Tiger Brokers subsidiary awarded crypto license in Hong Kong

Conflux Network, a layer-1, regulatory-compliant Chinese blockchain focused on borderless transactions, has announced the upcoming launch of the Conflux 3.0 mainnet together with an offshore yuan-pegged stablecoin, resulting in its native CFX token surging.Photo by Eric Prouzet on UnsplashPartnershipA notice published on the website of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government on July 20 reported on the Conflux Tree Graph Technology and Ecological Development Conference, which was held in Shanghai over three days from July 18 to July 20. Over the course of the three-day event, the project announced a partnership with AnchorX, a Hong Kong-based fintech firm specializing in stablecoins, and Shenzhen-based Eastcompeace Technology.  The purpose of the initiative is to develop a stablecoin pegged to the offshore yuan (CNH), the version of China’s currency that circulates outside the mainland. The report outlined that in recent years, stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) have come to global attention.  Belt & Road InitiativeGiven this backdrop, it was outlined that “creating an independent and controllable high-performance public chain system” could be of great benefit to China and its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which sets out to develop infrastructure across 150 countries to facilitate trade with China. This is not the first point at which AnchorX has collaborated with Conflux. Back in February, the company received in-principle approval from the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) in Kazakhstan to issue CNH-pegged stablecoins. Growing bilateral trade between Kazakhstan and China was cited as the rationale behind the license, given the need for cross-border payments. At the time, it was outlined that the AxCNH yuan-pegged stablecoin would be issued on the Conflux blockchain. It’s unclear if this same stablecoin is the focus of this latest development or whether an entirely new yuan-pegged stablecoin will be issued.AnchorX collaborated with Conflux in 2024 to bring about the issuance of AxHKD, a Hong Kong dollar-pegged stablecoin. The stablecoin runs on the Conflux blockchain, with the stablecoin issuer using OKLink Trust as its custodian. TokenPocket, a multi-chain crypto wallet project, also outlined on X on July 21 that it too is involved in the partnership with Conflux and AnchorX. The project outlined that it will support the growth of stablecoin adoption, the development of cross-border payment solutions and the promotion of tokenized RWAs in international markets through the collaboration.  Pilot projectsTokenPocket went on to explain that the companies plan to launch pilot projects in Central Asia, Southeast Asia and other regions, building “a compliant, secure, and innovative fintech framework to boost the role of the Conflux ecosystem as critical infrastructure for cross-border trade.” It was revealed at the conference that the mainnet release of Conflux 3.0 will occur in August. With the implementation of further optimized execution modules, the project expects 3.0 to result in a network throughput of 15,000 transactions per second (TPS).  These developments over the course of the weekend have had an impact on the unit price of Conflux’s native token, CFX. On July 19, the token was trading at around $0.1043. According to CoinMarketCap data, at the time of writing, it’s trading at $0.2232, a 2.58% increase over the past day. 

Digital asset exchange business Bullish has filed confidentially for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States. The Financial Times reported on June 11 that the IPO had been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in recent weeks. Choosing to file the IPO confidentially will have enabled the firm to delay public disclosure, allowing it to progress with its preparation for the IPO and reveal financials closer to the point at which it goes public. Back in February, Bloomberg reported that the company was looking at the possibility of executing an IPO, with investment banking and financial services firm Jefferies understood to have been advising the firm. This latest report confirms that Jefferies will work as the lead underwriter in relation to the IPO deal.Photo by Markus Winkler on PexelsHong Kong tiesBullish is a subsidiary company of Block.one, a blockchain software company founded by Brendan Blumer and Dan Larimer, best known for having established the EOS.IO blockchain network. Both companies have strong ties with Hong Kong.  The Bullish exchange is licensed by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). It has also obtained licensing from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) and the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).  The exchange business is jointly operated by corporate entities registered in Hong Kong and Gibraltar. The company maintains offices in Hong Kong, Gibraltar, Singapore, New York, London, Frankfurt and the Cayman Islands.  The business is also being backed by Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li and American entrepreneur Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies and Founders Fund. Blumer, who is based in Hong Kong, founded Bullish in 2021 and currently serves as Bullish chairman. The company is understood to have in the region of 275 employees with Tom Farley leading it as CEO. Farley previously fulfilled the role of president at Intercontinental Exchange’s NYSE group. Positive climate for crypto IPOsAmid a more positive crypto climate in the United States, crypto-related IPOs appear to be back in favor. Leading stablecoin issuer Circle executed an IPO earlier this month with the offering being 25x oversubscribed. Following the success of the Circle IPO, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes asserted on X that it would lead to a plethora of crypto-related IPOs over the next few years. He likened that anticipated wave of IPOs to the flurry of initial coin offerings (ICOs) that occurred back in 2017. Earlier this month American crypto exchange platform Gemini confidentially filed for an IPO in the U.S. A Bloomberg report published in March suggested that rival exchange business Kraken is planning an IPO for Q1 2026.  There has been some speculation that Ripple, the American technology company that developed and supports XRP and the XRP Ledger (XRPL), may be a prime candidate for an IPO. Taking to the X social media platform, “Pentoshi,” a pseudonymous crypto market analyst with over 860,000 followers on X, said that a Ripple IPO “feels only logical.” The analyst added that if the company executed an IPO, it would likely weigh in at “some insanely stupid valuation.” 

Intella X Partners With Aptos Foundation to Accelerate Growth of Web3 GamingIntella X, the Web3 blockchain gaming platform developed by Neowiz, a South Korean gaming company, has forged a strategic partnership with the Aptos Foundation, an esteemed layer-1 blockchain entity.Photo by Shubham’s Web3 on UnsplashAptos’ expansion in KoreaDedicated to nurturing the growth and advancement of the Aptos Network, a community-centric layer-1 network, the Aptos Foundation operates grant programs designed to expedite the expansion of the Aptos ecosystem. Seizing this collaboration as a valuable opportunity, the foundation envisions expanding the network’s presence in the Korean gaming market.These two entities will be collaborating across various technological and business domains, with the goal of enhancing the Intella X ecosystem and fostering the success of its Web3 projects.Empowering newcomers in Web3Intella X’s mission revolves around establishing an accessible platform that guides newcomers into the Web3 landscape. Beyond its gaming offerings, Intella X stands as a decentralized exchange, NFT launchpad, and NFT trading platform.On the global stage, Intella X has taken proactive strides to amplify its ecosystem’s reach. Among its notable achievements is a recent alliance with Yield Guild Games (YGG), a DeFi-powered gaming guild boasting a user base of over 450,000 worldwide. The cooperation between these entities will delve into the integration possibilities of YGG’s soulbound reputation tokens into Intella X Wallet (IX Wallet), the dedicated Web3 wallet for the Intella X platform.