Ripple Receives In-Principle Approval From Singaporean Regulator

ClearVue Partners-Backed Crypto Startup Fund Closed at $50MThe CVP NoLimit Fund I, a crypto-centric fund established by China’s ClearVue Partners, a private equity specialist, has been closed out, reaching a funding level of $50 million.Photo by micheile henderson on UnsplashFunding target achievedThe closing of the fund was announced recently by No Limit Holdings, an investment partnership specializing in global crypto assets based in Malta. ClearVue had entered into a joint venture with No Limit Holdings in order to establish the fund. No Limit Holdings was founded by former Binance Chief Strategy Officer Gin Chao. Partnering with Chao in that venture is another former Binance executive, Anatoly Kondiyakov, who served as Binance’s Head of APAC Institutional Sales in Singapore for four years.News of the fund first emerged in October 2022, when the fund promoters started to distribute a pitch deck. It’s understood that the fund was targeting investment into layer one blockchains prior to their native tokens going live.Chao made the following statement relative to the closing of the fund:“We are grateful for the confidence and trust that our partners have placed in us for this first fund, particularly given the breadth of industries our LP base represents and the challenging macroeconomic conditions during this period. At the same time, this has created an ideal window to deploy capital into the exciting opportunities that the current market presents.”Web3 “where the Internet was in the late 90s”ClearVue Partners Founder, Harry Hui, said that the firm was “excited to team up with Gin and the NLH team. They have deep sector expertise and an incredible track record of success.” Hui added that “Web3.0 is where the Internet was in the late 90s and as blockchain adoption increases, we believe there will be significant value creation for both for our investors as well as for our consumer and technology portfolio companies.”The CVP NoLimit Fund I has already invested in more than twenty crypto projects located globally. Two of them have been listed on multiple digital asset exchanges. Meanwhile, the fund’s administrators have suggested that it has established a robust pipeline of investible projects, and that it has the expectation to invest in an additional twenty projects over the course of the next twelve months.Seed-stage focusThe fund has been focusing on early-stage projects and strategic funding rounds, with individual investments of between $250,000 and $3 million. Some of the projects it has backed thus far include Binance.US, crypto and blockchain infrastructure firm Mysten Labs, Singapore-based dApp developer Hogwarts Labs, Connext Labs which claims to be the HTTP of Web3, and decentralized digital asset money market, IQ Labs.Venture capital investment into the crypto and Web3 space broke all records during the last crypto bull market. Naturally, it has suffered a huge decline in its wake. However, the closing out of this $50 million fund demonstrates that ultimately new money will return to the sector.This is further exemplified by a recent announcement by Kraken Ventures, the venture investment wing of the well-known crypto exchange business, setting out that it is raising a second $100 million fund, earmarked for investment within the sector.

Korea ST Exchange, an enterprise founded by financial experts for the management and support of security tokens, has signed a business deal with Canadian fintech company Finhaven to revitalize the South Korean security token industry, according to an article published by local news outlet Financial News on Wednesday (KST).Photo by Medienstürmer on Unsplash"Through our collaboration with a global company like Finhaven, we expect to expand and revitalize the local security token ecosystem," said Cho Won-dong, CEO of Korea ST Exchange. "We plan to do our best to create a platform where domestic investors can invest in various products more safely and conveniently." Revolutionizing security token managementFounded in 2017, Finhaven is a Canadian government-approved blockchain platform operator that simplifies the process of managing, issuing, trading and tracking security tokens and digital assets. Meanwhile, Korea ST Exchange has been building a platform for security token trading brokerage that prioritizes investor protection based on relevant legal regulations. Fostering global expansionUnder their agreement, Finhaven and Korea ST Exchange vowed to work together on several fronts. This includes supporting Asset Alliance members in their efforts to issue and distribute security tokens overseas. The Asset Alliance is a functional group created by Korea ST Exchange to accelerate the South Korean security token market while monitoring legal developments in the management of such assets. Conversely, the firms will also support overseas operators in the issuance and distribution of security tokens in the South Korean market. They have also agreed to exchange information and networks and converge their respective platforms to distribute security tokens and tokenized securities. The partnership is mainly an active effort on the part of Korea ST Exchange to help holders of promising underlying assets issue and distribute security tokens overseas since legislation for token securities is not yet in place in South Korea. Once this legislation is established, the enterprise then plans to aid foreign issuers in distributing security tokens in South Korea, enabling domestic investors to look into promising global products.

HashKey Capital, a Singapore-based crypto fund manager, and FTSE Russell, a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), have collaboratively launched a series of indices designed to track cryptocurrencies. Three indicesRevealed on the FTSE Russell website on Wednesday, these three indices provide traders with the ability to monitor diversified baskets of digital assets aligned with various investment strategies. They cater to nuanced preferences across different crypto segments and market capitalizations. The flagship index in this suite is the FTSE Custom Digital Asset Top 20 Index, tracking the top 20 crypto assets based on market capitalization. This index is positioned to accurately reflect more than 90% of the overall performance of the digital asset market, offering investors insights into the dynamics of the most significant players in the crypto space.Photo by Markus Winkler on UnsplashFocus on infrastructure and application layerBeyond tracking market capitalization leaders, the suite includes indices with a specific focus on the crypto ecosystem's infrastructure layer (FTSE Custom Digital Asset Infrastructure Index) and application functionalities (FTSE Custom Digital Asset Application Index). One of them, the infrastructure index, zeroes in on digital assets forming the infrastructure layer, including smart contract platforms, protocol interoperability and distributed computation and storage. Meanwhile, the FTSE Custom Digital Asset Application Index concentrates on digital assets associated with application functionalities, such as those linked to staking instruments and decentralized finance. From Wednesday, these indices have been made accessible on the FTSE Russell website, with plans for future availability through major data providers like Bloomberg, Factset, LSEG Data & Analytics, Morningstar and S&P Capital IQ. U.S. ETF approvalThe introduction of these indices follows the recent milestone approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of spot bitcoin ETFs in the United States. It’s likely that the milestone ETF approval in the largest capital market is having a knock-on effect, proving to be a catalyst for other such offerings implicating the intertwining of crypto and traditional finance on an international basis. These products offer investors a more accessible entry point into the crypto market's largest asset, currently boasting a market capitalization of approximately $780 billion. Industry watchers anticipate the potential approval of a U.S. spot ether ETF later in 2024, with the SEC expected to make rulings on proposed funds by May. Deng Chao, managing director of HashKey Capital, noted a significant surge in demand from investors seeking to diversify their portfolios beyond established cryptocurrencies. This move aligns with broader market trends, as investors increasingly explore opportunities in diverse crypto assets. Notably, these index launches follow FTSE Russell's partnership with Grayscale Investments in October, aimed at enhancing crypto diversification. The earlier collaboration focused on various crypto sectors, including currencies, smart contract platforms, financials, consumer and culture and utilities and services. This development comes on the heels of HashKey Group, the Hong Kong-headquartered parent company of HashKey Capital, securing $100 million in a Series A funding round at a $1.2 billion valuation. OKX Ventures participated in the funding round, signaling strong support for HashKey Group's plans to accelerate product diversification in its Hong Kong business and drive compliant and innovative development globally.