NEOPIN teams up with Drive-to-Earn app GREEVER to expand blockchain’s role in sustainability

Former Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), facing criminal charges and awaiting sentencing in the United States, has been denied his request to return to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by a U.S. federal judge, according to Bloomberg. The decision, rendered by the U.S. District Judge Richard Jones, reinforces the restrictions on CZ's movements in the months leading up to his scheduled February sentencing. In a filing on Friday, Judge Jones rejected CZ's motion seeking permission to travel to the UAE, where his children reside with former talk-show host and Binance co-founder, Yi He. The specific grounds for the denial were sealed, providing limited insight into CZ's argument against the judge's repeated constraints. However, CZ's legal team hinted that the motion involved "medical information regarding Mr. Zhao’s child."Photo by Kai Pilger on UnsplashSecond travel request denialThis ruling, dated Dec. 29, marks the second time CZ's request to travel to the UAE has been turned down. Earlier in the month, Judge Jones sided with U.S. prosecutors, citing CZ's substantial wealth abroad and the absence of an extradition treaty between the U.S. and the UAE, making him a potential flight risk. CZ had previously pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and resigned as CEO of Binance, the world's largest digital asset exchange. Binance, as an entity, reached a $4.3 billion settlement related to sanctions and money transmission violations. Singaporean Richard Teng, Binance’s former head of regional markets, has been installed as CEO in CZ’s place. Despite legal challenges, Zhao secured release on a $175 million personal recognizance bond after pleading guilty. The billionaire posted $15 million from a trust account and had three guarantors pledge over $5 million in collateral to secure the bond. The court order allows CZ to remain free, but he is prohibited from leaving the U.S. until his sentencing. 40 million new usersIt’s not all bad news for Zhao’s Binance. In a recent report titled "State of The Blockchain: Binance’s 2023 in Review," Binance highlighted its significant growth in 2023, welcoming over 40 million new users — a 30% increase from the previous year. The report emphasizes the company's commitment to user-centric principles, boasting 170 million registered users and 431 assets available for trading across 1,785 trading pairs by the year's end. Key achievements outlined in the report include robust growth in crypto payment services, P2P trading and earning platforms. Binance Pay and Card experienced a 54% surge in users and the P2P platform recorded an 18% increase in trades and a 39% rise in users. Binance Earn, a crucial component of Binance's product suite, saw a 35% increase in users and a 16.8% rise in the total value locked within its products. Higher net worth2023 hasn’t been all bad for CZ on a personal basis either. His wealth has seen a substantial increase of approximately $25 billion in 2023 despite the legal turmoil. His $37 billion net worth primarily stems from his controlling stake in Binance.Despite potential imprisonment, CZ stands atop the list of cryptocurrency entrepreneurs whose fortunes have witnessed substantial growth this year, ranking 35th in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Netmarble’s MARBLEX Bolsters Partnership with Bisonai to Elevate MBX EcosystemSouth Korean gaming company Netmarble said today that its blockchain subsidiary, MARBLEX, is reinforcing its strategic partnership with blockchain infrastructure company Bisonai to help bolster the MARBLEX gaming finance (GameFi) ecosystem.Revolutionizing gaming with blockchainNetmarble released the MARBLEX Playground in February of this year, which aims to optimize game enjoyment and benefits for players by incorporating NFTs, GameFi, decentralized finance (DeFi), and more that collectively run on a blockchain ecosystem revolving around its governance token, MBX.Photo by ELLA DON on UnsplashAs a company that specializes in building blockchain products for its clients in a wide range of sectors, including gaming, Web3, NFTs, and DeFi, Bisonai has directly contributed to the development of MARBLEX’s MBX ecosystem. In particular, it played a significant role in building MBX Marketplace — a platform for unrestricted NFT transactions within the ecosystem — which went live in November of last year, as well as MBX Explorer, a token scanning site.Following this venture, Bisonai is planning to provide further technical consultations and solutions for the blockchain infrastructure that will be potentially required within the MARBLEX ecosystem.Advancing transparency and accessibility of MBXMeanwhile, MARBLEX disclosed plans on June 27 to overhaul the token system within the MBX ecosystem. As part of its commitment to improving transparency, it announced that it burned approximately 670 million MBX that have not been designated for use within the ecosystem out of its total supply of one billion MBX.The MBX token also received a landmark whitelist approval in Japan last month, becoming the first token from a Korean blockchain gaming project to do so.

Terraform Labs seeks summary judgment to dismiss SEC allegationsLawyers representing bankrupt Singaporean crypto firm Terraform Labs and its co-founder, Do Kwon, have requested a summary judgment from a New York judge in their legal battle against the United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).If granted, such a dismissal could potentially spare them from a full-blown trial. In their motion, the legal team argued vehemently that they are innocent of the SEC’s allegations, maintaining that the regulator has failed to provide any compelling evidence of wrongdoing.Photo by Bermix Studio on UnsplashDefining a securityThe motion, which was filed last Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, asserts that the implicated cryptocurrencies of Terra Classic (LUNC), TerraClassicUSD (USTC) and Mirror Protocol (MIR), together with its Mirrored assets (mAssets), are not securities as claimed by the SEC in its complaint.The heart of the matter revolves around the SEC’s assertion that Terraform Labs offered or sold securities, a claim vehemently denied by the defendants. The SEC initially brought the case in February, referencing algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD, which famously collapsed in May 2022.Lawyers claim case is unsubstantiatedBoth Kwon and Terraform Labs’ attorneys argued that despite over two years of investigation, more than 20 depositions, and the exchange of a staggering two million pages of documents, the SEC’s case remains unsubstantiated.The SEC’s original complaint in February accused Kwon and Terraform of raising substantial sums from investors by offering and selling an inter-connected suite of crypto asset securities, many of which were unregistered transactions. SEC Chair Gary Gensler added that Terraform and Kwon had failed to provide investors with full disclosures, notably concerning LUNA and TerraUSD.A key element of the dispute centers on the SEC’s allegation that Kwon and Terraform moved millions of dollars into Swiss bank accounts for personal gain. According to the agency’s complaint, the company and Kwon transferred 10,000 bitcoins to a financial institution based in Switzerland. The legal team representing Kwon and Terraform vehemently denies this allegation, characterizing it as baseless and unfounded.Flawed stablecoin designAlgorithmic stablecoins, such as TerraUSD, operate using market incentives via algorithms to maintain a stable price. Terra was tied to Luna, a governance token, in an attempt to stabilize prices. Unfortunately, the collapse of TerraUSD in 2022 destroyed in excess of $40 billion in value held by investors. It also had a domino effect, leading to a series of other crypto platform collapses later in 2022.Judge Jed Rakoff, presiding over the case in the Southern District of New York, had previously denied an attempt by Terraform Labs and Kwon to have the case dismissed. This new motion for summary judgment represents their latest effort to put an end to the legal proceedings.In a separate but related action, lawyers representing Terraform Labs Co-Founder Daniel Shin asserted that Shin played no role in the collapse of TerraUSD. In a Seoul district court, they emphasized that Shin had nothing to do with the collapse despite being indicted in South Korea in April on various charges, including fraud.