HashKey OTC scores in-principle approval in Singapore

Singapore-based startup Pontem, a Web3 product development studio, has successfully raised $6 million in a recent funding round. Broad venture capital participationThe firm announced details of the funding round via a press release published on Thursday.  The round was co-led by Faction and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The financing includes participation from notable contributors such as Pantera Capital, Aptos Foundation, market maker Wintermute, Singaporean trading firm Altonomy, Shima Capital and Kraken Ventures. This latest capital infusion brings Pontem's total raised funds to $10.5 million, building upon the $4.5 million secured in June 2021 through a private token sale led by Mechanism Capital, Kenetic Capital, Delphi Ventures and Hong Kong’s Animoca Brands.Pepi Stojanovski on UnsplashExpanding Move utilityThe primary focus of the funds is to empower developers in creating applications that are compatible with both the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and Move, expanding the utility of the Move programming language beyond its current usage on the Aptos and Sui blockchains. Move is a rust-derived programming language which was originally developed by Facebook with the intention of using it to power the Diem blockchain, prior to the company abandoning the project. It’s a platform-agnostic language designed for the writing of safe smart contracts. It distinguishes itself from the EVM's Solidity language by enhancing throughput through parallel processing. Pontem contends that Move is particularly appealing to Web2 developers from traditional finance and tech sectors due to its similarity to familiar static-type languages. Pontem envisions breaking the temporary vendor lock-in associated with the EVM, offering developers a versatile programming language that supports the security and scalability required for widespread adoption. Alejo Pinto, co-founder of Pontem, highlighted the objective of utilizing the capital influx to increase the usage of Move beyond the Aptos and Sui blockchains, providing dApp teams with a programming language that facilitates the addition of new features, promoting security and scalability. Pinto emphasized that Pontem seeks to address the vendor lock-in issue on Ethereum, enabling easier entry for Web2 developers and fostering their confidence in the decentralized space. Banafsheh Fathieh, Partner at Faction, praised Pontem's role in building critical primitives for the Move ecosystems. Pantera Capital Managing Partner Paul Veradittakit expressed excitement about investing in Pontem, recognizing the team's efforts in constructing essential financial and technical infrastructure to attract consumers and developers to the decentralized web. Lumio Layer 2The allocated capital is earmarked for developing Move Virtual Machine products on EVM-compatible blockchains like Ethereum. This includes Lumio, a Move-based Layer 2 solution which the company introduced in December. It operates as an optimistic rollup on Ethereum and leverages alternative Layer 1s like Aptos to process transactions. Pontem disclosed that products deployed on Aptos, such as the Pontem Wallet and Liquidswap DEX, have gained significant traction with 40,000 weekly active users and up to $1 million in daily volume. Looking ahead, Pontem envisions extending its support to the Solana Virtual Machine and other blockchain languages, underscoring its intention to provide a comprehensive development environment for decentralized applications. The funding secured in this round signifies a crucial step for the fledgling company in advancing the compatibility and accessibility of the Move programming language within the broader blockchain ecosystem. 

Dubai-headquartered crypto derivatives trading platform Bybit has moved to enable stock trading on its platform.  The offering, initially featuring 78 stocks, is being provided via Bybit’s MT5 platform, which includes access to various financial instruments including forex, commodities, contracts for difference (CFDs) and crypto, according to an announcement made by the company last week.Photo by Ishant Mishra on UnsplashStock derivatives via CFDsIndividual stocks are being offered in a pairing with U.S. dollar stablecoin USDT. Bybit’s MT5 is a trading platform originally developed by software company MetaQuotes, facilitating the integration of various asset classes within one platform. Enabled through the use of CFDs, holders of such stock-derived CFDs can receive dividend adjustments based upon the ex-dividend events of the underlying stocks. A trading fee of 0.04 USDT has been set, with a minimum charge of 5 USDT per order. Access to leading global equitiesBybit users will now be able to gain exposure to leading U.S. equities such as Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), Microsoft (MSFT) and Nvidia (NVDA). By adding this product to its multi-asset trading platform, Bybit has reduced a degree of friction for market participants. In pairing these stocks with USDT, it means that there is no fiat onboarding required and transferring funds in fiat from outside the crypto ecosystem is not required. In a press release, the firm asserted that the development was a “landmark move bridging traditional and decentralized finance.” Bybit further asserted that with this product launch, it has become “the first and only major crypto exchange to unify crypto, stocks, and traditional assets under one roof.” Previous offeringsA few years ago, global crypto exchange platform Binance had offered tokenized stocks through a partnership with German global financial services firm CM-Equity AG. However, it withdrew that product offering in 2021 when faced with growing regulatory pressure.  Failed crypto exchange FTX also offered its users exposure to tokenized stocks, which was also facilitated by CM-Equity AG. That product offering came to an abrupt halt in November 2022 when the platform collapsed. With a more positive regulatory position having been adopted in the United States following the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, tokenized stock offerings are emerging once again. In March Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas said that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could facilitate such offerings going forward. The U.S. crypto exchange platform has revived plans to tokenize its own COIN stock, alongside other securities.Bernstein analysts recently predicted that the crypto sector is moving towards integrated platforms that offer both traditional financial products alongside digital assets. Further evidence of this approach emerged on May 22 with the news that global crypto exchange platform Kraken plans to add access soon to a range of tokenized stocks for its global user base.  The company’s U.S. clients can already access in excess of 11,000 stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Blurring the lines further between TradFi and the digital assets space, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon indicated last week that the investment bank will facilitate Bitcoin trading for clients from now on.

Milk Partners Launches Blockchain-Powered Reward Points System in IndonesiaSouth Korean tech company Milk Partners, which operates blockchain-powered reward points platform MiL.k, has announced the official launch of its services in Indonesia, according to a report by local news outlet Etoday. MiL.k simplifies the process of handling and exchanging reward points from multiple companies by offering an integrated platform for users.Photo by Dino Januarsa on UnsplashLocal readinessIn order to provide stable local service, MiL.k has registered as an electronic system organizer (ESO) in Indonesia. Moreover, the platform has implemented a passport and identification card verification system to meet know-your-customer (KYC) requirements.As of today, Indonesian users can download the MiL.k app from the App Store and Google Play. Within this month, they will be able to utilize their reward points from two local companies: GetPlus, a loyalty point integration service, and Indonesia AirAsia, a budget airline.Southeast AsiaTo expand its reach and promote the platform further, Milk Partners has plans to collaborate with local partners on a range of promotional events. Additionally, the company aims to boost its marketing efforts in Southeast Asia, encouraging more businesses and projects to join the MiL.k platform.Cho Jung-min, CEO of Milk Partners, shared his excitement about the official launch of MiL.k in Indonesia, which is a significant step in the company’s global expansion plan. He stressed the commitment to providing reasonable and tangible services and asked for customers’ interest and support in this endeavor.Recent token listingIn line with this development is last month’s listing of the trading pair of MLK/IDR on Indodax, an Indonesian cryptocurrency exchange. MLK stands for Milk Coin, a key currency that can be exchanged for reward points on the MiL.k platform.