Korea’s Changwon City Boosts Local Art Scene with NFTs

Dunamu Helps Adolescents Tell the Difference between Blockchain and BitcoinDunamu, the fintech company operating South Korea’s leading crypto exchange Upbit, announced on Thursday that its digital finance education program designed to help foster talent in digital finance amidst the current era of digitization and fintech has come to an end.Photo by Element5 Digital on UnsplashEmpowering digital finance literacy for the future generationDubbed “Duniverse” — a portmanteau of Dunamu and universe — the program was held from May to July for 4,100 middle school students throughout Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon. The curriculum proved to enhance their understanding and literacy in digital finance.“Digital finance education for adolescents is essential in addressing various social issues, such as preventing financial accidents and income polarization,” said Lee Sirgoo, CEO of Dunamu.The first Duniverse program was held last year, hosting some 4,800 middle school students in vulnerable areas of Gyeonggi Province. Owing to the positive response, this year’s pool has been expanded to over 7,000 first-year middle school students in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon. In the first half of this year alone, a total of 4,120 students from 17 middle schools participated.The program featured lessons on the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as blockchain, NFTs, and metaverse, as well as basic financial knowledge. A total of eight sessions were led by a team of qualified instructors with years of experience in economic education. Dunamu employees also directly contributed to the review process of educational materials, the company said.Success recognized by students and teachers alikeIn a survey conducted by Dunamu targeting 435 participants, 93.1 percent of them expressed high satisfaction, stating that their understanding of digital finance improved. This portrays a meaningful upgrade from the answers of a previous survey conducted before the start of the program, where six out of ten respondents said that they had little knowledge about digital finance.They also reported that they now understand the difference between digital asset ownership and copyrights as well as blockchain and Bitcoin, and show interest when coming across digital finance-related content in the media.School teachers also praised the program for addressing blind spots in financial education and taking a proactive learning approach. “The students were able to learn about big data, ChatGPT, and more, which is especially valuable since such education for teenagers is still lacking. I believe it will help boost their competitiveness in the future job market,” said a teacher from Goam Middle School in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province.The teachers also approved of other topics that were covered, such as financial fraud prevention, to help teenagers avoid falling victim to financial scams. Suggestions were also made to expand teacher training courses.Upcoming programThis year’s second Duniverse program will be held from August to December for 2,712 middle school students in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon.Dunamu has continually devoted efforts to boosting social welfare and nurturing young talent. This includes “Dunamu Next Steppers,” a hope fund for young people with multiple debts, along with supporting emerging talents and artists with developmental disabilities in their participation in NFT projects.

Former FTX COO Finds New Role at Sino GlobalConstance Wang, previously known for her executive roles at FTX, has recently joined crypto venture capital firm Sino Global Capital.That’s according to sources Bloomberg cited in a recent report as being familiar with the matter. Wang held the role of Chief Operating Officer at FTX and was also the Co-Chief Executive Officer of FTX Digital Markets, the affiliate of the now-defunct crypto exchange, which was based in the Bahamas. Her responsibilities at FTX included overseeing global business expansion, token listings, and public relations and marketing.Following the collapse of FTX and its sister trading firm Alameda Research, Wang has reportedly spent a significant amount of time in China, according to an undisclosed source.Sino Global Capital, founded in 2015 by Beijing-based American investor Matthew Graham, had revealed its early investment in FTX after the exchange’s collapse. The management team stems from a background in consulting, Wall Street, private equity, government, and corporate spheres. A year prior, the venture capital firm launched a $200 million fund with FTX as a key investor. Sam Bankman-Fried, the Founder of FTX, expressed gratitude for Sino Global’s support, stating that they believed in the FTX vision from the beginning and assisted in making it a reality.Photo by Henry Kobutra on UnsplashLawsuitGraham was quite public in his support of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried. He appeared frequently on podcasts, always explaining that the FTX founder was a genius. On investing in FTX and in projects in general, Graham stated repeatedly that Sino Global maintained a high level of due diligence. Most of the leading venture capital investors in FTX (including Sino Global) have been subject to class action lawsuits filed by creditors. It’s claimed that many of these investors didn’t simply invest capital but also got involved in actively marketing what turned out to be a fraud.In January, the court-appointed management team overseeing the FTX bankruptcy proceedings sought permission to subpoena Wang and other former executives of the company. Court filings indicate that Wang has not been accused of any wrongdoing in relation to the collapse of FTX or Alameda.Prior to her tenure at FTX, Wang briefly worked at the crypto exchange Huobi in Singapore as a Business Development Manager. She also spent two years as an analyst at Credit Suisse.New rolesIn recent months, other former FTX employees have also reappeared in new roles. Amy Wu, who left Lightspeed Venture Partners to lead FTX Ventures, announced her joining Menlo Ventures, one of the oldest venture firms in Silicon Valley. Brett Harrison, former President of FTX US until his sudden resignation in September 2022, has founded a startup with plans to provide a “GPT-4-powered trading algorithm code generator.”The transition of Constance Wang and her fellow FTX alumni into new positions at face value seems like a logical progression. However, all of the FTX c-suite executives remain under ongoing scrutiny. Having brought charges against Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, and Nishad Singh some months ago, Southern District of New York (SDNY) Attorney Damian Williams stated clearly that more arrests would follow.

