Historic ruling sees Dubai court validate crypto as salary payment

Terraform Labs Co-Founder Indicted in South KoreaTen individuals linked to the Terra USD collapse have been indicted in South Korea on charges associated with violations of capital markets law, including the Co-Founder of Terraform Labs, Daniel Shin. That’s according to a report published by Bloomberg on Tuesday.©Pexels/Donald TongTwo of the ten were charged with breach of trust while the remaining eight, including Shin, were charged with illegal trading. Prosecutors confirmed that all of the charged individuals have ties to Terraform Labs, the company responsible for developing the Terra protocol, and the Terra USD (TUSD) stablecoin and Luna cryptocurrency which collapsed in 2022.It’s understood that the ten individuals were also accused of illegal disclosure of clients’ payment information and the embezzlement of corporate funds. The authorities have claimed that the ten individuals are responsible for causing “astronomical damage” to investors. They estimate that all ten of them took 463 billion won, around $347 million, in profit.Business interestsShin co-founded Terraform Labs with Do Kwon in 2018. He left the project in 2020, long before its spectacular failure in 2022. However, he would have profited considerably from the project. Prior to co-founding Terraform Labs, Shin had founded lifestyle commerce company TMON in 2010. Two years later, he founded venture capital and private equity firm, Fast Track Asia while in 2017 he was a founding partner of another venture capital and private equity firm, Bass Investment.He remains involved in all of those other businesses. Furthermore, Shin founded integrated payments firm PortOne Global in January 2020, immediately upon exiting Terraform Labs. He remains CEO of PortOne Global today.$185 million frozenOn Tuesday, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office outlined that it had frozen assets to the value of 246.8 billion won, approximately $185 million, belonging to those that it has brought charges against. South Korean authorities had previously acknowledged a difficulty in seizing assets related to Terraform Labs Co-Founder Do Kwon. It’s understood that a transfer of funds from Do Kwon to a prominent South Korean law firm is being investigated. Otherwise, the search for funds has led them overseas where it’s understood that Do Kwon purchased real estate in his mother’s name in the United States in a bid to evade asset confiscation.Free pending trialShin remains at liberty pending trial. Back in December, a South Korean court turned down a request to arrest him on the basis that he wasn’t likely to destroy evidence and wouldn’t pose a flight risk.That hasn’t proven to be the case where his former colleague Do Kwon is concerned. Do Kwon fled to Montenegro where he was recently charged with having entered the country on false documents. Both South Korea and the United States have formally applied for his extradition. In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued both Do Kwon and Terraform Labs. Terraform Labs subsequently submitted a request to the courts in the US to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming the SEC lacks jurisdiction.

BS Universe to Leverage Burrito Wallet’s Multichain Capabilities for Global IP ProjectBS Universe, the Singapore-based company behind the globally popular intellectual properties (IPs) Pinkfong and Baby Shark, said Friday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Burrito Wallet — the digital wallet developed by Rotonda, a subsidiary of Korean crypto exchange Bithumb. Through this new partnership, BS Universe aims to make the user experience on its open-world ecosystem, Baby Shark Universe, more convenient by utilizing the multichain blockchain support capabilities of Burrito Wallet.Photo by Shubham Dhage on UnsplashThis is part of the company’s goal to introduce a new paradigm by merging global IPs with innovative technologies.Multichain tech meets Web3 ecosystemBurrito Wallet is a Web3.0 digital wallet that supports 11 mainnets including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Polygon, along with over 1,300 cryptocurrencies. It also incorporates an easy sign-up and wallet formation system while enabling users to send NFTs and virtual assets through chatting without the hassle of wallet addresses, thereby reducing the risk of faulty deposits.BS Universe’s Baby Shark Universe project is a joint venture between Baby Shark Games, a subsidiary of The Pinkfong Company’s gaming division, and Retro Future, a pixel game developer. This project aims to create a Web3-based open-world ecosystem. The company also joined the Polygon ecosystem in April and is consistently updating its products and services.Sneak peek of Baby Shark UniverseBS Universe plans to reveal the pre-alpha version of Baby Shark Universe at Next Block 2023 — a conference co-hosted by Rotonda and Bithumb META, Bithumb’s metaverse subsidiary, for accelerating joint Web3 projects — on September 4. Through efforts like this, the company intends to increase interactions with users.

ClayStack, the crypto liquid staking platform, has made a strategic move into the Ethereum restaking arena through EigenLayer, providing users with reward points in anticipation of its upcoming token launch.Photo by Kanchanara on Unsplash‘Redefining the staking landscape’The Singaporean platform describes its mission as redefining “the staking landscape by helping users unlock the underlying value of their crypto assets, and we are doing this by building a decentralized cross-chain liquid staking protocol.” In its efforts to deliver on that mission, it appears that the crypto startup is set to convert its Ethereum liquid staking token, csETH, into a liquid restaking token, leveraging the Ethereum restaking protocol offered by EigenLayer. Eigenlayer enables restaked sidechains, through which ETH restakers can participate in Ethereum-centric consensus protocols. Reward pointsIn an announcement on Tuesday, ClayStack revealed its plan to offer reward points to users participating in Ethereum restaking, with a 1:1 ratio for redemption when the platform's token is launched. Each clay point earned will be redeemable for one clay token during the token launch. Notably, the platform distinguishes itself by offering a 1:1 redemption system, setting it apart from other points programs. Founder and CEO Mohak Agarwal explained how the project is adopting EigenLayer's protocol for this new service. Agarwal had teased that the project had something new to offer in the pipeline when taking to social media last week, writing:”We are entering into a new era where staking will become more dynamic, accessible, and rewarding for the entire DeFi community.” Currently, ClayStack accepts native ETH for direct restaking on EigenLayer. Agarwal confirmed to The Block that other liquid staking tokens, such as Lido staked ether (stETH) and Rocket Pool ether (rETH), will be integrated into the platform in the coming days. He emphasized that these tokens will be directly deposited on EigenLayer, streamlining the restaking process. Growing interest in restakingEthereum restaking has gained significant traction since EigenLayer's launch in June of the previous year, with a total value locked (TVL) in smart contracts reaching approximately $1.7 billion. Renzo Protocol recently entered the Ethereum restaking space via EigenLayer, securing a $3.2 million seed funding round. Despite being in beta, Renzo has already achieved a TVL exceeding $116 million. ClayStack's TVL currently stands at around $2.25 million, having initially launched liquid staking for Polygon's MATIC token in 2022. Following that, the platform introduced Ethereum liquid staking in September. However, the latest move marks a shift in focus towards Ethereum restaking due to challenges faced on the Polygon network. Agarwal outlined the reward structure, stating that 20 clay points will be allocated per ETH per week, with rates subject to change every Monday but generally remaining constant throughout the week. There are no minimum or maximum points for individual users, although there is a weekly total cap for all users combined, which refreshes at the beginning of each week.