Mirae Asset Securities Expands Security Token Group with Media Collaborators

Grab Holdings, the Singapore-based operator of the Grab super app, has extended its facility for crypto payments to its customer base in the Philippines. The company, which offers ride-hailing, food and grocery delivery and digital payments within a range of services to customers throughout Southeast Asia, introduced the option of crypto payments to service users within its home market of Singapore last year. Photo by Kiko Ferranco on UnsplashAt the time, the company expressed the view that enabling crypto payments “added flexibility and convenience” for platform users, providing them with “a seamless and efficient way to access the company’s wide range of services.” Philippine online news portal Philstar.com reported that Filipino users of the platform can now top up their GrabPay digital wallets with a range of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), as well as U.S. dollar stablecoins USDC and USDT. In Singapore, Grab rolled out the offering in partnership with Triple-A, a company that enables businesses to pay and get paid in digital currencies. Singapore-based Crypto.com also partnered with the firm last year to enable direct crypto payments. Financial inclusionIn extending the service to the Philippines, Grab has again partnered with Triple-A, alongside Philippine crypto exchange platform PDAX. CJ Lacsican, Grab Philippines’ vice president for cities, said that “integrating cryptocurrency as a cash-in option for GrabPay reflects [Grab’s] commitment to advancing financial inclusion in the Philippines.”  She added that the move aims to empower a broader spectrum of Filipinos, particularly those who prefer the convenience of digital currencies and others who have limited access to traditional banking. Triple-A CEO Eric Barbier said that the launch of GrabPay crypto top-ups went well in Singapore, with a fantastic response from Singaporean platform users. Following that rollout, Barbier believes that the Philippines is a market that’s ready for digital currencies. “This is a big step in making digital currencies easier to use in everyday life across Southeast Asia,” he added. Driving crypto adoptionPDAX CEO Nichel Gaba suggested that the Philippines “has one of the largest crypto user bases globally,” adding that through this partnership, accessible use cases are being offered “that will both support the existing crypto community and drive greater adoption of cryptocurrency.”  Grab first pivoted to Web3 with the integration of a Polygon-based crypto wallet in September 2023, with a view towards making crypto more accessible and usable for ordinary people. The super app, which is considered by many to be the “Uber of Southeast Asia,” has 42 million monthly transacting users (MTUs) across Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.  The development of the Grab Web3 Wallet came about as a consequence of a collaboration with USDC stablecoin issuer Circle. As part of a strategic partnership, Circle’s Web3 services platform was integrated into the Grab app. More recently, Grab partnered with NATIX Network, a Solana ecosystem decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) project, in an effort to collaborate on autonomous driving technology and mapping. 

Hana Financial Group, one of South Korea’s largest financial institutions, plans to establish a new task force focused on digital assets, according to a report by News1. The move comes as the cryptocurrency market continues to expand and institutional adoption grows worldwide.Photo by POURIA 🦋 on UnsplashGroupwide crypto task forceThe company intends to use the task force to develop a coordinated response system linking its banking, card, and securities subsidiaries. It also plans to introduce crypto-related products, services, and infrastructure in line with forthcoming legislation on digital assets. As its first initiative, the task force will focus on stablecoin-related projects, including issuance and reserve management. Another key objective is to build a merchant network that enables customers to make payments using stablecoins. Beyond its crypto initiatives, Hana Financial Group also aims to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to advance its digital finance capabilities. Ongoing AI research at the Hana Institute of Technology will serve as the foundation for integrating AI across the group’s subsidiaries, with a particular focus on enhancing sales divisions. Commenting on the initiative, Chairman Ham Young-joo said the group will strengthen its capabilities in both crypto and AI, underlining the transformative potential of digital assets in capital markets and payment networks. Paycoin expands retail acceptanceThe rising adoption of cryptocurrencies in South Korea is reflected in Paycoin’s (PCI) recent expansion into the convenience store chain Emart24. Operated by Danal Fintech, the blockchain affiliate of Danal, Paycoin now allows customers to make purchases with its PCI tokens at Emart24 locations, according to a report by Etoday. With 7-Eleven scheduled to start accepting PCI later this month, the digital asset will soon be usable across all four major convenience store chains in the country, joining CU and GS25, which already support it. Building on this momentum, Paycoin aims to expand its utility across a wider range of sectors, including restaurants, sports facilities, shopping malls, and accommodations. The platform has already established a presence at well-known eateries such as Domino’s and Pizza Hut, as well as at Dal.Komm, Danal’s coffee chain. Market manipulation probesHowever, the growing acceptance of digital assets has also brought side effects—specifically, a rise in crypto-related crimes. Amid stricter oversight, South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has voted to refer alleged cryptocurrency market manipulators to law enforcement. The decision concerns two separate cases, Edaily reported. In the first case, a suspect is accused of generating illicit profits by artificially inflating the price of a particular cryptocurrency. The individual reportedly accumulated tokens worth billions of Korean won before placing a series of sell orders at higher prices. Using an application programming interface (API), the suspect repeatedly executed these orders, prompting ordinary investors to buy in and drive prices even higher—ultimately securing profits for the manipulator. The second case involves multiple individuals accused of employing similar methods across various tokens. They allegedly used APIs to automate trades, creating false impressions of high trading volumes and inflated prices to reap unlawful gains. These developments offer a broader view of how South Korea’s nascent digital asset industry is taking shape. The growing presence of cryptocurrencies in everyday life reflects Seoul’s push to align with the global trend of embracing crypto as both a new payment method and an emerging asset class. While crime prevention and investor protection remain key concerns, forthcoming legislation is expected to give regulators clearer guidelines. Ranked 15th worldwide in crypto adoption in this year’s Chainalysis study, South Korea continues to stand out as a market that merits close attention from investors and industry observers alike. 

South Korean gaming publisher Wemade’s layer 1 blockchain WEMIX has announced the listing of stWEMIX — the tokenized form of staked WEMIX — on the global cryptocurrency exchange BitMart, according to an official announcement on WEMIX’s Medium page last Saturday. stWEMIX acts as a liquidity token of the native coin WEMIX that allows users to participate in trading, yield farming and borrowing.Photo by Maxim Hopman on UnsplashBitMart’s servicesEstablished in 2018, BitMart offers services like futures contracts and different types of trading, including currency, over-the-counter, decentralized and network-wide trading. The token was listed for trading on the exchange last Friday at 10 a.m. (UTC) and is currently priced at $3.48 as of this writing. Exclusive eventsThe exchange said that it is independently holding several events with the help of the WEMIX Foundation until Jan. 4 to celebrate the listing. This includes rewards in the form of stWEMIX, which will be distributed to new and existing users alike on BitMart who deposit or buy at least 100 USDT of stWEMIX. 50 users who record highest stWEMIX trading volume during the event period and those who participate in stWEMIX Fixed Savings will also receive rewards. BitMart’s Fixed Savings subscription is a system that pays interest on cryptocurrencies that are deposited during a designated period ranging from a week to one month. Users can redeem their funds only after the period is over, and both the principal and interest are paid to their spot wallets without extra fees.