In a recent survey conducted by personal finance management solutions provider Seedly, together with global crypto exchange Coinbase, it was discovered that over 56% of Singaporeans currently own cryptocurrency, with nearly half expressing bullish sentiments regarding its future prospects over the 12 months of this year.Photo by Zhu Hongzhi on UnsplashFuture of financeTitled "The Pulse of Crypto Singapore Report," the study surveyed 2,006 Singaporean adults across various age groups and household incomes from October to November 2023. Survey participants were deemed to be “finance forward Singapore-based adults who have a strong interest in personal finance and investments.” It determined that 56% of respondents believe cryptocurrency represents the future of finance. Participants cited short-term profitability, long-term capital appreciation and portfolio diversification as key factors driving their optimism. The report’s authors speculate that this optimism is also due to the city-state’s approach to digital assets and the regulatory framework that has been put in place by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Yeap Ming Feng, head of marketing at Seedly, also attributed the optimism towards crypto to Singapore's vibrant Web3 ecosystem, which fosters collaboration among builders, investors and users. When selecting a crypto exchange for trading, crypto owners prioritize security, low fees, regulation and ease of use. Coinbase, one of the report’s facilitators, doubled down on its operations in Singapore in 2023, acquiring a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from the Singaporean regulator, enabling it to expand its product offering. It extended its offering further last month when it launched USD transfers via SWIFT. Notably, the survey identified staking as the most prevalent use case for cryptocurrency in the city-state.  Non-crypto user concernsHowever, the study unveiled that non-crypto users harbor concerns about market volatility (57%), high risk (53%) and the absence of regulation (45%) in the crypto space. Singapore was disproportionately affected by the demise of a number of crypto platforms in 2022. An outsize number of citizens were caught up in the FTX collapse having utilized that crypto exchange instead of Binance, which had been prohibited from trading within the territory. Singapore was also home to failed crypto lenders such as Vauld and Hodlnaut, failed crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) and UST stablecoin developer Terraform Labs. These high-profile crypto failures so close to home are unlikely to have put crypto skeptics at ease in Singapore where the consideration of risk relative to digital assets is concerned. That said, MAS is actively working towards implementing additional rules to safeguard Singaporean investors. Despite these reservations, the survey underscores a growing interest in and adoption of cryptocurrencies among the financially aware population in Singapore. This trend aligns with Singapore's commitment to remaining a leader in Asia for crypto readiness and supports the city-state's vision of becoming a global digital asset hub. The study also highlighted the progress that the crypto market in general made recently. Over the course of 2023, crypto market capitalization has gained momentum, from $829 billion at the outset of the year, culminating at $1.72 trillion towards the end of the year, according to a report by CoinGekco.