Velo token gains momentum across Southeast Asia's crypto landscape

Samsung Plans to Expand Its Business Through NFTsSamsung Research, the research arm of Samsung Electronics, set up a new task force earlier this year to launch new projects to combat slowing demand for home appliances.Photo by Markus Winkler on PexelsSamsung’s endeavors in NFTsOne of its projects will involve non-fungible tokens (NFTs), in which Samsung has been showing its continued interest. Last February, Samsung Electronics displayed NFT artworks on their high-end televisions, and more recently, the high-tech company signed a memorandum of understanding with Hana Financial Group to develop NFT-related products.TVs to offer NFT art trading functionalityIt is predicted that in the first half of this year, Samsung will release a premium television with an application that allows TV viewers to trade NFT artworks. It is analyzed that the leading hardware manufacturer now attempts to expand its business models through NFTs and other content services while maintaining its dominance in the TV market.

South Korea’s cryptocurrency market is moving through a period of stricter oversight and policy debate, while major industry players pursue overseas listings against a backdrop of falling market valuations and weaker investor sentiment.Photo by Ori Song on UnsplashAccording to Newsis, financial regulators are close to finalizing penalties for the country’s major crypto exchanges after a wide-ranging review of their compliance systems. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission (FSC) is preparing to issue sanctions such as institutional warnings, fines, and personnel measures against platforms found to have breached anti-money laundering (AML) rules. These actions follow a series of on-site inspections that began in August 2024 with Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, and were later extended to Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax. Authorities plan to determine and announce penalties in the order of these inspections, which concluded in April 2025. Stablecoin debate growsAt the same time, a policy debate is unfolding in the parliament over how far South Korea should go in supporting digital asset innovation. The Maeil Business Newspaper reported that Democratic Party lawmaker Min Byoung-dug has questioned the Bank of Korea’s cautious stance on launching a won-backed stablecoin. The central bank has identified seven main risks associated with such an asset, including possible de-pegging and threats to monetary policy stability. Min argues that the bank is placing too much weight on these micro-level risks. In a recent report, he contended that delaying innovation could lead to larger, structural economic losses and said the risks identified by the central bank can be managed through oversight and product design rather than by avoiding stablecoins altogether. Dunamu–Naver deal targets NasdaqIn the corporate sector, major fintech firms are pushing ahead with international expansion plans. Naver Financial and Dunamu, which operates the Upbit exchange, have endorsed a merger plan involving a comprehensive share swap, according to The Herald Business. The share swap ratio has been set at 1 to 2.54. This development follows earlier reports that the two firms were close to an agreement intended to support a future Nasdaq listing in the United States. Bitcoin slide persistsThese regulatory, legislative, and corporate developments are taking place as market conditions deteriorate. Global data show weakening demand, with spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recording about $3.5 billion in net outflows in November, according to Bloomberg, while CoinMarketCap data show Bitcoin prices down roughly 24% over the past month.  Domestic sentiment reflects this caution. In a weekly survey conducted by CoinNess and Cratos, 59.5% of South Korean investors said over the weekend that they expect Bitcoin prices to fall or crash this week, up from 43.6% a week earlier. Only 12.4% of respondents forecast a price increase. Views on the broader market cycle are also shifting. In the same survey, 42.9% of participants said they believe the bull market has already ended. Reflecting this sentiment, Alternative.me’s Crypto Fear & Greed Index is at 15, in the “Extreme Fear” zone as of Nov. 26. 

Crypto Trading Surges in South Korea While Global Trends DeclineDespite a global decrease in cryptocurrency trading on centralized exchanges, South Korea has witnessed a significant increase in trading activities. Upbit, the nation’s largest crypto exchange, climbed to the second spot in global spot trading volume for July.Photo by Viktor Forgacs on UnsplashPlunges in global trading volumesAccording to an Exchange Review for July 2023 by CCData, a virtual asset data provider, the total global spot trading volumes on centralized exchanges dropped to $515 billion in July, a 10.5% decrease compared to the previous month, marking the second lowest level since 2019. Additionally, derivative trading volumes fell by 12.7% to $1.85 trillion, the second-lowest since December 2020.Experts attribute these declines to increased regulations on cryptocurrencies worldwide, such as legal crackdowns on exchanges like Binance and Coinbase by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, recorded a trading volume of $208 billion with a market share of 40.4% in July, marking a five-month consecutive decline, although it still maintained its title as the largest platform worldwide for crypto spot trading.Coinbase — the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US — and global exchange OKX also saw a decline in trading volume of 11.6% and 5.75% to $28.6 billion and $29 billion, respectively.Crypto exchanges flourish in KoreaContrarily, the majority of major crypto exchanges in Korea experienced significant growth in trading volume. Upbit’s trading volume skyrocketed by 42.3% to $29.8 billion in July, surpassing Coinbase and OKX for the first time to claim the second spot in global cryptocurrency exchanges behind Binance.Other Korean exchanges also saw remarkable increases in trading volume. Bithumb recorded $6.09 billion, a surge of 27.9%, while Coinone’s volume rose by 4.72% to $1.39 billion.These spikes in trading volume can be accredited to an increased interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology among citizens throughout the country, despite global regulatory challenges impacting the market. As the cryptocurrency industry continues to evolve, Korean exchanges are showing resilience and maintaining their competitive positions on the global stage.