DBS Bank pilots government grants on blockchain

Binance and Gulf Energy launch digital asset exchange in ThailandThe world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has teamed up with Gulf Energy Development, a leading energy company in Thailand, to operate a digital asset exchange in the country.Photo by Than Diep on UnsplashInvitation-only launchThe new platform, Binance.th, aims to capture the growing demand for crypto services in Southeast Asia. Binance.th, which is currently in its beta testing phase, is expected to open to the public in early 2024. A filing on Wednesday by Gulf to the Thai stock exchange demonstrates that the platform has received approval from the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission to offer exchange and brokerage services for cryptocurrencies and digital tokens. The filing states:“Gulf Binance’s digital asset platform will provide digital asset exchange and digital asset broker services for both cryptocurrencies and digital tokens, prioritizing security and compliance with SEC regulations.”The platform is initially available by invitation only, and the plan is to eventually open the exchange to the general public. It’s understood that the platform will strive to provide a “globally standardized” service that will enhance the level of service in Thailand and promote the development of the country’s blockchain ecosystem.Market opportunityBinance.th enters the Thai crypto market at a time when the local leader, Bitkub, holds a dominant share of 75.4%. Bitkub benefited from the global crypto market downturn in 2022, which affected its competitors such as FTX and Zipmex.Although it has extended market share during the downturn and as a consequence of the demise of other platforms, Bitkub has also struggled with market conditions. In July its parent company Bitkub Capital Group, reduced headcount by six percent. Bitkub recorded $28.6 billion in trading volume last year, out of the total $37.94 billion generated by the top four Thai exchanges.Binance.th hopes to challenge Bitkub’s position by leveraging Binance’s global reputation and expertise in the crypto industry.Legal woesThe launch of Binance.th comes amid Binance’s legal and regulatory troubles in the U.S. and Europe. In September, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Binance, its U.S. subsidiary, and its founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) for allegedly listing unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrencies.In June, the SEC also accused CZ and Binance of illegally marketing its international platform to U.S. customers.Binance has been trying to improve its compliance and governance standards in response to regulatory scrutiny. The company has hired former regulators and executives from the traditional finance sector to lead its operations in various regions. Binance has also applied for licenses and registrations in several jurisdictions, such as the U.K., Singapore and Japan.The origins of this deal stem from a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between Binance and Gulf Energy in January 2022. The joint venture business which emerged acquired a digital operator license in Thailand in May of this year.By expanding its presence in Southeast Asia, Binance hopes to tap into the potential of the emerging crypto markets and diversify its revenue streams. Binance.th also marks the first bank-backed crypto exchange in Thailand, as Gulf Energy Development is partly owned by the state-owned Krung Thai Bank.

