IOTA co-founder meets with Philippine Secretary of Trade to further adoption

Samjong KPMG, the South Korean division of global accounting firm KPMG, is gearing up to host a seminar on virtual assets. The event is scheduled for Jan. 5 (KST) and is organized in partnership with Xangle, a Web3 data intelligence platform. Earlier this month, the two entities agreed to collaborate in exploring on-chain data relevant to crypto accounting.Photo by Markus Winkler on UnsplashGrowing crypto marketRecently, there has been a notable increase in the crypto market activity in South Korea, with the daily trading volume of virtual assets surpassing KRW 10 trillion (approximately $7.8 billion), equivalent to approximately $7.8 billion. In response to this burgeoning market, South Korea is looking forward to the implementation of the Virtual Asset User Protection Act in July. Additionally, last week, the country’s financial regulators issued the final version of new guidelines for cryptocurrency accounting and disclosure. In light of these recent developments in South Korea's crypto market, the event organized by Samjong KPMG and Xangle aims to bring together crypto entrepreneurs to discuss strategies for adapting to the new corporate regulations concerning accounting, disclosure and internal control. This seminar will provide an opportunity for stakeholders in the crypto industry to prepare for the upcoming regulatory changes, ensuring compliance and effective management in this evolving financial landscape.From market forecast to taxationIn the upcoming seminar, a series of talks are slated to shed light on the shifting landscape of the cryptocurrency market. The first presentation will feature Junwoo James Kim, Co-CEO of Xangle, who is set to present a forecast for the cryptocurrency market in the next year.  Following Kim's presentation, Park Jong-baek, a Partner at law firm Bae, Kim & Lee, will take the stage. Park's expertise in legal matters will guide the audience through the current and forthcoming regulatory trends in virtual assets. Meanwhile, Choi Yeon-taek, Director at Samjong KPMG, will address the practical aspects of the recently released guidelines for cryptocurrency. His discussion will focus on their application in corporate accounting, disclosure and internal control. Xangle’s Co-CEO Lee Hyun-woo will highlight the importance of complying with disclosure rules for virtual asset information, focusing on aspects like circulating supply. Furthermore, Samjong KPMG’s Director Kim Byung-kook will address taxation issues related to virtual assets.Accounting transparency and investor protectionAccording to a report by local news outlet The Maeil Business Newspaper, Park Sung-bae, the head of the virtual asset business consulting division at Samjong KPMG, expressed optimism about the upcoming seminar’s potential impact. He hopes that the event will play a significant role in fostering a healthy cryptocurrency market. The focus will be on changing regulations that aim to enhance accounting transparency and protect investors, underlining the importance of adapting to these changes. Echoing Park's sentiments, Lee from Xangle emphasized the importance of clear and well-defined regulations for the cryptocurrency market, given that such regulations enhance transparency and help maintain the overall health of the crypto ecosystem. He highlighted that despite various challenges and concerns, the crypto market has continued to grow. Lee expressed his hope that the seminar will be particularly beneficial for individuals and organizations involved in Web3 projects, aiding them in navigating and understanding the evolving regulatory environment.  

