DBS Bank pilots government grants on blockchain

Japanese Crypto Firm Pafin to Introduce DeFi Asset Management PlatformA Japanese company specializing in cryptocurrency services is preparing to launch a DeFi asset management platform.Photo by Shubham Dhage on UnsplashDeFi asset managementPafin, the company behind Cryptact, a service that automates cryptocurrency profit and loss (P&L) calculations, is set to introduce Defitact on June 5. Defitact is a platform designed to consolidate transactions involving decentralized finance (DeFi) assets and NFTs, complemented by illustrative charts. Pafin claims that it is the first provider of crypto P&L calculations to offer blockchain asset management in the Japanese language.The company envisions a broad array of services through Cryptact, from asset management to P&L calculations, to support all Web3 activities in today’s digital landscape.Beta test for subscribersStarting from May 29, Pafin will roll out a beta test for Defitact, exclusive to Cryptact newsletter subscribers. Subscribers will be able to access the service by entering their wallet addresses in the URL provided with the newsletter, which will be sent on the beta test launch date. The newsletter will be sent to those who sign up by May 28, and registration for a Cryptact account is free.This service emerges amidst the growing prominence of Web3, with DeFi — a financial service leveraging blockchain technology — standing out as one of its most rapidly evolving sectors. As of the close of 2021, the DeFi market had a near $100 billion valuation, according to a report by the Japan Research Institute.The nature of DeFi, lacking a centralized administrator, places the onus of crypto wallet management on individuals. The Defitact service seeks to resolve the inconvenience of monitoring and managing real-time transactions on DeFi platforms, typically operating outside crypto exchanges.Available in Japanese and EnglishAs a free, bilingual (Japanese and English) service, Defitact provides a transaction history and displays crypto market capitalization in three fiat currencies: the Japanese yen, the US dollar, and the euro.Pafin’s future plans include integrating Defitact with Cryptact, adding an NFT management service, and enabling the aggregation of multiple wallets for efficient digital asset portfolio management.

Pyth Network, an oracle network that provides a bridge between blockchain smart contracts and real-world data, has added pricing data related to stocks listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) to its service offering. Data covering 85 stocksIn a social media post, the project stated that it’s “bringing the Hong Kong market onchain.” In building out the future of finance, DeFi application developers need real-world data from traditional finance sources. Pyth Network confirmed that real-time data in the case of 85 stocks listed on HKEX is now live. In announcing the development, the company disclosed that price feed data is updated every 400 milliseconds and sourced from institutional-grade venues. Once added to the Pyth Network, the data is made available on a multi-network basis across in excess of 100 blockchain networks.Photo by Anne Nygård on UnsplashGateway dataHKEX data is perceived to be significant given that it is a major global exchange, while acting as a key gateway between global and Chinese markets. Pyth Network stated: “Whether you’re building trading strategies, structured products, tokenized portfolios, or simply want access to real-world stock prices from Asia’s financial gateway, these feeds bring Hong Kong’s equity market onchain openly, instantly, and permissionlessly.” In a blog post published to its website on July 28, Pyth Network outlined that this data addition accounts for data related to companies that have a combined equity market value of over $5 trillion. The project stated that this new data is “giving builders, traders, and protocols around the world direct, real-time access to one of the largest financial markets on earth.” Improving access to APAC equitiesThe project made the point that for many years, access to real-time data from the primary markets within the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region has been cost-prohibitive. It claimed that data terminals with this information can cost in excess of $30,000 per year. Pyth Network feels that with its market offering now incorporating HKEX market data, it is opening up access to this data for developers and DeFi protocol projects. This development is the latest in a string of updates that the project has brought about recently. Earlier this month, the project announced a partnership with tokenized real-world asset (RWA) provider Ondo Finance. The deal sees the duo oversee the launch of a USDY/USD price feed, which will be distributed by Pyth across 65 blockchain ecosystems. Similar to its latest unlocking of HKEX equity data, in June it enabled access to real-time onchain pricing related to the UK’s most actively traded equities. Going forward, the company states that “foundational market data will be open, composably integrated, updated in real-time, and available to anyone with an internet connection.” In March 2024, Pyth’s price feeds went live on Injective inEVM, an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible layer-2 rollup developed by Injective Labs. At the time of writing, the unit price of PYTH, Pyth Network’s native utility and governance token, was $0.1204, according to CoinGecko data.

The Royal Government of Bhutan has moved $66 million in Bitcoin (BTC) to global crypto exchange Binance. That’s according to blockchain data analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, outlining that the assets were moved to Binance over two separate transactions. The firm took to the X social media platform on Oct. 29 to highlight the digital asset transfer. In its X post, the firm wrote:”Crypto wallets belonging to the Royal Government of Bhutan moved $66.55M BTC to Binance this morning. The last time they deposited to exchanges was 4 months ago, at the start of July.”Photo by Moose Photos on PexelsSell-off concernsSome crypto community commentators have expressed concern of a sell-off given that the nation nestled in the Himalayas still has a holding of 12,456 Bitcoin, worth in the region of $900 million. The transfer was made on a day in which Bitcoin reached a unit price in excess of $73,000.  Arkham outlined that geographical data suggests that Bhutan’s Bitcoin mines remain active. On Oct. 29, they had accumulated $600,000 worth of Bitcoin mining rewards on-chain.  In this latest market activity, the Bhutanese began selling when the Bitcoin unit price had exceeded $70,000. As Bitcoin reaches towards new all-time-high pricing, Bitcoin whales often take profits. Mining Bitcoin since $5KIt emerged in 2023 that Bhutan had been quietly mining Bitcoin over the course of a number of years, since the leading digital asset had a unit price of around $5,000. The commercial activity has been enabled via Druk Holding and Investments (DHI), the commercial arm of the Royal Government of Bhutan. The Asian nation has ample hydroelectricity resources, being the only carbon-negative country in the world. Consequently, all its Bitcoin mining is carried out using hydro. While mining activity had been ongoing for a number of years and had largely gone unnoticed by the industry, an entanglement between DHI and failed crypto lenders BlockFi and Celsius brought more attention onto the Bhutanese holding company’s activities relative to crypto.  LawsuitsDHI was sued by BlockFi with the action subsequently voluntarily dismissed. In the case of Celsius it withdrew around $65 million from the platform prior to Celsius declaring bankruptcy. As a consequence, Celsius is currently suing DHI to claw back the funds that were removed from the platform. In 2023 Singaporean Bitcoin mining firm Bitdeer entered into a partnership with DHI with a view towards jointly developing green digital asset mining operation within the Kingdom of Bhutan. At the time, DHI CEO Ujjwal Deep Dahal said that the partnership formed part of an overall strategy to ensure that Bhutan took its place at the forefront of global innovation. Arkham Intelligence outlined on X that in H2 2023, Bhutan’s Bitcoin mining operations were producing in the region of 26 Bitcoin per day, or 780 Bitcoin per month. However, over the past three months, that mining rate has decreased to 8.6 BTC per day or 260 BTC per month. Arkham suggests that the Bitcoin halving, together with the increase in the Bitcoin hashrate, explains the reduced output, although it speculated that some unknown issue with Bitcoin mining rigs may also be a contributing factor.