KISA Seeks Partners for Regional Blockchain Innovation Support Center Project

Dominik Schiener, the co-founder of distributed ledger technology (DLT) project IOTA, outlined on X on Dec. 12 that he had met with Cristina Aldeguer-Roque, Secretary of Trade of the Philippines. Commenting further, Schiener wrote: “We are looking forward to expand IOTA and our trade infrastructure TWIN across South East Asia in 2025.” Photo by iSawRed on UnsplashCutting through trade barriersTWIN refers to IOTA’s Trade Worldwide Information Network, a continuation of another longstanding IOTA project, the Trade and Logistics Information Pipeline (TLIP). The objective of TWIN is to cut through trade barriers and improve connections between disparate national trading systems. In rolling out the network, IOTA has formed a consortium which includes organizations such as TradeMark Africa, the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation and the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade. TWIN seeks to optimize trade processes by merging physical goods with digital infrastructure, eliminating inefficiencies and boosting transparency. Schiener anticipates that once participants place data on the network, they will ultimately tokenize assets on it. In turn, this will result in utility for the IOTA token, once TWIN is released on the IOTA mainnet. The TWIN project is currently staffed by 28 people but Schiener believes that this will grow to 100 people over the course of the next two years. The project originally emerged in Germany, with the IOTA Foundation having its headquarters in Berlin. Initially, IOTA concerned itself with European blockchain initiatives in trying to find its place in the industry. Earlier this year, its Web3 identity authentication solution was chosen by the European Commission for inclusion within the European Blockchain Sandbox Initiative (EBSI). In August, the IOTA Foundation completed the final stage of the European Union’s blockchain pre-commercial procurement (PCP) program. Strategic expansionHowever, over the course of the past year, the project has expanded towards searching for product market fit within emerging markets. In November 2023, the project established the IOTA Ecosystem DLT Foundation within the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) financial center in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This marked the first DLT foundation to have established itself within the ADGM.  $100 million in funding was provided with the objective of nurturing the IOTA ecosystem and accelerating the growth of the IOTA protocol. Since then, the TON Foundation and the Aptos Foundation have moved to register under the ADGM’s DLT Foundations framework. East Africa has been ground zero for IOTA’s attempts to enhance cross-border processes related to trade documentation, where it has been working with TradeMark Africa and local regulators. In Singapore, the IOTA Foundation has collaborated with global innovation ecosystem Tenity to establish the IOTA Accelerator, a 12-week initiative aimed at assisting early-stage startups concerned with real-world asset (RWA) tokenization within the IOTA ecosystem. Schiener’s meeting in the Philippines would suggest that the project is making greater efforts still in terms of bringing about the adoption of the technology in Southeast Asia. In his X post, Schiener wrote: “Let's connect the world with sovereign digital infrastructure.”

As the cryptocurrency market anticipates the approval of a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States and the subsequent boost to bitcoin’s unit price, Arthur Hayes, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of family office Maelstrom, has issued a warning of potential market turbulence. Hayes, better known as the founder of crypto derivatives platform BitMEX, has moved on to Hong Kong-based Maelstrom, a family office that invests in early stage infrastructure ventures that implicate a move towards the decentralization of everything.Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashMacroeconomic risk factorsIn a detailed blog post on Friday, Hayes outlines a number of macroeconomic variables that could lead to a bitcoin unit price downturn. Hayes begins by highlighting the depletion of the Federal Reserve’s reverse repo program (RRP), which has served as a significant driver for risky assets over the past year. This program allows qualified banks and investment firms to park cash and earn interest on it. The RRP balance has rapidly declined from a record high of $2.5 trillion at the end of 2022 to $700 billion. Hayes projects it to reach its historical average of $200 billion by March. As this liquidity source dwindles, he anticipates negative impacts on bonds and stocks, as well as cryptocurrencies. Fed BTFP expirationThe second factor contributing to the potential market turmoil is the expiration of the Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP) on March 12. This crucial Fed facility is designed to provide longer-term loans to commercial banks. The mechanism aids banking sector stability. Hayes is concerned that the BTFP might not be extended. Such an eventuality could lead to bankruptcy for banks holding massive unrealized losses on their bond holdings. It could lead to a “liquidity rug pull” event reminiscent of the banking crisis in March of the previous year. The crypto OG predicts that such an eventuality would force a response. “The combination of a lack of liquidity gushing from the RRP and the lack of printed money to cover the bond losses on banks’ balance sheets will decimate the financial markets globally,” he wrote. Hayes asserts that the combination of reduced liquidity from the RRP and the lack of printed money to cover bond losses could have a global impact on financial markets. In response to this scenario, he predicts that the Fed will cut interest rates during its March 20 meeting and reinstate the BTFP funding line. ‘Healthy’ correctionIn terms of bitcoin’s price, Hayes foresees a “healthy” correction of 20% to 30% from early March prices if the outlined scenario unfolds. However, he suggests the decline could be as much as 40% if BTC rallies to $60,000-$70,000 in the coming weeks. Despite this temporary plunge, Hayes remains optimistic about bitcoin’s resilience, emphasizing its status as a neutral reserve hard currency that is not a liability of the banking system and is traded globally. In a recent podcast appearance, Hayes expressed the view that the business model of U.S. dollar stablecoin issuer Tether will be challenged once multinational banks receive the go-ahead to offer fiat-backed stablecoins. Overall, Arthur Hayes has urged investors to be cautious and to prepare for potential market volatility in March, emphasizing the importance of understanding the interconnected factors influencing both traditional finance and the cryptocurrency market. 

Web3 Fashion Platform doDRESS Opens Pop-up Store in SeouldoDRESS, a fashion and lifestyle platform created by the faculty at Kookmin University in Seoul, has opened a pop-up store in Seoul in line with the launch of its new website. doDRESS aims to create a decentralized Web3 fashion ecosystem centered around brands, creators, and influencers, providing a space to communicate with consumers and promote their businesses and content. In turn, consumers can get the chance to dive into a new form of Web3 technology and express themselves through their personal style.Photo by No Revisions on UnsplashInteractive space for creators and consumersThe pop-up store, which was revamped from an old auto repair shop, has invited some 40 designers and graphic artists to showcase and sell their unique street fashion-inspired clothing and graphic art to consumers. It will also present an opportunity for them to interact with influencers who can contribute to the marketing and distribution of their products, thus boosting their value.Creators and those who wish to become creators can upload the products they make on doDRESS. When a product is sold, every individual in the platform’s Web3 ecosystem who contributed to making it will receive a portion of the revenue.Visitors, on the other hand, can customize their own clothing by printing designs created by the artists themselves through doDRESS’s fashion stickering service, which is available both online and offline at the pop-up store. The platform also said that it would give out custom doDRESS products worth KRW 40,000 (approximately $30) on a first-come, first-served basis to 70 visitors on weekdays and 200 on weekends.Future plans for growthIn the future, doDRESS aims to expand on a global scale and add more clothing products to its services utilizing various production techniques like 3D printing.The pop-up store will be open until next Wednesday (local time) in Seongsu-dong.