KuCoin CEO: Privacy Not a Key Bitcoin Feature

Japanese consumer electronics conglomerate company Sony appears to be gearing up for a cryptocurrency exchange relaunch following its acquisition of WhaleFin. That’s according to a press release published by Japanese public relations company PR Times. Last year, Sony bought Amber Group, a Singapore-headquartered digital asset and crypto financial services firm, which operates crypto exchange WhaleFin. It now appears that the company plans to revamp the local trading platform.  S.BLOX crypto exchangeAmber Group has been renamed to S.BLOX Co. A statement from WhaleFin confirmed the name change. The rebranding has occurred following the acquisition in August 2023 of Amber Group by Quetta Web, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It also outlined plans to upgrade the service in terms of user experience through a user interface (UI) design refresh. Furthermore, the service plans on releasing new applications going forward.  Part of the strategy is to leverage Sony Group businesses in order to further bootstrap the crypto exchange. Using this approach, the company believes that it can create new added value in cryptocurrency trading services.  The precise launch date of the renewed WhaleFin crypto exchange has yet to be announced. S.BLOX is registered with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau of the Ministry of Finance. Furthermore, it’s a member of the Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association (JVCEA), which oversees cryptocurrency trading within the Japanese jurisdiction from a regulatory and compliance perspective. The exchange business is understood to have a current capitalization of 1,708,179,531 yen (around $10.5 million).Photo by James Feaver on UnsplashWeb3 focusSony has made a concerted effort to expand its activity in the Web3 space. In March 2023, the company filed a patent that aims to enable players of Sony gaming products to access interactive Web3 gameplay. That application will focus on the use use of NFTs. A month earlier, Sony Network Communications, its internet provider division, partnered with the Astar blockchain development team in order to create an incubation program for startups who are working on decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and NFT-based innovation. The same subsidiary partnered with Japanese blockchain firm Startale Labs last September in order to build Sony’s own public blockchain network. The CEO and founder of Startale Labs, Sota Watanabe, took to the X social media platform on July 1, clarifying that Startale’s external director will be heading up Sony’s new crypto exchange. While Sony has dipped its toe in the water previously relative to Web3 projects, this latest development will see it become more deeply involved in the crypto and Web3 space.  Amber Japan was bought out by crypto finance firm Amber Group in 2022 when it was known at that time as DeCurret. Last year, Bloomberg reported that Amber Group was working towards selling off the enterprise due to difficulties in navigating the strict regulatory environment it encountered within the Japanese market. In a related development, it emerged last month that leading Japanese crypto exchange bitFlyer had acquired FTX Japan, the Japanese subsidiary company of the failed global crypto exchange business.

The Turkish government is on the verge of finalizing comprehensive regulations for the cryptocurrency market. It has been known for a number of months that Turkey had been working towards the production of a regulatory framework for crypto, with the primary objective of securing the country’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) "grey list." According to revelations from Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Simsek, who participated in an interview with the Anadolu Agency on Wednesday, those regulations are now nearing completion.Photo by Emre on UnsplashFramework in advanced stagesSimsek disclosed key elements of the forthcoming regulations, emphasizing the government's commitment to legally defining critical concepts in the crypto space, licensing trading platforms and aligning with the standards set by FATF. The crypto framework tailored for the Turkish market is in the advanced stages of development, with a meticulous evaluation of its technical aspects underway, noted Simsek. The overarching goal is to mitigate the risks associated with crypto trading, especially for ordinary investors, aligning with international standards to facilitate the country's removal from the FATF's grey list. Licensing and defined termsSimsek outlined the forthcoming guidelines, stating that crypto platforms will be mandated to acquire licenses from Turkey's Capital Markets Board (CMB). A number of months ago, Bora Erdamar, the director of the BlockchainIST Center, an Istanbul-based university research and development center for blockchain technology, had underscored the importance of establishing licensing standards as part of the new crypto framework. Erdamar claimed that would be necessary in order to “prevent abuse of the system.” Erdamar is of the view that any such regulatory framework may include digital security protocols, advanced custody services, compulsory proof of reserves and capital adequacy requirements. It’s understood that the regulations will provide legal definitions for essential terms such as "crypto assets," "crypto wallets," "crypto asset service providers," "crypto asset custody service" and "crypto asset buying and selling platforms." As an example, Simsek clarified the definition of crypto assets as "intangible assets that can be created and stored electronically using distributed ledger technology or a similar technology, distributed over digital networks, and capable of expressing value or rights." While emphasizing the reduction of risks in crypto trading, Simsek clarified that the regulations would not encompass the specific tax regime for virtual assets. The proposed regulations have long been under consideration as Turkish authorities aim to bring clarity to the crypto market. The Minister assured that the crypto legislative proposals would be finalized this month, preceding the FATF evaluation scheduled for February. Notably, between July 2022 and June 2023, Turkey ranked fourth globally in raw crypto transaction volumes, recording approximately $170 billion in activity, trailing behind the United States, India and the United Kingdom, as reported by the blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. A report by KuCoin last year identified a marked increase in adoption in Turkey.  It’s believed that wayward inflation over recent years relative to the Turkish lira is playing a large part in that trend. In recent weeks the Turkish president took the step of appointing an expert in blockchain and crypto assets to the central bank’s rate-setting committee. 

