BPMG launches competition platform GemPION for Web3 gamers

Dunamu & Partners Invests $109M in 60 Promising StartupsInvestment firm Dunamu & Partners (D&P), a subsidiary of South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit’s operator Dunamu, announced that it has made 144.4 billion KRW ($109 million) investments in 60 promising startups, as per economic news media Moneytoday.Photo by Precondo CA on UnsplashDiversified portfolioHaving commenced its operations five years ago, the investment company started investing in fintech and blockchain domains and later diversified its investments into other cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) and data management.AI and data managementA D&P official said that more than half of the investment (52%) has been allocated towards AI and data management. The company made initial investments in nascent startups and continued to provide additional funds to support their noticeable growth.One of the best cases is Korea Credit Data (KCD), the company behind retail revenue management solution Cashnote. After receiving strategic investment from D&P in 2018, KCD secured another 35 billion KRW ($26.4 million) last October to turn into a unicorn company, elevating its status to a unicorn company — a privately-owned startup valued at over $1 billion.Other notable companies in D&P’s portfolio include cloud-based foreign exchange payment solution Travel Wallet, AI-driven investment tech provider Qraft Technologies, and AI chip design firm Rebellions.Positive social impactD&P has also made investments in areas that generate positive social impact. D&P has committed 10 billion KRW ($7.6 million) each to whole-genome sequencing analysis company Genome Insight and knowledge-sharing platform Classum.Investments with capitalD&P invests entirely with capital and does not rely on funds for financing its investments. D&P CEO Lee Kang-joon emphasized the firm’s preemptive monitoring of market trends and its persistent investment strategy in the quest to identify the next industry trailblazer.

South Korea’s cryptocurrency market is moving through a period of stricter oversight and policy debate, while major industry players pursue overseas listings against a backdrop of falling market valuations and weaker investor sentiment.Photo by Ori Song on UnsplashAccording to Newsis, financial regulators are close to finalizing penalties for the country’s major crypto exchanges after a wide-ranging review of their compliance systems. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission (FSC) is preparing to issue sanctions such as institutional warnings, fines, and personnel measures against platforms found to have breached anti-money laundering (AML) rules. These actions follow a series of on-site inspections that began in August 2024 with Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, and were later extended to Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax. Authorities plan to determine and announce penalties in the order of these inspections, which concluded in April 2025. Stablecoin debate growsAt the same time, a policy debate is unfolding in the parliament over how far South Korea should go in supporting digital asset innovation. The Maeil Business Newspaper reported that Democratic Party lawmaker Min Byoung-dug has questioned the Bank of Korea’s cautious stance on launching a won-backed stablecoin. The central bank has identified seven main risks associated with such an asset, including possible de-pegging and threats to monetary policy stability. Min argues that the bank is placing too much weight on these micro-level risks. In a recent report, he contended that delaying innovation could lead to larger, structural economic losses and said the risks identified by the central bank can be managed through oversight and product design rather than by avoiding stablecoins altogether. Dunamu–Naver deal targets NasdaqIn the corporate sector, major fintech firms are pushing ahead with international expansion plans. Naver Financial and Dunamu, which operates the Upbit exchange, have endorsed a merger plan involving a comprehensive share swap, according to The Herald Business. The share swap ratio has been set at 1 to 2.54. This development follows earlier reports that the two firms were close to an agreement intended to support a future Nasdaq listing in the United States. Bitcoin slide persistsThese regulatory, legislative, and corporate developments are taking place as market conditions deteriorate. Global data show weakening demand, with spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recording about $3.5 billion in net outflows in November, according to Bloomberg, while CoinMarketCap data show Bitcoin prices down roughly 24% over the past month.  Domestic sentiment reflects this caution. In a weekly survey conducted by CoinNess and Cratos, 59.5% of South Korean investors said over the weekend that they expect Bitcoin prices to fall or crash this week, up from 43.6% a week earlier. Only 12.4% of respondents forecast a price increase. Views on the broader market cycle are also shifting. In the same survey, 42.9% of participants said they believe the bull market has already ended. Reflecting this sentiment, Alternative.me’s Crypto Fear & Greed Index is at 15, in the “Extreme Fear” zone as of Nov. 26. 

Netmarble’s Blockchain Platform Plans Tokenomics Overhaul for MBX TokenNetmarble, a South Korean gaming company, announced today that its blockchain subsidiary MARBLEX revealed a plan to revamp the tokenomics of its native MBX token.Fate of 670 million MBXAs part of this overhaul, MARBLEX will conduct a vote to determine whether to burn 670 million MBX tokens, which do not belong to the distribution plan. The total number of issued MBX tokens amounts to 1 billion.The vote will be held on its Discord channel and the decentralized governance platform Snapshot. Participants eligible to vote are holders of Marbleship NFTs and MBX tokens. The final decision will be reached on July 10. If consensus is reached to burn the tokens, the specific burn schedule will be disclosed at a later date.Photo by Sergio Vilches on UnsplashEnhancing MBX utilityStarting from the third quarter of this year, MARBLEX plans to introduce an improved token burn policy and system. The aim is to expand the utility of the MBX token and establish an ecosystem that is sustainable, transparent, and reliable.MARBLEX is a gaming blockchain ecosystem that offers users the opportunity to play games while earning and trading cryptocurrencies. The platform currently supports games such as A3: Still Alive, a battle royale MMORPG; Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds, a fantasy MMORPG; and The King of Fighters ARENA, a fighting game.According to Coinmarketcap, the MBX token is listed on six centralized cryptocurrency exchanges (Bithumb, Huobi, Bybit, Gate.io, MEXC, and Indodax) and Klayswap, a Klaytn-based decentralized exchange. Klaytn is an open source public blockchain developed by Korean social media giant Kakao Corp.