Nissan delves into metaverse on a heritage and safety theme

BitOasis Obtains First Early-Stage Broker Dealer License in DubaiBitOasis, a leading platform within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for the purchase, sale and trading of cryptocurrency, has become the first crypto company to be awarded a broker-dealer license by the Dubai regulator.Photo by ZQ Lee on UnsplashMinimum viable productIn a blog post published to the company’s website on Monday, BitOasis outlined that it has received a minimum viable product (MVP) Operational License from the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) of Dubai. An MVP incorporates the minimum features necessary to satisfy early adopter clients.It’s a means through which a basic offering can be brought onto the market, feedback can be solicited and the product offering can be improved upon on that basis. From the regulator’s perspective, by offering an MVP licensing programme, it too can adjust regulation as products are further developed.BitOasis CEO and Co-Founder Ola Doudin took to Twitter to welcome the news, outlining that the award of the license is “an important milestone for @bitoasis , the Emirate of Dubai and the growing UAE crypto ecosystem.”The license award now allows BitOasis to provide broker-dealer services in respect of virtual assets under VARAs regulatory oversight, to qualified institutional and retail investors, while basing operations out of Dubai.Serving GCC and MENA regionsBitOasis was founded in 2016 by Doudin alongside Daniel Robenek. It’s focusing its efforts on servicing the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) area (which covers six Arab countries, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), together with the broader MENA region. BitOasis has also obtained “in-principle” approval from the regulator in Bahrain.The platform offers clients the ability to trade in excess of sixty cryptocurrencies in trading pairs with fiat currencies such as the US dollar (USD), the United Arab Emirates dirham (AED), the Saudi rial (SAR) and the Turkish lira (TL). In developing the business, BitOasis has undergone six funding rounds to date, including two initial seed rounds, together with Series A and Series B-level funding. Its backers include companies such as Banvest, Pantera Capital, Digital Currency Group, Wamda Capital and Global Founders Capital.Strategic partnershipsThe company stated that it intends to leverage the license to “launch strategic partnerships in Dubai and across the United Arab Emirates.” Additionally, the licensing will enable the company to launch new virtual asset products “with a continued focus on driving accessibility, consumer protection and utility across the virtual asset ecosystem.”VARAs CEO Henson Orser welcomed BitOasis to the Dubai regulator’s MVP programme phase and outlined that “the VARA ecosystem aims to strike a balance between value creation, risk mitigation, and enhanced investment opportunities with consumer protection at its core.”Dubai and the United Arab Emirates more broadly, have been moving at pace more recently in an effort to develop a regional hub for the virtual assets industry. Last month it emerged that the UAE had begun accepting licensing applications from crypto companies and only a number of weeks later, Dubai’s VARA has already awarded its first license.A number of weeks ago, crypto exchange Bybit announced that it was basing its operations out of Dubai. VARA is licensing crypto companies on a stage by stage basis. In response to a number of high profile crypto firm failures in other jurisdictions in 2022, the Dubai regulator outlined in April that it was stepping up its level of scrutiny of crypto businesses.

