SK C&C and NEAR Foundation Forge Strategic Partnership to Fuel Web3 Growth

Military Bank (MB Bank), a subsidiary of Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defence and a top-five bank in Vietnam serving 33 million customers, has partnered with South Korea’s Dunamu to launch the Southeast Asian nation’s first domestic digital asset exchange. Dunamu is the operator of Upbit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. In a statement published on its website on Aug. 13, Dunamu outlined that the two companies had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the objective of forging a technical partnership to foster Vietnam’s virtual asset market. With that overarching aspiration, the companies plan to establish a digital asset exchange. The deal was signed on Aug. 12 at the Korea-Vietnam Business Forum, an event that was held at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul. Through Upbit, Dunamu has considerable experience and know-how in the crypto exchange business. Its purpose in this partnership is to bring that ability and Upbit’s technology to the establishment of a new exchange in Vietnam.Photo by Peter Nguyen on UnsplashDunamu CEO Oh Gyeong-seok commented on the development, stating: “Vietnam's potential is shown by the more than 20 million virtual asset holders, annual trading volume of more than $800 billion and the inflow of global top 5 blockchain assets.” The Dunamu CEO added that when Vietnam’s proven growth potential meets the Upbit model, it will provide an opportunity to go further than the creation of a crypto exchange, with the development and design of “the entire national digital financial infrastructure based on trust.” Growing and developing Vietnam’s digital financial marketThis aspiration was shared by Military Bank Chairman Liu Zongtai, who stated: “In the future, Vietnam and Korea, Military Bank and Upbit will work together to grow and develop Vietnam's digital financial market as reliable cooperation partners.” As well as sharing its technology and infrastructure, Dunamu will also advise the company on matters such as regulatory compliance and investor protection. Vietnam has previously been hailed as a market that is seeing a significant level of crypto adoption. According to Statista, the market is expected to experience significant growth in the coming years. Crypto user penetration has been forecast to reach over 21% by 2026. The Vietnamese government has also been putting things in order to accommodate crypto assets. In June, the Vietnamese National Assembly passed the Digital Technology Industry Law. The legislation goes some way in providing regulatory clarity, with the categorization of virtual assets and crypto assets. Last October, the authorities set out a blockchain strategy for the Southeast Asian nation, with the aspiration of achieving regional leadership relative to the digital assets sector by 2030. Upbit is a significant player in the crypto sector. According to CoinMarketCap data, it’s the fourth-largest spot exchange platform globally, measured in terms of trading volume. For the month of July, it achieved a trading volume of $110.21 billion, trailing Bitget at $126.05 billion and Bybit at $122.3 billion, while Binance led the market with $683.41 billion. 

Socket, a cross-chain infrastructure protocol, and its interoperability bridging platform, Bungee, have restarted operations following a temporary pause prompted by an exploit that led to the apparent theft of $3.3 million.Photo by Anna Tarazevich on PexelsSecurity incidentTaking to the company’s Discord, Socket team hospitality lead Taylor Melvin clarified that it had “experienced a security incident which affected wallets with infinite approvals to Socket contracts.” The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, involved an unknown attacker draining millions worth of stablecoins and other tokens from the Bungee bridging aggregator. The attackers targeted wallets with infinite approvals to Socket contracts, exploiting authorizations for blockchain-based tools that allow applications to access tokens in a user's wallet. Security researcher "@speekaway" was the first to flag the exploit on Tuesday. The attacker's wallet, connected to the exploit, held nearly $3 million in ether (ETH) and $300,000 worth of other tokens. By 2:47 p.m. ET, the attack seemed to have ceased, with the researcher recommending users to revoke approvals for Socket to safeguard their assets. Pausing contractsIn response to the security breach, Socket announced the pause of affected contracts on Tuesday at 3:15 p.m. ET. The project's team promptly identified and addressed the issue, taking swift action to mitigate the exploit's impact. @speekaway chimed back in once contracts had been paused, writing:”Think this pause fixed it, very likely no more attacks are possible. So if you are currently freaking out about revoking you can probably relax.” Normal service returnsAs Socket paused activity during the incident, preventing further propagation of the attack, developers worked to fix the issue. Early Wednesday, Socket developers announced that the problem had been resolved, and normal activities had resumed. The team also stated that plans for compensation were in progress. Cross-chain bridges, like Socket's Bungee, facilitate token transfers between different blockchains but remain susceptible to exploitation. Blockchain security and data analytics company PeckShield confirmed that at least $3.3 million had been lost, highlighting the need for enhanced security measures in the rapidly evolving blockchain ecosystem. The exploit involved the exploitation of a recently added route, which has since been disabled. The attacker targeted users who had over-approved Socket, draining funds up to the limit of their approval. This incident follows the $81 million hack of Orbit Chain, a cross-chain bridge connecting Ethereum to other networks, earlier in January. Cross-chain tools' complexity contributes to the frequency of such attacks, emphasizing the importance of understanding the security measures in place when utilizing these bridges. In a message to CoinDesk, Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink, emphasized the need for users to scrutinize the security of their chosen bridge, considering the various levels of cross-chain security. With the complexities involved, users are encouraged to be vigilant and informed about the security spectrum of the bridges they employ. Socket was founded by Indian duo Rishabh Khurana and Vaibhav Chellani. In September, the company raised $5 million, with funding coming from Framework Ventures and Coinbase Ventures. 

