NEOPIN Launches South Korea’s First ETH Liquid Staking Product

Asian Market Surge for XRP Amid Broader Market ImplicationsXRP, the cryptocurrency and native token used by real time gross settlement system, Ripple, has seen renewed activity in recent weeks in terms of trading volume. That trading volume appears to be more pronounced in Asian markets such as South Korea.©Pexels/RODNAE ProductionsThe XRP token has traded up 22% over the course of the past seven days, with a current unit price of $0.54. Trading volume has surged on South Korean exchanges such as Bithumb UpBit and Korbit where volume spiked 18%, 37% and 50% respectively over the past 24 hours. This trading activity is irregular as ordinarily the trading volume of Bitcoin and ether would account for the vast bulk of trading on the three leading Korean exchanges.Speculative interestXRP has under-performed in recent years and at the heart of its difficulties has been a multi-year legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States. In its complaint, the SEC has claimed that XRP is an unregistered security. Speculation in recent weeks suggests that this highly litigated battle may be drawing to a conclusion. Many commentators have suggested that either a deal will be struck or the court could soon decide to rule on the matter.During the 2017 bull market, the token reached the heady heights of a $3.40 unit price. That’s a target that the cryptocurrency has never been able to reach ever since. During the last bull market, it rose to around $1.76 for a short time in April 2021. There’s little doubt but the regulatory cloud hanging over it has suppressed the price. Much depends on the outcome of this lawsuit, not just for XRP but for crypto as a whole.Another notion driving speculative interest is the idea that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) may classify XRP as a commodity. That line of thought is more recent and follows the CFTC classifying a number of cryptocurrencies as commodities in its lawsuit against global crypto exchange Binance. In follow up comments earlier this week, CFTC Chair Roistin Behnam reiterated the claim.The very fact that the CFTC has made this claim is significant in terms of the case being pursued by the SEC, potentially weakening the SECs case. Lawyers for Ripple have made the court aware of the CFTCs claims.Crypto moving forwardCrypto traders in South Korea have been notorious in the past for pursuing speculative trends within the industry with the Kimchi Premium on Bitcoin back in the day as a stand out example. Whether speculative or not, the outcome for XRP, Ripple and the broader cryptocurrency space relative to the cryptocurrency’s regulatory status will be significant.A positive result will not just be a fillip for XRP, Ripple and Asian and other crypto traders who have speculated on such an outcome. It will also serve to provide a level of regulatory protection for all other crypto projects within the United States. A negative outcome to the lawsuit will not be ideal for XRP, Ripple and US-based crypto projects. However, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has said in the past that if innovation is driven overseas, Ripple will focus on developing its product overseas.In an interview this week Ripple President Monica Long suggested that over and above the lawsuit, crypto innovation is generally being pushed outside of the United States. Long cites Asia as taking the lead on “thoughtful crypto policy”. On that basis, it’s likely that one way or another crypto moves forward and maybe South Korean speculators will be proven right regardless of the outcome of the XRP..