Alibaba Cloud Partners With Avalanche to Deploy MetaversesChina’s Alibaba Cloud, a subsidiary of the e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group, and one of the world’s largest cloud computing companies, has entered into a partnership with layer one blockchain project Avalanche.The cloud division of the Chinese tech giant has built a launchpad which will allow businesses to deploy metaverses, hosted on the Avalanche blockchain.Photo by C Dustin on UnsplashEnter the CloudverseAlibaba has named the launchpad “Cloudverse”. In accessing the Cloudverse, businesses will be enabled in customizing, launching and maintaining their very own metaverses, running on top of the Avalanche blockchain. In a tweeted message on Thursday, the Avalanche project team stated that “Alibaba Cloud’s millions of clients can easily deploy custom metaverses and unlock new dimensions for consumers.” It’s clear that the blockchain specialist sees the value in linking up with an entity with the market reach that Alibaba Cloud can provide. Expanding on that, it stated: “Cloudverse gives businesses an easy, white-glove, and cost-effective way to expand their brands to the Web3 virtual world.”Singapore’s MUA DAOAlongside Alibaba Cloud and Avalanche, a Singapore-based project is participating in the collaboration. Metaverse Union of Architects Decentralized Autonomous Organization makes for quite a long-winded entity, meaning that the project is more commonly known as MUA DAO. The DAO sees its mission as helping entities to overcome the technological hurdles of the crypto world by offering the largest virtual reality guild of architects, thus making available a large number of capable builders for the metaverse.Taking to Twitter on Thursday, the project outlined that the partnership marked a significant milestone for the DAO. “As the metaverse middleware, #MUADAO will support Cloudverse from creation and customization to continual operation in #MUAverse,” it outlined.MUA DAO sees the likely outcome of the collaboration as leading to a cost effective mechanism through which Asia-Pacific businesses can expand into the Web3 world, empowering clients to create custom metaverses and unlocking new customer experiences.MUA DAO terms its offering as “MUAverse, describing it as “a one-stop Metaverse Middleware Infrastructure developed and operated by MUADAO, designed to empower enterprises and businesses in the creation, operation, and management of digital assets.”Avalanche’s unique structureThe three entities coordinated the announcement of the collaboration to coincide with the Avalanche Summit II conference, which commenced on Wednesday in Barcelona, Spain and runs until Friday.As a layer one blockchain, Avalanche has a unique structure which enables subnets, sets of nodes or validators which can be built on top of blockchains. Subnets offer the advantage of allowing developers to customize them on an application-specific basis. Such a blockchain infrastructure will be beneficial in facilitating customizable blockchain solutions relative to the proposed Cloudverse.Blockchain credentialsRecently, Alibaba announced its intention to open a Web3 incubator lab in Japan. The lab will be a collaboration between Alibaba, Tokyu Land Corporation and Skeleton Crew Studio. One of its principal objectives will be to enable game developers to learn about and harness blockchain technology relative to virtual reality gaming.Additionally, Alibaba Cloud intends to launch a blockchain node service in Japan at a later stage in 2023. In a further nod to its blockchain credentials, Alibaba Cloud was also a co-organiser of Hong Kong’s recently-held Web3 Festival, alongside Amazon Web Services and Hong Kong-based Cyberport.

Gaming Industry Pioneers to Gather at Korea Blockchain Week 2023The highly anticipated Korea Blockchain Week (KBW) 2023, Asia’s largest blockchain and Web3 conference co-hosted by FACTBLOCK and Hashed, is on the horizon.Marking its sixth year, the conference is set to take place from September 4 to 10 at various venues, including The Shilla Seoul hotel. It will feature a series of panel discussions, keynote speeches, and networking opportunities focused on emerging blockchain and Web3 technologies.Photo by Terry on UnsplashUnveiling expert insights on blockchain, Web3, and moreThe main event, a two-day conference from September 5 to 6 titled “IMPACT,” will host prominent industry figures to discuss blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, decentralized finance (DeFi), Web3, and artificial intelligence (AI). Several gaming enterprises are also set to present their projects and insights into blockchain gaming.In particular, Henry Chang, CEO of Korean gaming publisher Wemade, will deliver a keynote speech titled “Mega-Ecosystem Wemix: Beyond Games.” As a two-time title sponsor of the event, Wemade will also set up exhibition booths for visitors to explore the vast blockchain ecosystem of its WEMIX3.0 Mainnet.There will also be a panel discussion dubbed “Creating a Sustainable Blockchain Gaming Economy: The Importance of Tokenomics” featuring Hilmar V.Pétursson, CEO of Pearl Abyss subsidiary CCP Games, as well as Hwang Sun-young, Production Director at Nexon’s NFT-centered blockchain games ecosystem MapleStory Universe.More leaders like Jose Ko, CEO of Neowiz’s blockchain gaming platform Intella X; Jake Moon, COO of Netmarble’s blockchain subsidiary MARBLEX; and Bryan Song, Biz and Ops Team Lead at game developer Krafton, will talk about the thriving landscape of high-quality blockchain games in Korea during the conference’s last program on September 5.The second day will go on to feature a discussion on the impact of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and gaming on business adoption with Justin Waldron, Co-Founder and CEO of Storyverse, and Robbie Ferguson, Co-Founder and President of Immutable, sharing their insights on the topic.Kyu C. Lee, CEO of Com2uS USA; Han Yoo, Chief Operating Officer of NOD Games; and Tin Nguyen, Founder of Sipher and Athler Labs, are also set to lead a panel centered on the disruptive potential of blockchain in the gaming industry.In addition, companies like XPLA and IPX will hold separate functions to foster lively networking and promote their respective blockchain gaming ecosystems.NFT-centered eventScheduled for September 7 to 8 after the IMPACT conference is The Gateway: Korea, an annual Web3 event that will bring NFT enthusiasts and digital artists together at SFactory in Seongsu-dong, Seoul.