Coinbase Wallet and TransFi partnership expands crypto accessibility in Asia

Kyrgyzstani President Embraces Hydro-Powered Crypto MiningIn a move that signals the Republic of Kyrgyzstan’s growing interest in cryptocurrency mining, President Sadyr Japarov has given the green light to establish a crypto mining farm at a hydroelectric power plant within the Central Asian country.The ambitious project, set to be built at the Kambar-Ata-2 hydropower plant, has been allocated a budget of up to $20 million, as reported by Kyrgyzstan’s national news agency, Kabar, on Thursday.Photo by Collab Media on PexelsMore efficient use of powerThe primary motivation behind this endeavor is to address energy losses linked to non-utilized power from the Kambar-Ata-2 plant, which has been operational since 2010. According to President Japarov, approximately 6.8 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy have been wasted due to this issue. By harnessing the excess energy for cryptocurrency mining, the Kyrgyz government aims to optimize resource usage and bolster the country’s budget.President Japarov emphasized that the profits generated from the mining farm would directly benefit the people, particularly the power engineers who are responsible for the plant’s operations. He asserted that the earnings would be meticulously controlled and allocated, with complete automation and oversight.Energy grid challengesHowever, this recent decision appears to contradict the state of emergency announced by President Japarov in Kyrgyzstan’s energy sector on July 24. The emergency status, which will be in effect from August 1, 2023, until December 31, 2026, is attributed to climate challenges, insufficient water inflow into the Naryn River basin, and a lack of generating capacity due to escalating energy consumption.Despite these apparent contradictions, President Japarov affirmed that crypto mining at the hydro plant would be subject to the highest tariff in Kyrgyzstan, amounting to approximately 5 Kyrgyz soms ($0.057) per kW.As early as March 2022, Kyrgyz lawmaker Karim Khanjeza urged the government to legalize the cryptocurrency industry during a parliamentary committee meeting, citing the rapid expansion of the crypto space. Although Kyrgyzstan introduced some regulations for crypto exchanges in 2021, it has not yet enacted specific laws governing cryptocurrencies.The integration of hydro-powered crypto mining presents both opportunities and challenges for Kyrgyzstan. If executed strategically, the venture could harness underutilized energy to boost the national economy and provide benefits to the people.Learning from KazakhstanThat said, the Central Asian country would do well to pay heed to events that unfolded in neighboring Kazakhstan relative to crypto mining over the course of the last few years. Following a major crackdown on crypto mining activity in China, many miners upped and moved their operations to Kazakhstan. That sudden unplanned and unregulated upsurge destabilized the country’s power grid, forcing the government to crack down on mining. It has since regulated the activity in order to accommodate it without it having a detrimental effect on the energy grid.As developments unfold, Kyrgyzstan’s foray into cryptocurrency mining will undoubtedly be closely monitored by industry observers and stakeholders. President Japarov’s vision to distribute the earnings to ordinary citizens brings an element of promise to the project. Crypto mining can be a positive development for the country, leading to more efficient energy use, so long as the authorities plan accordingly.

