Metaplanet surpasses 4K Bitcoin following stock split

Japan’s FSA Joins Project Guardian of Singapore’s MAS to Explore Digital Asset ApplicationsThe Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Japan has announced its participation in “Project Guardian,” an initiative led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), as part of their ongoing cooperation framework established in 2017 to boost fintech linkages. The FSA will be an observer in the project, which aims to explore the potential of digital assets.Photo by Joshua Miranda on PexelsExploring fintechProject Guardian, initiated by MAS in May 2022, aims to engage the financial industry in exploring the feasibility of incorporating asset tokenization, decentralized finance (DeFi), and other financial technologies. Together, the MAS and the participants of this endeavor aim to execute pilot projects, shape pertinent policies, and establish technical standards.For pilot projects, the MAS works with traditional financial institutions and fintech firms in Singapore and other jurisdictions to understand potential benefits and risks associated with digital assets. For policy development, the project participants strive to develop rulebooks and governance models, as well as to review the legal and regulatory frameworks that govern tokenized assets. These collaborations also seek to establish technical standards concerning trust anchors, which are qualified third-party authentication service providers; open networks; and institutional-grade DeFi protocols.Comments from officialsExpressing enthusiasm about the collaboration, Leong Sing Chiong, Deputy Managing Director of the MAS, stated, “We welcome FSA’s participation in Project Guardian. We look forward to greater public-private collaboration with FSA to support global efforts in developing a responsible and innovative digital asset ecosystem.”Mamoru Yanase, Deputy Director-General of the Strategy Development and Management Bureau at the FSA, also expressed delight at joining Project Guardian. He said, “We are delighted to join the Project Guardian. Decentralized financial ecosystem continues to develop in complexity, and it is important to address emerging risks. Blockchain technology including web3 has a potential to become a strong driver of innovation. We look forward to working with MAS, traditional financial institutions and FinTech firms to further enhance our knowledge in this area.”By participating in Project Guardian, the FSA and MAS are reinforcing their commitment to exploring the potential of digital assets while addressing regulatory considerations. This collaborative effort is poised to contribute to the responsible and innovative development of the global digital asset ecosystem.

Bitzlato co-founder to pleads guilty in US to illicit funds processingAnatoly Legkodymov, the co-founder and majority owner of Hong Kong-registered virtual currency exchange Bitzlato, entered a guilty plea in a U.S. court on Wednesday in relation to illicit funds transfer activity.Photo by Max Sandelin on UnsplashNew York court appearanceAccording to a Department of Justice press release, Legkodymov, a Russian national, appeared before U.S. District Judge Eric Vitaliano for a “criminal cause for pleading,” signaling a guilty plea.Legkodymov, 41, was arrested in Miami on Jan. 17 and has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn since then. U.S. authorities accused him of processing approximately $700 million in illicit funds through Bitzlato, a platform headquartered in Hong Kong.The charges related to operating the platform as an unlicensed money exchange business. Allegedly, he engaged in significant cryptocurrency swaps with Hydra Market, described as a marketplace involved in drugs, stolen financial information and money laundering services.United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace stated:“Legkodymov’s guilty plea today confirms that he was well aware that Bitzlato, his cryptocurrency exchange, was being used like an open turnstile by criminals eager to take advantage of his lax controls over illicit money transactions.”The Department of Justice maintained that Bitzlato becoming “a haven for criminal proceeds and funds intended for use in criminal activity” was as a result of its “deficient know-your-customer (KYC) procedures.”Website taken downBitzlato’s website has been replaced by a notice stating that the service was seized by French authorities as part of an international law enforcement action coordinated with U.S. and German law enforcement shutting down Hydra Market in April 2022.This guilty plea is the latest development in U.S. law enforcement’s broader efforts to crack down on fraud and illicit financial activities within the cryptocurrency markets. In recent cases, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted for stealing billions from customers, while Binance agreed to a $4.3 billion settlement, with CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) pleading guilty to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws. Binance was identified as one of Bitzlato’s top counterparties by U.S. authorities.Russia calls for Legkodymov’s releaseDespite calls from Russia’s embassy in Washington for Legkodymov’s release and an embassy visit to him in jail, the U.S. State Department confirmed that Russia rejected a proposal for the release of two Americans, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. This follows Russia’s denial of a U.S. embassy request to visit Gershkovich. The diplomatic exchanges underscore the international dimension of the case and the geopolitical tensions surrounding the detention of individuals in both countries.As U.S. law enforcement continues its efforts to combat cryptocurrency-related crimes, the anticipated guilty plea of Bitzlato’s co-founder highlights the regulatory scrutiny and consequences faced by those involved in illicit financial activities within the crypto industry.

Animoca Indicates Fund Interest From Console MakersThe head of Animoca Ventures has said that Web3 gaming is attracting the interest of veterans of the gaming world as well as that of “key Japanese console makers.”Animoca Ventures is a subsidiary company of Hong Kong-headquartered Web3 gaming and NFT firm, Animoca Brands. In a conversation with The Block recently, James Ho explained that although Web3 gaming has seen a short to medium-term downtrend when using the pricing of gaming-related tokens as the metric, the Animoca Ventures lead is seeing interest coming from “some of the best, most profound veterans in gaming.”Photo by Albie Patacsil on UnsplashProof of interestHo elaborated that there are a host of examples that back up his claim. He referred to FunPlus’s investment in global cross-platform play-and-earn games developer and publisher, Xterio. FunPlus itself is a Switzerland-headquartered independent games developer and publisher with offices and operations in China, Singapore, Canada, Spain, and the United States. Xterio raised $40 million in a funding round led by FunPlus in August of last year, with funding going towards building out its platform alongside further game development.Ho also cited Square Enix, a Japanese gaming conglomerate that has shown an interest in blockchain-based gaming in recent years. In April, it announced that it was tripling down on blockchain by partnering with Web3 platform Elixir. The objective of the collaboration is to generate visibility and adoption of Web3 gaming among traditional gamers.It’s also understood that Chinese tech giant Tencent has had a games studio under its group of companies which is believed to be building a blockchain-based first-person shooter game. Meanwhile, French video game publishing behemoth Ubisoft is an investor in Animoca Brands while also participating in a crypto-focused fund run by multi-stage technology investment platform, White Star Capital.Console-maker intentMost notable from Ho’s interview, though, is his claim that “key Japanese console makers” have an interest right now in pursuing Web3 gaming. That’s incredibly significant because if Web3 can conquer the consoles, it will truly be a mass-market affair at that point.Ho elaborated: “Console makers never cared about free-to-play until it grew into multi-million users, what we’re seeing here now is some of the console makers with their deep pockets want to get involved in potentially a fund to stay on top of innovation… And that to me is a signal that they want to build something in this space in the near future, or not too distant future.”The Animoca Ventures lead talked about “key Japanese console makers,” specifically in the context of interest expressed by them in investing in a second early-stage venture fund that Animoca is considering. The expression of interest has become evident to the company as it’s a response it received having touted the prospect of establishing the fund.It’s interesting to hear that Animoca is actively pitching the notion of raising another fund, as it had been speculated that the firm has scaled down some of its existing funds. It’s understood that the firm was working on the new fund in November of last year, initially proposing a target of $2 billion. Once January came around, Animoca took the decision to scale that target back by half to $1 billion.The company denies that reporting on the subject, suggesting instead that the original target of the fund was $1 billion from the outset.