Thailand’s SEC takes legal action against former Zipmex CEO

3AC Co-Founder Disputes US Jurisdiction Citing Singaporean CitizenshipKyle Davies, the Co-Founder of the failed Singaporean crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), has asserted that he is solely a citizen of Singapore and not of the United States.Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on PexelsEvading pursuit of damagesThe assertion may have relevance as it may mean that Davies can evade actions taken against him in a US court on the basis of a lack of jurisdiction. In a recent filing with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), Davies presented documents demonstrating that he had renounced his US citizenship in December 2020. He emphasized that he obtained citizenship in Singapore after being issued a passport in early 2021 and that he does not subject himself to the jurisdiction of US courts.$3.5 billion owedIn June it emerged that liquidators appointed for 3AC were seeking to recover $1.3 billion from the fund’s co-founders, Davies and Su Zhu. The firm reportedly owes creditors a staggering $3.5 billion.In the midst of public criticism surrounding the events leading to 3AC’s collapse, Zhu and Davies launched a platform called Open Exchange (OPNX), allowing trading claims against bankrupt crypto firms. Despite a deficit of goodwill for the duo in the crypto sector, they have been putting all their energies into the new venture.Last month, they outlined that they would donate future earnings from OPNX to 3AC creditors. It’s difficult to reconcile that claim when with this action, Davies is trying to evade contributing to creditors via the 3AC bankruptcy process and this legal action taken by the liquidator.Renounced citizenshipAccording to court documents, Davies officially renounced his US citizenship at the US Embassy in Singapore, citing his decision to reside in the country on a long-term basis. He revealed that he got married to a Singaporean national in 2017 and subsequently gained permanent residency in Singapore. Because Singapore does not permit dual nationality, Davies chose to renounce his US citizenship to establish himself fully as a Singaporean citizen.The submission of these documents came after 3AC’s liquidators requested a subpoena to gather information on the crypto hedge fund’s collapse. Both Kyle Davies and Zhu, were subpoenaed on Twitter, as their whereabouts were unknown. However, while Zhu, being a Singaporean national, might not be subject to the subpoena while residing outside the United States, Davies’ refusal to comply with the order led to discussions about holding him in contempt of court.In response to the subpoena controversy, Davies’ legal representatives claimed that he cannot be validly served with process as a non-party in the case, as he has not been a US citizen or resident since well before the case was initiated. They stated that the court lacks personal jurisdiction over him due to his renunciation of US citizenship. Accordingly, they requested that the Service Order and Compel Order, which were based on the assumption that Davies was a US citizen, be vacated.

Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), Thailand’s oldest bank and fourth-largest lender, has launched a cross-border payments service which depends upon the use of stablecoins.  The project is the culmination of a collaboration between SCB, SCB 10X, the disruptive technology investment arm of the SCBX Group, payment solutions provider Lightnet and blockchain development platform Fireblocks. It has successfully completed its testing phase within the Bank of Thailand’s regulatory sandbox, moving forward to the commercialization phase. According to Indian news portal Business News This Week, SCB launched the cross-border payments solution on October 16 in an effort to get out ahead of its TradFi peers relative to banking and financial services innovation.Photo by allPhoto Bangkok on PexelsFaster with lower costsThe service will enable 24/7 transfers on an international basis for the bank’s retail users. In accessing the service, users may use local currency to make transactions. Ordinarily cross-border payments implicate a number of steps in order to complete clearance, including the need to effect a currency conversion. Furthermore, banks need to maintain nostro/vostro accounts with foreign banks to complete such transfers.  In this instance, the bank is claiming that transactions using the service will be much faster than existing cross-border transfer options. The clearance and settlement process will be far more efficient in terms of the time required and the liquidity requirements. Pre-funding required in the legacy process has been eliminated, reducing capital requirements, while operational costs have also been reduced. SCB’s First Executive Vice President and Head of Digital Juristic and Payment, Thanawatn Kittisuwan, commented on the development, stating: “By integrating blockchain technology, the project promises a more efficient, reliable, and accessible solution for cross-border transactions. By leveraging blockchain technology and stablecoins, we are making cross-border remittances more efficient, reliable, and accessible for everyone. SCB has a long-standing tradition of embracing innovative technologies to enhance our financial services. This latest collaboration with Lightnet and Fireblocks builds upon SCB’s history of pioneering fintech solutions. ” Improved customer experienceLightnet CEO Tribodi Arunanondchai suggested that the new service will provide significant improvements to customers’ experience in cross-border money transfer. He added that the service “promotes financial inclusion as there is a lower capital requirement per transaction,” while strengthening Thailand’s position as an ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) financial hub.  SCB and Lightnet first partnered in 2020. At that point, the duo envisaged that there was scope to cooperate in order to facilitate payment processing and frictionless real-time remittances to Thailand from any point overseas with low fees. Lightnet relies upon the Velo Protocol to enable its remittance services. Back in 2022 the firm received a $50 million commitment from LDA Capital, with Lightnet earmarking the funding to boost cross-border payments over the Velo protocol. For its part SCB has demonstrated its interest in crypto beyond this Lightnet collaboration. In 2023 the bank struck a deal with South Korean crypto venture capital firm Hashed, with the objective of pooling resources and researching and exploring how best to deploy any research outcomes relative to the company’s affiliates. The bank has also been involved in developing an application for Thailand’s central bank digital currency, the digital baht.

