Fingerlabs teams up with Metaclub to gather users for Web3 membership platform

The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), a business and financial center located in the Qatari capital, Doha, has announced that the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA) and the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA) have launched the QFC digital assets framework. In a press release published to the QFC website on Sept. 1, the project set out details of its QFC Digital Assets Framework 2024.Photo by 拜耳 闫 on UnsplashIndependent economic zoneThe QFCA and the QFCRA both act in a regulatory capacity relative to the financial center. The QFC is an economic zone, which operates independently from the rest of the country. With that, it has its own legal, tax, regulatory and business framework. The initiative is similar in this respect to projects located within its Middle Eastern neighbors, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), such as RAK DAO in Ras al Khaimah and Abu Dhabi’s international financial center, the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). The QFC incentivizes international startups to base themselves within the economic zone by allowing full foreign ownership and 100% repatriation of any profits made by the established entity, with a low rate of 10% taxation applied to those profits. In its press release, the QFC claimed that the framework establishes the legal and regulatory foundation for digital assets, including the process of tokenization, legal recognition of property rights in tokens and their underlying assets, custody arrangements, transfer and exchange.  Providing for a transparent ecosystemAdditionally, the framework provides for the legal recognition of smart contracts. The QFC claims that the framework will ensure a “secure and transparent digital asset ecosystem,” in accordance with international standards and best practices.  The financial center established its Digital Assets Lab in October 2023. Since then, it has welcomed in more than 20 startups, with those entities at various stages in terms of developing, testing and commercializing their products and services. The project outlined that the digital assets framework was developed simultaneously, alongside the operation of the QFC Digital Assets Lab, with industry engagement and collaboration arising as a consequence, having played a role in the framework’s development. His Excellency, Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al Thani, the Qatari Central Bank governor, commented on the development, stating: “Launching the 2024 Digital Assets Regulations marks a significant milestone in our journey towards realising the Third Financial Sector Strategy.” The central bank governor added that the project was aligned with Qatar’s endeavor to achieve specific digital transformation goals. Sovereign wealth fund rumorsRumors had emerged in December 2023 that Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund was driving a Bitcoin price surge. While those rumors weren’t substantiated subsequently, this latest development has once again led to some market commentators considering the prospect of one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds investing in Bitcoin. Pseudonymous crypto influencer “MartyParty,” who has over 110,000 followers on X, commented on the development, adding that “[The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has] been very interested in #Bitcoin and other digital assets and are huge investors in technology.” Back in 2021, QIA CEO Mansoor Bin Ebrahim Al Mahmoud stated at the Qatar Economic Forum that crypto needed to mature before the $500 billion wealth fund would establish a view about investing in the space.

Eggverse and SPLabs team up to venture into Southeast Asian Web3 marketSeoul-based non-fungible token (NFT) resell platform Eggverse has signed a strategic business agreement with SPLabs, a blockchain hub operating across Asia, according to the South Korean news outlet Maeil Business Newspaper on Thursday. The two companies plan to work together to enter the Southeast Asian Web3 market, vowing to share their respective technologies and insights into navigating international markets. They agreed to jointly work on digital marketing campaigns, organize networking events and analyze data to develop the best strategies for a successful business landing overseas.Photo by Shubham’s Web3 on UnsplashGrowing global reach“Through this agreement, we aim to introduce our unique services and technology to global users, thus strengthening our competitiveness,” Eggverse said. “With the addition of SPLabs’ expertise in the Southeast Asian market, we look forward to the synergies that will be created.”Leading innovationHeadquartered in Singapore, SPLabs specializes in blockchain platform development and Play-to-Earn (P2E) game publishing. As a global blockchain hub with a focus on Vietnam, South Korea and Japan, the firm specializes in creating gaming finance (GameFi), metaverse and Web3 platforms. It also has extensive experience in building on blockchains, such as BNB Chain, Avalanche, Ethereum, Polygon, Sui and more.Eggverse is known for its Web3-compatible service that allows customers to mint and resell real-life items like hotel vouchers and artwork as NFTs — the first of its kind in South Korea. The company also recently established a business partnership in September with Lotte Homeshopping to work on NFT, metaverse and blockchain services.

Lotte Data Communication launches NFT donation campaign for children’s rehab centerSouth Korean IT service company Lotte Data Communication is running an NFT donation campaign dedicated to building a children’s rehabilitation center on its NFT marketplace KottonSeed, according to local newspaper The Herald Business on Friday.Photo by Markus Winkler on UnsplashNFTs for charitySponsored by the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Korea Disabled People’s Development Institute, the non-profit organization Todag Todag and Hanam City’s Disabled People Family Support Center, the donation campaign will run throughout this month, rewarding every participant with one free “Good Seed NFT”. For each NFT distributed, Lotte Data Communication vowed to donate KRW 1,004 ($0.77). In Korean, the number 1,004 has the same pronunciation as “angel.”The company explained that the project aims to go beyond using NFTs simply as a form of virtual assets, but rather inspire a spirit of giving by showcasing the various ways that NFTs can be used. KottonSeed will also partake in more donation campaigns incorporating Good Seed NFTs in the future to contribute to this objective.“Through this donation campaign, we wanted to demonstrate that there are no limits to the use of NFTs. We hope this becomes an opportunity for many people to feel that positive influences can reach even the places that tend to go unnoticed in our daily lives through NFTs.”Bringing NFTs to various sectorsKottonSeed — currently a beta service — offers NFT marketplace and wallet services that support blockchain networks like Ethereum, Polygon and Klaytn and a variety of payment methods, making it easy for anyone to buy, sell and own NFTs. Lotte Data Communication has been making strides to increase KottonSeed’s presence in the NFT market since its launch earlier this year. It has been incorporating NFTs into various sectors such as proof of participation in activities, product promotion, sports marketing and environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts.