Analysts expect crypto market cap to triple or more next year

Zodia Custody Expands Its Custodial Services to SingaporeDeveloping crypto business hub Singapore has added another player to its list of local crypto sector participants with the arrival of digital asset custodial services provider Zodia Custody.The London-headquartered institution-first digital asset custodian is setting up shop in Singapore. Zodia Custody is backed by Japan’s SBI Holdings, alongside prominent financial services firms Standard Chartered and Northern Trust. Through this move, outlined in an article published by CNBC on Monday, it’s now targeting financial institutions in Singapore for the digital asset custody services it offers to that cohort.Photo by Kin Pastor on PexelsWell-timed expansionIt’s understood that Zodia has ambitious growth plans relative to the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. In May, the firm entered the Middle Eastern market, establishing a presence in Dubai. The firm’s timing is prescient relative to Singapore, as the custodian is responding via its Singapore expansion to an increasing demand coming from institutions seeking robust digital asset custodianship services.The expansion also coincides with the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) recent efforts to foster a well-defined digital asset ecosystem. Of late, the MAS introduced a comprehensive framework that encompasses the use of digital currencies, including central bank digital currencies and stablecoins. Moreover, MAS has proposed draft legislation that outlines the safeguarding of digital assets, signaling the pivotal role custodial services are set to play in Singapore’s evolving digital asset landscape.The firm has established a specific local entity, Zodia Custody (Singapore) Pvt. Limited, appointing Kai Kano, the former Managing Director of rival digital assets custodian Bitgo, as the new company’s CEO.Speaking on the subject of the firm’s Singapore market entry, Julian Sawyer, the CEO of Zodia Custody, stated:“Singapore is no stranger to digital assets, having long been a hub for financial technology innovation. But even in a mature market, challenges remain. Having been created by Standard Chartered Ventures, we have a deep understanding of institutional needs and requirements not just to enter the space but thrive within it. As we engage with the local ecosystem, we’ll be providing market participants with cutting-edge technology, bank-level compliance, and governance to accelerate their digital asset adoption journeys.”Strategic partnershipsIn the past year, Zodia Custody has established strategic partnerships with industry leaders such as LMAX Digital, Hidden Road, BlockFills, and Blockdaemon. These collaborations are driven by Zodia’s market-leading Interchange offering, which equips institutions with enhanced risk management, secure custody, and solvency protection.The expansion into Singapore marks the latest milestone in Zodia Custody’s global growth strategy. Over the past year, the custodian has expanded into Japan through a joint venture with SBI Digital Asset Holdings and into Luxembourg, where it operates as a registered virtual asset service provider (VASP). This move into Singapore follows a successful US$36 million Series A fundraising round.Meanwhile, its sister company Zodia Markets, which is totally segregated from Zodia Custody, made the news in crypto circles earlier this month when it achieved in-principle approval in Abu Dhabi for a broker-dealer license.

