The Sandbox Adds Singapore Virtual Neighborhood Lion City

Thaksin Shinawatra, who served as Thailand's 23rd prime minister from 2001 to 2006 and whose daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra currently serves as the Southeast Asian nation’s prime minister, expressed positive views on crypto while speaking at an event in Bangkok on Monday.Photo by Evan Krause on UnsplashIssuing stablecoins According to a report by Reuters, in his speech, Shinawatra called on Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to enable the trading of stablecoins and cryptocurrencies that are otherwise backed by real-world assets (RWAs). Addressing the consideration of systemic risk posed by cryptocurrencies, Shinawatra stated:"There will be no risk, it is just another currency in the world."  Shinawatra also commented on a government plan to make the Thai tourist resort city of Phuket a potential location for a pilot program which would trial crypto payments. Bullish on crypto This is not the first occasion in which the former Thai prime minister expressed a bullish view on crypto. He has been a long-standing advocate for cryptocurrencies. His comments earlier this week mirror similar views he expressed while speaking at an event at the Intercontinental Hotel in Hua Hin in December. On that occasion, he stated: “There are already many cryptocurrencies. Some people say that in the future, we will have more currencies than countries.”  In Hua Hin, he also suggested that his friends believe that Bitcoin could reach a unit price of $850,000. With that potential rise in value, Shinawatra wants Thai citizens to be well-positioned for the crypto wave. He encouraged the Thai government to engage positively with digital assets and to take the time to study the emerging asset class. Back in August, Thailand’s SEC launched the Digital Asset Regulatory Sandbox as part of an initiative to permit interested service providers to trial crypto-related services within a controlled sandbox environment.  Building on that sentiment expressed by Shinawatra in December, in his latest speech, he called on the country’s financial institutions to be more open to cryptocurrency.  Paying attention to U.S. policy on crypto In making that call, he cited developments in the United States. Particularly, he focused on the incoming U.S. administration’s positive embrace of digital assets. This includes positive commentary made by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and the appointment of Paul Atkins by Trump as the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the U.S. Atkins has already outlined plans to collaborate with crypto-friendly SEC Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, with a view towards shaping the agency’s crypto policies.  Beyond crypto, the former prime minister had a number of other suggestions that he feels would be good for Thailand. With regard to the country’s stock market, he called for tighter regulatory oversight, tax incentives for long-term investors and improved corporate governance. He encouraged the opening of a carbon credit trading venue in order to ensure better pricing. Shinawatra believes that Thailand should legalize online gambling on the basis that it is currently losing 100 billion Thai baht ($4 billion) in annual tax revenue from the activity. The Thai government has moved to approve a draft law that would legalize casinos and gambling.

Bithumb Shuts Down Crypto Research Center Amid Trading Volume SlumpBithumb, a cryptocurrency exchange based in South Korea, is shutting down its research center less than a year after its launch, according to a report by news agency Newsis. The closure is seen as a strategic move to enhance business performance in response to the recent decline in trading volume.Photo by Kelly Sikkema on UnsplashCostly research centersEstablished on June 8 last year, the Bithumb Economic Research Institute is reportedly ceasing operations tomorrow. Research centers are often perceived as costly endeavors, particularly when the company is experiencing poor financial performance. In the traditional financial sector, small and medium-sized securities firms typically prioritize restructuring their research divisions when dealing with profitability challenges.Relevance of research hubsAn official from a Korean cryptocurrency exchange told Newsis that research centers can be a financial burden during times of low trading volumes and subpar performance. Nonetheless, the official underscored the need to furnish investors with refined information through these research hubs, encouraging exchanges to cultivate an environment conducive to informed decision-making based on high-quality data.Since its inception, Bithumb’s research organization has published 55 reports aimed at forecasting cryptocurrency market trends using comprehensive macroeconomic and crypto data analysis. These reports have contributed to drawing investors to the sector.Global restructuring trendThe wave of workforce reductions in the crypto industry isn’t isolated to South Korea; it’s a global phenomenon. Chinese reporter Colin Wu, known for his crypto news platform Wu Blockchain, shared via Twitter that Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is planning to lay off roughly 20% of its staff, totaling about 8,000 employees.In response to these concerns, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, wrote a tweet yesterday. According to CZ, employee layoffs are a weekly occurrence within the company, based on considerations such as alignment with corporate culture. As an example, he mentioned the remote work environment and how it may not be suitable for everyone. However, CZ reassured that Binance remains engaged in hiring, with a focus on enriching its talent pool.

MANTRA, a real-world asset (RWA) layer one blockchain built on Cosmos, recently outlined its vision for the on-chain financial ecosystem, outlining that it plans to acquire licensing in the Middle East and Asia as part of its efforts to expand. In a press release published on Chainwire on March 14, the company outlined that it has applied for licensing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in an effort to pave the way for MANTRA to target a global clientele who want to harness the potential of RWA asset tokenization. Issuing and trading tokenized RWAsAt the core of the Hong Kong-headquartered project’s offering lies its layer one blockchain, aptly named MANTRA Chain. The network is designed to streamline the issuance and trading of tokenized RWAs. Having established this technological product base, the company is now on a mission to onboard financial institutions and commercial entities with an interest in asset tokenization. With teams stationed in Hong Kong and the UAE, MANTRA has honed a full understanding of the shifting regulatory landscapes in pivotal regions. By securing its inaugural financial licenses in the UAE, MANTRA is aiming to take a slice of market share in the swiftly evolving RWA sector across the Middle East and Asia. The overarching goal for 2024 is to tokenize a diverse spectrum of assets, spanning real estate, private market funds, equity, art and treasuries.Photo by Sigmund on UnsplashIn an X social media post, MANTRA Founder and CEO John Patrick Mullin outlined that the company is already engaging with institutions and partners in the private sector. Mullin stated: “MANTRA is actively collaborating with real-world institutions and partners, including real estate, private market funds, private equity, the art sector, and treasuries, among others, to help bring these traditional asset classes onchain.” Mullin claims that the current crypto market capitalization of around $2 trillion is just a drop in the ocean by comparison with the potential that exists in the tokenization of RWAs and in unlocking the RWA economy. Hong Kong licensingAlongside the Middle East, Asia is the other target market for the company. Mullin suggested that Asian countries are already preparing for this fundamental shift, having developed RWA regulations. Last November, it emerged that Hong Kong was setting out a regulatory roadmap in respect of RWA tokenization. In February 2023 the Chinese autonomous territory achieved a first-of-its-kind tokenized green bond issuance.With that, the company’s home base of Hong Kong will also be central to its efforts to acquire relevant licensing. In recent weeks, MANTRA claims to have made significant progress in decentralizing its network, garnering validator support on a more broadly distributed basis. The project is expected to launch its final testnet, dubbed “Hongbai,” shortly. MANTRA is aiming to emerge as the pioneer RWA layer one blockchain with the capability to ensure real-world regulatory compliance. By expediting the adoption of tokenized RWAs, the project suggests that there’s an RWA economy value unlock potential of $16 trillion with its regulatory-ready blockchain being positioned to benefit from that. The network is gearing to offer a compliant framework, so that traditional finance (TradFi) companies can seamlessly transition to and harness asset tokenization and blockchain solutions, propelling global RWA expansion.