OPNX Confirms Significant VC Backing

India’s NPCI Looks to Recruit Blockchain TalentIndia’s National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a collaborative initiative led by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in partnership with 247 Indian financial services companies, is actively seeking an experienced blockchain technologist to spearhead efforts in exploring the potential applications of blockchain technology within contemporary payment systems.The NPCI, responsible for operating India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a domestically developed instant payment system, plays a pivotal role in facilitating inter-bank peer-to-peer and person-to-merchant transactions across the country. The organization has recently posted a job listing for a Head of Blockchain on LinkedIn, demonstrating its interest in harnessing the power of blockchain technology.Photo by Siddharth K Rao on UnsplashIdentifying blockchain use casesThe ideal candidate for this critical role should be a seasoned technologist with a minimum of six years of hands-on experience in the development and implementation of blockchain solutions. Their primary responsibility will be to identify and evaluate potential use cases for blockchain-driven solutions within the payments ecosystem.Additionally, the senior leadership position demands a profound technical grasp of various blockchain platforms and a track record of involvement in at least two pilot blockchain projects.UPI has been a remarkable success in bolstering India’s payment infrastructure, so much so that other countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), France, Nepal, and the UK have expressed interest in adopting the UPI payment system to varying degrees.Potential blockchain integrationDespite UPI's runaway success, it’s likely that the NCPI foresees more change coming down the tracks with a need to respond appropriately. Recently, Indian billionaire businessman Mukesh Ambani suggested that his company, multinational conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL), would delve further into the use of blockchain technology, particularly where central bank digital currency (CBDC) is concerned.V Subramanian, Managing Director of one of Ambani’s companies, Reliance Retail, stated that India’s digital rupee CBDC would eventually outperform UPI. Incorporating blockchain elements into UPI could potentially introduce blockchain technology to millions of users, instantly validating its transformative capabilities.The NPCI’s job posting for a blockchain leader has already garnered significant attention, with over 600 applicants expressing their interest at the time of publication. It is anticipated that the NPCI’s recruitment drive for blockchain expertise will expand in the near future as promising blockchain use cases are uncovered and developed.The NPCI has been paying attention to the development of blockchain technology over a number of years already. In 2020, it launched a project to build a blockchain-based payments platform called Vajra, albeit that it looked to implement a permissioned blockchain model to ensure that only authorized parties could access the network. Truly decentralized networks can’t control who chooses to use such networks.The blockchain is designed such that the NPCI acts as a Clearing House Node, with overall admin rights over the network. Its Notary Node level features Aadhaar authentication, with a view to securing the network. Participant Nodes feature authorized banks and payment services providers, who have the requisite permissions to read and write transactions on the blockchain.

Korean Blockchain Firm Proposes Fintech Collaboration in CambodiaSouth Korean fintech and blockchain company KONDOR recently made an announcement through a press release regarding the establishment of a blockchain fintech advisory board in Cambodia. The firm has proposed a business agreement to the Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC) with the aim of ensuring sustainable growth in the financial sector and capital markets.Photo by allPhoto Bangkok on PexelsFintech advisory boardThe advisory board comprises experts from various fields, including finance, economics, law, blockchain technology, fintech, and artificial intelligence. They will function independently, offering counsel on policy decisions.Sou Soucheat, Director General of SERC, highlighted that Cambodia is currently in the process of rebuilding and has a youth-driven economy and financial markets. He sees the collaboration with KONDOR as a valuable opportunity to develop a future-oriented financial system.The advisory board will see participation from KONDOR and other notable members, namely VEXK, a global digital asset exchange in Vietnam; Blue Contents, a Honolulu-based digital economy research center; and the Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia, a key player in the country’s educational field.KONDOR and VEXK have put forth a proposal for the joint establishment of a trust company and the pursuit of a custody license in alignment with Cambodia’s revised trust law of 2019.Procuring licensesFollowing the proposal’s approval, VEXK plans to procure a license as a digital asset exchange, as well as a license to establish a trust company. This would enable VEXK to effectively oversee clients’ digital and physical assets through accounts within the established trust company. The safety of these assets will be ensured through insurance coverage provided by reputable global insurers. Furthermore, VEXK will acquire the ability to facilitate USD trading and will retain the digital asset exchange license for five years.The license application will gain support from the SDG Impact Fund, a US-based organization managing $11 billion worth of assets, and the Estates & Infrastructure Exchange (EIX), a project bond exchange based in London.EIX CEO Mark Worrall said that active support from a securities regulator in the dynamic and expanding Web3 era would certainly contribute to Cambodia’s economic growth.

Jump Trades to Top of NFT MarketplaceJump.trade, which is considered to be the largest NFT marketplace in Asia, has now emerged as the leading NFT marketplace on the Polygon Network, as per a recent report published by DappRadar. This new ranking has placed Jump.trade ahead of other popular NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, Decentraland, and OKX NFT marketplace, among others.©Unsplash/Andrey MetelevJump №1 on PolygonThe firm acknowledged the achievement on social media last week, thanking its community for making the accomplishment a reality. Kameshwaran Elangovan, Co-Founder and COO of Jump.trade, expressed his delight with the recent ranking and called it “an astounding statement of our team’s hard work and the enthusiasm of our community who keep our marketplace always buzzing.”While clearly an “unlocked achievement” as the company itself put it, it’s important to note that NFT marketplace development on the Polygon network has been much more recent. The bulk of NFT marketplace trading volume still occurs on blockchains such as Ethereum with NFT marketplaces OpenSea and upstart Blur dominating and accounting for 90% of NFT trade.First P2E cricket gameIt is worth noting that Jump.trade had introduced the world’s first P2E cricket game NFT collection last year, which consisted of 55,000 NFTs from the Meta Cricket League. Interestingly, this collection had sold out within a mere nine minutes, underlining the immense popularity and demand for NFTs. Jump.trade has also formed partnerships with various renowned brands such as Pepsi and Cadbury to make NFTs more accessible and develop a metaverse ecosystem where both brands and individuals can collaborate.Global ambitionsThe company has set its sights on becoming a major global player in the gaming NFTs market and is expected to benefit from the projected growth in the NFT market. This market is estimated to be worth $231 billion by 2030, with the gaming and sports industries anticipated to be the key drivers of NFT-related products.Jump.trade is a collaboration between Indian firm Appstars Applications and Singapore’s Guardian Blockchain Labs. As an emerging tech superpower, India has a robust technical infrastructure that can enable the NFT industry to penetrate even the remote areas of the country. However, a well-structured regulatory framework will be critical for faster adoption of NFTs and digital collectibles, and ownership will play a crucial role in taking India closer to achieving its goal of an $800 billion digital economy by 2030.Flipkart Labs partnershipJump.trade is also the platform for the upcoming RADDX Racing Metaverse NFTs, and it provides opportunities for brands to leverage Web3/gaming for branding. On Wednesday, Jump.trade announced its partnership with Flipkart Labs, the blockchain and NFT offshoot of Indian e-tailer Flipkart. Both companies are collaborating on the RADDX Web3 advertising innovation.Jump.trade CEO and Co-Founder Ramkumar Subramaniam said that “brands like Flipkart getting into metaverse advertising and Web3 marketing will serve as an encouragement and a beacon for a lot of brands to follow suit.” As part of the deal, Flipkart Labs bought Digital Lands, a digital land parcel within the RADDX Racing Metaverse.