Uzbekistan’s New Private Bank Joins National Crypto Card Initiative

South Korea to Revive Tech Exports with Metaverse, BlockchainThe South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT revealed today a strategy to enhance the country’s tech exports. The plan includes leveraging the potential of the metaverse and blockchain as promising export items.Photo by Pixabay on PexelsEmphasis on the digital sectorIn response to the recent decline in exports, the strategy seeks to establish new sources of growth by prioritizing the digital sector, which has historically been a key driver of Korea’s exports. Recognizing the complex challenge posed by the global economic slowdown and other factors, all government ministries are collaborating to counteract the export slowdown.The plan leverages South Korea’s digital capabilities and implements proactive measures to adapt to evolving export trends, including the recent advancement of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools and the acceleration of digital transformation. By tapping into emerging markets and nurturing innovative companies, the government strives to diversify its export portfolio and strengthen its position in the global market.Despite achieving a record high of $248.8 billion in tech exports in 2022, Korea has faced year-on-year declines since July 2022 due to the global economic downturn. The semiconductor sector, which accounts for more than half of the nation’s tech exports, has been particularly sluggish. Nevertheless, the rise of new tech markets driven by significant technological advancements, such as ChatGPT, and the global push for digital transformation offer opportunities to overcome the current export slump.Emerging marketsAgainst this backdrop, the government is committed to backing the development of products that resonate with the evolving export landscape. It is eyeing emerging markets, notably the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, recognizing their fertile grounds for the swift adoption of evolving tech trends, fueled by their substantial youth populations. Furthermore, the government plans to provide policy-level support to tech companies.Government supportUnder this plan, the government will identify promising companies and offer assistance, including consultation and guidance on product commercialization. It will also support metaverse companies participating in overseas projects by covering localization development costs.In the blockchain field, comprehensive support, including technology verification, consulting, and marketing, will be provided to those working towards international standardization for NFTs and their overseas commercialization.As part of this initiative, exhibition rooms will be established on metaverse platforms like ZEPETO and IFLAND in September. These platforms will provide opportunities for innovative firms to showcase their products. At the same time, the plan will facilitate interaction between Korean companies and overseas buyers through online and offline events to boost exports.

SKYPLAY Secures $10M from LDA Capital to Promote Growth of P2E GamingSKYPLAY, a blockchain gaming platform based in South Korea, has announced securing a $10 million commitment from American-based investment group LDA Capital, as stated in a press release. This funding will be utilized to launch additional games and attract new users, thereby accelerating the platform’s growth trajectory.Photo by blurrystock on UnsplashP2E gamesWith an active monthly user base of 300,000, SKYPLAY aims to expand its virtual space and motivate play-to-earn (P2E) gamers to contribute to the excitement within its ecosystem. P2E games enable players to earn cryptocurrency tokens as rewards for activities such as completing tasks and meeting goals.Various genresSKYPLAY is known for offering a diverse range of game genres, ranging from casual games like CoinGrid to strategy games like ClashRow. Users have the opportunity to earn in-game rewards that can be exchanged for SKP, the platform’s governance token. SKP will also serve as a medium of exchange in forthcoming NFT marketplaces. At present, SKP is listed on cryptocurrency exchanges ProBit Global and MEXC, according to CoinMarketCap.Expansion plansSKYPLAY currently provides its services in 170 countries worldwide, catering to a global gaming community. The company is also developing artificial intelligence-based (AI) avatars within a metaverse platform, with the target of exceeding 10 million users by the close of 2024.Anthony Romano, Managing Partner at LDA Capital Ltd, commented on this investment opportunity, stating, “SKYPLAY’s expansive ecosystem offers users a variety entertainment across sports, arts and crafts, appealing to the different preferences amongst the gaming community. This multifaceted approach, along with a forum-oriented community they’ve built is extremely difficult to replicate and gives them a leg up as they publish more games and diversify their entertainment offerings.”SKYPLAY CEO Richard Chang expressed his confidence in the partnership with LDA Capital. He said, “The investment from LDA Capital will serve as a significant driving force for the future growth of SKYPLAY. I am confident that together, we will pioneer the future and become invaluable partners in our journey of growth.”

Conflux Network, a layer-1, regulatory-compliant Chinese blockchain focused on borderless transactions, has announced the upcoming launch of the Conflux 3.0 mainnet together with an offshore yuan-pegged stablecoin, resulting in its native CFX token surging.Photo by Eric Prouzet on UnsplashPartnershipA notice published on the website of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government on July 20 reported on the Conflux Tree Graph Technology and Ecological Development Conference, which was held in Shanghai over three days from July 18 to July 20. Over the course of the three-day event, the project announced a partnership with AnchorX, a Hong Kong-based fintech firm specializing in stablecoins, and Shenzhen-based Eastcompeace Technology.  The purpose of the initiative is to develop a stablecoin pegged to the offshore yuan (CNH), the version of China’s currency that circulates outside the mainland. The report outlined that in recent years, stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) have come to global attention.  Belt & Road InitiativeGiven this backdrop, it was outlined that “creating an independent and controllable high-performance public chain system” could be of great benefit to China and its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which sets out to develop infrastructure across 150 countries to facilitate trade with China. This is not the first point at which AnchorX has collaborated with Conflux. Back in February, the company received in-principle approval from the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) in Kazakhstan to issue CNH-pegged stablecoins. Growing bilateral trade between Kazakhstan and China was cited as the rationale behind the license, given the need for cross-border payments. At the time, it was outlined that the AxCNH yuan-pegged stablecoin would be issued on the Conflux blockchain. It’s unclear if this same stablecoin is the focus of this latest development or whether an entirely new yuan-pegged stablecoin will be issued.AnchorX collaborated with Conflux in 2024 to bring about the issuance of AxHKD, a Hong Kong dollar-pegged stablecoin. The stablecoin runs on the Conflux blockchain, with the stablecoin issuer using OKLink Trust as its custodian. TokenPocket, a multi-chain crypto wallet project, also outlined on X on July 21 that it too is involved in the partnership with Conflux and AnchorX. The project outlined that it will support the growth of stablecoin adoption, the development of cross-border payment solutions and the promotion of tokenized RWAs in international markets through the collaboration.  Pilot projectsTokenPocket went on to explain that the companies plan to launch pilot projects in Central Asia, Southeast Asia and other regions, building “a compliant, secure, and innovative fintech framework to boost the role of the Conflux ecosystem as critical infrastructure for cross-border trade.” It was revealed at the conference that the mainnet release of Conflux 3.0 will occur in August. With the implementation of further optimized execution modules, the project expects 3.0 to result in a network throughput of 15,000 transactions per second (TPS).  These developments over the course of the weekend have had an impact on the unit price of Conflux’s native token, CFX. On July 19, the token was trading at around $0.1043. According to CoinMarketCap data, at the time of writing, it’s trading at $0.2232, a 2.58% increase over the past day.