OKX Ventures broadens portfolio to include Orbiter Finance

Major Korean Crypto Exchanges Strengthen on NFT Projects Despite Crypto WinterDespite crypto winter, major Korean cryptocurrency exchanges Upbit and Bithumb strengthened on staff and included new non-fungible token (NFT) projects.US Tightening Policy Effects on Crypto MarketAccording to the electronic disclosure system operated by the Financial Supervisory Service, Upbit’s operator Dunamu saw a net income of 130.8 billion won last year, down by 94% from 2.21 trillion won. Bithumb also experienced a decline of 85% from 648.4 billion won to 95.4 billion won. This downturn is reportedly attributed to the tightening monetary policy by the US and weaker market sentiment on risky assets.Insights on Korean NFT MarketBoth exchanges, Upbit and Bithumb, having seen meager profitability in crypto trading, recruited more talent to embark on NFT projects. However, the picture is not so rosy for these new endeavors, considering the tepid NFT trade volume. According to The Block, the NFT trade volume last month reached $983.4 billion, which is lower than $1.4 trillion, the previous month’s record.The NFT trade volume on Upbit last month also experienced year-on-year and month-on-month decreases of 48.6% and 14.5%, respectively.Last week, Dunamu CEO Sirgoo Lee said in a shareholders’ meeting that its NFT projects are underachieving and that he is reconsidering the new projects from scratch. He added that Dunamu will build a solid foundation in Korea while promoting global businesses starting from the US through Levvels, a blockchain-based platform jointly established by Dunamu and the entertainment company HYBE.Outlook on the Korean MarketBithumb, on the other hand, will bolster new projects through Bithumb Meta and Rotonda. Bithumb Meta recently launched the beta service of its original metaverse Naemo Market where users can use NFTs to decorate their own personal digital space. Rotonda released Burrito Wallet last February to allow waller holders to store NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and fiat currencies.Meanwhile, there was a mixed outlook on the Korean crypto market. One person said in an interview with Hankooki that greater workforces in the country’s leading crypto exchanges could suggest the market’s growth, but also pointed out that their bigger sizes might hinder them from maneuvering when faced with other unexpected risks.

Subreddit Token Price Slide Following SurgeReddit’s subreddit community tokens, Moon and Brick, having experienced a remarkable surge in prices last week fueled by a significant increase in trading volume, have taken a downward trajectory, plummeting in price.Photo by Mike Petrucci on UnsplashCrypto.com token listingThe Moon token, associated with Reddit’s r/CryptoCurrency community boasting over 6.5 million members, shot up from approximately $0.09 to nearly $0.58 on July 19, just after Singapore trading platform Crypto.com listed the token.Concurrently, trading volume spiked to around $3 million on Wednesday, marking an impressive boost.Similarly, the Fortnite subreddit community token, Brick, which Crypto.com distributes as a reward to contributors of r/Fortnite, also witnessed a substantial price surge. The token’s value surged from $0.01 on July 17 to approximately $0.10 on July 19, according to data from CoinGecko.Surge acknowledgedIn response to the sudden price surges, Crypto.com released a note early on Monday, acknowledging the surge both tokens had experienced recently. However, in a swift turn of events, both tokens experienced a significant downturn in the past 24 hours, with their prices plummeting by over 20%.As of midday (ET) on Monday, Moon was trading at $0.33, while Brick was valued just under $0.05, as reported by CoinGecko data. Moreover, trading volumes for both tokens have significantly contracted during this period of volatility. Moon’s volume shrank from over $1 million on July 23 to approximately $200,000 on Monday. On the other hand, Brick’s volume saw an even more drastic decrease, falling from approximately $210,000 on July 23 to a mere $26,000 on Monday.Terms of service changeMarket analysts speculate that the recent change in Reddit’s Terms of Service might have been the catalyst for the initial price increases. Reddit’s alteration of its Terms of Service on July 16 to permit users to trade community tokens and avatars potentially triggered the surge in token prices. It appears that Web2 centralized virtual goods such as coins and awards are making way for tradable Web3 community points.Speculating on the token price surge, Bobby Ong, the Co-Founder and COO of Malaysia-headquartered cryptocurrency data aggregator CoinGecko, wrote via Twitter last week: “Both tokens increased at the speculation of the changes coming at Reddit. No one knows exactly what is happening but Reddit deprecating Web2 Coins & Awards while allowing trading of their Web3 CPs could be something to monitor in the coming months.”Despite the recent downturn, the overall crypto space remains highly dynamic and unpredictable. Events such as the listing of tokens on prominent trading platforms can cause rapid price fluctuations. As always, that scenario makes it essential for investors to approach these assets with caution.While Moon and Brick may have encountered a sharp decline, the cryptocurrency market, in general, has proven its resilience and ability to rebound with Bitcoin currently holding a unit price of $29,125. As the market continues to evolve and gain wider acceptance, investors will need to continue to exercise caution and consider the volatility inherent in digital assets.

At the end of last month, social derivatives trading platform ZKX, a protocol that runs on the Ethereum-centric Starknet layer-2 network, shut down blindsiding the project’s stakeholders. That event has led to Singapore-headquartered digital assets firm Amber Group speaking out, calling for cryptocurrency projects to be more accountable and transparent going forward. Not economically viableNews of the project shutdown emerged when ZKX founder Eduard Jubany Tur took to X on July 30 to outline the discontinuation of the protocol. Tur claimed that the project was “unable to find an economically viable path for the protocol.” In a long-form post, the ZKX founder outlined that user engagement had been minimal, resulting in disappointing trading volumes. By extension, Tur claimed that revenues didn’t come anywhere close to covering cloud server expenses. “The market is undervaluing the work done and infrastructure built by appchains and dApps coming from ecosystems like ours,” Tur added. Pseudonymous blockchain sleuth ZachXBT had a different take on the matter, claiming that the shutdown represented a rug pull. Amber Group chimed in on the subject on X on Aug. 3. Amber suggested that it wouldn’t break any contractual non-disclosure obligations it had with regard to ZKX but that aside, the firm took the opportunity to share its perspective more broadly in an effort to promote transparency.Photo by Markus Spiske on PexelsAmber Group criticismAmber Group criticized the ZKX team on the basis of a lack of transparency. It stated: “The last update we received was on July 30, when the project announced the cessation of operations. This decision was made without prior communication, highlighting the importance of transparency in our industry.” Staying with that theme, it claimed that clear communication and transparency are essential for fostering trust and collaboration within the crypto community, and that such principles would guide future projects. Amber Group had acted as a market maker relative to the ZKX project. It borrowed and purchased ZKX tokens in support of the launch of the token and in an effort to support token liquidity post-launch. It had secured two million ZKX tokens from the open market, with its overall holding totaling three million ZKX tokens. Project investor HashKey Capital also took to the X social media platform on the subject. Like Amber Group it too criticized the ZKX project for its lack of accountability and transparency. It described the project’s reluctance to communicate as “disappointing,” while it asserted that Tur’s handling of the situation had been “regrettable.” Ye Su, founding partner at ArkStream Capital, expressed a similar complaint, stating on X that “when ZKX shut down, as investors, we got zero heads-up.” He also singled out Tur, claiming that “Edward took the money from early supporters without any communication, showing no moral standards and losing his right to future entrepreneurship in the industry.”