Ant Group preparing to apply for stablecoin licenses in Hong Kong & Singapore

BitOasis Obtains First Early-Stage Broker Dealer License in DubaiBitOasis, a leading platform within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for the purchase, sale and trading of cryptocurrency, has become the first crypto company to be awarded a broker-dealer license by the Dubai regulator.Photo by ZQ Lee on UnsplashMinimum viable productIn a blog post published to the company’s website on Monday, BitOasis outlined that it has received a minimum viable product (MVP) Operational License from the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) of Dubai. An MVP incorporates the minimum features necessary to satisfy early adopter clients.It’s a means through which a basic offering can be brought onto the market, feedback can be solicited and the product offering can be improved upon on that basis. From the regulator’s perspective, by offering an MVP licensing programme, it too can adjust regulation as products are further developed.BitOasis CEO and Co-Founder Ola Doudin took to Twitter to welcome the news, outlining that the award of the license is “an important milestone for @bitoasis , the Emirate of Dubai and the growing UAE crypto ecosystem.”The license award now allows BitOasis to provide broker-dealer services in respect of virtual assets under VARAs regulatory oversight, to qualified institutional and retail investors, while basing operations out of Dubai.Serving GCC and MENA regionsBitOasis was founded in 2016 by Doudin alongside Daniel Robenek. It’s focusing its efforts on servicing the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) area (which covers six Arab countries, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), together with the broader MENA region. BitOasis has also obtained “in-principle” approval from the regulator in Bahrain.The platform offers clients the ability to trade in excess of sixty cryptocurrencies in trading pairs with fiat currencies such as the US dollar (USD), the United Arab Emirates dirham (AED), the Saudi rial (SAR) and the Turkish lira (TL). In developing the business, BitOasis has undergone six funding rounds to date, including two initial seed rounds, together with Series A and Series B-level funding. Its backers include companies such as Banvest, Pantera Capital, Digital Currency Group, Wamda Capital and Global Founders Capital.Strategic partnershipsThe company stated that it intends to leverage the license to “launch strategic partnerships in Dubai and across the United Arab Emirates.” Additionally, the licensing will enable the company to launch new virtual asset products “with a continued focus on driving accessibility, consumer protection and utility across the virtual asset ecosystem.”VARAs CEO Henson Orser welcomed BitOasis to the Dubai regulator’s MVP programme phase and outlined that “the VARA ecosystem aims to strike a balance between value creation, risk mitigation, and enhanced investment opportunities with consumer protection at its core.”Dubai and the United Arab Emirates more broadly, have been moving at pace more recently in an effort to develop a regional hub for the virtual assets industry. Last month it emerged that the UAE had begun accepting licensing applications from crypto companies and only a number of weeks later, Dubai’s VARA has already awarded its first license.A number of weeks ago, crypto exchange Bybit announced that it was basing its operations out of Dubai. VARA is licensing crypto companies on a stage by stage basis. In response to a number of high profile crypto firm failures in other jurisdictions in 2022, the Dubai regulator outlined in April that it was stepping up its level of scrutiny of crypto businesses.

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.

Hana Financial and FSS join hands to foster young digital talentHana Financial Group said Sunday that the South Korean financial holding company held a proclamation ceremony for the second Hana Digital Power On Project last Thursday — a program designed to cultivate young digital talent in emerging technologies like blockchain and big data — at the Hana Global Campus in Incheon.Support from tech juggernautsThe program, sponsored by the Korean Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and several tech giants such as Google, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, and SK Telecom, was first held last year. This year’s project saw the participation of over 50 individuals forming 16 teams, Hana said.Photo by Marvin Meyer on UnsplashCompetitions and trainingA contest centered around new digital technology was also held on the same day. Participating teams proposed ideas for solving issues that may arise in the financial industry using artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, and big data technologies.Winning teams will be rewarded up to KRW 10 million (approximately $7,500) in prize money along with the opportunity to visit several information technology companies. They will also have the chance to participate in a hackathon competition organized by SK Telecom to further develop their ideas.They will also undergo a four-week digital education program put together by Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, as well as practical training provided by the Hana Institute of Technology. Notably, graduates of the program will be exempt from going through the initial screening process when applying for positions at Hana Financial Group.Officials including Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the FSS; Lee Hoon-kyu, Director of Future for Youth Foundation; and Ham Young-joo, Chairman of Hana Financial Group, were in attendance.“We will strive to cultivate young digital talent and create employment opportunities for the youth,” said Hana Chairman Ham. FSS Governor Lee also added that there is a need to secure interdisciplinary talents capable of generating innovative ideas.