Russia preparing to launch crypto mining equipment registry

Hashed, a blockchain-focused investment firm with bases in Seoul and San Francisco, announced on Tuesday (KST) that it has invested a total of KRW 36.8 billion ($28.4 million) in 29 distinct projects over the course of this year, as reported by Korean news outlet Etoday.Photo by Mathieu Stern on UnsplashInfrastructure, gaming and financeThe Web3 investor has distributed its funds across various sectors, allocating 21% each to infrastructure, gaming and finance. Geographically, their investments were also diverse: South Korea has received 38% of the funds, North America 21% and Europe 7%. Other Asian countries, including Singapore, accounted for 34%. Of the 29 investments Hashed undertook, 20 were new additions. The company participated in seed funding rounds for a variety of ventures: Radius, a shared sequencing layer; Decentralised Gaming Ventures, a builder of Web3 games; AnotherBall, the company behind the VTuber platform Izumo; and Delabs Games, a studio focused on Web3 gaming.The remaining nine were follow-up investments. Among these projects were Archway, a Cosmos-based layer 1 blockchain; Payhere, a provider of mobile point-of-sale (POS) systems; and Dfns, an API-first key management solution. Hashed Ventures, the company’s investment arm, oversees two funds: one with a capital of KRW 120 billion and the other with KRW 240 billion. Through these funds, Hashed has invested in a total of 86 portfolio companies. This year, some of their notable investments include public chain project Aptos, Web3 startup Story Protocol and decentralized exchange dYdX. It’s also noteworthy that 55% of the larger fund has been allocated to Korean companies. Blockchain community and talent developmentHashed’s impact in the blockchain sector extends beyond just financial investments. The Web3 company has supported the organization of approximately 80 meet-ups, including university hackathons and academic blockchain conferences. A notable example of their initiatives is Korea Blockchain Week, co-hosted annually with Web3 ecosystem builder Factblock since 2018. This event has become one of Asia’s largest blockchain gatherings, drawing over 10,000 visitors. In addition to these events, Hashed has been keen on nurturing talent in the blockchain space. Their Protocol Camp, a boot camp aimed at developing Web3 builders, has successfully produced 59 developers across five sessions. Furthermore, Hashed Open Research, the firm’s research division, is actively involved in shaping the blockchain landscape. They engage in research, organize seminars, and publish findings, all with the goal of offering policy recommendations and advancing understanding in the field. Hashed has reinforced its management system for portfolio companies, focusing on supporting early-stage startups. Their efforts include building a community dedicated to startup support, aiding in recruitment and business development strategies, providing data analysis services and engaging in promotional activities. Reflecting on the past year, Simon Seojoon Kim, CEO of Hashed, acknowledged that 2023 posed challenges for startups. However, he pointed out that the relatively calm market conditions provided Hashed with opportunities to uncover a range of innovative ideas. These ideas, according to Kim, have the potential to make significant contributions to the development of blockchain infrastructure and its applications in real-world scenarios. Looking forward, Kim expressed optimism about the growth prospects of their portfolio companies in the coming year. This optimism is partly based on the potential approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, which he believes could usher in robust participation from institutional investors. Additionally, Kim anticipates further growth driven by the expected launch of wallets by major global platforms, indicating a promising and dynamic future for the blockchain industry and Hashed’s investments.

Pakistan’s newly appointed Minister of State for Crypto and Blockchain, Bilal bin Saqib, has been spending time in the United States recently with a view towards collaborating with the Trump administration and Wall Street on matters related to digital assets and digital asset regulation. Pakistani TV channel 24 News HD reported on June 4 that bin Saqib met with Bo Hines during a visit to the White House in Washington, D.C. Hines was appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this year as the executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors on Digital Assets. Ways to broaden cooperation between Pakistan and the U.S. with regard to the digital assets sector were a primary topic covered during their meeting. Consideration was given to the potential for future partnerships between the two nations, with a particular emphasis on strategic alignment on digital asset policy.Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashStrategic Bitcoin ReserveBitcoin was also a topic of conversation during the meeting. Last week, bin Saqib, who also heads up the South Asian nation’s newly formed Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC), appeared at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas to announce that “the Pakistani government is setting up their own government-led Bitcoin Strategic Reserve.” In his keynote address, he stated that Pakistan would hold Bitcoin in a national wallet and would “never ever sell them.” Following his meeting with Hines, bin Saqib took to X, stating:”We’re building strong bridges with the U.S. on Bitcoin reserves, stablecoins, and digital asset frameworks.” Responding to bin Saqib’s X post, Faizan Siddiqi, a Pakistani expat and COO of Canadian advertising services firm, MonetizeMore, underscored the importance of the meeting for an emerging generation in Pakistan inspired “to believe in a brighter, decentralized future.” In addition to meeting with Hines, bin Saqib also met with officials from the White House Counsel’s office, engaging with them on blockchain governance and legal framework matters. New York meetingsFollowing his meeting in Washington, D.C., bin Saqib moved on to New York. A video clip posted by the PCC to the X social media platform on June 6 showed bin Saqib meeting with New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The Pakistani minister thanked Adams for all he is doing for the crypto ecosystem, while inviting him to visit Pakistan and to consider a partnership between New York and the PCC. While in New York, bin Saqib also met with Brandon Lutnick, chairman of global financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald and son of former Cantor Fitzgerald Chairman Howard Lutnick, who was appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump to the position of secretary of commerce back in February.  While Cantor Fitzgerald is a well-established traditional finance (TradFi) firm founded in 1945, the company has embraced digital assets more recently. Cantor has taken on leading stablecoin issuer Tether as a client, having also invested in the company. Last month, the firm launched its first Bitcoin fund. It’s understood that bin Saqib discussed tokenization, Bitcoin mining, the future of Web3 in Pakistan and potential for collaboration with Lutnick. Last month, Pakistan allocated 2,000 MW of surplus electricity to Bitcoin mining and AI data centers.

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.