Coins.ph, the leading crypto exchange in the Philippines, has announced its support for BRC-20 tokens. As part of that move, the exchange has successfully integrated the ORDI token, thereby becoming the inaugural platform in the country to embrace the BRC-20 standard. The platform clarified its support for BRC-20 in a recent blog post, which it published to its website. Coins.ph revealed its intention to expand its services further by adding support for additional BRC-20 tokens, showcasing a forward-looking approach to cater to the evolving needs of its user base. BRC-20 is a standard facilitating the creation of fungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain. The inclusion of this technical standard allows for the minting of tokens with unique features, introducing a new dimension to the capabilities of the world's flagship cryptocurrency.Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashORDI memecoin additionORDI stands out as one of the most popular BRC-20 tokens, gaining traction and reaching an all-time high above $81 earlier this week. This surge in value followed the addition of trading support by crypto exchange Binance in early November, underscoring the influence of strategic partnerships and market dynamics on token performance. Wei Zhou, CEO of Coins.ph, expressed the company's commitment to staying at the forefront of digital asset innovation through this strategic move. Highlighting the remarkable growth in BRC-20 activity since its launch earlier in the year, Zhou emphasized the importance of enabling users to participate in these opportunities. He mentioned the recent listing of $ORDI and hinted at future product offerings enabled by the BRC-20 standard. Industry trendWhile coins.ph may have been the first exchange in the Philippines to introduce BRC-20 support, it's not the first mover in the broader Asian region. Back in May, leading crypto exchange OKX decided to support the BRC-20 standard through its OKX Wallet product. The company’s support of the standard was validated more recently when it emerged that BRC-20 support played a large role in OKX NFT Marketplace taking top rank as the NFT marketplace with the greatest trading volume earlier this month. Seychelles-based crypto derivatives platform Bitget has also identified the associated growth potential. Earlier this week, the platform unveiled a plan to support development within the Bitcoin ecosystem, inclusive of BRC-20. The fusion of ordinals and BRC-20 enables users to embed images, texts or audio, among other data, into satoshis—the smallest units of BTC. Bitcoin community controversyAmidst these developments, concerns have been raised by Bitcoin core developer Luke Dashjr. On Dec. 6, Dashjr disclosed that developers are working to remove Bitcoin inscriptions before the v27 update scheduled for the next year. This would imply the elimination of ordinals and BRC-20 from the Bitcoin landscape. Dashjr clarified that Bitcoin Core has allowed users to set limits on extra data size in transactions since 2013 through the "datacarriersize" setting. Despite this, inscriptions have found a way to bypass the limit by obfuscating their data as program code. He reassured the community that a recent bug in Bitcoin Knots v25.1 has been fixed, addressing concerns about vulnerability.