India’s SEBI head wants instant settlement to counter crypto threat

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.

SK C&C and NEAR Foundation Forge Strategic Partnership to Fuel Web3 GrowthSK C&C, the information and communications technology affiliate of the South Korean conglomerate SK Group, last week announced its strategic partnership with the NEAR Foundation, the organization supporting the NEAR Protocol blockchain, aiming to broaden its Web3 business initiatives.The partnership ceremony was held earlier this month at a hotel in Seoul and saw attendance from Choi Cheol, the Head of Web3 and Convergence Group at SK C&C, along with Marieke Flament, the CEO of the NEAR Foundation.NEAR Protocol is a layer 1 blockchain that enables enterprises to build private shards that can be connected to the public blockchain.Photo by Shubham Dhage on UnsplashBlockchain research and global marketingThrough this agreement, the two companies will establish a mutual support system to strengthen their business networks, cooperate on research and business projects related to blockchain technology, spanning all industries, and execute global marketing strategies to elevate their brands and accelerate the Web3 ecosystem.SK C&C’s ChainZ and NEAR ProtocolAs part of this initiative, the two sides seek to link SK C&C’s own blockchain platform, ChainZ, with NEAR Protocol to develop a Web3 market that supports both public and private blockchains. Focusing on the financial infrastructure sector, SK C&C aims to inject momentum into its ventures in domains like the sharing economy market — a flourishing ground for second-hand item trading platforms — and in the gaming, content, and commerce sectors, where the issuance of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is expected.Tailored corporate solutionsThey will delve into the development of Web3 solutions tailored for corporations, concentrating on areas like supply chain management and enterprise resource planning (ERP). ChainZ’s Key Recovery System will play a pivotal role in enhancing security and simplifying account management, while NEAR Protocol will support high transaction speeds, scalability, and interoperability between multichains.For example, assets like inventories, orders, loans, and bills of lading can be marked with tokens based on NEAR Protocol. These can then be verified at each stage of an entire trade process through digital signatures recorded on ChainZ.Moreover, SK C&C will leverage the NEAR Foundation’s global network as a stepping stone for global market entry, while NEAR Protocol will utilize the business network of SK C&C to garner customers in the Korean market. This effort to expand NEAR’s presence in South Korea also aligns with its joining hands with Dongdaemun, an administrative district in Seoul, earlier this month.SK C&C’s Choi Cheol underscored the efforts underway across various industrial sectors, including public, finance, manufacturing, and commerce, to develop Web3 services driven by public blockchains. He stated that beginning with NEAR Protocol, SK C&C would intensify collaborations with different public blockchain projects to broaden the ecosystem for Web3 services.

Bank of Japan Publishes Results of CBDC PoCThe Bank of Japan (BoJ) recently concluded the second phase of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) proof of concept (PoC) project, which began in April. The results of this phase were published on Monday, and they shed light on key aspects such as the comparison between account-based and token-based CBDCs and the management of holding limits for users with multiple accounts.Photo by Manuel Cosentino on UnsplashToken-based CBDCsThe experiments conducted by the central bank covered a wide range of topics. Among the most intriguing findings were the advantages and disadvantages of token-based CBDCs and how to effectively impose holding limits for users with multiple CBDC balances.Token-based CBDCs have garnered interest from various central banks, with some adopting the UTXO token model used by Bitcoin without the use of a distributed ledger. A UTXO or unspent transaction output, defines where a blockchain transaction starts and finishes. The Bank of Japan explored this model and analyzed its pros and cons.In the initial proof of concept, both account-based and token-based CBDCs were examined, considering scenarios where the central bank managed the ledger or shared it with intermediaries like banks. In the token-based model, fixed token denominations were used, similar to physical cash in countries like India, and a centralized ledger was employed. However, in the recent phase, the central bank utilized flexible value tokens similar to UTXO and shared ledger functions with intermediaries.The Bank of Japan favored the flexible value token model due to its ability to handle multiple requests simultaneously. However, it acknowledged that this model may require more technical resources compared to the account-based approach. Challenges may arise when implementing additional functions, such as holding limits, while maintaining optimal performance. The European Central Bank (ECB) also noted in a recent report that most payment providers are accustomed to account-based payments and would incur costs to adapt to token-based systems.Another significant aspect explored by the BoJ was how to impose holding limits when users have multiple CBDC balances through different intermediaries. The challenge lies in determining if the overall holding limit has been breached without compromising user privacy.Homomorphic encryptionOne possible solution discussed in the report is the use of homomorphic encryption, which enables computations to be performed on encrypted data without it first needing to be decrypted. That allows for the necessary checks without intermediaries accessing the specific data being checked. Although this solution may slightly increase processing time, it could introduce a higher risk of data inconsistencies.Alternatively, a simpler approach proposed by the central bank is to establish a per-account holding limit and a limit on the number of accounts a single user can hold, rather than imposing global limits. Ideally, users with multiple accounts would have a higher per-account holding limit compared to those with fewer accounts.Phase 3 underwayWith the next pilot phase already underway, the BoJ aims to test the end-to-end process flow and identify challenges related to integrating with external systems. Additionally, they are creating a CBDC Forum to gather input from the private sector, ensuring a collaborative approach to CBDC development.While investigation and research into CBDCs continues, the BoJ has said that it will make a final decision on CBDC implementation by 2026.