Seongnam City Hosts Seminar on Industry 4.0 Advancement

Hong Kong Legislator Courting US Crypto Exchange CoinbaseRecently, Johnny Ng, a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, expressed his interest in the future development of Coinbase, a major US cryptocurrency exchange, in Hong Kong. In a tweet today, Ng said that he had been in contact with Coinbase and that he would keep the public updated on further progress.Photo by Ruslan Bardash on UnsplashNg’s invitation to crypto exchangesThis tweet follows Ng’s earlier invitation to Coinbase and other global crypto trading platforms to apply for licenses in Hong Kong. His comments are in line with Hong Kong’s efforts to become a hub for cryptocurrency and blockchain-related activities. As of June 1, a new licensing regime for centralized virtual asset trading platforms (VATPs) went into effect in the Chinese special administrative region.Differing opinionsDespite the enthusiasm shown by Ng, there are differing opinions on Hong Kong’s current suitability as a crypto-friendly jurisdiction. Leo Weese, the co-founder and President of the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong, expressed reservations in an interview with crypto media outlet CoinDesk.Weese described Hong Kong’s current setup as “highly unattractive” for crypto businesses. He cited factors such as a relatively small and untested market, limited banking partnerships, and restrictive product offerings.Despite these challenges, Weese acknowledged some potential advantages, stating that Hong Kong’s classification of tokens as non-securities allows for the trading of securities that are deemed unregistered in other jurisdictions. It is important to note, however, that Weese cautioned against assuming that moving operations to Hong Kong would protect Coinbase from US regulatory measures.Moody’s altered outlook on CoinbaseMeanwhile, Moody’s, the American credit rating agency, recently revised Coinbase’s outlook from stable to negative, citing uncertainties surrounding the impact of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) charges on Coinbase’s operation as an unregistered securities broker.

Singaporean fintech Alchemy Pay, specializing in crypto payments, has inked a partnership with Worldpay, a well-known payment processor based in the United Kingdom.Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash More seamless crypto transactionsThe collaboration, announced on Tuesday, enables Alchemy Pay users to leverage Worldpay’s extensive Visa and Mastercard payment rails, facilitating more seamless cryptocurrency transactions via credit and debit cards. In addition, the parties have agreed that at some stage in the future, Worldpay’s payment channels will add support for Alchemy Pay’s NFT Checkout.Robert McCracken, the Ecosystem Lead at Alchemy, expressed the strategic advantage of the partnership, stating:“Alchemy Pay is now better positioned to assist our business partners and users in seamless cryptocurrency transactions worldwide.”This move aligns with Alchemy Pay’s broader mission of promoting global adoption of digital assets by connecting fiat to the Web3 economy.Nabil Manji, Head of Crypto and Web3 at Worldpay, emphasized the alignment of goals between the two entities. He stated: “Alchemy Pay’s mission to promote global adoption of digital assets by connecting fiat to the Web3 economy is aligned with Worldpay’s role in bridging the gap between traditional and digital finance.”Founded in 2018, Alchemy has established itself as a fiat-to-crypto onboard processor, supporting over 50 fiat currencies through platforms like Google Pay, Apple Pay and various mobile wallets. Licensing driveThe announcement follows Alchemy’s recent acquisition of a money service license in the U.S. state of Iowa on Nov. 23, building on its approval for a similar license in Arkansas in September. The firm has indicated that not only does it have other state licensing applications in the works but that it expects to be in a position to announce further approvals over the coming weeks.The Singaporean company has also been paying attention to licensing requirements elsewhere. In February Alchemy, alongside fintech firm PT Berkah Digital, jointly obtained licensing from the Central Bank of Indonesia. Pursuing collaborationsAlchemy Pay has had a steady stream of announcements relating to industry partnerships in 2023. In July it inked a deal with Checkout.com, allowing the firm to integrate Checkout.com’s Visa and Mastercard channels into its on and off-ramps.In recent weeks, the company introduced new payment options, linking in with Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Instant in Europe and the Faster Payments platform in the United Kingdom. Alchemy Pay also struck up a deal with self-custody crypto wallet Trust Wallet. It meant that Trust Wallet’s 70 million users could execute crypto transactions directly with fiat payments.Back in May, the payments gateway announced the provision of a rupee-denominated on-ramp via India’s UPI real-time payments system. Worldpay integrationsWorldpay, owned by Fidelity National Information Services (FIS), has been actively integrating with Web3 technologies. In July 2021, the firm partnered with OKCoin to provide infrastructure for the exchange’s fiat-to-crypto onboarding.Additionally, in October 2022, the digital asset custody platform Fireblocks launched a new payment engine for merchants, with Worldpay serving as one of the pilot partners alongside Checkout.com.

Korea to Ban Virtual Asset Deposit Services from Next JulyDuring a recent criminal law seminar held at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, Park Min-woo, Director of the Capital Markets Bureau at the South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC), underscored that starting next year, virtual asset service providers (VASPs) will no longer be permitted to offer deposit and management services for virtual assets. That’s according to a report by local crypto news outlet Digital Asset.This is seen as a response to the suspension of virtual asset deposits and withdrawals carried out by virtual asset yield platforms Haru Invest and Delio a few months ago.Photo by Mathew Schwartz on UnsplashLegal backgroundDirector Park referred to Article 7, Paragraph 2 of the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, clarifying that the intention behind this provision is to ensure that VASPs have the ability to fulfill asset withdrawal requests, even in the scenario where all their customers make such requests. This Act is scheduled to go into effect in July of next year, and Article 7 prohibits VASPs from entrusting customer assets to third parties.Deposit service providers receive cryptocurrency deposits and then distribute the resulting yields to their customers. In a bull market, these entities can manage yields on their own. However, in a flat or bear market, these asset managers may face challenges in paying yields unless they can generate profits by handing over customer assets to external custodians.Signs of giving upIn fact, centralized finance (CeFi) company HeyBit made an announcement last month, stating that it will discontinue its virtual asset deposit service starting from October 2. They cited this specific provision as the reason for their decision.Fraud chargesBoth Haru and Delio have been indicted by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office on fraud charges.As an unregistered VASP, Haru suspended its deposit and withdrawal services on multiple occasions in June, causing substantial financial losses to numerous investors. This suspension was triggered by significant losses incurred at B&S Holdings, another unregistered entity to which Haru had entrusted virtual assets.Similarly, Delio, although registered, entrusted a considerable amount of virtual assets to Haru and Traum Info Tech but was unable to recover them.