Blockchain game performance is key to Wemade’s future success

Russia is moving closer to establishing a comprehensive legal framework for cryptocurrency, a regulatory shift intended to integrate digital assets into the mainstream economy while simultaneously cracking down on unlicensed market participants. Photo by Egor Filin on UnsplashCrypto enforcement slated for 2027According to a report from the Parliamentary Gazette, the new package of regulations is planned to be prepared by the end of June, while from July 1, 2027, liability for illegal activity by crypto intermediaries is expected to be introduced. Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma’s Committee on the Financial Markets, said that the legislation is intended to establish clear rules for the market, including strict oversight of crypto exchanges. He added that the draft law could be considered in its first reading within the next month. While the legislation seeks to normalize digital assets, officials have emphasized that the market will not be a free-for-all. The proposed framework would introduce administrative, financial, and potentially criminal liability, with enforcement modeled on existing laws governing illegal banking activity. Aksakov noted in earlier comments reported by TASS that while crypto may become a fixture of daily life, it would have clear boundaries. The government plans to cap annual crypto purchases by retail investors at 300,000 rubles (approximately $3,800). This regulatory drive coincides with an increase in crypto’s role in Russia’s cross-border transactions. Following the invasion of Ukraine, Western sanctions severed Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system, prompting Moscow to seek alternative channels for international settlements. New data suggests these alternative payment rails have gained rapid traction. A report by TRM Labs revealed that sanctions-related crypto activity in 2025 was dominated by Russia-linked flows, a trend driven largely by the explosive growth of A7A5, a ruble-pegged stablecoin. The firm reported that A7A5 processed over $72 billion in total volume that year, while a wallet cluster tied to the A7 sanctions evasion network A7 was connected to at least $39 billion. TRM Labs identified A7 as a key bridge between Russian entities and partners in China, Southeast Asia, and Iran, signaling a concerted effort to bypass U.S. dollar-based systems. Illicit volumes hit record $158BThese numbers come as illicit crypto usage rises worldwide. According to TRM Labs, criminal transaction volume hit a record $158 billion in 2025—a 145% increase over the previous year. Yet, despite this surge, illicit activity accounted for a smaller share of the total market, falling from 1.3% in 2024 to 1.2% in 2025. Beyond Russian sanctions evasion, researchers also highlighted the burgeoning scale of Chinese-language money laundering networks (CMLNs). TRM Labs identified Chinese-language escrow services and underground banking as a distinct, high-growth sector. Adjusted crypto volume for these networks rose from roughly $123 million in 2020 to over $103 billion in 2025. Meanwhile, Chainalysis offered a smaller estimate, finding that CMLNs processed $16.1 billion in illicit crypto funds in 2025. The firm estimates that the illicit on-chain laundering market has surged from $10 billion in 2020 to over $82 billion today. This growth is supported by a sharp expansion in infrastructure, with the ecosystem now utilizing over 1,799 active wallets. Over the past five years, these operations accounted for roughly 20% of all illicit crypto funds—a share that has grown faster than illicit inflows to centralized exchanges. 

Web3 metaverse and NFT platform CarrieVerse has secured funding from the JB Digital Asset Investment Fund 1 operated by JB Investment, the corporate venture capital arm of JB Financial Group, and Ecrux Venture Partners. The total value of the investment was not disclosed, according to Korean news outlet TechM. "The injection of new capital is a breath of fresh air after a slow crypto winter," said David Yoon, CEO of CarrieVerse. "With aggressive business and marketing tactics, we will bridge the gap between Web2 and Web3, helping to expand and popularize the Web3 market."Photo by Precondo CA on UnsplashThriving Web3 metaverseCarrieVerse is a Web3 metaverse available in various regions, including 15 Asian countries. The platform surpassed one million pre-registrations prior to its launch and also recorded 10,000 visitors in a single day. It was also revealed that it is one of the most popular platforms in Thailand, where it recently launched.  CarrieVerse is also the base hub for the card strategy role-playing game (RPG) SuperKola Tactics and the blockchain gaming platform Cling. Its native governance token, CVTX, has been listed on several exchanges like BingX and Bitget. Notably, CarrieVerse was also recently selected to join the UAE’s Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) to establish a local subsidiary that will serve as a hub to expand the company’s global Web3 ecosystem. Reasons and expectationsJB Investment cited CarrieVerse's global business network and Web3 capabilities as the reason for providing the funding. Ecrux Venture Partners, on the other hand, aims to create synergies between IP companies and the metaverse through CarrieVerse’s projects. Ecrux is a new venture capital firm that focuses on discovering companies that can commercialize content-based IP such as animated characters.  

Newly founded bankruptcy claim trading platform OPNX has provided further details about the entities backing the fledgling startup. Taking to Twitter on Friday, Open Exchange CEO Leslie Lamb outlined a number of venture capital backers, with a mixture of international and Asia-centric firms among them. Global backersLamb’s tweet via the firm’s official Twitter account, together with a similar announcement published to the firm’s website, outlined AppWorks, a leading Taiwanese venture capital firm and startup accelerator, as an investor in the company. Other Asian backers include Hong Kong-based crypto fund, Token Bay Capital and the Hong Kong-based arm of one of China’s largest banks, China Merchant Bank International.With the firm based in Dubai, Middle-Eastern interest is represented through the involvement of Saudi digital asset fund, Tuwaiq Limited. Otherwise, the company lists a number of other international backers, including US equity options exchange MIAX Group, DeFi-focused venture and trading firm Nascent, top tier global venture capital firm Susquehanna and the investment arm of market maker and early stage investor, DRW. Questionable founding teamOnly hours after the disclosure by Open Exchange, DRW reached out to CoinDesk to confirm that it is not an investor in the bankruptcy claims exchange. Nascent and Susquehanna also denied that they are involved. The companies are still being listed by OPNX as backers of the project on its website.The launch of OPNX has been mired in controversy from the outset as its founding team includes the founders of the former crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) which failed spectacularly in 2022. Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, the founders of 3AC are now the founders behind OPNX. Before their involvement, OPNX was preceded by Seychelles-based crypto yield platform CoinFLEX. That business also failed during the 2022 crypto bear market. It entered into a restructuring process with the consent of the courts in the Seychelles. Emerging from it is OPNX with the 3AC duo of Zhu and Davies having gotten involved at that point. Industry push-backMany in the crypto space have been highly critical of the development of OPNX on the basis of the involvement of both Zhu and Davies. The duo are being blamed for the collapse of the crypto hedge fund due to mismanagement and the knock on effects the firm’s demise had on other entities within crypto. Many of the series of crypto lenders who failed at a later stage in 2022 had major exposure to the wayward hedge fund.There had been some speculation as to who was backing the new project. Earlier this month, BitMEX co-founder and former CEO Arthur Hayes claimed that the 3AC duo had received substantial funding from Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund to establish the project. In February, Hayes suggested that the crypto bull market must be starting based on news of Zhu and Davies wanting to launch the OPNX platform.Crypto-focused venture capitalist Michael Arrington also spoke out around that time, stating on Twitter, that 3AC founders successfully raising capital for their latest venture was “the saddest bulls**t I’ve heard in a long time.”Upon its launch earlier this month, industry commentators quickly declared the project a flop citing a trading volume of $13.64 on its first day of trading. Five days in, OPNX made light of the situation, declaring a win on the basis that it had progressed to $12,398 in trading volume, representing a 90,000% increase in trading.Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) issued an investor and marketplace alert on April 12 stating that while OPNX may be Dubai-based, it is not regulated by VARA and instead operates on an unregulated basis. It warned investors against using any unregulated crypto entity.