NEOPIN and Sevenline Labs collaborate to boost Web3 gaming expansion

OPNX Makes a Play for Struggling Crypto Lender HodlnautIn a strategic move OPNX, the crypto claims trading platform associated with the founders of failed Singaporean crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), is eyeing the acquisition of Hodlnaut, a beleaguered crypto lender currently undergoing court-supervised restructuring in Singapore.Photo by Meriç Dağlı on UnsplashCompelling offerThat’s according to a person familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg News on Sunday, together with a term sheet seen by Bloomberg. It’s understood that OPNX has presented a compelling offer to infuse Hodlnaut with a much-needed capital injection of approximately $30 million worth of FLEX digital tokens.These tokens are closely tied to CoinFLEX, a trading platform that ran into difficulty in 2022, co-founded by Mark Lamb and Sudhu Arumugam. The Seychelles-based company rebranded and relaunched as OPNX earlier this year with the 3AC founders on board. The FLEX token holds a current market valuation of around $647 million, according to CoinGecko data.Partial creditor payoutThe OPNX proposal aims to fund a partial creditor payout to facilitate the resolution of pending claims. This proposal comes on the heels of efforts by Hodlnaut’s directors to reach out directly to its users, a move that was met with objections by the interim judicial managers overseeing Hodlnaut’s restructuring. A letter dated July 29 from the administrators confirms this development.Under the terms of the deal outlined in a term sheet, OPNX’s capital injection through FLEX tokens would translate into a 75% ownership stake in Hodlnaut. The restructuring plan, if approved by creditors, would see these creditors receiving 30% of their claims in FLEX and other tokens. Alternatively, they would be entitled to a pro-rata payment of up to 95% of the total available corporate assets, whichever is more favorable to them.Hodlnaut, headquartered in Singapore with operations also in Hong Kong, got caught up in crypto market turbulence, leading to a suspension of withdrawals a year ago. Subsequently, it embarked on a court-monitored restructuring journey in Singapore. Neither Hodlnaut nor its judicial managers have provided immediate comments on the OPNX bid.The founders of Hodlnaut, Simon Lee and Zhu Juntao, had earlier proposed a business sale as a preferable alternative to liquidation. This proposal aimed to provide better outcomes for creditors, who had initially expressed preference for liquidation over a proposed restructuring plan earlier in the year.OPNX reprimandThe journey of both OPNX and Hodlnaut is also marked by legal and regulatory challenges. In April, authorities in Dubai reprimanded Su Zhu, Kyle Davies, Mark Lamb, OPNX’s CEO Leslie Lamb, and Sudhu Arumugam for operating and promoting OPNX without the required local license. Meanwhile, the liquidators of 3AC have alleged a lack of cooperation by Zhu and Davies, as they seek to recover $1.3 billion from the duo, reflecting the losses preceding the fund’s downfall.The 3AC founders recently claimed that they would donate OPNX profits to 3AC creditors. However, Kyle Davies is fighting the efforts of the 3AC liquidator to reclaim funds from the founders.

Korean Lawmakers Complete First Rough Draft of Virtual Asset User Protection BillKorean lawmakers have completed the first rough draft of the virtual asset user protection bill at a National Policy Committee meeting held later last month.©Pexels/Matthias ZomerAgreeing on term usage ‘virtual assets’So far, 18 bills have been proposed to regulate cryptocurrencies, and the lawmakers and the Financial Services Commission (FSC) agreed to use the term “virtual assets” to encompass similar terms such as digital assets and crypto assets.Phased enactment of billsThe bills are likely to be reviewed under the title “Virtual Asset User Protection Act.” The bipartisan group agreed to enact the bills in phases, introducing the user protection bill in the first phase and the virtual asset listing and issuance bill in the second phase.Meanwhile, there were mixed opinions on the content of the bills. In particular, there was debate over whether the bills should stipulate that the central bank digital currency (CBDC) is excluded from virtual assets, and whether the bills should include a standard for determining if a virtual asset is a security.Debate over stipulating CBDC’s statusThe stipulation of excluding CBDC from virtual assets was the most divisive topic since it would lead to defining the conditions for other assets such as non-fungible tokens. Moreover, the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, which currently regulates virtual asset service providers (VASPs), does not contain any stipulation on CBDC. Some raised concerns that such discrepancies could later cause confusion. In the end, assembly members decided to discuss the matter again in April after consulting with the Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Government Legislation.Criteria for classifying virtual assets as securitiesRegarding whether to include criteria for classifying virtual assets as securities, the lawmakers and financial regulators took different sides.Lee Yong-woo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, underlined that a clear statement of the relationship between the issuer and the recipient of virtual assets in a whitepaper can determine their security status. He added that such provisions should be included in the bills.Park Min-woo, an FSC official, on the other hand, commented on a cautious note that in case virtual assets fall under the category of securities, they may not be applicable to the virtual asset act. He explained that VASPs might deal with both securities and virtual assets, and in such cases, there could be a misunderstanding that VASPs are not subject to the virtual asset act simply because they trade securities.

Upbit Adds Polygon Staking ServiceDunamu, the blockchain and fintech firm that operates South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, announced on Wednesday (local time) the addition of Polygon’s MATIC to Upbit’s staking service, now available via the Upbit website and mobile application.Photo by GuerrillaBuzz on UnsplashStaking is a service where users entrust their cryptocurrency to a blockchain network to boost its security and receive virtual assets as rewards. The virtual assets deposited by staking users are used in the transaction verification process of generating new blocks in the blockchain network of the respective asset. Users are then rewarded with virtual assets for their participation in the process.Polygon is an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution that allows developers to build various decentralized applications (DApps) within the Ethereum ecosystem. Its native token is called MATIC.Expanded staking optionsAny Upbit user who has completed the Know Your Customer (KYC) process and enabled two-factor authentication can participate in staking on Upbit. The minimum staking amount is 2.7 MATIC. Users who participate in staking receive rewards once every day. They can also unstake their tokens at any time they want.“At Upbit, we utilize our world-class security measures, robust infrastructure, and years of technological expertise to operate validators and stake users’ assets for them,” the exchange said. “Users’ crypto assets that are used in staking are safely stored in a cold wallet.”Dunamu officially launched the Upbit Staking service in January of last year, serving as an intermediary in the complex staking process. The service aims to facilitate the convenient and secure staking of virtual assets. With the latest addition of Polygon, the exchange now supports a total of five staking options, namely Ethereum, Cosmos, Cardano, Solana, and Polygon.New NFT collectionsThe exchange’s non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, Upbit NFT, also recently opened trading, deposits, and withdrawals for new NFT collections based on Ethereum and Polygon. To celebrate this additional functionality, Upbit NFT will conduct Ethereum giveaway events for lucky participants until next Wednesday.