Busan Blockchain Special Zone Gears Up with Expert-Led Operations Committee

XPLA Teams Up With OLA GG to Build Web3 Ecosystem for Hispanic GamersXPLA, a blockchain project led by major Korean gaming company Com2uS, announced on Tuesday its new partnership with OLA Guild Games (OLA GG) to establish a Web3 ecosystem for Spanish-speaking gamers.Photo by Shubham Dhage on UnsplashAbout OLA GGOLA GG is renowned as the largest Spanish-speaking Web3 gaming community with over 400,000 participants from different Hispanic regions. It is also the subDAO — a decentralized autonomous organization created by another decentralized autonomous organization — of Yield Guild Games (YGG). With the help of YGG’s infrastructure and assets, the guild onboards gamers to the metaverse and offers various opportunities, including creating various Web3 content and winning rewards through events.A thriving Web3 ecosystem for millionsBased on the partnership with OLA GG, XPLA aims to establish a sustainable Web3 ecosystem for over 450 million Spanish-speaking users across Europe and Latin America to expand its influence and user base. XPLA’s mainnet recently onboarded major play-to-own (P2O) games in July, such as Com2uS Group’s globally popular intellectual property games Summoners War: Chronicle, Ace Fishing: Crew, and Minigame Party.“We expect this exciting collaboration will provide new opportunities and possibilities to the OLA GG community. With XPLA, we will lead the era of new Web3-based games,” said Nico del Pino, co-founder of OLA GG.

Energy Theft Results in Crypto Mining Operation Shutdown in BorneoAuthorities in Miri, a city on the island of Borneo in Malaysia, swiftly responded to a tip-off from the public, leading to the successful shutdown of an illegal cryptocurrency mining operation.According to local news source, The Borneo Post, during a well-executed raid, 34 mining servers were confiscated, all of which were illicitly drawing power through cable tapping.Photo by Muhammad Faiz Zulkeflee on UnsplashEnergy thieves turn to miningWhile Borneo offers some of the lowest energy prices in Malaysia, it continues to struggle with the problem of energy theft. That issue has been highlighted via a recent utility announcement. Sarawak Energy, the local energy provider, estimated that the criminal operation caused losses of approximately 6,000 Malaysian ringgits ($1,300) worth of stolen electricity each month.The rise of the Bitcoin mining industry in 2023 has brought about record-high network hash rates and network difficulty. While the growth of miners generally signifies the robustness of the Bitcoin network, smaller operators without the economies of scale enjoyed by larger corporations face challenges.One such challenge is energy generation to power their mining servers. In pursuit of higher profit potential with lower electricity rates, illegal mining operators are drawn to stealing electricity from the grid. By eliminating energy expenses, these illicit miners can accumulate profits and offset equipment costs.Fourth recent instanceThe recent incident marks the fourth major operation in Senadin, where Miri is located, where authorities have cracked down on power theft cases related to cryptocurrency mining in 2023. So far, over 137 Bitcoin mining servers have been seized during these operations.On the other side of the spectrum, legitimate crypto mining companies are actively securing funding to support their mining projects. Riot Platforms, for instance, invested a substantial $162.9 million to acquire 33,280 state-of-the-art equipment from MicroBT, a leading producer of mining machinery.In another example, Coinbase extended a $50 million credit line to Canadian cryptocurrency firm Hut 8 Mining, facilitating its operations. Furthermore, Volcano Energy, a public-private partnership in El Salvador, secured an initial funding of $250 million for its ambitious Bitcoin mining venture.Appropriate mining activityThe spate of recent instances of illegal mining in Borneo acts as a reminder of the importance of regulatory compliance and adherence to the law within the cryptocurrency industry. While the allure of lucrative profits may tempt some to engage in illegal activities, the consequences can be severe. Mining can be a positive societal force when applied within appropriate circumstances.A move by the President of Kyrgyzstan last week to harness crypto mining in order to utilize energy that is otherwise being wasted at the central Asian country’s Kambar-Ata-2 hydropower plant serves as a recent example of a positive use case for the activity.In Texas in the United States, crypto miners are collaborating with those that manage the local energy grid, turning off miners at times when the state is on the brink of suffering blackouts.As the crypto mining landscape continues to evolve, it is essential for both authorities and legitimate operators to work together in finding sustainable solutions that ensure the industry’s growth while maintaining the integrity of the energy infrastructure.

Seychelles-based crypto exchange OKX’s Web3 wallet service, OKX Wallet, has begun supporting Wemade’s blockchain network WEMIX3.0, according to an announcement on Friday (KST). This development will allow OKX Wallet holders to directly manage the crypto assets that they hold from the WEMIX3.0 ecosystem. Photo by GuerrillaBuzz on UnsplashSeamless access and versatile Web3 servicesOKX Wallet notably supports over 70 networks and 3,000 cryptocurrencies and provides other wide-ranging Web3 services like NFT trading, crypto swaps and a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform. In particular, it also has a hassle-free recovery process for account access that employs Multi-Party Computation (MPC) technology, effectively eliminating the need for traditional recovery methods like seed phrases.  OKX Wallet and WEMIX3.0 also vowed to work on more integrations and joint campaigns in the future to round up a larger global user base and lead the era of Web3.  A rising force in cryptoIn other news, WEMIX3.0’s governance token, WEMIX, has been making a significant impact in the crypto industry. The asset ranked ninth in CoinMarketCap’s list of largest blockchains in crypto ranked by total value locked (TVL) last month, and it possessed the largest constituent weight in terms of market capitalization in the gaming sector in the latest Crypto Sector Indices released by Sygnum, a global digital asset banking group headquartered in Switzerland and Singapore.