China’s Bitmain Makes Plans to Unveil World’s First 1XJ/T Bitcoin MinerBitmain, the leading player in the cryptocurrency mining equipment business, is set to host the upcoming 2023 Global Digital Mining Summit (WDMS 2023) in Hong Kong, using the event as a springboard to launch its latest Bitcoin miner.The Beijing-headquartered mining equipment manufacturer set out its summit and equipment launch plans on Chinese social media platform WeChat on Monday.Photo by Dmitry Demidko on UnsplashIntroducing the ANTMINER S21With the theme “Empower the Bull Market, Mine with Timing,” the summit will aim to assist clients in strategically positioning themselves in the mining sector to reap the rewards of the next crypto bull market. During the event, Bitmain will introduce its latest research and development achievement — the ANTMINER S21 mining machine.The ANTMINER S21 is likely to take its place at the forefront of Bitcoin mining, given that Bitmain’s ANTMINER series has dominated the mining sector in recent years. Bitmain claims that with the S21, it is introducing a miner with unmatched computing power and efficiency, ushering the global mining industry into the 1XJ/T (Joules/Terahash) era.Ever greater efficiencyBitmain has consistently led the industry’s technological innovations, starting with the S9 model, which first broke the 100J/T barrier, to the S19 series with efficiency ratings of 34.5J/T, 29.5J/T, 21.5J/T, and 20.8J/T. The upcoming S21 is expected to continue this track record of ever greater Bitcoin miner efficiency.In addition to technological advancements, Bitmain is using the summit as a mechanism to offer benefits to attendees. The company will launch a customer points system, allowing clients to apply for credit limits for S21 miners based on their points, enabling them to mine first and pay later. Moreover, the points system will facilitate conversion of points into exclusive coupons for the ANTMINER S21.Hong Kong venueHong Kong has been chosen as the venue for this summit and that’s likely by design rather than by coincidence. Over the course of the past twelve months, the Chinese autonomous territory has been making huge strides in its efforts to become a center for blockchain and crypto-related business.In recent months, Hong Kong has announced several supportive blockchain policies, attracting a significant pool of Web3 talent. The summit will also feature keynote speeches from local government officials, indicating the willingness of the local administration to take every opportunity to further Hong Kong’s strategic objective of furthering crypto, blockchain, and Web3 in the city.Bitcoin mining has proven to be ruthless in its drive towards ever greater efficiency. This is playing out mainly on two different fronts. Firstly, in terms of the cost of the energy input. Miners continue to innovate in this area, to the extent that at this point, it’s difficult to remain competitive if an operation is not tapping into an energy source with a near zero input cost. This is being exploited by sourcing energy that is surplus to energy grid requirements, oftentimes renewable energy, that would otherwise be wasted.The second major factor is the efficiency of the miners themselves. Entities that gain early access to the latest generation of miners from Bitmain and other mining equipment manufacturers immediately become more efficient than the other mining outfits that they compete with to unlock Bitcoin mining rewards on the Bitcoin network.

South Korean gaming publisher Wemade attended this year’s Taipei Game Show – the largest gaming exhibition in Taiwan – from Thursday to Sunday, where it showcased its upcoming games Night Crows and Fantastic 4 Baseball, according to news site Bridge News.Photo by Mateo on UnsplashUnveiling upcoming blockbustersAt the event, Wemade operated an exclusive booth with game demos and promotional videos. There was also a cosplay of characters from the Night Crows game and a special performance by the TSG Hawks' cheerleading team, the Wing Stars. The TSG Hawks is a professional baseball team that joined the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) last year. The Wing Stars are led by the famous Korean cheerleader Ahn Ji-hyun. In addition, Lee Jung-wook and Lee Kun-hee, the CEOs of Night Crows developer Madngine, and Fantastic 4 Baseball developer Round One Studio, took to the stage to interact directly with gamers. "Night Crows is the first MMORPG developed with Unreal Engine 5, and you can enjoy top-notch visuals with Mad Engine's unique know-how," said Lee Jung-wook. "We promise to provide new fun and stable services to our global users." "While developing Fantastic 4 Baseball, we put a lot of thought into capturing the essence of baseball and making the players' faces and batting forms look realistic," Lee Kun-hee added. "We plan to bring the game to the global market when the Taiwanese baseball league begins." Market-dominating releasesNight Crows has been popular among gamers in South Korea, where it launched in April last year, topping the popularity and revenue rankings on major app markets. The global version of the game utilizes blockchain technology to implement an advanced tokenomics ecosystem. Global pre-registration will open on Jan. 11. On the other hand, Round 1 Studio’s Fantastic 4 Baseball is a realistic baseball game where players can create their own team with famous players from various leagues, including the CPBL. The demo version includes single-player and home run derbies. Both games are slated for global release in March.