Korean won overtakes U.S. dollar in Q1 crypto trading dominance

HashKey Group, a Hong Kong-headquartered digital asset financial services firm, has partnered with Bosera Asset Management (International) Co., the Hong Kong subsidiary of Chinese asset management firm Bosera Asset Management, to launch the world’s first tokenized money market exchange-traded funds (ETFs). In a press release published by PR Newswire on behalf of HashKey Group on March 28, HashKey outlined that the two funds are titled “Bosera HKD Money Market ETF (Tokenised Class)” and ”Bosera USD Money Market ETF (Tokenised Class).”While the products were launched last Friday, they won’t officially go live until April. Both products have been approved by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). Photo by Vighnesh Dudani on UnsplashArising out of Project EnsembleThis latest product offering has its origins in Project Ensemble, an initiative launched by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) back in March 2024. The original aim of Project Ensemble was to support the development of the tokenization market in Hong Kong. The SFC got involved later that year, collaborating with the HKMA in the launch of a regulatory sandbox aimed at advancing the tokenization of assets in various financial sectors. In October 2024 it emerged that HashKey was participating within that sandbox, with these new products arising from those efforts. The company claims that these tokenized products improve upon what’s currently on offer via traditional finance, providing greater transparency and operational efficiency, thanks to the use of blockchain technology.  HashKey Tokenisation, the tokenization arm of the firm, takes care of full-process design and execution for tokenized issuance. Subsequently, these products will be deployed on HashKey Chain, a regulatory-compliant, institutional-grade layer-2 network geared towards bridging the gap between traditional finance and Web3. On that subject, HashKey Group Chairman and CEO Dr. Xiao Feng stated:"Bringing money market ETFs on-chain through blockchain technology is a crucial step for traditional finance to embrace Web3.” Looking towards the future, Feng added that the company expects “more traditional financial institutions to actively enter the crypto finance sector through innovative tokenisation products.”Anna Liu, CEO of HashKey Tokenisation, told the South China Morning Post (SCMP) that “the biggest advantages of this product are that the underlying assets are mature and high-quality, and it fully considers security and regulatory compliance while reducing investor costs and improving overall liquidity.” Liu added that the firm hopes that this product offering is the first of many, paving the way for subsequent tokenized real-world asset (RWA) offerings. Last month, Hong Kong-based digital asset platform OSL launched a tokenized mutual fund, the ChinaAMC HKD Digital Money Market Fund. The retail tokenized fund has been issued by China Asset Management (Hong Kong), with Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) acting as tokenization agent, digital platform operator and administrator. In the U.S., financial services company Fidelity Investments recently filed documents with the intention of rolling out a tokenized U.S. money market fund. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, launched its tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, last year. The fund is expected to surpass a market cap of $2 billion in the coming weeks.

Blockchain firm PiLab Technology has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mirae Asset Securities to collaborate on creating Web3 infrastructure – namely Web3 technology for identity authentication – and identify asset management trends in the Web3 sphere. This comes in an effort to establish leverage in the emerging tokenized securities market, according to Korean news outlet The Block Post on Thursday (KST).Photo by GuerrillaBuzz on Unsplash"Through our collaboration with Mirae Asset Securities, we expect to play a major role in the convergence of blockchain technology and financial markets," said Park Do-hyun, CEO of PiLab Technology. "PiLab Technology will continue to lead the way in making Web3 services more user-friendly." Financial giants uniteMirae Asset Securities is the largest investment banking and stock brokerage company by market capitalization in South Korea. The firm previously co-founded a financial innovation consortium with telecommunications conglomerate SK Telecom called Next Finance Initiative, which is preparing to issue tokenized securities by operating a token securities working group on a global blockchain network. Hana Financial Group also recently joined the consortium as a member company. Pioneering services in Web3Meanwhile, PiLab Technology operates its own multichain network called Bifrost, which houses a deposit and lending DeFi service called BiFi. The company has previously raised KRW 14 billion (approximately $10.9 million) in funding from venture capital firms like Korea Investment Partners and more. Last month, PiLab teamed up with the Korea Information Certificate Authority (KICA) and Travel Rule solutions provider CODE to establish an authentication system to advance the country’s Web3 environment. 

OSL Group, a Hong Kong-based publicly listed digital asset exchange platform, has raised $300 million to finance further expansion of the business.Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashLargest publicly disclosed crypto equity raise in AsiaIn a press release published on July 25, the company claimed that it has completed the largest publicly disclosed equity raise to date within Asia’s digital asset sector. It suggested the funding signaled market confidence in the digital asset business model that the firm is pursuing.  OSL intends to allocate the funding across three primary areas. Acquisition opportunities are one core area the company plans to home in on. It says that it will continue its “aggressive global expansion drive” through a combination of licensing, partnerships and acquisitions.  As part of its global expansion strategy, last month the company acquired a 90% stake in Evergreen Crest Holdings, an Indonesian crypto exchange operator. In February, it rebranded CoinBest, a Japanese crypto exchange, as OSL Japan after acquiring it late last year. Stablecoin initiativesOSL plans to pursue new global business initiatives, including initiatives related to stablecoins and payments. It stated that it will accelerate its “build-out of global business and payment networks, integrating fiat currencies, stablecoins, and major digital assets.” The company feels that investment in infrastructure of this nature will facilitate its institutional and enterprise clients, giving them access to “secure, efficient, and seamless cross-border payment solutions.” The third core area it will allocate funding to is working capital. OSL believes that enhancing the strength and depth of its working capital will give the firm a competitive advantage over its rivals in terms of reach, coverage, scale and volume. The company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Ian Wong, commented on this latest development, stating: "This US$300 million equity raise marks a major milestone in our journey and reflects strong conviction in OSL's digital asset strategy and execution.” OSL is already well established as a key player in the digital assets space in Hong Kong. Founded in 2003 as BC Technology Group, it later rebranded and in 2018 the company expanded its services to cater to the digital assets sector. In 2023, OSL, alongside rival HashKey, became the first digital assets companies in the Chinese autonomous territory to be licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). Supporting spot crypto ETF issuersOSL supports asset management firms that have listed Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), through its staking and digital asset custody infrastructure. In April, the company was approved by the SFC to offer Ethereum staking services. In July 2024, the company claimed that 88% of spot digital asset ETF trading in Hong Kong had been carried out by firms that it has partnerships with. The timing of the announcement of this latest development is interesting, given that one of the focuses for the funds raised is to develop stablecoin-related business, against a backdrop of Hong Kong’s new Stablecoins Ordinance coming into effect in less than a week from now.Bloomberg reported last week that around fifty companies have expressed interest in obtaining stablecoin licensing in the city, with the local regulator and central banking institution, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), likely to issue ten licenses.