Xangle and CryptoTimes partner to advance Web3 adoption in Korea and Japan

Korean cryptocurrency exchange FOBLGATE (FOBL) last Thursday showcased its ongoing project on real estate-based security tokens at Momo Network’s second security token offering (STO) and Web3 networking party, the game media outlet Kyunghyang Games reported. Momo Networks is the company behind Momoboard, an all-in-one app that combines bulletin board, messaging and cloud storage features. The event served as an opportunity for FOBL to inform participants about the current stage of the exchange’s project and where it is headed. Initially introduced in November last year, the project is a collaboration between FOBL and prop fintech company Plus Platform, an asset management and trading platform headquartered in New York, U.S. Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on UnsplashReal estate-based security token projectAt the event, participants are anticipated to discuss the future of the security token market, which is currently focused on conventional real-world assets (RWAs). This new security token project is expected to innovate traditional real estate investments, offering benefits such as high liquidity, low transaction fees and easy access to investors, explained FOBL. The crypto company aims to solidify its position in the crypto market while raising public awareness of real estate security tokens. Future of virtual assetsAhn Hyun-jun, CEO of FOBL, said he plans to make his company an innovator in virtual asset development and create various types of crypto assets that extend beyond real estate-based security tokens.   Furthermore, a FOBL spokesperson stated that this networking party will serve as a forum for Web3 and STO experts to explore new technologies and innovative investment strategies, providing valuable insights for investors and market participants. 

Scroll’s zkEVM Launches on Ethereum MainnetScroll, the Seychelles-headquartered project behind the Ethereum layer-2 network of the same name, has officially made its debut on the Ethereum mainnet.Photo by Zoltan Tasi on UnsplashAttempting to solve for scalabilityThe project team announced the development via a press release which was published on Tuesday. The network launch signifies the latest in a series of attempts by various layer-2 projects, including Polygon and StarkWare, to address the persistent challenges of high transaction fees and network congestion that have hindered Ethereum’s usability in recent times. Speaking to layer-2 development, co-founder Sandy Peng stated:“We see a future where the vast majority of value transfer takes place on Layer 2s on Ethereum. What will drive that adoption is improved user and developer experience.”After testing and refinement on its testnet, Scroll believes that it is in a good position to play an active role within the Ethereum ecosystem by providing a general-purpose, zero-knowledge Ethereum virtual machine (zkEVM) roll-up.The project has 900,000 wallet addresses in active use on its testnet, having executed seven million transactions since August. The testnet has seen over 55 million transactions during its year-long operation.At its core, Scroll’s mission is to combine Ethereum’s network security with reduced fees and lower latency, making it an attractive proposition for existing Ethereum projects. According to Peng, Ethereum developers can seamlessly deploy their projects on Scroll and harness the groundbreaking zkEVM technology.Incorporating bytecodePeng emphasized the significance of zkEVM’s ability to batch proofs efficiently, resulting in faster transaction speeds and cost reductions, thanks to its bytecode-level compatibility.Bytecode, in the realm of computer programming, simplifies intricate machine cryptography, making code more accessible for computer hardware. Scroll allows deployed smart contracts to store the bytecode of their transactions, which is then sent to a centralized zkEVM node. This node verifies the transaction’s accuracy without revealing its content. Once verified, the transaction’s status is updated on the Ethereum network, eliminating the need for re-execution. Peng pointed out:“Thanks to this feature, Ethereum devs can leverage all the same tools they are familiar with, ensuring that everything operates seamlessly right from the start.”Scroll’s mainnet code was subject to audits conducted by four major auditing firms, namely Zellic, Trail of Bits, OpenZeppelin, and KALOS, in an effort to ensure robust security and reliability.Efforts towards greater decentralizationWhile Scroll’s current implementation offers compelling features, the team is actively researching ways to further enhance the network’s decentralization. Currently, if the sequencer goes offline, the protocol halts, creating a potential vulnerability. To address this, the Scroll team is working on a protocol upgrade that will enable “forced batches.” This update will allow permissionless publication of batches through the base layer, even in the event of a sequencer halt.Peng elaborated on the team’s vision, stating: “Mid-term, the goal is to minimize the probability of a sequencer halt through decentralization.” This approach aims to bolster the network’s resilience and ensure a smoother user experience.While headquartered in the Seychelles, the project has its origins in China through its Chinese founders, Ye Zhang and Haichen Shen, alongside Peng, with many of its 60-strong project team based in mainland China and Hong Kong.

US Treasury Sanctions Gaza-Based Crypto OperatorThe Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on a crypto operator allegedly linked to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.The move by OFAC comes as a result of greater scrutiny of terrorist financing following an attack by Hamas on Israel in early October, in which a number of Israelis lost their lives.Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels“Buy Cash Money and Money Transfer Company”The entity targeted by these sanctions is a Gaza-based virtual currency exchange known as the “Buy Cash Money and Money Transfer Company.” It is operated by Khan Yunis, a resident of Gaza. According to the Treasury Department, both the exchange and Khan Yunis are alleged to have ties to Hamas. Ahmed M.M. Alaqad, the owner of the business, has also been named in the sanctions.The primary objective of these sanctions, as stated by the Treasury Department, is to disrupt the sources of revenue for Hamas. The attack on Israel served as a trigger for these actions. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen emphasized the determination to prevent Hamas from raising funds for further acts of terror and violence against the people of Israel.This includes imposing sanctions and cooperating with international allies and partners to identify, freeze, and seize any assets related to Hamas in their respective jurisdictions. Yellen stated:“The United States is taking swift and decisive action to target Hamas’s financiers and facilitators following its brutal and unconscionable massacre of Israeli civilians, including children.”Crypto sector riskIt’s not the first time that crypto platforms have been implicated where terrorist financing is concerned. Earlier this year it emerged that Bitfinex Turkiye, the Turkish local exchange business of global crypto platform Bitfinex, was alleged to have been used for the purposes of money laundering by Hamas. Additionally, leading crypto platform Binance has found itself facing similar allegations.In the immediate aftermath of the recent attack, Israeli authorities moved to close down accounts they claimed were linked with Hamas on crypto platforms like Binance and elsewhere. The Israelis have continued where they left off in this respect, with a report emerging earlier this week that over one hundred accounts on Binance have been ordered to be shut down, with a further two hundred accounts facing scrutiny.While crypto may not account for a sizable proportion of terrorist financing means, these events open up a point of attack for those who oppose the further roll-out of decentralized money and systems.Fighting illicit finance through sanctionsNotably, the US Treasury has been employing sanctions as a tool to cut off financial support to entities suspected of being involved in terrorism or other illicit activities. In a similar vein, earlier in October, the Treasury announced sanctions against crypto wallets associated with Chinese chemical manufacturers, concurrently with an indictment from the Department of Justice related to the production of the drug fentanyl.Earlier this year, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic indicated that most Chinese suppliers of fentanyl precursors were accepting payments for the illicit material in cryptocurrency.It’s worth mentioning that this move by OFAC not only targets Hamas but also includes other entities allegedly connected to the Buy Cash Money and Money Transfer Company, including an al-Qaeda affiliate and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).