UAE Royal Office to Visit South Korea Next Month for Web3 Ventures

DWF Labs, a Singapore-based crypto sector investment firm and market maker, has decided to move its headquarters to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Alongside its current offices and headquarters in Singapore, the company has established offices in Dubai, Hong Kong, Switzerland, South Korea and the British Virgin Islands (BVI).Photo by Adnan Uddin on PexelsFocusing on MENA growthIn an X post published on Dec. 2, DWF Labs Co-Founder Andrei Grachev announced the change of headquarters location from Singapore to Abu Dhabi, stating: “In order to build a strong presence in the Middle East and run more RWA [Real World Assets] and financial services there, @DWFLabs is moving the headquarter to Abu Dhabi.” Grachev added that more news in this regard will be announced soon, advising stakeholders to stay tuned regarding the matter. In the past, the DWF Labs founder has highlighted the significance of the Middle Eastern market.  Earlier this year, he suggested that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) market is “one of the fastest growing markets in the world,” while commenting on the firm’s partnership with the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), a Dubai-based ecosystem for blockchain and distributed ledger technologies.  That isn’t the firm’s only partnership within the UAE. In September, it emerged that it had partnered with Abu Dhabi-based Web3 venture capital firm Klumi Ventures. The firms intend to collaborate in relation to the offering of strategic crypto advisory services in the UAE, investments and market making, market education and in the facilitation of over-the-counter (OTC) deals and crypto asset options. Strategic positioningAt the time, Grachev said that the two firms were “strategically positioned to drive the digital transformation in the UAE,” with the ability to empower both new market entrants and established institutions to succeed within the digital assets arena. It appears that Grachev has been spending a significant amount of time in Abu Dhabi of late. On Sept. 25, he posted on X that he had arrived in Abu Dhabi and was “cooking something special for the industry.” He followed up on that more recently, posting a selfie on X on Nov. 25 with the caption “Chef cooking in Abu Dhabi.” The authorities in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as Singapore, have all been working towards attracting crypto startups to their cities. All of them have had some success in that regard, although DWF Labs’ move away from Singapore indicates how competitive this environment is and how mobile crypto startups are. ADGM crypto hubIn the case of Abu Dhabi, most crypto sector activity has happened within the city’s international financial centre (ADGM), which has attracted projects such as the Kaia DLT Foundation, stablecoin issuer Paxos, blockchain infrastructure firm Blockdaemon, crypto custodian Liminal, crypto venture capital fund Token Bay Capital and many others. DWF Labs was first founded in Singapore in 2022. It has established ecosystem funds and grants relative to projects such as EOS, Floki, Gala Chain, Klaytn and TON. Additionally, the firm has just announced the launch of a $20 million fund focused on meme coin projects.

Terraform Labs fails to halt class action lawsuitThe High Court in Singapore has dismissed an appeal filed by Terraform Labs and its co-founders, marking a significant step forward for the plaintiffs behind a class action initiated against the company.That’s according to a report published by Singaporean publication, the Business Times, on Thursday. The legal development follows the collapse of TerraUSD (UST) tokens in May of 2022, resulting in the loss of billions of dollars in market value. The collapse, in turn, has led to several lawsuits against Terraform, its founders and affiliated entities, with those court actions playing out in courtrooms in Singapore, South Korea, Montenegro and the United States.Photo by Wesley Tingey on UnsplashFraudulent misrepresentation allegedThe class-action suit, initiated in September 2022 by Julian Moreno Beltran and Douglas Gan on behalf of 375 others, alleges fraudulent misrepresentation by Terraform, Co-Founders Do Kwon and Nikolaos Alexandros Platias and the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG). The claimants argue that these misrepresentations induced them to purchase UST, stake the tokens and retain them as their value plummeted.UST had been designed to be pegged to the U.S. dollar with a 1:1 ratio. However, flaws in the tokenomics behind that digital asset meant that it faced a loss of confidence in May 2022, trading at around $0.05 when the court’s decision was released. The claimants collectively suffered losses of nearly $57 million.Terms of use cited in attempt to dismissTerraform attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed by invoking an arbitration clause in its website’s terms of use, asserting that users had waived their rights to a jury trial or participation in a class action. However, the Assistant Registrar (AR) rejected this application, stating that the defendants failed to establish an arbitration agreement.The AR highlighted that the terms of use were inconspicuous on the website, and there was insufficient effort to draw users’ attention to those clauses. Terraform, Kwon and associated entities appealed this decision, which was heard by Justice Hri Kumar Nair on Sept. 25.Despite establishing a prima facie case for an arbitration agreement, the court ruled that Terraform’s participation in the legal proceedings, including filing a defense and counterclaim, meant it could no longer seek a stay in favor of arbitration.Multiple actionsIt’s a busy time for all stakeholders relative to the Terraform collapse. Playing out within the same timeframe is a lawsuit in the United States taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Terraform and Do Kwon, where the SEC claims that crypto asset securities fraud has been carried out.The latest installments in that saga in recent weeks have seen both parties file to seek summary judgment. Last week, a court in New York approved the confidential treatment of specific documentation which had been produced by Jump Crypto, a division of proprietary trading firm Jump Trading.There are also criminal actions underway. In a South Korean court in October, Terraform Labs Co-Founder Daniel Shin denied wrongdoing in the Terra/Luna collapse. Meanwhile, a court in Montenegro has approved the extradition of Do Kwon, with a final decision to be made shortly as regards whether he should be extradited to the United States or South Korea.

Yes24 Teams Up with KPC to Establish Digital Content Distribution EcosystemSouth Korean culture and arts content platform Yes24 announced on Thursday that it has signed a business agreement with digital content aggregator Korea Publishing Contents (KPC) to build a digital content distribution ecosystem based on blockchain technology to protect the rights of copyright holders and users alike.Photo by Hal Gatewood on UnsplashYes24 CEO Choi Sera and KPC CEO Lee Joong-ho attended the signing ceremony for the agreement last Tuesday.Collaboration on multiple frontsUnder the new partnership, both parties plan to explore various business models and collaborate on marketing efforts to establish and operate the digital content ecosystem. They also intend to cooperate by leveraging their human resources, technological capabilities, and market networks.“We will do our best to create a secure and fair digital content distribution environment that both protects and grants more rights to copyright holders and users,” Yes24 said in a statement, adding that it would also strive to contribute to the acceleration of the digital content market.Fueling creativity and content consumptionAs a major online book retailer, Yes24 provides a range of services, which include selling books as well as tickets for various concerts and events. KPC is a joint venture established by 65 Korean publishers with the collective aim of discovering sustainable growth drivers for the publishing industry. Currently, the company distributes over 1,000 e-books and audiobooks from various publishers to local and international e-book stores and libraries.