Pakistan appoints crypto advisor to PM & allocates 2K MW to Bitcoin mining

Dunamu, the operator of South Korea’s leading crypto exchange Upbit, announced today that it launched a new crypto price tracking service, Bitcoin-Ethereum Duo Index (Duo Index). The news was reported by the local media outlet Etoday.  The service tracks the two most prominent tokens, Bitcoin and Ethereum, each being the top performer and the runner-up in terms of market capitalization in the crypto asset market. It is a strategy index that equally weights Bitcoin and Ethereum, with their holding ratio updated to 1:1 every month. The weightings of the two cryptocurrencies in the index are subject to an adjustment factor, which is based on their prices. The BTC-ETC Duo Index is currently available on the Upbit Cryptocurrency Index (UBCI) website. Photo by Markus Winkler on UnsplashThe Federal Reserve’s approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January has drawn significant attention from many investors, driving up the prices not only of Bitcoin but also Ethereum. Dunamu explained that this heightened interest surrounding Bitcoin and Ethereum is the reason behind its launch of the Duo Index. New tool to boost crypto portfolio’s performance Referencing the Duo Index can help investors estimate their own crypto assets portfolios and boost their performances based on the indicators it offers, including the winning rate of the two coins combined.   The current winning rate of the Duo Index stands at over 58%, which is three percentage points higher than that of the Upbit Market Index (UBMI), which tracks not only Bitcoin and Ethereum but also other altcoins. The high winning rate of the Duo Index demonstrates the bullish sentiment surrounding the two top coins. A Dunamu official stated that the company will continue to keep up with the crypto market trend and further release other strategy indices that would serve the emerging needs of the investors.  

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), an independent state agency responsible for the supervision of capital markets including the digital assets sector within the Southeast Asian nation, has moved to block five cryptocurrency exchange platforms. In a statement published by the agency to its website on Thursday, May 29, the SEC outlined that it deems the five exchanges, namely OKX, Bybit, CoinEx, XT.com and 1000X.Live, to be unauthorized crypto trading platforms.Photo by REY MELVIN CARAAN on UnsplashCountering money laundering activityIt is acting against these platforms “to protect investors” and to prevent their use for money laundering purposes. In offering services to Thai users on an unauthorized basis, the exchanges were found to be in breach of Thailand’s Digital Asset Business Act B.E. 2561 (2018). The agency has asked the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) to take measures to block local access to these online platforms. That block will be put in place on June 28. On that basis, the SEC has advised Thai users of such platforms to proceed to remove their assets from them before that June 28 deadline.  An updated version of the Royal Decree on Measures to Prevent and Suppress Technology-related Crime, (No. 2) B.E. 2568 (2025), was introduced by the Thai government in April. It facilitated the establishment of the Committee for the Prevention and Suppression of Technological Crime.  Following practices overseasThe committee met with the MDES in April, with the parties setting out the process through which unauthorized digital asset platforms would be restricted and blocked. On that occasion, similar practices carried out in other jurisdictions within the Asian region were referred to.  In December 2023 India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) moved to block nine offshore crypto exchanges, having issued them with compliance show-cause notices.  In April 2024 the Philippines SEC requested that Google and Apple remove apps associated with global exchange Binance from the local versions of their application stores. Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) similarly ordered both companies to remove apps belonging to unregistered crypto exchanges in February of this year. Back in March, the Thai SEC filed a lawsuit against Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd., an OKX affiliate company. The complaint alleged that OKX had been running an unlicensed exchange in Thailand, and was filed with the Economic Crime Suppression Division of the Thai police force. The SEC outlined on March 21 that a similar criminal complaint had been filed against XT.com. It’s understood that Bybit, CoinEx and 1000X.Live have also been recipients of complaints on the same basis. Earlier this year, the Economic Crime Suppression Division considered taking action against Polymarket, a crypto-based prediction market, on the basis that the platform violated Thailand’s gambling laws, and in doing so, posing a risk to economic and social stability in Thailand. In April 2024, the SEC issued a warning to crypto exchange platforms against the use of misleading advertising, drawing their attention to the fact that advertising of that nature would potentially place those platforms in breach of regulatory guidelines. 

Palau proceeds with Ripple to Phase 2 of PSC currency program launchThe Ministry of Finance of Palau has officially initiated the second phase of its Palau Stablecoin (PSC) program, a move aimed at expanding the digital ecosystem and enhancing user engagement.The launch was confirmed by Jay Hunter Anson, a cybersecurity consultant in Palau and adviser to the Ministry of Finance. Taking to the X social media platform on Friday, Anson outlined that “the Republic of Palau Ministry of #Finance seeks to expand accessibility and user participation, reaching a wider audience through educational initiatives.”PSC is a digital currency issued and managed by the Palau Ministry of Finance. It’s pegged to the United States dollar and operates on Ripple’s XRP Ledger. It first emerged that the authorities in Palau were collaborating with Ripple on this project back in July.Photo by Kurt Cotoaga on UnsplashBuilding on phase 1 successIn this next phase, Palau seeks to extend its collaboration with Ripple, leveraging Ripple’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) platform and technical expertise.The Ministry of Finance in Palau had previously announced the success of the first phase of the PSC program earlier this month. This initial three-month phase involved 168 volunteers from government employees who received 100 PSC each to use at local retailers participating in the program. Payments were made through mobile phones by scanning a QR code, and both retailers and volunteers provided positive feedback about their experience with the digital currency.Anson highlighted that the focus of the second phase of the PSC pilot program includes establishing new collaborations for marketing and sustainable development goals. Furthermore, the program prioritizes the development of a digital ecosystem and increased user engagement, with a strong emphasis on regulatory compliance.Anthony Welfare, CBDC Strategic Adviser at Ripple, shared his insights on the launch of the PSC pilot program’s second phase via social media. He underscored the advantages of blockchain-based digital currency, citing reduced transaction fees and the potential to address the environmental impact of money circulation. However, Welfare also acknowledged specific challenges, including the complexity of moving traditional currencies across Palau’s 340 islands and the high mobile data costs in the country.Welfare pointed out a notable feature of PSC, emphasizing that Palau residents can conduct offline transactions using this blockchain-based digital currency, even during power outages.Agile technological adoptionEarlier this month Ripple President Monica Long was featured by the New York Times in an article where she set out expectations for 2024. Long articulated that she believes that “people cannot maintain their faith in a financial system that relies on systems built decades ago to move money.”With the rise of cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies, it’s clear that our financial rails can and will be internet-native, in turn bringing greater accessibility and affordability to financial services for everyone,” Long added.Smaller nations like the Micronesian Republic of Palau have been more nimble in adjusting to the changes that Long refers to. This PSC stablecoin project demonstrates that reality.Palau is not alone. It emerged a few weeks ago that the Solomon Islands had entered into a collaboration with Japanese blockchain technology firm Soramitsu. As part of that project, a CBDC named Bokolo Cash has been unveiled as a proof of concept.