Maple Finance Secures $5 Million to Fund Asia Expansion

Wemade CEO Encourages Japanese Game Developers to Embrace BlockchainHenry Chang, the CEO of South Korean gaming company Wemade, delivered a speech on Tuesday at the annual Japanese Web3 conference, WebX, in Tokyo to encourage Japanese game developers to venture into the blockchain industry.Photo by Louie Martinez on UnsplashIntegration of economies and gameplayChang expressed his belief that the integration of economies and gameplay across various games can be achieved through blockchains and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). He emphasized that this combination is innovative in the sense that it overcomes three significant barriers in the gaming world: giving users ownership of in-game assets, creating connections between different games, and tearing down the boundary between games and reality.Chang predicted that all games would evolve into blockchain-based games within the next three years. He presented WEMIX Play, the company’s blockchain game platform, as being fully equipped to support such a transition, with all the necessary features to provide blockchain game services.In a significant move towards realizing this vision, WEMIX Play has recently inked onboarding contracts with two gaming firms. One of them is MetaTokyo Studio, a game developer based in Japan, and the other is Skyjet Software, a Lithuania-based game publisher. WEMIX Play users will soon have the exciting opportunity to enjoy MetaTokyo Studio’s futuristic science fiction game, Chromata, and Skyjet Software’s thrilling 3D helicopter shooting game, Skybreakers.Prime Minister Kishida’s speechNotably, the event also saw a video speech from Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who expressed his enthusiasm for Web3 and its potential to revolutionize society by innovating the existing Internet framework. According to Minister Kishida, the Japanese government is committed to fostering an environment conducive to Web3 initiatives.The Japanese Prime Minister further anticipated that the WebX conference would lead to enhanced business cooperation between Japanese and foreign companies. He also highlighted that leading Japanese firms would unveil major projects aimed at establishing valuable economic zones within the metaverse.

While cryptocurrencies may be banned in China, crypto trading activity continues in some corners, nonetheless, sometimes through accessing overseas exchanges. With that, authorities recently uncovered a massive underground banking operation that exploited crypto trading platforms to evade local forex regulations.Photo by Manuel Joseph on Pexels$2.2 billion laundering operationOn Sunday, an account on popular Chinese social media platform WeChat run by China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) published details of the $2.2 billion laundering operation bust. Xu Xiao, the Inspector at the Qingdao Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, revealed that the scheme involved underground banks who purchased virtual currencies and then sold the virtual currencies through overseas trading platforms to obtain the foreign currency they needed. This process, he explained, completes the conversion of yuan and foreign currencies, constituting the illegal act of buying and selling foreign exchange. Stringent capital controlsChina enforces stringent rules on money transfers outside the country. Citizens are limited to exchanging up to $50,000 in foreign currency and require a permit for transactions beyond that limit. Any transaction exceeding the limit without a permit is considered money laundering. During a recent investigation, authorities seized cryptocurrencies valued at approximately $28,000 in Tether, Litecoin and other digital currencies. However, the operation is estimated to have facilitated the movement of over $2.2 billion, involving more than a thousand bank accounts across 17 provinces and municipalities. Monetary control loopholesChina, once the largest cryptocurrency market, imposed a comprehensive ban on crypto exchanges in September 2017 and subsequently expanded its restrictions to include crypto mining and trading. Despite these measures, reports have surfaced about underground crypto exchange operations. Earlier this year, an investigative report by the Wall Street Journal found that global exchange Binance continues to do thriving business with Chinese customers. Global crypto exchanges are reportedly still onboarding Chinese clients indirectly. The South China Morning Post (SCMP) recently accused Binance of facilitating Chinese crypto trading accounts by falsely claiming they are from Taiwan. While mainland China adopts a hostile stance towards cryptocurrencies, the special administrative region of Hong Kong remains progressive in the sector. Hong Kong’s regulatory authorities have introduced specific rules for cryptocurrencies and are licensing crypto exchanges operating within the jurisdiction. Arthur Hayes, the co-founder of the BitMEX crypto derivatives platform, recently described Hong Kong as the gateway for mainland China to global capital markets. Hayes asserted that wealthy Chinese individuals all bank in Hong Kong and with that, they all have access to crypto exchanges and brokers. In Cambodia, it is understood that illicit Chinese-linked activities oftentimes implicate the use of U.S. dollar stablecoin Tether (USDT) to move funds in and out of China even though Tether is banned in Cambodia. The latest crackdown in China underscores the ongoing challenges faced by authorities in controlling crypto-related activities, highlighting the dynamic nature of such activity within and adjacent to mainland China. As regulatory scrutiny intensifies, the contrast between mainland China’s approach and Hong Kong’s more open stance toward cryptocurrencies becomes increasingly evident. 

South Korea Advances Crypto Disclosures Bill for LawmakersThe floor leader of the ruling political party in the South Korean Assembly is urging faster implementation of a new bill that will require Korean politicians and senior government officials to make a declaration of any crypto-related holdings.The bill was already in the works but is now picking up speed, and likely to be brought into effect earlier than expected. That’s according to a local report published by Yonhap news agency. The bill is being finalized against the backdrop of a particularly poignant political controversy.Photo by rawkkim on UnsplashPolitical controversyLawmaker and former Democratic Party of Korea opposition party member Kim Nam-kuk is at the center of a political fuss, and with that, intense scrutiny relative to his interaction with crypto-assets. Kim reportedly held 800,000 WEMIX tokens in early 2022, with a value in the region of 6 billion Korean won (around $4.5 million).Existing legislation provides for a need for Korean politicians to disclose their investments and wealth. However, that provision has not caught up with the digital asset era. Virtual assets had been an exception which lawmakers are now rushing to remedy.Once news of Kim’s crypto holding emerged, it led to suspicion and accusations of insider trading. The politician had made a number of crypto trades during the time in which he was actively working on digital asset legislation. As the controversy gathered more attention, it led to the offices of two of the country’s leading crypto exchanges, Bithumb and Upbit, being raided. Records related to Kim’s crypto trading activity were seized.Bringing forward enforcement dateThe bill that will remedy circumstances like the one that has arisen as a result of Kim’s crypto trading activity is being put forward by Yun Jae-ok, the floor leader of the ruling party. It had originally been scheduled to be implemented in December, but Yun is looking to have the bill amended so that the enforcement date of the proposed legislation takes place in two months.“Given the current high level of public interest, especially regarding lawmakers, it’s not appropriate to enforce the law six months later after the promulgation,” Yun told Yonhap news agency. It’s understood that Yun has asked the leader of the Public Administration Committee to put forward the modified version of the law.The legislative process in South Korea requires initial drafting of the bill, followed by the proposed legislation being scrutinized by a number of relevant committees, inclusive of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. An assembly debate follows, and beyond that, it’s expected that there will be a vote on the legislation, which has been scheduled for Friday.Should the bill be carried following the vote, the approved bill then proceeds to the President. So long as it is not vetoed, it is presented to the public and becomes law.On an international basis, financial interest disclosure requirements are common. Taking the US and the UK as examples, both jurisdictions require their politicians to disclose financial holdings. However, it would appear that South Korea is about to enact an advanced form of such legislation comparatively, as currently in both the US and UK, there is no specific provision requiring politicians to disclose crypto holdings.