a physical presence in South Korea from domestic trading, a restriction that would apply to widely used stablecoins such as USDT and USDC. Issuers would be required to fully back stablecoins with reserves such as cash or government bonds held at banks or financial institutions and would be prohibited from paying interest to users. The proposal reflected the FSC’s position on the second phase of digital asset legislation focused on stablecoin issuers. The issue remains subject to inter-institutional debate, with the Bank of Korea pressing for a bank-led consortium model for stablecoin issuance. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is expected to review a consolidated bill combining proposals from the government and the National Assembly next month, with plans to advance the legislation during the regular parliamentary session in the first quarter of 2026. The FSC’s focus on consumer protection is also reflected in its plans to introduce a Digital Finance Security Act, detailed in a recent report to the presidential office. According to Digital Asset, the proposed legislation would establish rules for traditional financial institutions as well as electronic financial businesses and virtual asset service providers. The move came after a 44.5 billion won ($30 million) hacking incident last month at Upbit, the country’s largest crypto exchange. Existing regulations under the Virtual Asset User Protection Act do not contain provisions specifically covering such cases. Separately, the FSC is working to strengthen its response to emerging forms of financial crime, including transnational offenses and crypto-enabled money laundering. It said measures under consideration included adding state-level criminal organizations to the list of entities barred from financial transactions, improving anti-money-laundering (AML) rules to better align with international standards, and expanding the scope of the travel rule. On the supervisory side, the commission intends to make the Virtual Asset Division a permanent unit after initially establishing it as a temporary body, News1 reported. The Virtual Asset Inspection Division within the Financial Intelligence Unit is also set to become a standing unit. Price declines weigh on exchangesThe stepped-up regulatory focus has coincided with a broader downturn in the crypto market. Bitcoin is trading below $89,000, about 30% below its all-time high of $126,000 set earlier in October. CoinGecko data cited by IT Chosun showed average daily trading volume across South Korean exchanges falling to $2.95 billion in November from $4.41 billion in August, with trading fees accounting for about 98% of exchange revenue. The broader market weakness has also been accompanied by declines in altcoins. South Korean crypto investors attributed the recent drop in altcoin prices to capital flowing into major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. A weekly survey conducted by CoinNess and Cratos showed that 41.7% of the 2,000 respondents cited capital concentration in leading tokens as the primary factor, followed by the growing number of altcoins at 31.6%, their limited practical value at 14.7%, and technical factors such as chart patterns at 12.1%. 

It’s been a tough couple of months for global crypto exchange, Bybit. Having had to leave the Malaysian market due to regulatory issues, the firm is now being forced to shutter its service in India for similar reasons.Photo by Naveed Ahmed on UnsplashWithdrawing services on January 12The exchange announced its withdrawal from the Indian market via a statement published to its website on Jan. 10. The service for Indian residents has been ceased from 08:00 UTC on Sunday, Jan. 12.  Account opening and crypto trading has been disabled. Furthermore, the ability to place market orders through other exchange products offered by the company has also been disabled. The ability for customers to withdraw fiat currency and digital assets remains in place. Achieving full complianceWhile the company is leaving the market, it has stated that its services are temporarily suspended in India. It cited a need to “operate in full compliance” as the firm’s primary objective relative to the Indian market. Elaborating on this, it stated:”We have taken this measure while we continue to work closely with the regulator to finalize our registration as a Virtual Digital Asset Service Provider in India, which we expect to secure in the coming weeks.” Malaysian market issueThe situation mirrors a similar set of circumstances that Bybit finds itself in relative to the Malaysian market. On Dec. 27, the Malaysian Securities Commission published a statement outlining details of an enforcement action it had taken against Bybit and the firm’s CEO, Ben Zhou.  In that instance, Bybit was directed to disable its service offering within the Malaysian market. The company indicated that it would return to the market once it had secured the necessary licensing. India hasn’t proven to be the most crypto-friendly jurisdiction to date. Indian crypto influencer R.K. Gupta took to the X social media platform, claiming that the government was at fault for Bybit having to withdraw from the Indian market. He stated: “Our country’s flawed policies are ruining crypto, while others aim for reserve currency status. Govt targeting exchanges, and now Bybit might stop services in India.” In December 2023, India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) took action to prevent unregistered overseas exchanges from operating within the Indian market. It issued compliance show-cause notices to nine exchanges at the time. Shortly afterwards, Apple India blocked access to these exchanges on the Indian Apple App Store.  While Bybit wasn’t amongst them, it is now being brought into line by Indian regulators. Back in September, it emerged that the FIU was considering requests to allow four offshore cryptocurrency exchanges to resume activity within the Indian market. Having been deemed to have come into compliance, Binance and KuCoin resumed activities in India in August 2024. Aside from Malaysia and India, Bybit has also encountered regulatory difficulties in Europe. Last August, it left the French market due to regulatory problems. In May 2022, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), the French financial markets authority, blacklisted Bybit, warning investors that it wasn’t a registered digital asset service provider.  As part of that market withdrawal, Bybit collaborated with partner Coinhouse, a regulated French crypto-asset platform. Accounts holding assets above the value of 10 USDC were transferred to Coinhouse.