Hong Kong’s insurance regulator is drafting rules that would bring insurers’ cryptocurrency exposure under a risk-based capital framework. According to Bloomberg, the Insurance Authority of Hong Kong is preparing a risk-based capital framework that would impose a 100% risk charge on insurers’ crypto holdings. The proposal distinguishes among crypto exposures, assigning stablecoin investments risk charges based on the fiat currency backing the Hong Kong-regulated token rather than applying a uniform treatment. The regulator is also considering capital incentives to channel insurers’ investment into infrastructure projects supporting Hong Kong or mainland China, including those listed or issued within the city. The Insurance Authority said the regime is designed to bolster the industry while promoting broader economic development. A public consultation on the rules is scheduled to run from February to April, ahead of any legislative submission.Photo by Vlad Deep on UnsplashStablecoin licensing focuses on robust reservesSeparately, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau is advancing other regulatory initiatives in the digital asset space. Secretary Christopher Hui indicated that the first batch of stablecoin licenses is expected to be issued early next year. According to the Hong Kong Economic Times, Hui noted that the government had received 36 stablecoin license applications by the end of September, following the implementation of the Stablecoins Ordinance in August. Regulators are prioritizing applicants that demonstrate strong reserve management, price stability, and robust anti–money laundering (AML) controls. Hui added that the government is currently collaborating with the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to finalize licensing rules for virtual asset trading platforms and custodial service providers, with proposals expected to reach the Legislative Council next year. StanChart and Ant’s tokenized depositsWhile regulators refine the rulebook, the traditional banking sector is moving forward with the technology underpinning the digital pivot. Standard Chartered has collaborated with Ant International to launch a tokenized deposit solution on Whale, Ant’s blockchain-powered treasury management platform. As reported by Tech in Asia, the solution enables real-time transfers in Hong Kong dollars, offshore yuan, and U.S. dollars. This initiative falls under the umbrella of Project Ensemble, a program launched by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in March 2024 to shape the city’s tokenization ecosystem. Market headwindsThese developments follow the crypto sector’s entry into Hong Kong’s equity market. According to Bloomberg, HashKey Holdings, a licensed exchange operator, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Dec. 17, raising HK$1.6 billion ($206 million). While shares initially debuted above the offer price, they had fallen approximately 15% to HK$5.69 by Dec. 22. The lackluster performance coincides with a broader pullback in the crypto market. Bitcoin is currently trading below $89,000, roughly 30% off its October peak. Institutional caution is also evident in global flows. According to CoinShares, crypto investment products recorded $952 million in net outflows for the week ending Dec. 20. Ethereum and Bitcoin products led the exit with outflows of $555 million and $460 million, respectively. Conversely, altcoins XRP and Solana bucked the trend, seeing inflows of $62.9 million and $48.5 million. James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, attributed the negative sentiment to delays regarding the CLARITY Act, a U.S. bill designed to clarify digital asset regulation, and continued selling by whale investors.