Hana Bank to Establish Joint Digital Asset Custody Venture with BitGo

XPLA joins hands with Carbonated to spearhead mobile Web3 gaming eraXPLA, the layer 1 blockchain mainnet operated by South Korean gaming corporation Com2us Group, said Tuesday (local time) that it has entered into a strategic partnership with game developer Carbonated. Under the new deal, Carbonated plans to onboard its upcoming blockbuster games exclusively onto XPLA, pioneering a new landscape of global Web3 gaming.Photo by Jonas Leupe on UnsplashXPLA expands furtherThe XPLA mainnet hosts a diverse lineup of participants like Oasys, Animoca Brands, YGG, Blockdaemon, Cosmostation and LayerZero. These companies have been continuously onboarding their Web3 games such as Summoners War: Chronicles, Minigame Party, Ace Fishing: Crew, Idle Ninja Online and The Walking Dead: All-Stars. With Carbonated joining as the newest contributor, its portfolio has been further diversified.“Carbonated is a studio with world-class development capabilities,” said Paul Kim, the leader of the XPLA team. “Its upcoming project, with its Web3-optimized gameplay and global appeal, will significantly contribute to the expansion of the XPLA ecosystem.”Harnessing cutting-edge tech for Web3 game developmentEstablished in 2015, Carbonated boasts a team of developers and industry veterans from major gaming companies such as Electronic Arts, Zynga and Blizzard who focus on creating immersive mobile games that are optimized for the Web3 market using artificial intelligence (AI) technology and their own live-ops tech stack called Carbyne. Recognized for this innovative approach to game development, the company received Series A funding worth a total of $8.5 million from several investors like Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Golden Ventures. Its newest game, notable for its high-quality graphics and compelling storyline, is scheduled for global release in the first half of next year.

Binance Collaborates with Thai Police to Bust $277 Million Crypto ScamIn a crackdown on cryptocurrency-related crime, Binance, the world’s largest global exchange, has partnered with Thailand’s Royal Thai Police to aid them in dismantling a major criminal network behind a crypto scam.Photo by Dan Freeman on UnsplashOperation “Trust No One”According to a blog post published by the exchange, the operation, code-named “Trust No One,” has not only resulted in the arrest of five key members of the syndicate but has also seized assets worth a staggering $277 million. Importantly, the operation is likely to offer restitution opportunities for more than 3,200 victims.Binance collaborated closely with the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) and the United States’ Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to combat these illicit activities. Police Lieutenant Colonel Thanatus Kangruambutr, an inspector at CCIB, expressed his appreciation for Binance’s involvement, underscoring the exchange’s role in the fight against scams and cybercrimes.Successful collaborationsTigran Gambaryan, Binance’s Head of Financial Crime Compliance, reaffirmed the exchange’s commitment to partnering with authorities worldwide to restore trust in the digital asset ecosystem. This operation adds to Binance’s growing list of successful collaborations in its efforts to combat crypto-related crimes, following the recovery and freezing of $450,000 in stolen assets linked to the Curve Finance hack in 2022.In a separate case, Binance’s investigative team played a pivotal role in exposing a major cryptocurrency scam orchestrated by an extensive network of international criminal organizations. This investigation resulted in the arrest of suspects across 30 different locations in Bangkok and the provinces of Samut Prakan and Udon Thani. Binance provided critical information that facilitated these arrests, even sending an investigator to Thailand to support the process of obtaining arrest warrants.This collaborative effort empowered the Royal Thai Police to confiscate illicit assets, which included 16 opulent residences, 12 high-end vehicles, and 16 million Thai Baht (approximately $440,000) in cash.Notably, Binance’s proactive cooperation with law enforcement agencies has yielded an impressive average response time of just three days, surpassing the customary response times of traditional financial institutions. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the company stated: “Our recent support helped [the Royal Thai Police] to conclude two separate investigations, leading to the arrests of criminals behind major crypto scams.”Ongoing issueCryptocurrency scams have been on the rise in Thailand, posing a substantial financial threat to its residents. Last month Thai authorities detained five foreigners due to their involvement in a $76 million crypto-related scam.In August, Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) issued Meta (the company behind Facebook) with a warning due to what it deemed to be an inadequate response by the social media giant in Thailand to the prevalence of crypto-related fraudulent ads on the platform.Binance has been active in collaborating with law enforcement in various jurisdictions to combat crypto-related crime. Over the last three years, the exchange has actively cooperated with and provided assistance in more than 103,000 law enforcement investigations worldwide.Although Thailand has witnessed a surge in cryptocurrency-related scams, the collaborative efforts between the Royal Thai Police and Binance serve as a commendable model for addressing these challenges going forward.

Digital wallet D’CENT and Astar Network team up to bring scalable wallet services to usersSouth Korean digital hardware wallet service D’CENT has partnered with Japan’s leading blockchain project, Astar Network, to offer users enhanced wallet scalability and seamless asset management, according to an official Medium post on Friday (local time). D’CENT will be integrated into Astar’s blockchain network.Photo by Shubham’s Web3 on UnsplashDriving blockchain innovationAstar Network is a layer 1 blockchain that supports Ethereum virtual machine (EVM) and WebAssembly (Wasm) smart contracts. Tailored to function as a centralized smart contract hub within the Polkadot blockchain ecosystem, it serves as a comprehensive platform for developers to create and deploy decentralized applications (dApps).Astar is revolutionizing blockchain for millions of users worldwide and is actively working with major South Korean companies to achieve this goal. Its newest partner, D’CENT Wallet, which currently provides cold wallet services for hundreds of users across the world, offers an easy-to-use, secure solution for managing digital assets. In particular, it boasts a convenient user experience (UX) that employs fingerprint authentication. Through the new partnership, D’CENT will become the first wallet to support Astar-zkEVM, Astar’s layer 2 scaling solution.Enhancing accessibility and interoperabilityThe two companies plan to work together to bring D’CENT’s unique services to Astar’s Japanese and global user base. Through its integration into Astar Network, the wallet now supports over 60 blockchain networks, 29 of which are EVM-compatible. Users can also store, manage and trade their ASTR tokens — Astar’s native token. This effectively removes the complicated process of managing assets across multiple blockchains.Beyond its role in asset management, the D’CENT wallet also serves as a gateway to the Polkadot ecosystem, where wallet holders can gain access to a plethora of dApps.Both D’CENT and Astar expect that their collaboration will contribute to shaping the future of blockchain transactions and fostering a more integrated blockchain ecosystem.