HashKey secures $30M in funding from Chinese VC firm

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) is moving to tighten penalties and enforcement against unregistered cryptocurrency operators, Nada News reported, citing the Nikkei newspaper.Photo by Traxer on UnsplashTo bolster investor protection amid a rise in issues related to highly speculative memecoins, the FSA plans to submit legislative amendments to an upcoming extraordinary Diet session. The revisions will transfer crypto asset regulations from the Payment Services Act to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.  Under the new framework, criminal penalties for operating an unregistered crypto exchange or soliciting over-the-counter derivatives will increase dramatically. Offenders will face up to 10 years in prison or fines of up to 10 million yen ($63,000), or both, marking a sharp increase from the current maximum penalties of three years’ imprisonment or 3 million yen in fines. Regulatory oversight will also expand. The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission will gain the authority to pursue criminal investigations—allowing for on-site inspections and evidence seizures—replacing the current reliance on warning letters and civil injunctions. Additionally, the official legal designation for compliant businesses will change from “cryptoasset exchange service providers” to “cryptoasset trading service providers.” Binance to launch Japan equities USDT perpWhile Japanese regulators focus on ring-fencing domestic investors from unregulated digital assets, global crypto platforms are expanding their offerings tied to the country's traditional financial markets. Illustrating this trend, Binance announced it will launch a USDⓈ-M perpetual contract for EWJUSDT, which tracks the iShares MSCI Japan ETF, on March 19 at 13:30 UTC. The BlackRock-managed ETF provides exposure to large- and mid-cap Japanese equities. This blurring of the lines between traditional Japanese equities and crypto derivatives underscores a wider transformation within the digital asset ecosystem. Beyond trading, blockchain-based assets are increasingly serving as core financial infrastructure, a trend reflected in the growth of the stablecoin sector. Stablecoin market hits $300BAccording to an XWIN Research Japan post on CryptoQuant, on-chain data shows active addresses using ERC-20 stablecoins are surging. Backed by a roughly $300 billion market capitalization dominated by USDT and USDC, stablecoins are gaining ground as a foundational layer of the global economy. XWIN Research Japan outlined how these assets are tailored to distinct regional needs: functioning as digital dollars in high-inflation economies like Nigeria, facilitating remittances in India and the Philippines, and providing institutional liquidity in the U.S.  Supported by its own shifting regulatory landscape, Japan is also gaining traction in this stablecoin space. Yen-pegged stablecoins like JPYC are emerging as practical payment tools designed to bridge traditional Japanese finance with global blockchain networks. JPYC Inc., the issuer of the JPYC stablecoin, recently raised 1.78 billion yen ($11.9 million) in Series B funding led by Asteria and partnered with LINE NEXT to integrate its stablecoin into a wallet based on the LINE Messenger platform. 

Korean Blockchain Fund Supports Web3 Game Developer Growth in Southeast AsiaHashed, a Seoul-based blockchain venture fund, has spearheaded a seven-figure investment round for Decentralised Gaming Ventures (DGV), a Web3 game development support entity primarily serving Southeast Asia (SEA), according to a press release. This funding will help DGV in its mission to foster the growth of promising game developers in the region.Photo by Timo Volz on PexelsSEA as a Web3 Game HubDGV has set its sights on making SEA a hub to nurture game developers and bolster the Web3 game sector. The company has already established a studio in Singapore, where 32 talented game developers work in eight different teams, providing them with the necessary resources to design and introduce new gaming titles. Over the past year, DGV has supported the release of 15 games.Studio in SingaporeDGV further plans to help game developers in the region through alliances with renowned entertainment intellectual property (IP) owners. In the past, the company has teamed up with Singapore-based designer toys and art collectibles studio Mighty Jaxx, and recently appointed gaming veteran Derrick Sim as its Chief Operating Officer. Sim has expertise in collaborating with major entertainment IPs, including Marvel, StarCraft II, and FIFA Online 2.DGV CEO Samson Oh articulated the firm’s aspiration to forge an environment that empowers developers in SEA to create blockchain-powered Web3 games, anticipated to be the gaming industry’s future. With the support from Hashed, DGV looks to reinforce the region’s reputation as a fertile ground for innovative game developers.Hashed’s Co-Founder Ryan Kim commended DGV’s effective leadership, SEA governmental backing, and firm groundwork for expansion in the Web3 gaming industry. The investment in the firm signals the Korean fund’s belief in DGV’s seasoned team and its mission to leverage IP accessibility to advance its digital ownership initiative in the gaming realm.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has stepped into the realm of the metaverse by forming a working group tasked with setting standards for the burgeoning technology.Photo by Li Yang on UnsplashChinese corporate participationThe announcement, made on Friday, revealed that the working group would comprise representatives from the government, academic institutions and major corporations. In its statement, MIIT explained that the establishment of the metaverse working group aligns with the nation's emphasis on industrial development within the technology sector. Notably, the group will feature key figures from major Chinese tech corporations, including Huawei, Ant Group, ZET, Tencent, Baidu, NetEase, Sense Time and others. Public feedback on the selection of group members is invited until Feb. 18, although the specific areas of focus for the group are not detailed in the document. Initial in-roadsThe working group’s headline tech participants have all made some initial in-roads into metaverse technology. Baidu established its own metaverse project, XiRang, in 2021. Late last year it partnered with Qualcomm on the use of extended reality (XR) technology for use on a new metaverse platform. Huawei is paying attention to the promising metaverse space by building up a catalog of metaverse-related patents. Like Baidu, Tencent is focusing on developing XR technology with metaverse development in mind. Last year NetEase collaborated with a Chinese liquor brand to launch a winery-themed metaverse, while issuing NFTs linked to liquor bottles. Establishing metaverse standardsChina has been contemplating the formulation of metaverse standards for some time. In September 2023, MIIT advocated for the creation of a dedicated working group to address the ongoing challenges in metaverse technology. The government's overarching objective is to ensure the healthy and orderly development of the metaverse industry through standardization and guidance, reducing redundant investment costs and fostering collaborative forces for industrial development. Analysts from JPMorgan foresee a potential uptick in the value of Chinese tech stocks if the metaverse gains traction in the country. According to their analysis, Chinese web giants like Tencent and NetEase stand to benefit significantly from metaverse development. Even non-web companies such as China Mobile, Sony and Agora could witness positive impacts should the technology gain widespread adoption. In fact, China Mobile led the development of a metaverse industry alliance in China in 2023. Regional developmentIn a December document, MIIT outlined plans to formulate strategy documents clarifying the development path of Web3.Last year, several local governments in China committed to the development of the metaverse industry. Sichuan, a province once known as a crypto mining hub, aims to reach a market size of 250 billion yuan ($35.1 billion) in the metaverse industry by 2025. Last May, the city of Zhengzhou announced policy proposals to support metaverse companies. The same month, the province of Henan established a $21.7 million fund to support metaverse-related projects. The following month, an initiative was established in Nanjing to nurture metaverse development. Additionally, Shandong province has plans to grow its metaverse-related initiatives to achieve a market size of 150 billion yuan by 2025.