Crypto.com Complies with UK FCA’s New Digital Asset RulesWhile some Asian crypto platforms are struggling to comply with the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regarding new marketing-related rules that took effect on October 8, Singapore’s Crypto.com has confirmed its successful compliance. The firm is registered as FORIS DAX UK LIMITED on the FCA website.Photo by Paul Fiedler on UnsplashContinuing support for UK customersAs a result, UK customers can continue to access Crypto.com’s products and services without disruption. The company emphasized its commitment to strengthening its platform and presence in the UK market. Crypto.com stated that it fully supports measures aimed at enhancing consumer safety and security in the cryptocurrency industry. The company also expressed its ongoing cooperation with UK and international regulators to foster consumer confidence in the crypto sector.Effective from October 8, the FCA’s updated guidelines mandate that all crypto firms marketing their services to UK consumers must register with the FCA and adhere to relevant standards concerning risk disclosures and marketing practices.Regulatory compliance challengesWhile Crypto.com has managed to remain compliant, that’s not the case for all large and well-known crypto platforms. The FCA recently expanded its scrutiny of digital currency exchanges by adding Huobi and KuCoin to its list of unapproved and unregistered firms.The FCA alerted clients to the fact that these service providers were offering various crypto services in the UK without obtaining regulatory approval. This development follows a recent warning from the FCA, which highlighted several other crypto-focused companies.Binance’s compliance difficulties2023 has seen global crypto platform Binance struggle with regulatory compliance in various markets worldwide. In some jurisdictions where it has either decided to withdraw from the market or been asked to leave, the firm has taken the approach of still maintaining exposure to that market by establishing a partnership with a locally registered firm.In the UK, Binance has partnered with Rebuildingsociety.com, a peer-to-peer lending platform. However, its local partner has fallen foul of the UK's FCA. On Tuesday, the UK regulator issued a notice clarifying that Rebuildingsociety.com was not authorized to “approve the content of any financial promotion for a Qualifying Cryptoasset for communication by an unauthorized person.”Dubai-headquartered crypto exchange Bybit is another crypto business that has struggled with the FCA's new regulatory requirements. Last month the exchange denied reports that it was preparing to leave the UK market due to the new strict marketing rules. The following week the exchange confirmed that it would be leaving the UK market, ahead of the introduction of the new crypto marketing regulations.Crypto.com had received registration approval from the FCA in August 2022. At the time, CEO Kris Marsazalek stated:“We are committed to the UK market and we look forward to developing our platform and presence in the UK further by expanding our offering to customers, while continuing to work with regulators.”In June, the firm acquired a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license in its home market of Singapore from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Around the same timeframe, the firm received a minimum viable product (MVP) license from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in Dubai.

Ripple Collaborates with Hong Kong Regulator in RWA TokenizationIn a demonstration of an extended use case, Ripple, the real-time gross settlement system, currency exchange, and remittance network, has announced that it has been selected by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) to showcase a real world asset (RWA) tokenization solution.Photo by Redd F on UnsplashReal world asset (RWA) tokenizationIn a press release published on Thursday, the San Francisco-based firm outlined that the objective of its participation in the HKMAs inaugural e-HKD Pilot Program is to showcase a particular approach to real estate tokenization. In principle the e-HKD project is a central bank digital currency (CBDC) scheme.Ripple is one of sixteen firms that will participate in the program. Among the other participants are HSBC, one of the largest banking and financial services institutions in the world, British multinational bank Standard Chartered, and Bank of China (Hong Kong).For its part, Ripple will partner with Fubon Bank, a subsidiary of one of the largest financial holding companies in Taiwan. The e-HKD Pilot Program will feature a series of pilots conducted through several industry players with a view towards carrying out in-depth research into application, implementation, and design issues relative to the e-HKD.Real estate tokenization is a leading example of RWA tokenization, which overall is anticipated to become a multi-trillion dollar industry by the end of this decade. Its plan is to build the solution on a private and secure ledger, guided in principle by the same technology that the company has utilized for XRP, the native token of the Ripple ecosystem.Illiquid assetsThe company points out that people’s homes are usually one of their primary assets. Notwithstanding that, unlocking value in real estate can be problematic, having considerable friction. The idea is that this illiquid wealth can be unlocked through tokenization. It’s a concept that is seeing a lot of interest from competing projects. Start-ups like Securitize and Provenance Blockchain would be among a long list of start-up firms that see the potential in the tokenization of RWAs.In Asia, Japanese trading and investment firm Mitsui has gotten involved in the tokenization of real estate through its Alterna investment platform. Tokeny and CoFund offer other examples of innovators that are pioneering real estate tokenization.In its press release, Ripple outlined that it aims to use its technology in this particular instance to enable Hong Kong citizens to experience the faster and more efficient release of equity relative to real estate.James Wallis, Ripple’s VP of Central Bank Engagements & CBDCs, expanded on this idea further:“The Asia Pacific region has many forward-looking regulators such as the HKMA, who are looking to leverage the capabilities of blockchain and crypto technology. It’s a huge honor for Ripple to be one of the select few organizations participating in the HKMA’s e-HKD Pilot Programme. We now have the opportunity to demonstrate how real estate asset tokenization could be brought to the citizens of Hong Kong, and are confident that our fully integrated solution will be an industry-first use case demonstrating the power of leveraging a CBDC for real estate equity asset release.”