Turkish Lira emerges as dominant fiat trading pair on Binance

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.

Haru Invest Announces Withdrawal & Deposit PauseHaru Invest, a crypto yield platform founded in South Korea and headquartered in Singapore, has announced the suspension of deposits and withdrawals on Tuesday, citing concerns over the accuracy of information provided by one of its service partners.Photo by Muhammad Zaqy Al Fattah on UnsplashInternal investigationIn a statement, the company expressed its apologies to investors and customers, assuring them that the suspension was a necessary measure taken to protect their interests. In another blog post, the company stated: “For the purpose of protecting our users’ assets under our custody, we have come to make a tough decision that any deposit and withdrawal requests will be suspended until further notice, starting from June 13, 2023, at 0:40 UTC.”Following an internal inspection process, Haru Invest conducted a thorough investigation into the matter and concluded that immediate action was required. The company stated that it is currently engaged in a fact-finding process against the operator in question and intends to take the necessary measures to address the situation.“Rug pull” denialHaru Invest emphasized that this issue does not involve a “rug pull,” a term commonly associated with scams in the cryptocurrency space. The company assured its stakeholders that it remains committed to protecting its investors and is actively working towards a resolution.Earlier reports suggested that Haru Invest employees were working remotely and that the company’s offices had closed. However, Haru Invest clarified that certain media articles contained inaccurate information regarding these claims. The company expressed regret over the misinformation and emphasized the importance of factual accuracy in reporting.According to Haru Invest’s website, the platform boasts a significant user base of over 80,000 members. It has facilitated crypto-earn payouts totaling 9.8 million and processed a staggering $2.27 billion in transactions. Haru Invest aims to provide an annual yield of 12% on most of its earn products, offering investors an attractive opportunity in the crypto space.Haru MiningIn September of the previous year, Haru Invest successfully raised $4 million in funding, valuing the company at $284 million. This achievement demonstrates the confidence investors had in the platform and its potential for growth.As recently as last month nothing looked untoward when it emerged that the company had launched Haru Mining, a collaboration with Canadian crypto miner, Pow.re. In a press release at the time, the firm explained that the move would help to diversify its products, with mining always having been an area of interest for the company.In the same month, Haru had announced an integration with Mercuryo, a London-based digital asset management platform.As Haru Invest continues to address the concerns raised by the investigation, investors and customers await further updates regarding the resumption of normal operations. The company has promised that “more details will be shortly announced on the Haru Invest Blog as soon as we get to the bottom of this.”

SBI Remit and Shonan Shinkin Bank Join Forces on International RemittancesSBI Remit, a long-time partner of Ripple, has expanded its collaboration in Japan, partnering with Shonan Shinkin Bank to offer international remittance services.The partnership, operating under the guidance of SBI Group and announced by SBI Remit last week, claims to provide a more efficient and cost-effective solution for international employees living in Japan who need to transfer money abroad.Photo by Naoya Matsuda on UnsplashEfficient overseas transfersBoth Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture, the area of operation of Shonan Shinkin Bank alongside the city of Yokosuka where it is headquartered, have witnessed a surge in the number of migrant employees working there. That makes these metropolitan areas ideal locations for this particular collaboration.According to the press release, the partnership “was formed as mutual use of both parties’ network and strengths would allow Shonan Shinkin Bank to offer highly convenient international money transfer services that deliver convenience for foreign nationals working at local companies while enabling SBI Remit to develop new markets.”The collaboration, named SBI Ripple Asia, aims to leverage Ripple’s distributed ledger technology to streamline international payments. The technology has the potential to disrupt the remittance sector by offering real-time processing of cross-border payments. This approach significantly reduces transfer times and costs. One of the key elements of the partnership involves the use of XRP, Ripple’s native digital asset, for on-demand liquidity (ODL) between Japan and the Philippines. ODL allows for near-instantaneous transfers.Broader sector trendThis partnership is part of a broader trend in the financial industry, where blockchain technology is being harnessed to enhance services. Ripple, in particular, has been targeting remittances through an offering that enables a competitive edge through both speed and cost-effectiveness relative to transfers. Foreign workers in Japan, particularly the 280,000 Filipinos working in the country, stand to benefit from this new offering. That’s due to the ongoing need for foreign overseas workers to send money back home.The SBI Remit and Shonan Shinkin Bank collaboration highlights the immense potential of blockchain technology in reshaping financial services, especially in regions with a high concentration of foreign workers.This development represents yet another significant achievement in the longstanding partnership between SBI and Ripple. The two companies first began to cooperate by way of a mutually beneficial partnership in 2016 with the establishment of SBI Ripple Asia. The recent demonstration of using XRP for ODL remittances in Japan and the Philippines showcases the tangible benefits of this collaboration, with the potential to reduce international transfer times from days to mere minutes.With the demand for seamless international money transfers on the rise, the partnership between SBI Remit, Shonan Shinkin Bank, and Ripple is poised to make a significant impact on the remittance landscape in Japan and beyond.Foreign overseas workers and the families they support in their home countries have long since been at the edge when it comes to financial inclusion. In the press release, Shonan Shinkin Bank was stated to be committed to achieving financial inclusion by partnering with various stakeholders to provide solutions to the various issues facing small- and medium-sized enterprises, as well as providing international remittances and other solutions to the diverse local community.As the financial industry continues to embrace blockchain solutions, collaborations like this one serve as a testament to the ongoing evolution of global payments systems.