Rotonda holds blockchain hackathon at GBIC 2023

Coins.ph partners with Paxos to further PYUSD adoptionCoins.ph, the Philippines’ leading cryptocurrency exchange, has forged a strategic alliance with Paxos Trust Company, a New York-based institution specializing in blockchain, aiming to propel the adoption of PayPal USD (PYUSD) for seamless cross-border remittances.Photo by C Bueza on UnsplashTargeting fourth largest remittance marketThe Southeast Asian firm outlined details of the partnership via a blog post published to its website on Tuesday. The integration of PYUSD into Coins.ph marks a significant milestone, providing Filipinos with a secure and convenient avenue for transferring funds across borders to their loved ones. Wei Zhou, CEO of Coins.ph, emphasized the foresight in prioritizing the growth of USD stablecoins, particularly PYUSD, acknowledging the Philippines as the fourth largest remittance-receiving country globally, with over 40% of these remittances originating from the United States. Zhou stated:“With PayPal behind it and its availability on platforms such as Venmo and Xoom, PYUSD is set to become one of the most widely used stablecoins in the world.”PYUSD is a U.S. dollar stablecoin promoted by American multinational payment system PayPal and issued by Paxos.Nick Robnett, Senior Director of Customer Success at Paxos, echoed Zhou’s sentiment, stating that PYUSD stands as the safest dollar-backed stablecoin accessible to global institutions and consumers. This regulated digital asset enables Coins.ph users to send U.S. dollars swiftly and affordably, challenging conventional remittance networks and providing enhanced access and economic freedom.Asian expansionThis latest collaboration in the Philippines comes hot on the heels of similar in-roads made elsewhere in Southeast Asia. In Singapore, Paxos has partnered with Crypto.com, an entity that is headquartered in the city-state. The local regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), had outlined a new regulatory framework for stablecoins in August, making conditions right for Paxos to further develop its PYUSD offering from that location.It got a further boost last week when MAS awarded its local subsidiary, Paxos Digital Singapore Pte. Ltd., in-principle approval to trade within Singapore. The relatively new stablecoin has already been listed on international crypto exchanges such as Bitstamp, Coinbase and Kraken.Philippine potentialThe Philippines is shaping up to have a lot of potential for Paxos and its PYUSD stablecoin. The country has been working on the publication of a regulatory framework for crypto. Coins.ph Head of Legal Compliance, Robert De Guzman, stated in April that the Southeast Asian country was shaping a progressive crypto regulatory framework. Earlier this year, Donald Lim, the Founder of the Blockchain Council of the Philippines (BCP), said that the country was poised for crypto adoption.For users keen on employing PYUSD for remittances, the process is streamlined. Senders transmit PYUSD to the designated Coins.ph wallet address of recipients, from where easy conversion to the Philippine peso (PHP) on the app and subsequent cash-out becomes possible. This can be facilitated through InstaPay or PESONet fund transfers to banks and other e-wallets or through various supported over-the-counter remittance centers endorsed by Coins.ph.

Korean Pharma and Running App Employ NFTs to Promote Fatigue ReliefDaewoong Pharmaceutical recently announced its collaboration with D-Run, an NFT-based running app, to employ non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in marketing a fatigue relief product to millennials and Generation Z.©Pexels/Anna ShvetsUnique NFT IllustrationsFor the project, two unique NFT illustrations have been designed, showcasing a brown bear and a red heart with arms and legs. The bear, named Uri, represents Daewoong’s fatigue relief product UR-Shot, and the heart serves as D-Run’s mascot DZ. In one NFT edition, Uri and DZ are depicted running across a bridge, while the other shows them lying down on a grassy lawn under a tree.Each edition will have 100 NFTs available for purchase on Klip Drops, an NFT marketplace operated by Kakao’s blockchain subsidiary Ground X, from April 26 to May 9. NFT buyers will receive 20 tablets of UR-Shot and D-Run merchandise.Millennial and Gen Z runnersDaewoong’s partnership with D-Run, a platform operated by online media outlet dongA.com, a subsidiary of the nation’s leading newspaper Donga Ilbo, aims to connect with the digital-savvy millennial and Gen Z runners. This collaboration promotes UR-Shot as a healthy energy booster. In November last year, Daewoong introduced NFTs featuring Uri to attract millennials and Gen Z consumers.NFTs as marketing strategyNFTs are tokens that utilize blockchain technology to prove ownership of virtual assets. Due to their scarcity and irreplaceability, NFTs have recently become increasingly influential in the digital art sphere such as paintings and videos. In particular, young consumers often use NFTs as a tool to have fun and express themselves.Park Eun-kyung, the head of the consumer healthcare marketing team at Daewoong, said that this NFT collaboration to reach out to young consumers is the first marketing initiative of its kind in the pharmaceutical industry. Daewoong will continue to keep an eye on the consumption culture of younger generations and conduct various digital marketing programs to alleviate customers’ daily fatigue, she added

Research Center Highlights Overvaluation in Overseas Crypto Holdings Reported to Korean Tax AgencyThe Korbit Research Center, affiliated with one of South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, Korbit, has raised questions about the size of overseas cryptocurrency holdings reported by Korean individuals and businesses to the National Tax Service.Photo by REDioACTIVE on PixabayThe issue of market-making activitiesThe center noted that following the 2017 initial coin offering (ICO) boom, many enterprises that issued cryptocurrencies through offshore entities might still be holding onto their native tokens. This would have resulted from their inability to distribute these tokens to the market after the speculative bubble burst. The center believes these reported values could have been influenced by the issuers’ market-making activities, possibly inflating their worth.According to the National Tax Service, Korean individuals and corporations hold a total of KRW 130.8 trillion (around $98 billion) in overseas crypto accounts. Notably, 73% (KRW 120 trillion) of this sum is held by 73 corporate entities.Highlighting a critical aspect of cryptocurrency valuation, the Korbit Research Center pointed out that when tokens are priced based on market-making activities, they may be overvalued. They further underscored that even if the true value of overseas holdings by these entities is only a tenth of the reported sum, a figure like KRW 12 trillion is still substantial.Retail investors seeking overseas optionsFurthermore, the center touched on retail investors, noting that the KRW 10 trillion in their offshore accounts indicates a gap in services offered by Korean crypto enterprises. It suggests that individual investors might be exploring foreign markets due to domestic limitations like the absence of derivatives and lending options.Given the borderless nature of the crypto industry, Korean individuals readily turn to overseas services that cater to their needs. The Korbit Research Center estimates a KRW 10 trillion unmet demand in the domestic crypto sector, suggesting that stringent local regulations might be driving capital outflows.