Bitget commits fund to bolstering Indian blockchain innovation

While the crypto markets have not been immune to geopolitical developments, the sector in Iran experienced a more direct effect last week with a politically motivated $90 million exchange hack, prompting the authorities to introduce an exchange curfew. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis outlined on X on June 18 that Nobitex, Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, had been hacked, with crypto assets to the value of $90 million having been drained from exchange-controlled wallets.Photo by Engin Akyurt on PexelsWeaponizing blockchain technologyThe hack had the hallmark of a politically-motivated attack given that rather than the digital assets being stolen, they were sent to vanity addresses, customized blockchain addresses involving user-defined sequences of characters. The vanity addresses contained “politically charged messages” and in sending the funds to them, the funds were effectively burned as they’re now permanently inaccessible.  The firm stated:”This incident highlights how crypto exploits aren’t always financially motivated. Bad actors can weaponize blockchain technology for geopolitical messaging, turning hacks into ideological statements rather than profit-driven crimes.” Pro-Israel hacker group Gonjeshke Darande, also known as “Predatory Sparrow,” appears to have carried out the hack, given that on June 18, it outlined on X that it would release Nobitex’s source code together with other internal information related to the firm’s internal network, while confirming that it had conducted cyberattacks against the company. The group made the following assertion:”The Nobitex exchange is at the heart of the [Iranian] regime’s efforts to finance terror worldwide, as well as being the regime’s favorite sanctions violation tool.” Rafe Pilling, director of threat intelligence at Sophos, a British cybersecurity company, told The Guardian that Predatory Sparrow “bears all the hallmarks of a false persona used by a government-sponsored threat group to conduct disruptive operations against targets” linked to the Iranian government. While Nobitex is estimated to have seven million users, an Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)-based investigation carried out in 2024 linked relatives of Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, and other Iranian establishment figures to the crypto exchange. Minimizing systemic riskThe cyber attack has prompted a response from the Iranian government. In a blog post, Chainalysis outlined that the Central Bank of Iran has instructed all domestic crypto exchange platforms to curtail their service hours to between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. The company speculated that this measure could be motivated by a desire to impose a higher level of oversight and control over the local crypto sector. However, it also suggested that it may be part of an attempt by the Iranian authorities to manage and minimize systemic risk. In recent years, Iran has been subject to extensive international sanctions applied by various entities including the United States, the European Union and the United Nations. Those sanctions have had a significant impact upon the country’s economy, triggering high inflation and currency devaluation.  With that, crypto has been increasingly viewed by the authorities as a means to circumvent sanctions. Last December, the Iranian authorities appeared to be working towards regulating crypto, embracing the asset class in acknowledgement of its growing importance to the Iranian economy. In February, Chainalysis reported that sanctioned entities worldwide had received $15.8 billion in crypto transactions in 2024.

South Korea’s blockchain venture Creder and IT solution company ITCEN Group (ITCEN) announced today their partnership with Green-X, a Malaysia-based exchange, local media outlet Decenter reported. Through the partnership, the three companies plan to launch a security token offering (STO) business, introducing tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) to investors. Creder is a joint venture founded in 2022 by ITCEN and blockchain service developer BPMG.  The planned business aims to tokenize various RWAs – including jewelry, real estate, rare earth, antique goods – and issue them in the form of NFTs, which will then be fractionalized and traded on Goldstation, the gold-pegged coin (GPC)-centered DeFi platform developed by Creder. Photo by Jingming Pan on UnsplashThe initial project of the RWA business would be to offer trading services for Dignity gold tokens (DIGNITY) on Goldstation, a digital token issued by Dignity Gold LLC. The company owns a gold mine valued at over $6 billion in Nevada, U.S., according to data from Green-X. As of March 26, gold reserves yet to be excavated from the mine reportedly stand at 3.44 million ounces. Green-X, a Malaysia STO exchange accredited by Sharia certificate The Malaysia-based STO exchange Green-X is a wholly owned subsidiary of Greenpro Captial Corp., a company listed on Nasdaq. In February 2022, Green-X received an STO exchange license along with Sharia certificate, a proof of compliance that is only given to firms that follow the Islamic law, Sharia. This religious certificate is known to serve as a significant criterion for Islamic investors.  James Lim, CEO of Creder, said that the company aims to expand its business to the global market by further introducing more RWAs in cooperation with Green-X.  

K-Pop NFT Platform MetaBeat’s Token Listed on UniSwap v3MetaBeat, a non-fungible token (NFT) platform based in Seoul and catering to K-pop fans, announced that its BEAT token is listed on Uniswap v3, one of the most popular decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges.©Pexels/Josh SorensonBEAT/USDC on UniswapBy introducing the BEAT/USDC liquidity pool on Uniswap v3, MetaBeat aims to increase the popularity of its BEAT tokens.MetaBeat ecosystemThe MetaBeat ecosystem enables music fans to contribute to their community with social media activities. Contributions from fans, along with their artists’ performances, are taken into account when determining the FANomance Index, which is then utilized to appropriately reward fans.Fans can support their favorite artists in three distinct ways: Drops, Mingle, and Shout Out.DropsWithin the MetaBeat platform, Drops indicate NFT sales. MetaBeat creates and sells community NFTs backed by music intellectual property (IP), allowing fans to own or stake them for value sharing. The IP value depends on music consumption, such as album sales and streams.MingleMetaBeat users can stake tokens on an open Mingle, backed by music IP, and obtain rewards based on the Mingle’s FANomance Index.Shout OutThe Shout Out program incentivizes fans who upload their artist-related posts on social media and verify their activities on MetaBeat.KuCoinMeanwhile, it is also worth noting that the BEAT token is tradable on a centralized exchange. In November last year, the global centralized exchange KuCoin began supporting the trading pair of BEAT/USDT.