Leader of Japan’s DPP commits to crypto tax cuts ahead of election

The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau in Taiwan has referred Nine Chen, a popular Taiwanese singer-songwriter and television program host, to the prosecutors' office in Taipei on suspicion of aggravated fraud and violations of banking laws for his alleged involvement in a fraud scheme linked to the JPEX cryptocurrency exchange. Local media publication the United Daily News reported on June 26 that as an outcome from an investigation into the matter, the authorities have established that Chen acted as a brand ambassador for JPEX in 2023, receiving 320,000 USDT in the process. While Chen has been referred on to the prosecutors’ office in Taipei, they have yet to press charges against him. Photo by Thomas Tucker on UnsplashOngoing sagaThe first public soundings of an issue in Taiwan relative to JPEX emerged in November 2023. At that time, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office (TDPO) requested that Chang Tung-ying be taken into custody amid allegations of fraud. Tung-ying was understood to have been chief partner at JPEX’s Taiwan office.  The previous month, the TDPO had called Chen in as a witness. The singer had informed local media that he was out of pocket for funds he had held in digital assets via JPEX, incurring a 15% loss.  At that time, the authorities in Taiwan arrested dozens of suspects related to what is believed to be a fraud to the value of approximately $205 million. Hong Kong investigationsJPEX garnered the most negative reaction in Hong Kong. In excess of 2,000 complaints were registered with local regulators within the Chinese autonomous territory relative to the cryptocurrency exchange.  Problems were first reported in September 2023 when the platform outlined that it had experienced a liquidity crisis. Losses in Hong Kong relative to the platform were understood to be in the region of $180 million.  In an effort to deal with the matter, JPEX proposed a plan in October 2023 to transition the business to a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Multiple arrests were made by the Hong Kong authorities, with a collection of assets being seized in an effort to gather up funds on behalf of platform customers who found themselves out of pocket. While JPEX hit the headlines in 2023 for questionable activity in Asian markets, the business is actually headquartered in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In September of last year, Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) outlined that as far as it was concerned, JPEX wasn’t regulated in Dubai and hadn’t registered with the regulator.  Following the same pattern in Taiwan, JPEX had not registered with the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) relative to anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, which it requires crypto platforms to comply with. Taiwanese authorities have experienced issues with a number of crypto platforms over the course of the past 18 months. Aside from JPEX, the founder of ACE Exchange, David Pan, was arrested in January 2024. Charges of money laundering and fraud were brought against him. As with JPEX, there was a connection with Dubai in that Pan was also the founder of Dubai-based crypto exchange ZORIXchange. In November 2023, Bitgin, a local crypto exchange, found itself at the center of an investigation into money laundering.

Okto commits $5 million treasury fund to support Vauld usersOkto, the self-custody DeFi wallet app offered by Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX, has pledged a $5 million treasury fund to provide support to Vauld users.Vauld, a Singapore-based crypto lending platform, brought a halt to all trading, withdrawal and deposit activities in 2022 as it ran into liquidity issues. The business has been undergoing a process of restructuring under the protection of the courts in Singapore ever since.Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashIncentivizing user asset transferIn response, Okto has stepped forward with a proactive approach to assist Vauld users in their transition. Okto is offering a 2% bonus to users who opt to transfer their assets from Vauld to Okto.Neeraj Khandelwal, the Founder of Okto, emphasized the company’s overarching mission while unveiling this $5 million initiative. He said: “While this $5 million fund represents one of our initiatives to support the crypto ecosystem, our overarching vision is to empower the Web3 community through cutting-edge technology-backed platforms and apps designed to tackle the broader challenges within the ecosystem.”Self-custody assurance featureIn addition to this incentive, Okto is also offering a self-custody assurance feature. This feature allows users to gain complete ownership of their private keys, ensuring that access to their funds remains exclusively in their hands. Moreover, users can benefit from round-the-clock access to monitor their assets. That delivers a reassuring sense of control and peace of mind regarding the users’ cryptocurrency holdings, against a backdrop of those users having had the experience of being unable to withdraw their funds when the Vauld platform paused trading.The concept of self-custody is central to what crypto was supposed to be about. It grants complete ownership of assets to the user. Khandelwal outlined that Okto was established on the basis that it could strike a balance between security, convenience and custody. In this way, it felt that it could resolve what could be termed as the crypto wallet trilemma. “Okto’s enduring mission has been to provide users with a secure and user-friendly app, and we will persistently strive to achieve this objective,” Khandelwal added.Mitigating riskLaunched globally earlier this year, Okto is a keyless, self-custody Web3 wallet that ensures secure access to DeFi services while prioritizing the safety of users’ funds. This all-in-one Web3 app approach eliminates the cumbersome need to safeguard seed phrases, ensuring users have full control of their funds.Moreover, it mitigates the risk of a single point of failure through its state-of-the-art, custom-built, consensus-driven Multi-Party Computation (MPC) technology. With MPC, private keys required for fund access and control are never fully exposed, guaranteeing the constant security of users’ assets.Vivek Gupta, Chief Technology Officer at Okto, elaborated on the technology behind Okto’s product offering, stating:“Okto uses state of the art Multi-Party-Computation algorithms to create users’ private keys. Our MPC algorithm never produces a complete private key. Our MPC algorithm uses three nodes which communicate with each other under proprietary encryption channels and create a unique sensitive material on each node.”In addition to its security measures, Okto wallet boasts compatibility with multiple Web3 chains such as Polygon, BSC and Avalanche, along with protocols like Stader and WooFi, among others.

