Korbit holds an education session on AML for its employees

Singaporean Researchers Devise More Effective DAO VotingResearchers at the Singapore University of Social Sciences have come up with a more efficient governance model for decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).Photo by Shubham Dhage on UnsplashDAO governance reviewThe scientists presented their work via a paper titled “Voting Schemes in DAO Governance,” which was published earlier this week. The paper is due to appear in the Annual Review of Fintech in due course.The research paper initially sets out with a review of the different forms of voting currently used to affect DAO governance in the various early stage projects that are already up and running. Having taken a deep dive into existing approaches, the research team of Qinxu Ding, Weibiao Xu, Zhiguo Wang and David Kuo Chuen Lee decided that they could go one better themselves.Their review encompassed eight current approaches including the following: token-based quorum voting, knowledge-extractable voting, conviction voting and reputation-based voting. Each voting scheme was then evaluated based on the following factors:Efficiency: An assessment of the speed at which proposals are selected and approved.Fairness: Each voter should have equal rights to vote.Scalability: The degree to which storage, computation and communication needs can be adjusted relative to the number of voters.Robustness: An assessment of the relative resistance of the voting scheme to attacks and collusion.Incentive Schemes: The extent to which DAO members are motivated to vote.Following on from that analysis, the scientists put forward a hypothetical voting mechanism with design considerations relative to fully decentralized and permissionless DAO governance. When it came to ratings, the holographic consensus approach scored highest, with a “high” rating in the categories of efficiency, fairness and robustness, dropping down to medium when it came to scalability. None of the other approaches came close.In trying to go one better, the team took the holographic consensus approach and set out to create their own hypothetical voting mechanism based on this model. As evidenced from the paper, they tried to effect improvements to this approach:“We know that the downside of the conviction voting mechanism is that it takes time to approve an urgent proposal. To address this concern, we introduce a blind betting mechanism: each member could choose whether to bet on any proposals with a certain number of their tokens.”The researcher’s hypothetical model allows stakeholders to gamble their tokens on the likelihood of a proposal passing or failing. The logic with this approach, they claim, is that it would speed up the governance process, while making it more robust at the same time.In concluding remarks, the researchers acknowledged that all approaches were not without their pros and cons. They point out that the further development of DAOs shouldn’t be confined to a static organizational future. While they believe that their own hypothetical scheme is in theory superior, they acknowledge that it too has flaws. With that, the realities of implementing it in the real world may be a challenge.

Vietnam moved ahead with its digital asset strategy on Jan. 20, as the Ministry of Finance opened applications for crypto exchange operators. The step puts the government’s broader regulatory framework into effect, allowing qualified firms to apply for approval to operate trading platforms.Photo by Jakub Żerdzicki on UnsplashDecision No. 96/QD-BTC of the Finance Ministry establishes three administrative procedures governing the sector, The Investor reported. The rules set out processes for issuing operating licenses, handling changes to existing permits, and revoking authorization from firms that fail to comply. 10 banks and brokerages signal interestAbout 10 securities firms and banks have already indicated plans to take part. The institutions are preparing to file applications in a bid to become the country’s first licensed crypto operators under the new rules. The groundwork for this week’s licensing phase was laid last June, when the government moved to legalize digital assets, paving the way for their formal recognition as an asset class on New Year’s Day. The shift was put into practice in September with the launch of a strict five-year pilot program aimed at keeping the emerging market under close monetary oversight. Under the pilot, all crypto transactions must be carried out exclusively in Vietnamese dong. Companies seeking to be licensed as crypto exchange operators must show two years of profits and at least 10 trillion dong ($380 million) in capital. The rules favor domestic players, allowing only Vietnam-registered firms to issue cryptocurrencies and requiring foreign investors to enter the market through ministry-licensed intermediaries. G-Group teams up with TetherThe regulatory push comes as private sector deal-making accelerates. Earlier this month, Hanoi-based tech firm G-Group signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with stablecoin issuer Tether to share technical expertise and international best practices, according to another report by The Investor. The agreement followed an October meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc and Tether executive Marco Dal Lago. Dal Lago said the company was eager to work with Vietnamese partners to help develop the country’s crypto market. G-Group has also moved to build out its domestic infrastructure, collaborating with blockchain ecosystem Ninety Eight to form a joint venture. The new company, G98 Digital Asset JSC, will develop compliant crypto products, offer end-to-end blockchain services such as custody, and integrate those solutions into corporate systems. At the institutional level, Vietnam has also partnered with South Korea. In August, Military Bank, one of the nation’s five largest lenders and a subsidiary of the Ministry of National Defence, signed an agreement with Dunamu, the operator of South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit. The partnership is designed to support upgrades to Vietnam’s financial system, with Dunamu providing expertise on exchange operations, regulation, and investor protection. 

Zetrix, a layer-1 blockchain project for real-world applications, has launched an electronic Know Your Customer (KYC) verification product for Chinese nationals. The Malaysian enterprise, which is a subsidiary of digital services company My E.G. Services Berhad (MYEG), has launched ZCert. The offering is available to Chinese nationals who opt to have their digital identities published to the Xinghuo BF network, a Chinese national blockchain infrastructure network developed under the guidance of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and managed by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.Photo by Diego Jimenez on UnsplashFirst-of-its-kind applicationZetrix acts as an international super-node relative to the Xinghuo blockchain. In a press release published by PR Newswire on Oct. 3, the company outlined that ZCert had been launched as a first-of-its-kind application, enabling Chinese nationals “to be authenticated and verified digitally overseas, paving the way for a seamless, efficient, and secure verification process for verifiers and identity holders. ” The service simplifies the issue of identity verification for verifiers located outside of China, as a consequence of Zetrix’s integration with the Xinghuo BIF network.  Connecting to ‘China Web3’Xinghuo signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Zetrix’s parent company, MYEG, to establish the international super-node back in November 2022. The tie-up was seen as an opportunity to provide access to Chinese government agencies and businesses internationally.  At the time, MYEG Managing Director and Zetrix Co-Founder Wong Thean Soon said that “with the commencement of the Xinghuo International Supernode, the rest of the world can connect and be part of the China Web 3 evolution that will promote the establishment of international communities and facilitate global trade and finance.”  On this occasion, Wong said that the new product “enables a new wave of services powered by smart contracts.” He added that KYC processes can be simplified and automated, while “user data is retained by users at all times and only critical information is shared in an encrypted manner." The company has already digitized Chinese driving licenses for the purpose of overseas verification. Furthermore, it has plans to expand its offering beyond ID verification soon. In April of this year, Zetrix and MYEG signed an MOU with MaiCapital, a Hong Kong-based virtual assets manager, with a view towards collaborating on the launch of a digital asset fund or digital asset-based exchange-traded fund (ETF). Last year Zetrix engaged in a pilot project with the Bank of China with the aim of offering supply chain financing products. On a similar theme, its parent company entered into a partnership with the Philippines Bureau of Customs (BOC) and Cargo Data Exchange Center Inc. (CDEC), also in 2023. The collaboration involved the use of Zetrix’s ZTrade product, a Web3 platform that enables digitized trade document verification. Zetrix launched its ZETRIX token in October 2023 through an initial exchange offering (IEO) facilitated by the Coinstore exchange.