e-CNY Payments Enabled for Hong Kong Visitors From Mainland China

BPMG to Showcase Blockchain Gaming Platform ‘GemHUB’ at G-STAR 2023South Korean blockchain tech company BPMG is set to visit the southern port city of Busan next month to participate in global game exhibition G-STAR 2023. BPMG will install a booth in the Business-to-Business (B2B) section in Exhibition Center 2. At the event, the company intends to highlight its Web3 gaming platform, GemHUB, and establish connections with potential partners. These collaborations will pave the way for BPMG to enter the global blockchain gaming market.Photo by Ahmed Atef on UnsplashGaming platform for competitionBPMG will also promote GemPION, a new game service that it will launch on November 16 in collaboration with global blockchain firm Everscale. GemPION stands out as a dedicated platform for competitive gaming, offering users of games hosted on the platform the opportunity to participate in tournaments and various missions. This blend of gaming and mission-based challenges is expected to deliver a more immersive and engaging experience for users.New, additional gamesIn anticipation of the G-STAR exhibition, BPMG is working to onboard four new games onto its platform. One of them is strategy battle RPG Heroes9 with NFT, and the other three are puzzle games: Jewel Dungeon Quest, Mayan Cryptex, and Farm Raid Mission.Furthermore, GemHUB has plans to introduce 10 additional games, including MMORPGs like Rappelz Universe, Flyff Universe, and Dark Eden M, along with social game Every Farm. This expansion aims to enrich the gaming offerings on the GemHUB platform, catering to a wider audience of players.

Com2uS’ partnership with Thailand’s SHIN-A to boost Web3 gaming presence in Southeast AsiaCom2uS Holdings, a South Korean game developer, announced on Thursday that its subsidiary, Com2uS Platform, has forged a reselling partnership with SHIN-A, a Bangkok-based marketing and game service firm. This collaboration aims to bolster the expansion of Com2uS Platform’s all-in-one gaming platform, Hive, marking a significant step in its global outreach and growth strategy.Photo by Lisheng Chang on UnsplashBlockchain-powered, all-in-one platformHive offers a comprehensive suite of services, including authentication, payments, promotions, customer support, analytics, and Web3 integrations, all integrated within a single software development kit (SDK). Since opening its services to external game companies in 2021, the blockchain-powered platform has secured contracts with 51 games from 39 different publishing clients, demonstrating its growing influence and utility in the gaming industry.Against this backdrop, the newly established partnership between Com2uS Platform and SHIN-A paves the way for cooperative marketing and sales efforts aimed at promoting the Hive platform to a broader range of global gaming companies. To facilitate this goal, SHIN-A is planning to establish a dedicated support team in Thailand, which will focus on the resale of Hive products.SHIN-A, a key player in game publishing and global marketing, covers a wide range of business areas, including Web2 and Web3, across mobile, desktop and console platforms. The company has forged game publishing contracts with global giants like HoYoverse and Tencent, and has successfully conducted local marketing for Com2uS’ game, Birdie Crush: Fantasy Golf. Additionally, SHIN-A collaborates with major Thai firms like mobile phone network AIS and is involved in entertainment ventures, including organizing large-scale K-pop concerts.Thailand’s growing gaming marketWith almost 40% of its 70 million population engaging in games, Thailand presents a significant market opportunity. This is further underscored by the fact that the country boasts the highest average in-app purchase spending per person in Southeast Asia. It is also witnessing rapid growth in the gaming sector as the second-largest gaming market in Southeast Asia, trailing only behind Indonesia.In this vibrant market, Com2us’ action RPG, Summoners War: Chronicles, has achieved notable success, becoming one of the top-grossing games on the Steam platform in Thailand. This success signals a promising landscape for the introduction of Com2uS Platform’s Hive, which is likely to further enhance customer engagement and expand the company’s footprint in the region’s booming gaming market.Com2uS Platform’s Business Director, Kim Jong-moon, stated that the reselling partnership with SHIN-A is poised to significantly enhance Hive projects in the Southeast Asian market, a region known for its dynamic gaming and blockchain sectors. Kim highlighted the company’s plans to earmark the upcoming year as a pivotal period for Hive, marking the beginning of its global strategy implementation.

A couple of days have passed since the 22nd general election took place in South Korea, whose results have disappointed President Yoon Seok-yeol and the country's ruling People Power Party (PPP). The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) won the election in a landslide, securing a total of 175 seats out of 300 in the National Assembly.   Now, with the DPK set to continue exerting control over the National Assembly, financial industry insiders are focusing on whether the liberal party will stick to its campaign pledges to ease regulations on cryptocurrencies and related products – most notably, approving investment and trading of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) within the country, according to media outlet Yonhap Infomax. Ever since the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved spot Bitcoin ETFs in January, interest surrounding such products has intensified among Korean investors. Photo by Alesia Kozik on PexelHowever, the Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC) has been reluctant to approve such spot ETFs, citing the potential risk of such approval violating the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act. Various pledges to ease crypto regulations The DPK, in response, has introduced several campaign pledges aimed at easing crypto regulations, both to win votes from younger Koreans – especially those in their 20s and 30s who make up a significant portion of crypto investors in the country – and to bolster the local crypto market. Among these pledges was to include virtual asset ETFs in Individual Savings Account (ISA), which would enhance tax breaks for crypto gains. Another notable pledge was to deduct taxes on crypto gains worth up to KRW 50 million (approximately $36,560). Under the current law, only crypto gains within the limit of KRW 2.5 million qualify for the tax deduction. One local crypto insider commented on the outcome of the general election, saying that the industry will need to keep an eye on how the situation surrounding crypto regulations develops, as easing such regulations was one of the key promises the DPK made during the election campaign period.   Still, long way ahead for Korea to approve spot Bitcoin ETFsMeanwhile, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju left a comment yesterday on the X (formerly Twitter) post written by crypto analyst MartyParty, which reads, "South Korea has approved spot Bitcoin ETFs."  Ju pointed out that South Korea still has "a long way to go" when it comes to approving spot Bitcoin ETFs, noting that just because "the Bitcoin-friendly Democratic Party," or the DPK, won the general election doesn't mean that financial regulators have approved such products.