Hong Kong Gives HKVAX Green Light for Virtual Asset TradingHong Kong’s financial landscape continues to develop, with the latest installment coming from a Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) decision to grant in-principle approval to Hong Kong Virtual Asset Exchange (HKVAX) to operate a virtual asset trading platform within the bounds of the region’s securities laws.The development, announced via a press release published to HKVAX’s website on Friday, follows the recent introduction of crypto retail trading by exchanges HashKey and OSL in Hong Kong.Photo by Dids on PexelsLicensed to extend service offeringIn a notable move, the SFC has green-lit HKVAX’s entry into the virtual asset trading arena. The approval-in-principle, announced on Friday, empowers HKVAX to conduct regulated activities of both Type 1 and Type 7. A Type 1 license permits the operation of a digital asset trading platform specializing in securities. Meanwhile, the Type 7 classification endows the company with the official capacity to deliver automated trading services to both retail users and institutional investors.Upon obtaining the final green light, the platform envisions providing an array of services, including over-the-counter (OTC) brokerage enabling seamless fiat-to-digital asset trading, an institutional-grade exchange platform, and a secure custody solution fortified by insurance coverage.HKVAX is poised to introduce an up-and-coming product category, security token offerings (STOs), seeking to harness the burgeoning investment prospects of the Web3 ecosystem. STOs involve offering security tokens which represent traditional legal ownership of real-world assets.Upcoming collaborative fundingAnthony Ng, the Co-Founder and CEO of HKVAX, affirmed the exchange’s growth trajectory and outlined plans for expansion of its product suite in Hong Kong. Ng also emphasized forging collaborations with strategic investors to fuel the exchange’s upcoming funding rounds.HKVAX’s announcement is emblematic of Hong Kong’s embrace of crypto retail trading. Recent entrants HashKey and OSL have set the precedent by becoming the first exchanges to secure licenses for offering crypto trading services in the region as of August 3.It’s been a long process for HKVAX to arrive at this point. The firm first contacted the SFC in 2018 in relation to licensing. It started the application process in 2019. It’s also proving to be an incredibly costly exercise. It’s believed that crypto-related operating licenses are costing firms up to $20 million.The backdrop to these developments is Hong Kong regulators’ proactive stance on crypto regulation, catalyzed by the FTX exchange collapse in 2022. CEO Julia Leung Fung-yee of the SFC, in a speech on June 24, highlighted the integral role of crypto trading in the virtual asset ecosystem, underscoring the importance of safeguarding investors through the new licensing framework for virtual asset service providers.In a financial landscape undergoing transformation, Hong Kong’s regulatory moves are poised to shape the future trajectory of virtual asset trading and its integration within the broader securities landscape. As HKVAX gains its foothold and the crypto industry matures, the coming months are expected to see further refinements in this nascent yet rapidly evolving market.