OKX adds token support for atomicals, runes, doginals and stamps

Taiwan Aims to Propose Special Crypto Law by Late NovemberIn a bid to address growing concerns surrounding offshore crypto exchanges and prevent regulatory arbitrage, Taiwan is actively working towards proposing a draft special crypto law for its first reading by the end of November.Yung-Chang Chiang, a member of the Legislative Yuan, the Taiwanese parliament, emphasized the need for a dedicated crypto asset act to effectively regulate crypto businesses in discussion with The Block on Friday. Chiang believes that cryptocurrencies, as an asset class, significantly differ from traditional financial products and require oversight through a separate, specialized legal framework.Photo by Ian Chen on UnsplashPublic hearingThe Taiwanese politician recently organized a public hearing within the parliament to discuss the draft proposal with key stakeholders, including virtual asset service providers, legal experts, and academics. He argued that while Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) had released guidelines for the crypto sector to establish self-supervisory rules through a potential industry association, these measures lack legal enforceability.Chiang pointed out:“In this case, under the authority of this special law, regulatory authorities can impose administrative penalties on operators who violate these self-regulation rules. Without such a special law, the regulators would lack the ability to impose penalties.”Under the proposed special law, all crypto platforms operating in Taiwan would be required to obtain a permit. Failure to do so could result in regulatory orders to cease operations. Presently, Taiwan mandates that virtual asset service providers comply with anti-money laundering (AML) laws, which were introduced by the FSC in July 2021. However, the broader crypto industry in Taiwan remains largely unregulated.It is unlikely that the special law will pass through all three readings during the current legislative session, which is expected to conclude by the end of this year. Chiang noted: “An election is coming up, and the current legislative session focuses more on reviewing the government’s budget.”Chiang also mentioned the possibility of Taiwan’s FSC proposing its version of the special crypto law, but this is not anticipated until at least mid-2024. He explained: “It’s hard to say exactly when the special law will be enacted, but it should likely occur sometime after the middle of 2024.”Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is understood to be in the process of registering in Taiwan for AML compliance, despite not currently being regulated in the country. The exchange has formed a local entity named “Binance International Limited Taiwan Branch (Seychelles),” as indicated in the Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs’ database.Banking difficultiesDuring the public hearing, Damien Ho, Representative of Global Partnerships at Binance, raised concerns about the challenges faced by crypto platforms in Taiwan in securing suitable banking services. Despite the FSC’s efforts to discourage banks from treating crypto platforms as high-risk entities, crypto platforms still encounter difficulties in their interactions with banks. Ho suggested that the Taiwanese government should encourage private or public banks to become more crypto-friendly, facilitating the regulated and effective development of crypto businesses.At the public hearing, Winston Hsiao, Co-Founder and Group CRO of Taipei-based crypto exchange XREX, suggested a step-by-step approach to regulation, with smaller entities adhering to self-supervisory rules formulated by the industry association after registration. For larger entities, he proposed obtaining a permit under the special law and potentially applying for other relevant financial licenses.

Barunson Labs and EQBR forge partnership to develop film-based security tokensBarunson Labs, a Korean blockchain-based platform for culture and arts, has joined forces with Web3 firm EQBR Holdings to offer film-based security tokens, aiming to bridge the realms of finance and cinema both in Korea and overseas.Photo by Felix Mooneeram on UnsplashBarunson’s diversified endeavorsBarunson Group, the parent company of Barunson Labs, has been a major leader in various cultural ventures involving film, drama, virtual reality, games and the metaverse. Notably, its production subsidiary Barunson E&A is known for its investment in “Parasite,” the critically acclaimed movie that won four Oscars at the 92nd Academy Awards.Earlier this year, Barunson Labs applied for a financial regulatory sandbox — a program under Korea’s Financial Services Commission that offers a special and provisional regulatory exemption for financial services that have been recognized for their innovativeness — to launch security tokens based on films. To gain approval, the firm also released the beta version of CRADE, a blockchain-based service that manages the flow of funds during the film production process.EQBR’s strategic expansionMeanwhile, EQBR has been developing a security token offering (STO) platform called Apanda Partners — a joint venture established with Shinhan Securities and Aegis Asset Management that received approval as a financial regulatory sandbox in December of last year. Apanda Partners’ Singaporean branch has since established a localized platform catered to the country’s securities firms and prepared for listing on the country’s regulated investment and trading platform SDAX. Barunson Labs and EQBR plan to list their first security token based on Korean content on SDAX in the first half of next year.“Starting with our collaboration with Barunson Labs, we are developing a process to make diverse assets available as products on various security token platforms built on EQBR’s technology,” explained Lee Hyun-ki, CEO of EQBR. “We will not simply talk about our technological possibilities but also demonstrate them through real-life cases, proving that investments can be diversified through the use of blockchain technology and smart contracts.”Lee is also set to participate in the STO Summit hosted by local news outlet Edaily from Thursday to Saturday (local time), where he will deliver a presentation on the application of STO solutions to actual financial services and the future trajectory of this trend. He will also introduce EQBR’s STO platform.“We are taking a dual-track strategy by simultaneously launching security token products in Korea and in overseas markets like Singapore, which is one step closer to institutionalization,” said Kang Shin-beom, CEO of Barunson Labs. He added that the company would launch more innovative investment products in the future that are poised to boost the status of Korean cultural and entertainment content on the global stage.

Maxst launches extended reality-based metaverse platformSouth Korean augmented reality (AR) technology firm Maxst has officially launched its spatial AR platform dubbed “Maxverse” on Tuesday (local time). This comes after a series of various field tests and improvements since the platform’s beta launch last year.“Maxverse is a new platform that enables the construction of reality-based metaverses along with extended reality (XR) content creation and distribution,” explained Kang Min-soo, who leads the development of the platform. “We are currently working with several local governments and businesses to develop services that use our platform, and we expect Maxverse to play a significant role in hastening the impending metaverse era.”Photo by julien Tromeur on UnsplashMetaverse as captured on cameraMaxverse, unlike traditional virtual reality-based metaverses, allows users to create metaverse experiences based on the real world as captured on camera. It is equipped with an array of tools including Space SDK, an XR software development kit (SDK) that allows seamless implementation of spatial maps to virtual reality applications; Space+ Maker, where users can author their own XR content; and Space+ Viewer, where they can share their original content on apps and websites to be experienced through AR and VR.The platform leverages three-dimensional reconstruction technology to create spatial maps and a visual positioning system (VPS) to recognize a user’s location. Maxst highlighted that these would become a vital feature in connecting the metaverse and the real world in the future.Maxverse also comes with a Passport social login feature — a Web3 service that allows users to sign in to various services with their Passport account. It makes use of the OAuth 2.0 authorization framework and the OpenID Connect protocol to simplify the complex authentication and authorization processes, granting developers access to Maxverse’s resources.Anticipation for real-world use casesMaxverse’s purpose is to ultimately let anyone easily create and participate in metaverse spaces. Users can generate their own unique services by locating self-created content assets like images, videos and audio on XR metaverse spaces that closely resemble the real world. Maxst expressed hopes for the platform’s potential to be extensively utilized across a diverse range of industries such as e-commerce, real estate, education and tourism.