Animoca Brands makes key appointment to drive Japanese market expansion

Rotonda, a subsidiary of crypto exchange Bithumb that operates Burrito Wallet, announced yesterday that it held “Partners Day 2024.” According to a report by local news outlet Etoday, the event was prepared to share the company’s business plan for this year and its partnership strategies and was attended by 50 stakeholders from 30 companies partnering with Burrito Wallet. The soon-to-be-released service, “Burrito Partners,” was also introduced in the venue.  Following the official launch in February last year, Bithumb’s Burrito Wallet has been collaborating with Web2 and Web3 firms in blockchain service development and co-marketing. Burrito Wallet is dedicated to contributing to bridging Web2 and Web3 ecosystems through forging partnerships.Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on UnsplashSoon-to-be-launched service, Burrito Partners Burrito Partners is Rotonda’s new service to help its partners with marketing efforts. It has been designed to enhance the workflow and boost the quantitative growth of its partners that struggle with a lack of workforce.  Burrito Wallet will leverage Burrito Partners to provide services that can monitor user events, manage follower and marketing indexes, strengthen user community, provide airdrop solutions and secure transaction data, all of which are expected to maximize marketing performance. “By making partnerships with various companies that share the same values with Bithumb’s Burrito Wallet, we have been able to actively expand the blockchain ecosystem,” said Shin Min-chul, CEO of Burrito Wallet. “We are also planning to roll out a rewarding service for users sometime during next month. Burrito Wallet is dedicated to developing a system where all partners can thrive,” he added. 

South Korea’s crypto market, long known for frenzied retail trading and the Kimchi premium, is losing some of its speculative heat as local demand weakens and regulators tighten their grip on the sector.Photo by Ciaran O'Brien on UnsplashThe shift is showing up in the Kimchi premium, the price gap that once saw crypto assets trade higher on Korean exchanges than overseas. That premium has now turned negative, meaning digital assets are cheaper on Korean platforms than on global exchanges. Retail sentiment has soured alongside it: a weekly CoinNess and Kratos survey found that 58.8% of respondents expect Bitcoin to fall or crash in the coming week, up from 28.6% a week earlier. Only 17.7% expect a price surge, down from 36%, while 23.5% expect sideways trading. Weak market, thin liquidityInvestors blamed the persistent negative premium on several factors. The largest specific cause, cited by 25.4% of respondents, was broader market weakness and liquidity outflows. Another 22.7% said a strong stock market has reduced the appeal of crypto, while 16.5% pointed to limitations of local crypto exchanges. The remaining 35.4% said all of these factors are working together. South Korean exchanges are also becoming late-stage listing venues rather than early platforms. According to IOSG Ventures, Coinbase, Binance Futures, and Bybit often lead early price discovery, while Upbit and Bithumb tend to wait for broader market validation before adding new assets. IOSG found that 85% of Bithumb’s listings came after comparable listings on major global platforms, while Upbit listed assets an average of 28 days after their first overseas debut. The lag reflects lengthy regulatory reviews and a preference for more established projects. Regulation is shifting as well. According to SBS News, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission (FSC) has decided against a proposed blanket reporting rule for crypto transfers above 10 million won, or about $6,500, to foreign virtual asset service providers (VASPs) or personal wallets. Instead, local VASPs must operate their own internal, risk-based anti-money laundering (AML) controls. Police probe Polymarket usersLaw enforcement is also targeting decentralized prediction markets. Local law firm Jonjung reported on a blog post that the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency has launched an investigation into South Korean Polymarket users over possible violations of the country’s gambling laws. Ahn Chang-bo, managing partner at the law office, said police are tracking crypto transaction records to identify and summon users. However, he noted that whether participation in Polymarket violates South Korea’s gambling laws remains unsettled, as prosecutors have not taken a definitive position and courts have yet to rule on the issue. South Korea remains a major crypto market, but the tone has changed. Local demand has weakened, exchanges are slower to list new tokens, and authorities are taking a closer look at both compliance and emerging platforms such as Polymarket. 

Xangle and CryptoTimes partner to advance Web3 adoption in Korea and JapanXangle, a digital asset data research platform based in South Korea, announced Wednesday (local time) a collaboration with Japanese crypto media CryptoTimes with the goal of advancing the widespread adoption of Web3 technology.Photo by Shubham’s Web3 on UnsplashSharing translated reportsThe two platforms have agreed to translate and share each other’s industry analysis reports on their respective platforms. Through this partnership, they aim to bridge the gap between Korea and Japan in sharing Web3 strategies and regulatory updates, which previously faced challenges due to language barriers.As a first step in this joint effort, the Japanese translation of Xangle’s “Waiting for the Spring of Music NFTs: Industry Perceptions and Future Potential” and the Korean translation of CryptoTimes’ “Nike, Adidas and Puma’s Web3 Trend Comparison Report” were made accessible to their platform users on Nov. 27.In particular, Xangle’s reports will be featured in CryptoTimes’ research repository, CT Analysis. Through this, Xangle aims to reach a wider audience in Japan.Stronger communication between Korea and JapanJunwoo James Kim, co-CEO and co-founder of Xangle, shared his excitement regarding their collaboration with CryptoTimes, a renowned media outlet in Japan. He emphasized the significance of both Korea and Japan emerging as leading forces in the Web3 industry within Asia. Kim added that this partnership will foster stronger communication between the blockchain sectors of both nations, accelerating the widespread adoption of Web3.Discussing Web3 development, Kim outlined that we are currently in the third phase, centered around its widespread adoption. The first phase saw the birth of various ideas, while the second phase involved testing these concepts for viability.Shingo Arai, co-founder of Rokubunnoni, which operates CryptoTimes, emphasized that the trends in the Korean Web3 market are not just informational but serve as significant indicators. He noted that sharing reports is merely the beginning. Arai expressed their intent to continuously seek various collaboration opportunities with Xangle, aiming to close the information gap between Korea and Japan in the Web3 arena.