Shinhan Bank Advances into Metaverse with the Launch of Shinamon Season 3

Crypto Titans Clash on Elon Musk’s XA subtle panel discussion photo posted by Andrei Grachev of Singapore’s DWF Labs turned into a war of words among crypto trading titans on Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter).Photo by Marek Piwnicki on UnsplashDWF vs GSRGrachev, who is a Managing Partner at the market maker and Web3 investment firm, thanked his fellow panelists in the post. However, the tone quickly soured as Cristian Gil, Co-Founder of rival market-making giant GSR, took offense to Grachev’s presence on the panel and voiced his disapproval on the platform.Gil didn’t mince his words, stating: “[Andrei Grachev] had absolutely no business to be on that panel. It’s insulting to [GSR] , [OKX] and [Wintermute] to be in the same room as [DWF Labs].”DWF vs WintermuteHis remarks received a “Like” from Evgeny Gaevoy, the CEO of market maker Wintermute. In response, Grachev defended his presence, asserting that DWF was superior in technology, trading, and business development compared to its rivals, going so far as to suggest to Gil: “Yeah, if I were you — I would be also crying all the time.”The exchange continued with Grachev claiming that DWF was capturing market share from Wintermute, and Gaevoy responded with a nonchalant “lol,” challenging Grachev to invest more if he believed DWF posed a threat.DWF Labs’ rapid growthWhile the exchange consisted of mere words, it shed light on DWF Labs’ sudden rise to prominence earlier over recent months. The company has featured prominently in an array of investments in Web3 startups and blockchain networks over the course of 2023. Prominent among them have been investments in EOS, the Algorand ecosystem, and the TRON ecosystem.Recently appearing on the BlockBeats podcast, Grachev defended the company, outlining that it was not involved in market manipulation in response to recent assertions to the contrary.“We do not engage in any manipulative behavior,” Grachev stated. “Of course, we have the futures market, which is a tool for hedging positions and trading clubs. We are completely different from directional traders,” he added.Gaevoy added some humor to the mix by sharing a meme, raising questions about the maturity level of these prominent figures in the crypto industry. The spat provoked a broad array of commentary from the crypto community.Crypto immaturityThe very public clash raises concerns about how traditional Wall Street firms, currently making bold moves into the crypto space, might perceive such behavior. Notably, firms like BlackRock have been involved in Bitcoin ETF applications, signaling a growing interest in cryptocurrency among mainstream financial institutions. In response to Gaevoy and Grachev, one commentator wrote: “The institutions are never coming back.”While it would appear that there’s no love lost between DWF, GSR, and Wintermute, it also seems evident that both market makers can agree on Singapore as being an appropriate location from where to operate a crypto business. While Wintermute is London-based, it revealed recently that it was expanding its operations in Singapore. Like Wintermute, GSR is primarily based in London although it too maintains a presence in Singapore to service Asia-centric business.

GDAC joins hands with Zodia Markets to cultivate global digital asset networkGDAC, a cryptocurrency exchange run by Korean blockchain-based fintech company Peertec, has signed a business deal with Zodia Markets, a European digital asset marketplace under the UK’s Standard Chartered Group. As key institution-first digital asset platforms in their respective regional markets, the two enterprises plan to work together to build a global digital asset and stablecoin network to drive innovation, with a focus on preventing money laundering and reducing financial costs.Photo by m. on UnsplashAbout Zodia Markets and GDACThe Standard Chartered Group established Zodia Markets in 2021 following approval from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The group’s latest partnership with GDAC represents a step further into the Korean market, in which it is already a major player through its local branch, the Korea Standard Chartered Bank.GDAC has been making strides in cybersecurity by forging partnerships. The exchange teamed up with Genians, a cybersecurity firm listed on the KOSDAQ stock exchange, and attracted investments from it to accelerate the establishment of a global security network. In October, GDAC entered into a collaborative agreement with crypto wallet provider Bitgo, aiming to enhance the security of the exchange’s wallet services.The exchange serves not only profit-oriented corporations but also non-profit organizations, such as the Community Chest of Korea. It also runs the GDAC Fund Service, a digital asset management solution for corporate clients that it jointly founded with Woori Financial Group.Dedication to different client demographics“Through our partnership with Zodia Markets, a subsidiary of the UK’s Standard Chartered Bank, we look forward to providing even higher-value digital financial services to our corporate clients,” said Lee You-ree, CCO of GDAC. “We also plan to continuously launch helpful, high-liquidity digital financial services for individual customers as well through our work with a European digital financial platform.”

The European Union (EU) introduced its Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation in June of last year, refining the EU bloc’s stance relative to digital assets. However, one crypto sector entrepreneur believes that the regulatory framework may force crypto startups to relocate to the Middle East. In an interview with Cointelegraph, Anastasija Plotnikova, co-founder and CEO of Fideum, a blockchain infrastructure company geared towards institutions, outlined that the application of this regulatory framework by EU member states may have some unintended consequences.Photo by Christian Lue on UnsplashCentralization concernsWhile Plotnikova welcomes the legitimization of crypto through regulation as a net positive for the sector, she warns that this particular regulatory framework could lead to consolidation among crypto firms. That would mean a reduction in the overall number of Web3 enterprises in Europe and as a consequence, increased risk of centralization in an industry that is supposed to be all about decentralization. Whilst the regulatory framework was introduced last year, it's not due to go into full effect until Dec. 30, 2024. Plotnikova believes that the framework doesn’t give crypto startups the wriggle room to scale whereas in the case of larger entities with much more assets under management, they will find it much easier to scale. French multinational financial services company Societe Generale, an entity with around $160 billion worth of assets under management and 126,000 employees, stands out as an example. It recently announced that SG Forge, a subsidiary company, would partner with Austrian crypto exchange Bitpanda to issue and list its EUR ConVertible (EURCV) euro-denominated stablecoin. Another European TradFi behemoth, Landesbank, Germany’s largest federal bank, announced earlier this year that it will launch crypto custody services. Global competitionSpeaking to the publication on the margins of the European Blockchain Convention in Barcelona earlier this week, Plotnikova stated: “I'm afraid it will lead to consolidation between European and American companies, and they will just move somewhere to the Middle East. The European Union had has done amazing things in harmonising legislation, but enforcement comes down to local and national authorities and they vary greatly.” There’s no doubt that various world centers and regions have been competing to varying extents to become innovative hubs relative to the development of blockchain-based enterprises. Plotnikova alluded to Europe losing out to the Middle East in this instance and principal among those nations in the region vying for a share of the business has been the United Arab Emirates (UAE).  The UAE itself, together with individual emirates such as Abu Dhabi and Dubai, has been putting in place a regulatory framework relative to crypto that has been broadly praised by the crypto sector. As recently as earlier last week, the Dubai regulator continues to fine tune its regulatory framework, tightening up requirements related to the marketing of crypto products and services. A recent report by Chainalysis found that the Middle East region accounted for 7.5% of global crypto trading volume, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia having been found to demonstrate a strong interest in decentralized platforms.