Sony Singapore partners with Crypto.com to enable USDC payments

OSL Group, a publicly-listed digital asset and blockchain platform company headquartered in Hong Kong, is set to acquire Indonesia’s Evergreen Crest Holdings.Photo by Kelly Sikkema on UnsplashAs the proposed acquisition of Evergreen Crest, a business that includes a virtual assets exchange platform, will involve a share transaction, OSL filed details of the acquisition with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on June 2. OSL will take a 90% stake in Evergreen Crest in return for $15 million worth of consideration shares, which will be issued by OSL to the seller. This share issuance will account for 1.48% of the total issued shares in the company. Once the acquisition goes through, Evergreen Crest will become a subsidiary of OSL Group, with Evergreen’s financial results consolidated into the overall financial statements of OSL going forward.  ‘Strategic benefits’The filing suggests that OSL management believe that the acquisition “will bring substantial strategic benefits to the Group,” as it opens up access for the company to the Indonesian digital asset market. The company is optimistic about the outlook for the Indonesian crypto market. It stated: “Indonesia possesses key attributes conducive to growth in this sector, including a substantial and youthful demographic, robust economic growth fundamentals, and a rapidly increasing rate of cryptocurrency adoption.” Acquiring licensesOne interesting aspect of the acquisition is that Evergreen Crest has acquired the requisite licensing to operate within the Indonesian market. Those cryptocurrency and futures trading licenses are likely to be of significant value to OSL as it means that through the acquisition, OSL can now enter the Indonesian market in a fully compliant manner. Using the existing compliant platform, OSL intends to expand the range of services offered within the Indonesian market. It indicated that it would do so in respect of payment finance (PayFi) and tokenized real-world asset (RWA)-related products and services, subject to acquiring the necessary licensing. OSL is encouraged by the opportunity that exists within Indonesia as far as tokenized RWAs are concerned. It claimed that the country has already demonstrated significant tokenized RWA-related activity. PT Multikripto Exchange Indonesia (also known as Koinsayang), the exchange business owned by Evergreen Crest, was awarded a virtual asset trading license by the Indonesian regulator, the Financial Services Authority (OJK), in March. At the time, the exchange outlined that it intended to expand its service reach, while creating a better trading experience for users located within Indonesia and overseas. In September 2024, the exchange was awarded a license to offer crypto asset perpetual futures contracts by Indonesia’s Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency (Bappebti).  OSL expanding its reachOSL appears to be making a concerted effort to expand beyond its Hong Kong base. In February it acquired CoinBest, a Japanese crypto exchange, rebranding the business as OSL Japan. At the time it was reported that the company was also looking at opportunities to expand in European markets. OSL was amongst the first digital asset exchange platforms to be licensed in Hong Kong, receiving Type 1 and Type 7 licenses from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in December 2020.

British multinational banking conglomerate Standard Chartered has partnered with global crypto exchange OKX in Dubai on a collateral mirroring pilot program.Photo by appshunter.io on UnsplashOff-chain collateralIn a press release published on April 10, the companies set out details of the collaboration. The initiative will facilitate institutional clients to utilize digital assets and tokenized money market funds for trading as off-chain collateral. Trading activity requires the ongoing movement of funds and assets between custodians and exchange platforms. The activity is expensive and slow. Back in 2023, OKX had collaborated with crypto custodian Komainu and asset manager CoinShares to enable collateral mirroring to overcome this operational inefficiency. In that instance, CoinShares was enabled to trade on OKX using a collateral mirroring facility provided by OKX with Komainu acting as asset custodian. This latest initiative has also seen OKX work with alternative investment management firm Brevan Howard, global investment management company Franklin Templeton and local regulator in Dubai, the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA).  Developed within regulatory frameworkThe collateral mirroring facility has been established on a pilot program basis to start with, having been developed within the regulatory framework established in Dubai by VARA. Standard Chartered will act as the digital asset custodian as part of the arrangement.  The press release points out that Standard Chartered is a Globally Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB), asserting that this will afford clients a higher level of security. By not having to manually move the digital assets, there is an additional security-related process improvement, given the ongoing risks associated with digital assets held on exchanges due to incidents of hacking. Hong Fang, OKX president, provided some insight into why the company has partnered with Standard Chartered, stating:”By leveraging Standard Chartered's position as a top custodian globally, as well as OKX's market leadership in cryptocurrency trading, the partnership sets an industry standard for current and potential institutional clients to deploy trading capital at scale in a trusted environment." OKX CEO Star Xu outlined on X that the service offering is geared towards tokenized money market funds with the aim of improving capital efficiency and counterparty risk protection. Standard Chartered launched its crypto custody services in Dubai last September. The service was established in partnership with Brevan Howard Digital, having been licensed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the independent regulator for financial service providers located within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), an economic free zone. In October 2024, OKX selected Standard Chartered as its digital asset custodian for the crypto exchange platform’s institutional clients. First clientsBrevan Howard Digital and Franklin Templeton will participate as the first clients to trial the new service offering. Furthermore, as part of the collaboration, OKX platform users will gain access to tokenized on-chain assets developed and offered by Franklin Templeton. Franklin Templeton’s head of digital assets, Roger Bayston, commented on the firm’s on-chain product offering, stating: “By ensuring assets are minted on-chain, we enable true ownership, allowing them to move and settle at blockchain speed – eliminating the need for traditional infrastructure.”

Com2uS Integrates Summoners War: Chronicles into Blockchain Mainnet XPLASouth Korean game developer Com2uS announced today the onboarding of its massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) called Summoners War: Chronicles on Com2uS’ blockchain mainnet XPLA.Photo by Muha Ajjan on UnsplashOwnership and rewardsWhat sets Chronicles apart is its play-to-own (P2O) service, allowing players to own in-game assets and be rewarded for their time and efforts. This is made possible through a system of tokenomics, enhancing the overall gaming experience.Since its global launch in March of this year, Chronicles has garnered significant recognition and popularity due to its sophisticated strategy gameplay and abundant content. Now, with its integration into the XPLA blockchain, the game aims to establish itself as an AAA title within the blockchain gaming market.Three in-game currenciesThe game’s P2O system is pillared by three in-game currencies: Rahild, Mileage, and Xlium. Players can earn Rahild by trading items, participating in events, and accomplishing challenging tasks. Rahild can then be exchanged for Mileage and other valuable items. Mileage, on the other hand, can be traded for Xlium, which can be further converted to XPLA, the native token of the blockchain, through XPLA GAMES Wallet.A Com2uS official said that the introduction of Chronicles on the XPLA mainnet opens up a world of exciting gaming experiences for both existing players and newcomers exploring the Web3 gaming realm. Players will not only be able to explore multiple ways to grow their characters but also have the chance to earn rewards for their gameplay. The game’s improved economic system will ensure that all users can make progress. Com2uS looks forward to taking this opportunity to help its flagship game succeed in the global blockchain game market.