NATIX Network, an open geospatial intelligence network built upon proprietary AI technology, has partnered with Southeast Asian superapp Grab to collaborate on autonomous driving technology and mapping. NATIX is a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) project that exists within the Solana ecosystem. Singapore-headquartered Grab offers a broad range of services via its app, including ride-hailing, package delivery and food delivery. Additionally, the firm offers mobile payments and insurance products.Photo by Afif Ramdhasuma on UnsplashReshaping the mapping industryIn a blog post published to its website on May 6, NATIX outlined that the strategic partnership has been formed with a view towards reshaping the mapping industry. It explained that the objective in this regard would be to combine Grab’s camera hardware and its AI-based map-making software stack with NATIX’s decentralized blockchain-powered mapping data.  Due to the nature of the services that it has offered in Southeast Asia since it was founded in 2012, Grab has, through necessity, become involved in mapping to enhance its service delivery. As a consequence, it has developed a suite of cameras including its KartaCam, a small action camera which can be mounted on bike helmets or car windshields, and a 360-degree standalone camera, KartaCam 2, with built-in sensors, AI image optimization and GPS capabilities. ‘Internet of Cameras’For its part, NATIX claims to have built the world’s largest on-street camera network. As part of the collaboration, NATIX will use Grab’s hardware and software technology to expand its “Internet of Cameras.” Posting on LinkedIn, GrabMaps set out its thoughts on the partnership, stating:”By combining GrabMaps' AI-powered mapping technology with NATIX's decentralised data network, we're enabling real-time, high-fidelity map updates across the globe. As part of this collaboration, NATIX will launch VX360, a device built on Grab's hardware platform that allows Tesla drivers to collect and share 360° vehicle imagery.” Appearing on the Unleashing DePIN podcast recently, NATIX Co-Founder and CEO Alireza Ghods outlined that NATIX will launch VX360, a proprietary device built by leveraging Grab’s existing hardware. He explained that this collaboration saves NATIX in terms of overall project cost and months of R&D, all of which enables it to get to market faster.VX360 enables Tesla drivers to capture and share 360-degree imagery.  Future potentialGhods spoke to the additional future potential that the collaboration holds: “The interesting part is that they have other types of devices as well, they have a dashcam, a 360 camera, and our plan is to definitely integrate all of this into our map making and data collection pipeline.” This is not the first partnership that GrabMaps has established related to mapping. Previously it formed collaborations with Microsoft’s Bing Maps, navigation and mapping app Mappls and location data specialist Loqate.  Ghods believes that NATIX can go one better than centralized mapping projects like TomTom and Google Street View. He told Cointelegraph that “a blockchain-based incentivization system provides better results in terms of frequency, participation, and coverage.” The NATIX co-founder asserted that such data can be gathered at a fraction of the cost via users’ devices.

The Hashgraph Association, a non-profit organization that focuses on building an ecosystem of startups and enterprises relative to the use of the Hedera Hashgraph public ledger, has announced that it intends to explore use cases for the technology in Qatar. Hedera Hashgraph was first created in 2015 by Leemon Baird and Mance Harmon. The network is designed such that anyone can transact using it and deploy applications on it. However, governance is separated from consensus, with a group of businesses overseeing the network protocol.Photo by Hongbin on UnsplashFive key use casesIn a LinkedIn post published on September 19, the Hashgraph Association outlined that within the next 12 months, it would explore the implementation of five key use cases relative to the Hashgraph network in Qatar, collaborating with stakeholders within the Middle Eastern country in order to do so. First on its list is the tokenization of equities. During the TOKEN2049 event in Singapore earlier this week, the HBAR Foundation, another entity which supports the creation of Web3 communities on the Hedera network, launched the Hedera Asset Tokenization Studio.  According to the HBAR Foundation, the initiative “enables the seamless issuance and management of tokenized bonds and equities on the Hedera network.” The move, when considered in the context of the Hashgraph Association’s intentions relative to the pursuit of the tokenization of equities as a use case in Qatar, demonstrates that the distributed ledger technology (DLT) network’s most prominent stakeholders are homing in on this particular use case in furthering the use of the network.  Dr. Sabrina Tachdjian, the HBAR Foundation’s head of fintech and payments, stated that the  Asset Tokenization Studio will lower technical barriers to the tokenization of bonds and equities, along with the recording of their underlying data on the ledger. Sukuk tokenizationOther use cases up for exploration in Qatar are real estate tokenization and sukuk tokenization. A sukuk is an Islamic financial certificate. It’s a bond-like financial instrument which is sharia-compliant. The world’s first tokenized sukuk, linked to a sovereign instrument, was created in Malaysia in 2023.  Fusang Exchange listed the product, as a digitized version of a sukuk issued by the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM), represented via an ERC-20 token. Shariah-compliant finance represents a $4 trillion opportunity. Additionally, the Hashgraph Association is looking to exploit the carbon credit sector as a use case, while also looking towards the use of the Hedera Hashgraph ledger for the purpose of consumer engagement and loyalty programs. Digital assets frameworkOn September 1, the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) announced that the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA) and the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA) had launched the QFC digital assets framework. The Hashgraph Association believes that the regulations strengthen its role in “fostering innovation and trust within the digital assets ecosystem, further solidifying the region’s position as a global leader in fintech.” In May, the Hashgraph Association announced at the Qatar Economic Forum a $50 million partnership with the QFC, with the goal of creating a digital assets venture studio in Qatar to support solutions built on the Hedera network.