HashKey to list platform token later this year

Kazakhstan’s central bank has begun testing a stablecoin tied to the national currency, advancing a broader plan to modernize the country’s financial infrastructure. According to Cointelegraph, the pilot, run inside the National Bank of Kazakhstan’s Digital Assets Regulatory Sandbox, introduces Evo, a token with the ticker KZTE that is built on Solana and backed by the tenge. Intebix, a local crypto exchange, and Eurasian Bank are issuing KZTE. Mastercard is preparing connections that would link the token with major stablecoin issuers worldwide. The central bank is not minting the asset, but it is providing the regulatory framework that allows the token to be created and tested. Intebix founder Talgat Dossanov said the initiative is the first instance of the monetary authority directly engaging in the process of stablecoin issuance.Photo by GuerrillaBuzz on UnsplashBuilding a national crypto ecosystemEarly use cases focus on practical payments and on-ramps. The token is designed to widen the bridge between crypto and fiat, support conversions on exchanges, and enable spending through crypto cards. Officials described the pilot as a building block in a national digital asset ecosystem that aims to nurture new financial tools and deepen the local market. The program aligns with guidance from President Kassym Jomart Tokayev, who in a Sept.  8 address urged faster development of a comprehensive digital asset environment. He called for a new banking law to boost competition, attract new players, strengthen fintech, and ease the circulation of digital assets. Tokayev also cited progress with the digital tenge, already in use to finance projects through the sovereign wealth fund, and proposed creating a state crypto fund under the central bank’s investment arm to launch a strategic reserve of promising tokens. USD stablecoin accepted as regulatory feesRegulatory efforts extend beyond the sandbox. On Sept. 4, the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA), the independent regulator of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), launched a pilot that lets companies based at the center pay regulatory fees using stablecoins backed by the U.S. dollar. More than 4,000 firms from over 80 countries are registered at the AIFC, and Bybit was the first to sign a multilateral memorandum of understanding with the regulator. Under the fee pilot, licensed Digital Asset Service Providers may join as Providers and act as agents for payers who choose to settle obligations to the regulator with stablecoins. AFSA chief executive Evgeniya Bogdanova said the initiative is meant to position the financial center as a hub for digital finance and to keep pace with global trends in stablecoin adoption. Together, the sandbox stablecoin, the digital tenge rollout, and the AIFC payments pilot signal a coordinated push to make digital assets a larger part of Kazakhstan’s financial system. Authorities are testing how these tools can operate within clear rules, with an eye to drawing investment and keeping the country connected to fast-moving changes in global finance. 

The Korea Customs Service (KCS) is preparing to establish a dedicated task force to combat the surge in cryptocurrency-related crimes. According to a report by local media outlet Joseilbo, this initiative was deliberated in a meeting chaired by KCS Commissioner Ko Kwang-hyo, specifically convened to discuss strategies against foreign exchange violations. The KCS reported that last year, it uncovered a total of 198 criminal incidents related to foreign exchange activities, with the combined value reaching approximately KRW 1.9 trillion ($1.4 billion).Photo by Mathew Schwartz on UnsplashCrypto involved in 88% of forex violations Of the total amount mentioned, violations of the Foreign Exchange Transaction Act comprised KRW 1.654 trillion, with 88% of these incidents involving virtual assets. This represents a dramatic surge in the involvement of virtual assets in financial crimes, especially when compared to 2020, where crypto-related offenses constituted 3% of the total value linked to forex violations. This trend underscores the rapidly growing role of virtual assets in such illicit activities. To address these issues, the KCS is set to broaden its crackdown on illicit cryptocurrency activities. This crackdown targets practices such as transferring foreign currency overseas to acquire virtual assets for arbitrage trading and using virtual assets to conceal trade payments, thereby attempting to bypass customs duties.Task force’s international collaborationAs part of this initiative, the country's customs agency aims to build a task force focused on tackling crypto crimes. This specialized group will be responsible for gathering and analyzing data, conducting investigations and recommending regulatory enhancements. The task force will collaborate with financial regulators to obtain crypto transaction records from domestic cryptocurrency exchanges. Moreover, it will work with customs authorities of other countries, including Hong Kong, to collect details on crypto transactions conducted abroad. 

NATIX Network, an open geospatial intelligence network built upon proprietary AI technology, has partnered with Southeast Asian superapp Grab to collaborate on autonomous driving technology and mapping. NATIX is a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) project that exists within the Solana ecosystem. Singapore-headquartered Grab offers a broad range of services via its app, including ride-hailing, package delivery and food delivery. Additionally, the firm offers mobile payments and insurance products.Photo by Afif Ramdhasuma on UnsplashReshaping the mapping industryIn a blog post published to its website on May 6, NATIX outlined that the strategic partnership has been formed with a view towards reshaping the mapping industry. It explained that the objective in this regard would be to combine Grab’s camera hardware and its AI-based map-making software stack with NATIX’s decentralized blockchain-powered mapping data.  Due to the nature of the services that it has offered in Southeast Asia since it was founded in 2012, Grab has, through necessity, become involved in mapping to enhance its service delivery. As a consequence, it has developed a suite of cameras including its KartaCam, a small action camera which can be mounted on bike helmets or car windshields, and a 360-degree standalone camera, KartaCam 2, with built-in sensors, AI image optimization and GPS capabilities. ‘Internet of Cameras’For its part, NATIX claims to have built the world’s largest on-street camera network. As part of the collaboration, NATIX will use Grab’s hardware and software technology to expand its “Internet of Cameras.” Posting on LinkedIn, GrabMaps set out its thoughts on the partnership, stating:”By combining GrabMaps' AI-powered mapping technology with NATIX's decentralised data network, we're enabling real-time, high-fidelity map updates across the globe. As part of this collaboration, NATIX will launch VX360, a device built on Grab's hardware platform that allows Tesla drivers to collect and share 360° vehicle imagery.” Appearing on the Unleashing DePIN podcast recently, NATIX Co-Founder and CEO Alireza Ghods outlined that NATIX will launch VX360, a proprietary device built by leveraging Grab’s existing hardware. He explained that this collaboration saves NATIX in terms of overall project cost and months of R&D, all of which enables it to get to market faster.VX360 enables Tesla drivers to capture and share 360-degree imagery.  Future potentialGhods spoke to the additional future potential that the collaboration holds: “The interesting part is that they have other types of devices as well, they have a dashcam, a 360 camera, and our plan is to definitely integrate all of this into our map making and data collection pipeline.” This is not the first partnership that GrabMaps has established related to mapping. Previously it formed collaborations with Microsoft’s Bing Maps, navigation and mapping app Mappls and location data specialist Loqate.  Ghods believes that NATIX can go one better than centralized mapping projects like TomTom and Google Street View. He told Cointelegraph that “a blockchain-based incentivization system provides better results in terms of frequency, participation, and coverage.” The NATIX co-founder asserted that such data can be gathered at a fraction of the cost via users’ devices.