Hong Kong Legislator Courting US Crypto Exchange Coinbase

Binance announced on its blog on Sept 9 that its Indonesian subsidiary company, Tokocrypto, had secured a Physical Crypto Asset Trader (PFAK) license from the Southeast Asian country’s regulator, Bappebti. Compliant global growthThe company put itself forward as a candidate for licensing in 2019, and with the licensing award, it became the third crypto entity to be licensed. In its post on Binance Square, Binance claimed that the “PFAK license strengthens Tokocrypto’s position as a regulated and trusted platform in Indonesia's Web3 ecosystem.”  It called the five-year process “rigorous,” indicating that the license acquisition was critical not just for Tokocrypto but also relative to the overall development on Indonesia’s crypto and Web3 industry. The licensing now enables the company to trade as a fully authorized physical crypto asset trader in Indonesia. The licensing award comes just days after it was reported that Binance is inching ever closer to obtaining a full trading license in Kazakhstan, indicating that the company is expanding its global presence in a compliant manner. This development is likely to be significant for Binance and its subsidiary in terms of global growth efforts, given that a 2023 Chainalysis report found that ranked in terms of the pace of crypto adoption, Indonesia was placed seventh, making it an important market for the company.Photo by Fahrul Razi on UnsplashBinance CEO Richard Teng commented on the development, stating:“Binance is committed to fully supporting Tokocrypto in its mission to drive the growth of the Web3 ecosystem in the region.” Tokocrypto CEO Yadhono Rawis classed the company becoming “the third exchange to receive [a] PFAK license in Indonesia” as an important achievement in a “market which has 35 prospective crypto exchanges registered with Bappebti.”  Growing user-baseIn its Binance Square post, Binance also highlighted that Tokocrypto’s user base has now grown to 4.5 million users. Additionally, Tokocrypto is responsible for 43% of crypto trading within the Indonesian market in 2023, according to CoinGecko data. It’s understood that Binance has held a majority stake in Tokocrypto since a very early stage in the firm’s development.  Crypto tax revenue surgeRecently published data revealed that tax revenue generated through Indonesia’s crypto sector has surged. It appears that tax revenues have increased despite calls for the authorities to implement crypto tax policy reform. Earlier this year CoinDesk Indonesia speculated that high crypto taxation rates were responsible for a slump in crypto-related tax revenues. In March reports emerged that crypto transactions had increased by over 200%, with Tokocrypto’s Rawis attributing the uptick to a recovery in the Bitcoin unit price across all markets. In early 2025, it’s expected that crypto industry oversight will be transferred from Bappebti to the Financial Services Authority (OJK). With that, it’s thought that some changes may be made to how crypto-related taxes are applied.

Korea’s prominent crypto exchanges Bithumb and Korbit have recently resumed charging trading fees, local media outlet Edaily reported. However, these changes in fee policies are reinforcing Upbit’s dominant market position while downsizing Bithumb’s and Korbit’s market shares. Meanwhile, the local banks affiliated with crypto exchanges are benefitting from an uptick in fee revenue from the recent bitcoin boom. According to crypto data intelligence platform CoinGecko on Feb. 28, Upbit accounted for 77.4% of the local market share in crypto transactions, followed by Bithumb (20.43%), Coinone (1.73%), Korbit (0.35%) and Gopax (0.09%). Photo by Markus Winkler on UnsplashShifts in market sharesAs of March 2, the market shares of Bithumb and Korbit decreased by 8.59 percentage points and 0.21 percentage points, respectively. Conversely, Upbit’s dominance grew to 86.57%, up by over 9 percentage points. A Korbit official said it’s too early to pass judgment on Korbit’s market performance, as the exchange’s policies on trading fees could change depending on the market sentiment. The person added that CoinGecko tracks only eight types of tokens traded on Korbit and does not cover all the transactions on the exchange.  Bithumb had previously benefited from charging no fees, driving up its market share to as high as over 40% in December. Following the decision to impose a fee of 0.04% on Feb. 6, however, the exchange has been experiencing a drop in transaction volume. Korbit also reinstated trading fees last Thursday, roughly four months after eliminating them on Oct. 10 as a promotional move. However, it's worth mentioning that the newly introduced trading fee is 0.07%, which is lower than the earlier rate of 0.2%. Meanwhile, Gopax currently exempts fees for users who trade BTC, ETH, XRP and USDC.  No local regulations on fees for crypto transactions At the moment, there are no local regulations on fees for crypto transactions, leaving the task of setting such fees to individual trading platforms. It is known that crypto exchanges in other countries, such as the U.S., set their own rates as well.  

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has stepped into the realm of the metaverse by forming a working group tasked with setting standards for the burgeoning technology.Photo by Li Yang on UnsplashChinese corporate participationThe announcement, made on Friday, revealed that the working group would comprise representatives from the government, academic institutions and major corporations. In its statement, MIIT explained that the establishment of the metaverse working group aligns with the nation's emphasis on industrial development within the technology sector. Notably, the group will feature key figures from major Chinese tech corporations, including Huawei, Ant Group, ZET, Tencent, Baidu, NetEase, Sense Time and others. Public feedback on the selection of group members is invited until Feb. 18, although the specific areas of focus for the group are not detailed in the document. Initial in-roadsThe working group’s headline tech participants have all made some initial in-roads into metaverse technology. Baidu established its own metaverse project, XiRang, in 2021. Late last year it partnered with Qualcomm on the use of extended reality (XR) technology for use on a new metaverse platform. Huawei is paying attention to the promising metaverse space by building up a catalog of metaverse-related patents. Like Baidu, Tencent is focusing on developing XR technology with metaverse development in mind. Last year NetEase collaborated with a Chinese liquor brand to launch a winery-themed metaverse, while issuing NFTs linked to liquor bottles. Establishing metaverse standardsChina has been contemplating the formulation of metaverse standards for some time. In September 2023, MIIT advocated for the creation of a dedicated working group to address the ongoing challenges in metaverse technology. The government's overarching objective is to ensure the healthy and orderly development of the metaverse industry through standardization and guidance, reducing redundant investment costs and fostering collaborative forces for industrial development. Analysts from JPMorgan foresee a potential uptick in the value of Chinese tech stocks if the metaverse gains traction in the country. According to their analysis, Chinese web giants like Tencent and NetEase stand to benefit significantly from metaverse development. Even non-web companies such as China Mobile, Sony and Agora could witness positive impacts should the technology gain widespread adoption. In fact, China Mobile led the development of a metaverse industry alliance in China in 2023. Regional developmentIn a December document, MIIT outlined plans to formulate strategy documents clarifying the development path of Web3.Last year, several local governments in China committed to the development of the metaverse industry. Sichuan, a province once known as a crypto mining hub, aims to reach a market size of 250 billion yuan ($35.1 billion) in the metaverse industry by 2025. Last May, the city of Zhengzhou announced policy proposals to support metaverse companies. The same month, the province of Henan established a $21.7 million fund to support metaverse-related projects. The following month, an initiative was established in Nanjing to nurture metaverse development. Additionally, Shandong province has plans to grow its metaverse-related initiatives to achieve a market size of 150 billion yuan by 2025.