Carrieverse teams up with Internet Computer for content and marketing partnership

Circle Makes Inroads in Singapore with License AwardCircle Internet Financial’s Singapore entity, Circle Internet Singapore, has received a full license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to provide digital payment token services in Singapore. This major payment institution (MPI) license will enable Circle Singapore to offer cross-border and domestic money transfer services through its Circle account.Photo by Timo Volz on PexelsMajor Payment Institution (MPI) licenseThe company announced the milestone achievement via a press release published on Monday. The MPI license enables Circle to offer institutional customers access to USDC, a leading US dollar stablecoin issued by the company. With the license approval, Circle Singapore can now fully utilize the expertise of its corporate affiliates to drive innovation, expand its offerings, and provide more value to its clients and stakeholders.The granting of the license follows the in-principle approval received by Circle Singapore in November last year and the subsequent opening of its office in May. The company recognizes the importance of Singapore in its global expansion strategy and its mission to promote global economic prosperity through seamless value exchange.Jeremy Allaire, Co-Founder and CEO of Circle, expressed the significance of Singapore in Circle’s expansion plans and the goal of facilitating frictionless value exchange. The company aims to leverage its licensed status to contribute to Singapore’s digital payment ecosystem positively.Pursuing overseas expansionWith ongoing regulatory turmoil in the United States right now in relation to the treatment of digital assets, no doubt Circle, just like many other leading US digital asset companies, sees the benefit in diversifying geographically. In turn, that feeds into the importance Allaire affixes to this Singapore expansion: “Singapore is integral to Circle’s global expansion and mission in raising global economic prosperity and through the frictionless exchange of value.”There has been a flurry of activity in terms of large crypto sector players establishing a greater foothold in Singapore in recent months. Last week, global crypto trading platform Crypto.com was granted an MPI license by MAS.Coinbase, the US-headquartered crypto exchange business that was sued earlier this week by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States, took the decision to expand its product offering in the Singapore market last month. Another US-based crypto business, Gemini, has decided to expand its Singapore operation with a view towards growing its institutional and retail customer base.Tribe collaborationEarlier this year, Circle Singapore collaborated with Tribe, the first government-supported blockchain ecosystem builder in Singapore. Together, they launched a training and support program designed to nurture and upskill Web3 developer talent in the region. This initiative aligns with Singapore’s focus on promoting blockchain technology and nurturing a skilled workforce capable of driving the growth of the digital economy.With its full license, Circle Singapore is well-positioned to strengthen its presence in the Singaporean market and offer enhanced digital payment token services to institutional customers. The license also demonstrates the company’s commitment to compliance and regulation in the evolving landscape of digital finance.As Circle Singapore expands its operations and explores further innovations, it will continue to contribute to Singapore’s reputation as a leading global fintech hub. The company’s focus on promoting global economic prosperity aligns with Singapore’s vision of becoming a smart financial center and a pioneer in digital innovation.

FactBlock, a Seoul-based Web3 ecosystem builder and consulting firm, has become the newest member of the WEMIX3.0 blockchain’s 40 WONDERS, or Node Council Partners (NCP), according to an official announcement on Friday (KST). Photo by Growtika on UnsplashShaping the WEMIX3.0 ecosystemThe 40 WONDERS make up a governance council that represents the interests of the WEMIX community by participating in on-chain voting processes for improving or changing WEMIX3.0’s protocol. They are also responsible for validating transactions and operating nodes on the mainnet to boost and maintain its integrity and security. In particular, each member gets to choose their own WONDER number – FactBlock has joined as WONDER 13, shortly after blockchain security audit firm Verichains joined as WONDER 12. FactBlock was able to join by tapping into its resources from secured investments and committing to expanding the ever-growing WEMIX ecosystem and promoting community activity. FactBlock’s industry-oriented missionThe firm is dedicated to ameliorating information asymmetry within the Web3 industry, serving as a gateway for overseas blockchain projects looking to enter the South Korean market and local firms preparing to go international. The firm’s upcoming projects for this year include the launch of Fablo, an educational platform for collective blockchain learning centered around community engagement.  FactBlock has also hosted Korea Blockchain Week (KBW), the largest blockchain conference in the country and in Asia, since 2018. Last year’s event was held at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul in September, hosting a number of industry experts who discussed trends and outlooks for the Web3 industry.

Amid the heightened excitement about the potential incorporation of virtual assets into the traditional financial system, the Korea Exchange (KRX), the country’s only securities exchange operator, plans to run a pilot test on central bank digital currency (CBDC) transactions using distributed ledger technology (DLT). The pilot test is scheduled in the second half of this year, as part of KRX’s effort to respond to rapidly evolving financial technologies, Yonhap Infomax reported.  The KRX is targeting the carbon trading market for this pilot test, aiming to develop a DLT-driven carbon trading system. The objective of this initiative is to check the feasibility of applying the Delivery versus Payment (DVP) to carbon credit trading facilitated by dedicated tokens. The project will be undertaken in cooperation with the Bank of Korea (BOK), with whom the KRX signed a memorandum of understanding last year to forge digital financial infrastructure. Additionally, the exchange is planning to create a cloud-based settlement and payment system for brokerage and non-brokerage firms.Photo by Marcin Jozwiak on UnsplashLG CNS, an integrated security system provider, and Koscom, a financial IT company, will supervise the CBDC pilot program. They are tasked with conducting a comprehensive assessment of the entire process, from developing the decentralized ledger payment system to assuring its quality.  Broad application of DLTA DLT system records all transactions on a peer-to-peer network and verifies them through every participant. This eliminates the need for a central authority, thereby increasing its reliability and transparency. Currently, the DLT is of particular interest to many financial institutions worldwide, including the SIX Swiss Exchange. These financial institutions are actively experimenting with CBDC to improve the security and efficiency of their DVP settlements.  In particular, the carbon credit market is experiencing a significant integration with the DLT. A KRX official said that the exchange plans to test the maturity of DLT systems and the interoperability between the BOK’s network and those of other organizations. This will evaluate DLT’s effectiveness within the carbon credit market. The person added that this pilot test aims to establish technological standards regarding the CBDC payment and blockchain network registration, which will provide a critical reference for future technical experiments in the industry.