Korea Exchange to conduct CBDC pilot test in H2

Henan Province Establishes Metaverse FundAn administrative body within China’s Henan Province has established a 150 million yuan ($21.7 million) private equity investment fund which will be centered on financing metaverse-related projects.In a social media post on Thursday, the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Henan, a state-owned body, said that the fund had been created last month. The objective of the fund is to promote the development of the virtual reality and metaverse sectors. Specifically, the agency wants to bring about the development of “internationally competitive digital industrial clusters.”Photo by Jéan Béller on UnsplashA metaverse strategyLast year, Henan province administrators released a plan, setting out the objective of achieving a local metaverse industry reaching a level of 30 billion yuan by 2025. The plan was titled “Henan’s metaverse industry development plan for the years 2022 to 2025.” Its authors set out the objective of creating an industrial metaverse, an energy metaverse, an education metaverse and a virtual human metaverse.Henan is one of a number of regions vying to capture the upside in terms of the promise of the development of innovation relative to the metaverse. Earlier in 2022 local government in Shanghai set out to establish an industry fund of 10 billion yuan (approximately $1.4 billion) in assets, focused purely upon metaverse-centric development and innovation.Earlier this year, a delegate attending one of the city’s most influential yearly political meetings called for efforts to be made to provide for adequate regulation to enable further metaverse development and effective supervision of the space.The Beijing-based and state-backed China Computer Industry Association (CCIA) also took an interest last year, forming a metaverse committee to draft industry standards. It too planned to establish a 1 billion yuan fund, while aspiring to help other regional authorities establish a blueprint to progress the industry.Not to be outdone, Hubei province’s Wuhan and Anhui administrative areas made a pledge to boost metaverse development over the course of the next five years. Within the Wuhan administrative area, city officials are said to be aiming to integrate the metaverse, cloud computing and blockchain into the conventional, real economy.Opposing viewsIt’s curious to note that when it comes to decentralized blockchain and cryptocurrency, China has been vehemently opposed to their development within its borders. In September 2021, the country banned cryptocurrency transactions. Prior to that, it had implemented a ban on cryptocurrency mining activity, forcing the large miners that had long since established there to move overseas.It’s difficult to see how it can be positive relative to the metaverse when a metaverse depends on the use of blockchain technology. To confuse matters further, over the course of the past six months, it seems to have given a mandate to the autonomous territory of Hong Kong to open its doors in facilitating the crypto and blockchain sector in total contrast to the stance taken within mainland China.Recently compiled industry and market research suggests that the metaverse industry in China is expected to grow by 39.5% in 2023, with the space having experienced significant growth in the country over the course of Q3 and Q4, 2022.

NEOPIN wallet users gain access to Pala’s NFT marketplaceNEOPIN, a centralized decentralized finance (CeDeFi) platform, has entered into a strategic partnership with South Korean NFT marketplace Pala. This collaboration aims to connect the NEOPIN wallet to Pala’s NFT trading platform, thereby facilitating a more interconnected blockchain ecosystem on a global scale.Photo by Pete Linforth on PixabayNEOPIN wallet integrated into PalaThis partnership paves the way for enhanced user experience, as NEOPIN wallet holders will have the added convenience of trading non-fungible tokens (NFTs) directly on Pala using the virtual assets in their NEOPIN wallets. Furthermore, these wallets will also serve as a repository for purchased NFTs.Additionally, Pala stands to benefit from access to NEOPIN’s international users who have gone through the Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) checks, broadening its market reach.Growing network connectionsNEOPIN is set to aid Pala in establishing connections with NEOPIN’s network of NFT partners. Conversely, Pala will assist NEOPIN with introductions to Pala’s blockchain partners. This collaborative approach leverages their respective strengths, setting the stage for a synergistic relationship.Additionally, the collaboration will involve concerted efforts from both parties to enhance their services and broaden their customer reach. Part of this initiative includes aiding Web2 companies and projects in their Web3 endeavors, as well as rolling out products that are underpinned by real-world assets (RWAs) or offer practical real-life benefits.NEOPIN CEO Kim Yong-ki expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, noting that it is poised to be mutually advantageous, particularly since trust and convenience are core values shared by both companies. Kim further emphasized their commitment to achieving success on an international level, not only through service cooperation but also by utilizing their respective ecosystems.Jason Pyo, CEO of Pala, echoed a similar sentiment, stating that the partnership is set to propel service enhancement, foster the growth of blockchain businesses and contribute to the expansion of the Web3 ecosystem.It’s noteworthy that Pala is a joint venture established by Snow, the mobile video messaging app subsidiary of internet giant Naver, and artificial intelligence (AI) company Alchera. This joint enterprise has claimed a leading position in the Korean NFT trading arena, having exceeded an accumulated trading volume of KRW 30 billion ($23 million) as of April last year.The Pala platform serves as a one-stop shop for NFT services, including NFT minting, secondary market sales and launchpads. It accommodates a range of blockchains like Klaytn, Ethereum and Polygon.NEOPIN has been expanding its offerings to improve user experience, introducing services beyond its DeFi suite. This includes their NFT wallet capabilities. Following its announcement last year to intensify focus on NFT initiatives, NEOPIN has updated its wallets to support multiple NFT standards, such as KIP-17, ERC-721 and EIP-5192.

