Alchemy Pay plugs into Worldpay’s payment rails

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.

NH Bank announced today that Korean banks and fractional investing companies have teamed up to establish a consortium with the aim of building an ecosystem for security tokens. Consortium between banks and fractional investorsThe consortium comprises NH Bank, Suhyup Bank, and Jeonbuk Bank as well as six fractional investing companies, including Seoul Auction Blue, Tessa, and Galaxia Moneytree.The banking sector will contribute to the security token industry by building infrastructure for distributed ledger technology, conducting research on promoting security tokens, and bolstering investor protection. Korean banks’ crypto initiativesNH Bank has been in partnership with domestic Korean crypto exchanges Bithumb and Korbit to provide them with real-name registered bank accounts, demonstrating continued interest in crypto services. Under current law, crypto exchanges in Korea are obliged to hold real-name bank accounts if they want to provide Korean won trading services.This move led by NH Bank shows that traditional banks, which have been more conservative compared to securities companies, are actively striving to secure a position in the security token market.

Upbit Adds Polygon Staking ServiceDunamu, the blockchain and fintech firm that operates South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, announced on Wednesday (local time) the addition of Polygon’s MATIC to Upbit’s staking service, now available via the Upbit website and mobile application.Photo by GuerrillaBuzz on UnsplashStaking is a service where users entrust their cryptocurrency to a blockchain network to boost its security and receive virtual assets as rewards. The virtual assets deposited by staking users are used in the transaction verification process of generating new blocks in the blockchain network of the respective asset. Users are then rewarded with virtual assets for their participation in the process.Polygon is an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution that allows developers to build various decentralized applications (DApps) within the Ethereum ecosystem. Its native token is called MATIC.Expanded staking optionsAny Upbit user who has completed the Know Your Customer (KYC) process and enabled two-factor authentication can participate in staking on Upbit. The minimum staking amount is 2.7 MATIC. Users who participate in staking receive rewards once every day. They can also unstake their tokens at any time they want.“At Upbit, we utilize our world-class security measures, robust infrastructure, and years of technological expertise to operate validators and stake users’ assets for them,” the exchange said. “Users’ crypto assets that are used in staking are safely stored in a cold wallet.”Dunamu officially launched the Upbit Staking service in January of last year, serving as an intermediary in the complex staking process. The service aims to facilitate the convenient and secure staking of virtual assets. With the latest addition of Polygon, the exchange now supports a total of five staking options, namely Ethereum, Cosmos, Cardano, Solana, and Polygon.New NFT collectionsThe exchange’s non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, Upbit NFT, also recently opened trading, deposits, and withdrawals for new NFT collections based on Ethereum and Polygon. To celebrate this additional functionality, Upbit NFT will conduct Ethereum giveaway events for lucky participants until next Wednesday.