CoinFLEX Effects Partial Repayment of SmartBCH DebtCoinFLEX, a Seychelles-based crypto yield platform that operated the BCH to sBCH cross-chain bridge, has taken a significant step towards its restructuring plans by partially repaying its debts to SmartBCH Alliance.Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on PexelsBitcoin Cash sidechainAs part of the repayment, SmartBCH, a Bitcoin Cash sidechain compatible with Ethereum, received distributions from CoinFLEX, including approximately 4.28 million rvUSD ($750,000), 652,000 USDC ($652,000), and 6,834 BCH ($1.6 million). Notably, 80% of the received USDC has been swapped into Bitcoin Cash, while the remaining portion has been reserved to cover legal and operational expenses. SmartBCH currently holds a total of 10,758 BCH.The repayment to SmartBCH comes amidst a significant surge in the price of Bitcoin Cash, which has witnessed a remarkable increase of over 110% in the past seven days. This surge has positioned Bitcoin Cash as a top performer among major currencies in the crypto market, according to data from CoinGecko.Bitcoin Cash, along with other Bitcoin forks, has been benefiting from the overall rise in the cryptocurrency market. The increased interest can be attributed to the flurry of spot Bitcoin ETF filings that have taken place recently.The positive developments surrounding CoinFLEX and Bitcoin Cash have also had a ripple effect on associated tokens. $FLEX and $OX, tokens connected to CoinFLEX, have experienced notable increases in value, rising by 53% and 65% respectively over the past week.CoinFLEX itself has been undergoing a significant restructuring process that was approved by the Seychelles Courts on March 6. The exchange initially suspended withdrawals in June 2022, citing extreme market conditions and uncertainty related to a counterparty.CoinFLEX was one of several crypto firms affected by the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in May 2022, resulting in the loss of over $40 billion in investor value within a short period. In September, the company revealed its restructuring proposal, which involved offering over 65% of its equity to creditors and allocating 15% to employees.OPNX rebrandLast March, CoinFLEX rebranded itself as Open Exchange (OPNX) following the approval of its restructuring plan. The founders of CoinFLEX, Mark Lamb and Sudhu Arumugam, are collaborating with Kyle Davies and Su Zhu, the co-founders of the bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), on the new Dubai-based venture.SmartBCH has announced its intention to open an account on OPNX and gradually convert rvUSD into Bitcoin Cash through the exchange. It is worth noting that, as part of the restructuring terms, SmartBCH is entitled to common equity in CoinFLEX and one board seat, although it has not received these benefits at present.Additionally, SmartBCH has burned 33,365.67 sBCH tokens, returning them to the old bridge address. As a result, the total sBCH in circulation on the sidechain now amounts to 67,756.766.To further enhance stability, SmartBCH has entered into an agreement with CoinFLEX to assume responsibility for maintaining the 1:1 peg between sBCH (the sidechain’s native token) and BCH.

South Korea is tightening its grip on the cryptocurrency sector, with courts handing down the first prison sentence under an investor protection law enacted last year. The ruling comes just as financial authorities signal a comprehensive overhaul of digital asset governance, ranging from ownership caps to the tokenization of real-world assets. The Seoul Southern District Court sentenced the head of a crypto management firm to three years in prison for manipulating virtual asset prices and amassing roughly 7 billion won in illegal profits, according to Yonhap News Agency. The court also imposed a fine of 500 million won ($340,000) and ordered the forfeiture of approximately 846 million won ($580,000). Photo by Daniel Bernard on UnsplashFirst sentence under 2024 protection lawThis marks the first conviction under the new investor protection law, which took effect in July 2024. It was also the first case fast-tracked directly from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSC) to prosecutors under the new legal framework. The conviction coincides with a broader regulatory debate involving Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Lee Eog-weon. According to MoneyToday, in testimony before the National Assembly’s National Policy Committee on Feb. 5, Lee outlined an agenda covering anti-money laundering (AML) enforcement, stablecoin regulation, and digital innovation. However, he cautioned lawmakers against enacting blunt, one-size-fits-all rules that could stifle competition. Ownership cap rules trigger debateLee pushed back against a proposal to cap major shareholder stakes at 15%, pointing out that the exchange market is already a monopoly where smaller players hold less than 3% combined. He warned lawmakers that forcing firms with negligible market share to dilute ownership would effectively choke off investment. He argued that such restrictions would stifle innovation, advocating instead for a tiered regulatory approach that accounts for new entrants starting with no market share. Lee also addressed a separate policy direction that would recognize bank-led consortia—in which banks hold more than 50% plus one share—as eligible stablecoin issuers. He said the approach was not intended to favor any particular corner of the financial industry. On the enforcement side, the commission announced plans to strengthen its response to cross-border crime and money laundering involving digital assets, as reported by Digital Asset. A key measure under consideration is the expansion of the travel rule, which requires exchanges to share sender and recipient information for transactions. The rule currently applies to transfers of 1 million won ($680) or more, and regulators want to extend it to smaller transactions as well. The commission also pledged to support AI-driven transformation across the financial sector and to build a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets. STOs near legalizationIn a related development, South Korea has cleared a major legislative hurdle for the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs). Amendments to the Capital Markets Act and the Electronic Securities Act passed the National Assembly last month, roughly three years after financial authorities first issued guidelines on security token offerings (STOs), according to another Digital Asset report. The legislation allows securities to be digitized on blockchain-based distributed ledgers and creates a new class of issuer account management institutions, enabling qualified companies to issue and manage security tokens directly. The bill now requires only Cabinet approval and official promulgation before it takes effect.