Cryptocurrency Losses Surge to $686 Million in Q3The cryptocurrency industry has witnessed a turbulent third quarter, with losses surging to $686 million. This unsettling development marks the worst quarter of the year, contributing to $1.4 billion in total losses year-to-date.Photo by GuerrillaBuzz on UnsplashImmunefi reportThese alarming statistics have been unveiled in a report by Singapore-headquartered blockchain security firm Immunefi. According to the report, the number of crypto hacking incidents skyrocketed by 153% year-over-year in the third quarter, with 76 separate incidents recorded.This stands in stark contrast to the same period in 2022, which saw a mere 30 hacking incidents. Furthermore, the losses resulting from these incidents witnessed a 60% increase, surging from approximately $429 million in Q3 2022 to the current level of $685 million. This marks the highest loss recorded for the year.Devastating hacksOf these incidents, two major hacks targeting Mixin Network and Multichain were particularly devastating, accounting for nearly half of the total losses in the quarter at $326 million. The Mixin Network hack, attributed to North Korean-sponsored hackers known as the Lazarus Group, underscores the involvement of state-backed actors in crypto-related cybercrimes.The Lazarus Group’s fingerprints were also found in major hacks of cryptocurrency exchanges, including CoinEx, Alphapo, and Stake, as well as digital payments firm CoinsPaid. Web3 projects based in Japan have been particularly hard hit by the hacker group’s activities. The group was responsible for losses exceeding $200 million.An overwhelming majority of the total Q3 losses, approximately 97%, were attributed to hacking incidents, while frauds and scams constituted a mere 3%. Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols bore the brunt of the damage, with nearly $500 million lost, compared to over $185 million stolen from centralized exchanges and services. This highlights the vulnerability of DeFi platforms and the intricacies of smart contract code that underlie many of these applications.Among the targeted blockchains, Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Coinbase-incubated Base blockchain were the most prominent, with Ethereum being hit by 35 out of 82 chain losses. These platforms were singled out due to the substantial funds they held and the high level of activity on their networks.Greater recovery effortsThough the situation may appear bleak, there is a glimmer of hope in the form of recovery efforts. Immunefi reports an 8.9% recovery rate, with $61.2 million of stolen funds successfully reclaimed in six cases. Notably, Mixin Network recently introduced a $20 million “bug bounty” in a bid to incentivize the return of stolen funds, underscoring the cryptocurrency industry’s unwavering determination to combat these challenges.Immunefi itself has played a pivotal role in mitigating crypto-related risks, disbursing over $80 million in bounties and safeguarding more than $25 billion in user funds across various protocols. The company’s recent launch of on-chain vaults represents a significant step toward decentralizing its bug bounty platform, further fortifying security within the crypto ecosystem.