Bhutan Partners With Bitdeer on Crypto Mining FundSingapore-based Bitcoin mining firm Bitdeer has entered into a partnership with the commercial arm of the Royal Government of Bhutan to jointly develop green digital asset mining operations within the Kingdom of Bhutan.Bitdeer issued a press release on Wednesday to announce the partnership. Druk Holdings and Investments (DHI) acts as the commercial arm of the Royal Government of Bhutan. It was formed pursuant to a Royal Charter in 2007 with the mandate of making investments on behalf of Bhutan while optimizing usage of resources.Driving growthAccording to the information provided, the two companies will “launch the partnership through establishing a closed-end fund with an estimated size of up to US$500 million.” The initiative will see a canvas for funding commencing at the end of this month. Bitdeer’s role in the partnership is that of a general partner while DHI will act as a strategic limited partner.Bitdeer’s Chairman, Jihan Wu, expressed his enthusiasm in gaining access to Bhutan’s zero-emissions hydropower resources through the partnership. Wu stated that the fund represents “a pathway to foster global stakeholder networks that are driving growth and innovation in the technology sector in Bhutan.”Once funding has been raised, that capital will be channeled directly into greenfield operations on the ground in Bhutan. That encompasses the construction of data centers and what the joint parties to the initiative describe as “the acquisition of cutting edge technology.”Photo by Singkham on PexelsDigital transformationUjjwal Deep Dahal, CEO of DHI, stated: “The partnership with Bitdeer to launch a carbon-free digital asset mining data center represents an investment in a more connected and sustainable domestic economy, helping ensure we are at the forefront of global innovation.”Bhutan is executing on a plan to accelerate digital transformation and economic diversification by exploiting opportunities in emerging sectors. Further evidence that this is part of a broader longer term strategy emerged recently. Dahal had told a local Bhutanese publication that DHI had been engaged in bitcoin mining on behalf of the Kingdom since bitcoin had a unit price of $5,000. In that interview, Dahal acknowledged that the involvement from the outset of its bitcoin mining activities was part of a broader, long term strategy.Bitdeer’s Asia expansionAlthough Bitdeer is Singapore-based, its operations up until this point have been focused on facilities located in Northern Europe and North America. According to this latest announcement, the bitcoin miner sees this partnership as a “crucial expansion into Asia for Bitdeer.” A shift in geographical focus may be well timed by Bitdeer as it emerged today that President Joe Biden in the United States is considering the imposition of a 30% tax on crypto mining.The bitcoin miner completed a long overdue special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with Blue Safari Group last month. As part of that process, it listed on the Nasdaq. That public listing process has been a baptism of fire for the company as shortly afterwards, the company traded down 30% from the point of its initial listing.A corporate filing made by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provides more detail with regard to Bitdeer’s plans in Bhutan. “We expect to generate 100 MW out of the 550 MW power supply from Bhutan, where the construction of a mining data center is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2023 and complete in the third quarter of 2023,” the filing states.