Banking Difficulties Remain in Hong Kong for Crypto Start-Ups

Crypto Travel Rule solutions provider CODE obtains ISO 37301 certificationCODE, a Travel Rule solutions provider and joint venture co-founded by Korean cryptocurrency exchanges Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit, announced on Wednesday (local time) that it has obtained the ISO 37301 certification for compliance management systems (CMS) from the Korea Compliance Initiative (KCI).Photo by Héctor J. Rivas on UnsplashBoosting complianceISO 37301 is an international standard that outlines the requirements and guidelines for an organization in establishing, developing, implementing, evaluating, maintaining and improving a CMS. It provides a framework for organizations to ensure that they are following all relevant and applicable laws, regulations, codes of conduct and more to exercise good governance, transparency and accountability.CODE has taken the initiative to bolster its CMS to provide more secure and reliable Travel Rule solutions by analyzing and managing compliance risks. The firm’s CEO Lee Sung-mi is responsible for overseeing these efforts as the recently appointed head of compliance. Through these measures, the company explained that it has been capable of building a system to comply with strict international standards.The Travel Rule under the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Recommendation #16 outlines that virtual asset service providers (VASPs) must share certain personal information about customers — including names and account numbers — when facilitating crypto transactions that exceed a certain amount.CODE is also running mandatory training sessions and various programs for all employees to ensure adherence to compliance requirements. In particular, the firm operates a system to monitor Travel Rule compliance risks that may arise during cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals.“Beyond establishing a robust compliance management culture as a Travel Rule solution provider, we will continue to work with our corporate members to ensure that this culture can be more widely adopted across the crypto industry,” said Lee Sung-mi.Contributing to anti-money launderingCODE has also recently teamed up with global blockchain analytics and crypto compliance solutions provider Elliptic to help Korean VASPs adapt to the evolving international regulatory landscape for anti-money laundering (AML) and the crypto Travel Rule.

MANTRA, a real-world asset (RWA) layer one blockchain built on Cosmos, recently outlined its vision for the on-chain financial ecosystem, outlining that it plans to acquire licensing in the Middle East and Asia as part of its efforts to expand. In a press release published on Chainwire on March 14, the company outlined that it has applied for licensing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in an effort to pave the way for MANTRA to target a global clientele who want to harness the potential of RWA asset tokenization. Issuing and trading tokenized RWAsAt the core of the Hong Kong-headquartered project’s offering lies its layer one blockchain, aptly named MANTRA Chain. The network is designed to streamline the issuance and trading of tokenized RWAs. Having established this technological product base, the company is now on a mission to onboard financial institutions and commercial entities with an interest in asset tokenization. With teams stationed in Hong Kong and the UAE, MANTRA has honed a full understanding of the shifting regulatory landscapes in pivotal regions. By securing its inaugural financial licenses in the UAE, MANTRA is aiming to take a slice of market share in the swiftly evolving RWA sector across the Middle East and Asia. The overarching goal for 2024 is to tokenize a diverse spectrum of assets, spanning real estate, private market funds, equity, art and treasuries.Photo by Sigmund on UnsplashIn an X social media post, MANTRA Founder and CEO John Patrick Mullin outlined that the company is already engaging with institutions and partners in the private sector. Mullin stated: “MANTRA is actively collaborating with real-world institutions and partners, including real estate, private market funds, private equity, the art sector, and treasuries, among others, to help bring these traditional asset classes onchain.” Mullin claims that the current crypto market capitalization of around $2 trillion is just a drop in the ocean by comparison with the potential that exists in the tokenization of RWAs and in unlocking the RWA economy. Hong Kong licensingAlongside the Middle East, Asia is the other target market for the company. Mullin suggested that Asian countries are already preparing for this fundamental shift, having developed RWA regulations. Last November, it emerged that Hong Kong was setting out a regulatory roadmap in respect of RWA tokenization. In February 2023 the Chinese autonomous territory achieved a first-of-its-kind tokenized green bond issuance.With that, the company’s home base of Hong Kong will also be central to its efforts to acquire relevant licensing. In recent weeks, MANTRA claims to have made significant progress in decentralizing its network, garnering validator support on a more broadly distributed basis. The project is expected to launch its final testnet, dubbed “Hongbai,” shortly. MANTRA is aiming to emerge as the pioneer RWA layer one blockchain with the capability to ensure real-world regulatory compliance. By expediting the adoption of tokenized RWAs, the project suggests that there’s an RWA economy value unlock potential of $16 trillion with its regulatory-ready blockchain being positioned to benefit from that. The network is gearing to offer a compliant framework, so that traditional finance (TradFi) companies can seamlessly transition to and harness asset tokenization and blockchain solutions, propelling global RWA expansion. 

Korean Soccer Fans Can Own Highlight Plays as NFTs through Klip Drops MarketplaceKorean soccer fans will soon have the opportunity to purchase non-fungible tokens (NFTs) showcasing highlight plays from the Korean professional soccer league, known as the K League, through the digital art marketplace Klip Drops.Photo by Chaos Soccer Gear on UnsplashExpanding soccer NFT frontierThis development has been made possible through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Blade Creative, the operator of ELVN, a specialized soccer NFT platform, and Ground X, the operator of Klip Drops and a blockchain technology affiliate of Kakao, a well-known social media giant in Korea. That’s according to a report by local news agency Newsis.Mutually beneficial marketingBy combining their respective expertise in the sports and blockchain industries, Blade Creative and Ground X aim to expand the NFT market while promoting their own brands through a mutually beneficial marketing strategy.ELVN has garnered considerable attention from both K League enthusiasts and NFT fans due to its unique offering, allowing users to possess video clips featuring their favorite soccer plays and players.Klip Drops offers limited editions of digital artworks to its users. Purchasers can store their artworks in their Klip wallet and receive corresponding NFTs that serve as proof of ownership. The captivating digital artworks can be enjoyed on smart televisions, providing a visually immersive experience for art collectors.