Korea’s ruling party retracts its pledges to approve spot bitcoin ETFs

Harvest Global to establish fixed income tokenized fundHong Kong investment firm Harvest Global Investments, in partnership with Meta Lab HK, is set to offer a tokenized U.S. dollar bond fund.The collaboration between Harvest Global Investments (HGI), an affiliate of Harvest Fund Management, and Meta Lab HK, backed by Harvest Digital Assets, marks a significant development in the crypto investment landscape within Hong Kong and the broader Asian region.Photo by Giorgio Trovato on UnsplashFirst fixed-income tokenized fund from Chinese institutionMeta Lab HK announced details of the new offering, detailed in a Nov. 22 post on X (formerly Twitter). The fund targets professional investors and will concentrate on U.S. dollar bonds with an investment-grade rating. Meta Lab wrote:”We have learned that this will be the first fixed-income tokenized fund introduced by a Chinese financial institution in Asia with a tokenization arrangement. The fund is exclusively available to professional investors and primarily invests in investment grade U.S. dollar bonds.”Meta Lab added, “The offering is set to be managed by HGI, a subsidiary of Harvest Fund in Hong Kong, with Meta Lab HK providing the tokenization solution.”The tokenization of the fund, a process transforming traditional financial assets into digital tokens, is expected to enhance accessibility and efficiency for investors. The notification to Hong Kong’s securities regulator has been duly completed, underscoring the compliance and regulatory adherence of the initiative.The move comes amidst a series of noteworthy developments emerging from Asia, occurring against the backdrop of persistent regulatory challenges facing the cryptocurrency industry in the United States.CoinFund market entryThis announcement follows closely on the heels of CoinFund, a New York-based investment firm, which revealed its plans to expand services into Asia earlier this week. Choosing Hong Kong as the inaugural location for this expansion, CoinFund cited the city’s appeal to crypto talents as a key factor. As Asia takes strides in pioneering tokenized funds, it suggests a competitive landscape in digital asset development that could rival the United States.It’s likely that Hong Kong is providing a workable environment for Harvest Global to take this tokenized product to market. In August, the local regulator, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), published a report where it indicated an interest in pursuing tokenization as a means to improve aspects of the bond market. The report presented outcomes of Project Evergreen, an initiative the HKMA had been running to examine the potential of tokenization, which also incorporated the launch of a first-of-its-kind tokenized green bond.Regional tokenization interestRecent weeks have also seen further efforts being made within the Asian region in terms of bond tokenization. Last week, SC Ventures, the Singaporean investment subsidiary of British banking group Standard Chartered, unveiled a new platform called Libeara. That platform is working towards the launch of the first-ever tokenized Singapore dollar government bond fund.In the same week, the Bureau of the Treasury in the Philippines announced that it is issuing $179 million in one-year tokenized bonds, with the bonds being facilitated by the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Land Bank of the Philippines.

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).

Com2uS Holdings, the South Korean game publishing company behind Layer 1 blockchain XPLA, disclosed today that its revenue last year saw a 22.5% increase from 2022, reaching KRW 142.3 billion ($106.7 million). On the back of the revenue growth, the company's consolidated operating loss narrowed to KRW 14 billion, improving from 2022’s KRW 26.4 billion. Additionally, the net loss decreased to KRW 16.5 billion, down from the previous year’s KRW 70.6 billion. The operating loss for the fourth quarter stood at KRW 16.5 billion, showing an improvement from 2022 Q4's KRW 20.9 billion. During the same period, revenue reached KRW 21.4 billion, and the net loss was recorded at KRW 8 billion.Photo by Andrey Metelev on UnsplashGame sales and marketing expensesCom2uS Holdings attributed the increase in profits to game sales growth, which was encouraged by the release of more games. However, the company also noted a decrease in income from investments in associates and an increase in marketing expenses, which were driven by the launch of new games. Last year's operating expenses totaled KRW 156.4 billion. Labor costs, which constitute the largest portion of operating expenses, experienced a year-on-year decrease of 6.2%, amounting to KRW 46.7 billion. In contrast, there was an increase in spending across three areas: commissions rose by 43.8% to KRW 30.7 billion, loyalty expenses increased by 26.6% to KRW 25.1 billion and marketing saw a jump of 134.9% to KRW 21.1 billion. According to a report from local news agency Yonhap, Jung Chul-ho, CEO of Com2uS Holdings, emphasized at the earnings presentation today that the company is committed to growth in game publishing, blockchain projects and platform initiatives, all directed towards enhancing the company's value.Triple-A games on XPLA blockchainAs part of the company’s blockchain endeavors, the XPLA platform is set to focus on improving user convenience and incorporating major content, including a variety of triple-A games. Looking ahead, Com2uS Holdings anticipates that its idle role-playing game, Soul Strike, will contribute to the company's revenue for the first quarter. Since its debut last month, Soul Strike has been attracting attention not only in Korea but across Asia. The game publisher also outlined its global release plans for the MMORPG, Zenonia Chronobreak. Gamers in Taiwan can expect access to the game in the second quarter, while those in Japan and others will be able to play in the fourth quarter.