NEOPIN Strengthens Japanese Market Strategy for Its Global Expansion

Singapore-based startup Pontem, a Web3 product development studio, has successfully raised $6 million in a recent funding round. Broad venture capital participationThe firm announced details of the funding round via a press release published on Thursday.  The round was co-led by Faction and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The financing includes participation from notable contributors such as Pantera Capital, Aptos Foundation, market maker Wintermute, Singaporean trading firm Altonomy, Shima Capital and Kraken Ventures. This latest capital infusion brings Pontem's total raised funds to $10.5 million, building upon the $4.5 million secured in June 2021 through a private token sale led by Mechanism Capital, Kenetic Capital, Delphi Ventures and Hong Kong’s Animoca Brands.Pepi Stojanovski on UnsplashExpanding Move utilityThe primary focus of the funds is to empower developers in creating applications that are compatible with both the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and Move, expanding the utility of the Move programming language beyond its current usage on the Aptos and Sui blockchains. Move is a rust-derived programming language which was originally developed by Facebook with the intention of using it to power the Diem blockchain, prior to the company abandoning the project. It’s a platform-agnostic language designed for the writing of safe smart contracts. It distinguishes itself from the EVM's Solidity language by enhancing throughput through parallel processing. Pontem contends that Move is particularly appealing to Web2 developers from traditional finance and tech sectors due to its similarity to familiar static-type languages. Pontem envisions breaking the temporary vendor lock-in associated with the EVM, offering developers a versatile programming language that supports the security and scalability required for widespread adoption. Alejo Pinto, co-founder of Pontem, highlighted the objective of utilizing the capital influx to increase the usage of Move beyond the Aptos and Sui blockchains, providing dApp teams with a programming language that facilitates the addition of new features, promoting security and scalability. Pinto emphasized that Pontem seeks to address the vendor lock-in issue on Ethereum, enabling easier entry for Web2 developers and fostering their confidence in the decentralized space. Banafsheh Fathieh, Partner at Faction, praised Pontem's role in building critical primitives for the Move ecosystems. Pantera Capital Managing Partner Paul Veradittakit expressed excitement about investing in Pontem, recognizing the team's efforts in constructing essential financial and technical infrastructure to attract consumers and developers to the decentralized web. Lumio Layer 2The allocated capital is earmarked for developing Move Virtual Machine products on EVM-compatible blockchains like Ethereum. This includes Lumio, a Move-based Layer 2 solution which the company introduced in December. It operates as an optimistic rollup on Ethereum and leverages alternative Layer 1s like Aptos to process transactions. Pontem disclosed that products deployed on Aptos, such as the Pontem Wallet and Liquidswap DEX, have gained significant traction with 40,000 weekly active users and up to $1 million in daily volume. Looking ahead, Pontem envisions extending its support to the Solana Virtual Machine and other blockchain languages, underscoring its intention to provide a comprehensive development environment for decentralized applications. The funding secured in this round signifies a crucial step for the fledgling company in advancing the compatibility and accessibility of the Move programming language within the broader blockchain ecosystem. 

Bullish Market Analysis Finding as Asia Doubles Crypto UsersComing off the back of the last bull run, the crypto sector has been challenged with cooling price levels also affected by global macroeconomic headwinds. Despite that, a recent crypto market study by financial news platform Finbold has found encouragement with a significant increase in crypto users, most notably in Asia.Photo by Jéan Béller on Unsplash37% increase in global usersAccording to the market data presented by Finbold on Thursday, the number of global crypto users has reached 417.5 million as of 2023, representing a year-over-year growth of 36.88%. This translates to an increase of 112.5 million users compared to the 2022 count of 305 million.Several factors contribute to the growth in crypto user numbers. The fear of missing out (FOMO) phenomenon plays a significant role, as individuals see market downturns as an opportunity to enter the market and potentially benefit from their investments.Mainstream adoption and awareness of cryptocurrencies have also attracted new users, aided by the accessibility and convenience of crypto platforms and exchanges. Additionally, the acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a form of payment by businesses has further fueled user growth.In emerging markets with unstable economies and limited access to traditional banking services, cryptocurrencies have been embraced as an alternative and inclusive financial solution, driving adoption in those regions.Standout growth in AsiaAsia leads the way with 260 million users as of May 2023, marking an astonishing 100% growth from the previous year’s figure of 130 million. North America follows with 54 million users, witnessing an addition of 3 million compared to the 2022 count of 51 million.When examining crypto ownership in relation to the population of each country, Thailand claims the top spot in 2023 with a share of 9.32%. India comes in second with 7.23%, followed by Brazil at 6.98%. Pakistan ranks fourth with 6.4%, while France rounds out the top five with 5.9%.Observers believe that regional crypto user trends will be influenced by regulations. Asia dominates the market, driven by the increasing adoption of blockchain-based payment solutions in countries like India, China, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan, particularly within the banking, financial services, and insurance sectors.African & European user declineAfrica experienced a decline of 28%, going from 53 million to 38 million users. Similarly, European users dropped from 43 million to 31 million. Notably, Europe has witnessed a drop in usage, coinciding with the enactment of the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) law, which aims to create a legal framework for the crypto asset market.The growth in global user numbers is remarkable, considering the challenging phase the crypto sector has been going through. High-profile incidents, including the FTX crypto exchange collapse and the Terra (LUNA) ecosystem crash, have eroded trust within the sector. Moreover, the crypto market has had to navigate an uncertain regulatory landscape, with jurisdictions like the United States cracking down on the sector.Lawsuits filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Ripple, Binance, and Coinbase for alleged securities laws violations are likely to discourage investor involvement. Regions with stricter regulations, such as North America and Europe, are expected to lose crypto business to the Asia-Pacific region.

Metabora Singapore officially launches blockchain-based app for golf fansMetabora Singapore, a subsidiary of South Korean blockchain game developer Metabora formerly known as Kakao Friends Games, has officially launched BirdieSquad, a blockchain-based community platform for fans of professional golfers in the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA). This comes after the beta version that was launched in August quickly gained popularity, topping the ranks of sports-related apps.Photo by Splash Pic on UnsplashRevolutionizing the golf fandomBirdieSquad was developed by Kakao VX, the digital sports arm of Korean internet juggernaut Kakao, with the goal of creating an innovative and fun playground for golf fans to interact and create a fandom-based community. Users can own NFTs of their favorite golfers — which come in six tiers: Uncommon, Rare, Super Rare, Epic and Legendary — which are stored in personal wallets, and earn various rewards based on players’ actual performance results. They can also interact with other users and compete in “cheer-offs”. During off-seasons, Metabora plans to host various events such as AI-based championship tournaments.The platform is currently working with 46 professional golfers, including Han Jin-seon, Park Hyun-kyung, Lee Ye-won and Kim Min-byul. The platform said that it would bring more athletes in the future.“As we strive to create a new fandom culture where pro golfers and fans can interact, we will expand our ecosystem by onboarding various entertainment content revolving around gaming and sports,” said Lim Young-joon, Chief Business Officer of Metabora Singapore.Expanding partnershipsMeanwhile, the company has been expanding its partnerships with various global blockchain networks such as Polygon, NEAR Protocol, Ethereum and BNB Chain to expand its global ecosystem.