Korean banks cooperate with Polish counterparts in digital finance and blockchain

Night Crows, a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in 13th-century Europe with play-to-earn (P2E) features, is set to launch next month. This global release will be available in nine languages across 170 countries, except for South Korea and China, according to a recent press release by its South Korean operator, the blockchain game company Wemade.European history with fictionDeveloped by MADNGINE, Night Crows harnesses the power of Unreal Engine 5 to deliver highly realistic battles. The game merges elements of European history with fiction, creating a unique universe for players to explore. Within this universe, players can select from four classes and eight subclasses for their characters. Thanks to its inter-server technology, Night Crows enables over 1,000 players from three servers to combat against each other in the "Battlefront," as well as collaborate and trade at the "World Exchange."Photo by Nik Shuliahin 💛💙 on UnsplashBlockchain-based economyThe March 12 worldwide launch of Night Crows incorporates the Multi Utility Token Economy (MUTE) within Wemade’s WEMIX 3.0 blockchain network. In this economy, users can complete requests to earn DIA, an in-game resource that can be used to mint Crow. The Crow token will serve as the base token for the game and will be supported on WEMIX Play’s GameFi platform. Last month, Night Crows kicked off its pre-registration campaign to attract gamers from around the globe. The game will be available for pre-download on March 11 via Google Play, the Apple App Store and the web.P2E games banned in KoreaNight Crows first made its debut in South Korea last April, where it quickly captured the interest of Korean gamers. However, the version released in Korea differs from the one planned for the global launch, as it lacks a blockchain-based economy. This absence is in line with the Game Industry Promotion Act in Korea, which prohibits the conversion of in-game resources, whether tangible or intangible, into money.

Lotte Data Communication, the IT service management unit of South Korean conglomerate LG Group, brought its hyperrealistic metaverse platform Caliverse and electric vehicle charging platform EVSIS to the stage at CES 2024, attracting great interest from stakeholders from around the world, according to an article by South Korean news outlet KG News.Photo by GuerrillaBuzz on UnsplashExploring tomorrow's technologyCES is one of the biggest annual tech conventions in the world organized by Consumer Technology Association, where companies and other industry leaders gather in Las Vegas to showcase their innovations and visions for a future led by advanced technology. This year’s event was held from Jan. 9 to 12.  AI takes the spotlightIn particular, user-engaging technologies such as generative AI received much attention at the convention, such as AI mobile scanning, which allows anyone to take a picture of their product with a mobile device and virtually create their own digital object in less than five minutes. Another new technology called metaverse live streaming allows users to interact with each other in the virtual space in real-time by replicating their appearance. Standing at the forefront of the IT industryLotte’s Caliverse platform provides deeply immersive content based on world-class technologies such as ultra-high-definition VR shots, image synthesis and real-time rendering graphics. It can also be experienced through a head-mounted display (HMD) as well as most other electronic devices such as 3D monitors, PCs and smartphones, maximizing user accessibility. The company also showcased various EV chargers and digital platforms that are used in its other new product EVSIS, gaining popularity among visitors at the event. Lotte aims to further establish itself as a global market leader in the IT industry based on these cutting-edge platforms.

Hong Kong Deems Crypto as PropertyIn dealing with a case involving defunct Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Gatecoin, a Hong Kong judge has determined cryptocurrency as being property “capable of being held in trust.” Presiding over the case, Justice Linda Chan stated recently that Hong Kong takes a broad definition of what constitutes property.©Pexels/mitbg000Digital assets held in trustHaving expended efforts to try and recover funds from a former payments service provider that the company had partnered with, Gatecoin announced that it would shut down the business and commence the liquidation of the business in 2019. With bankruptcy proceedings being notoriously slow, that process continues today, resulting in Justice Chan’s recent determination.The notion of property held in trust is a common theme that has been explored in a number of cryptocurrency business bankruptcy processes recently, including the BlockFi, Celsius and FTX processes.Gatecoin has not proven to be any different in this regard. Liquidators had turned to the Hong Kong courts for direction as to how creditors’ digital assets, as held on the platform, should be defined. If property is deemed to have been held “in trust”, then that determination has implications for the owner of those assets relative to the bankruptcy proceedings.In the case of BlockFi, a determination was made in a US court that those who had simply custodied digital assets with the platform without earning any yield were property owners and that they should have their assets returned.The importance of Terms of Service (ToS)Alex Mashinsky, the founder and CEO of failed crypto lending competitor Celsius outlined to service users on a number of occasions that the assets remained their property even though his company used customer assets for various trading activities. The bankruptcy judge reached a different determination based on the terms of service. Service users had acknowledged in signing off on Celsius’ terms of service that assets held on the platform that accessed yield-bearing products became the property of Celsius when deposited within those products on the Celsius platform.Although it has not been dealt with yet, 1.4 million creditors relative to the bankruptcy process of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX are likely to discover later this year if they can claim “in trust” property rights. An ad hoc group of creditors has taken legal action for the return of their digital assets on the basis of an assertion that the assets remained their property when transferred onto the platform.ImplicationsWhilst a seemingly uninteresting determination to anyone less informed about such bankruptcy proceedings, such decisions can have profound consequences. In a bankruptcy process, there is a hierarchy of creditors, with some having greater rights than others when it comes to the distribution of bankruptcy estate funds. Recognition of assets being held in trust as property would likely take those property owners out of the bankruptcy process, allowing the return of their funds (where available) while others who are classified as creditors get a distribution of whatever funds are left in the bankruptcy estate thereafter.Additional complexityGatecoin’s case was further complicated by the existence of various sets of terms of service. In two of the three instances, the court found that no trust language existed. There is one subset of creditors who may have the ability to claim their digital assets as property. The liquidators have agreed to identify them and contact them in that regard.While the process may be proving to be a minefield for Gatecoin’s creditors, it has served a broader purpose in crypto more generally as it has provided yet another opportunity for another jurisdiction, in this instance Hong Kong, to provide some more clarity with regard to the legal status and standing of cryptocurrency.