South Korea: Crypto Exchange Execs Indicted on Manipulation ChargesA number of executives at Coinone, one of South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, have been indicted on charges related to market manipulation.That’s according to a report published by South Korean news outlet, The JoongAng, on Monday. The complaint details no less than forty-six coins that are alleged to have been the subject of manipulation in some form. That represents one in four of the total number of coins that the exchange has enabled for trading on the platform.Photo by Burak The Weekender on PexelsFour executives indictedThe indictment lists four Coinone executives, Mr. Jeon, Mr. Kim, Mr. Ko, and Mr. Hwang. The four have been charged with employing illegal mechanisms to manipulate coin listings, resulting in the four executives profiting to the tune of 2.98 billion Korean Won, which amounts to $2.26 million dollars according to current fx exchange rates.The complaint specifies that these offenses were committed between December 2019 and November 2022. South Korean prosecutors further allege that prior to various projects obtaining a token listing on Coinone, company executives made them sign third-party market-making contracts. That in and of itself is not unusual.One of the key aspects of a new coin listing (and an ongoing listing for that matter), is the need to have sufficient liquidity in place to ensure that the coin can be traded without being susceptible to market manipulation. Low liquidity conditions open the door to bad actors moving the market relative to a particular token.Cross tradingThe indictment is far more specific in calling out illegal cross trading activity. It’s likely that these key Coinone employees would have been expecting such an indictment to land at their doors. Last week, it emerged that LUNA tokens associated with Terraform Labs’ failed Terra USD (TUSD) algorithmic stablecoin project, had been illegally cross traded on three South Korean crypto exchanges: Bithumb, GoPax and Coinone.Cross trading is the practice of trading an asset on an exchange without recording the transaction transparently on the exchange. Strictly speaking, the activity can be legitimate although most exchanges prohibit the practice as it can be used to affect market manipulation.A cross trade could be permitted in a scenario where the price is deemed to be competitive at the time that the trade takes place. While this can more easily be determined in conventional markets as the practice is covered by specific regulation, that’s not the case in most jurisdictions right now where digital asset trading is concerned. By extension, there’s a complete lack of transparency and a lack of reporting.As other market participants don’t have visibility of this type of trading activity, they are unaware as to whether a better price is available on the market or not. In an unregulated state, the practice undermines trust.In the case of Coinone, the executives enabled the practice in order to provide an illusion with regard to trading activity. That meant that trading volumes claimed were inaccurate, misleading ordinary traders and exchange users. Along with trading volume in these coins being artificially boosted, so too were token prices.In the indictment, prosecutors explicitly alleged that cross trading was being employed in an illegal manner:“This price manipulation causes misunderstandings about the trading volume and market price among general members of the exchange, and induces [service users] to participate in the coin transaction and buy the coin.”

LINE NEXT Captivates NFT Aficionados with Beta Launch of DOSI LandLINE NEXT, an American-based NFT platform subsidiary of Tokyo-headquartered messaging app developer Line Corporation, has launched the beta version of DOSI Land, the FINSCHIA token (FNSA) reward program on its global non-fungible token (NFT) platform, DOSI. This program aims to provide opportunities for its membership owners, known as DOSI Citizens, to win FNSA.Photo by Markus Winkler on PexelsWeekly token rewardsDOSI Land is a weekly program that rewards FNSA to lottery winners. However, only DOSI Citizens with Level 2 or above are eligible to participate in this event. DOSI Citizens are categorized into four levels, ranging from Level 1 to Level 4. Users can achieve attendance goals, invite friends, and make NFT transactions to elevate their Citizen status. It’s important to note that this program is not available in some countries, including the United States and Japan.DOSI Land comprises three lands: Emerald Orbit, Sapphire Starlight, and Golden Galaxy. Each land is accessible to Citizen Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4 users, respectively. Every week, a total of 3,000 FNSA will be distributed, with each land offering different chances of winning the token. Furthermore, each land has three zones, and users can participate in one zone per land. Participation in each zone requires DON, a membership point earned based on the total NFT transaction amount, and Level-up Passes, which are needed to improve Citizen status.DOSI operates the DOSI Citizen Membership system, which rewards users based on their contributions to the ecosystem. Alongside DOSI Land, DOSI has also implemented other reward programs such as DOSI Adventure and DOSI Arcade, offering a variety of NFTs to membership owners.As part of its efforts to expand the DOSI ecosystem, LINE NEXT incentivizes FNSA rewards to users actively engaging in DOSI through DOSI Land. The company plans to continue offering various benefits to DOSI users.DOSI’s presenceSince its beta launch, DOSI has attracted 4.6 million membership owners, facilitating over 410,000 transactions and involving 190,000 traders. These figures are as of May 2023. LINE NEXT cites NFT data analysis platform NFT Go’s statistics to state that DOSI is Asia’s largest and the world’s third largest platform in terms of monthly NFT traders. With its mission to establish a global ecosystem for NFTs and Web3, LINE NEXT aims to foster a thriving NFT platform business.The Finschia FoundationIn March of this year, the Finschia Foundation was established in Abu Dhabi, UAE, by Line Tech Plus, a Singaporean-based subsidiary of Line Corporation. This establishment was an effort to expand the corporation’s global Web3 endeavors. Line Corporation is a subsidiary of Z Holdings, jointly owned by South Korea’s Internet search engine provider Naver and Japanese technology investor Softbank Group.The Finschia Foundation operates Line’s open blockchain mainnet Finschia and rebranded its native crypto asset LINK (LN) to FINSCHIA (FNSA) last month. FNSA is currently listed on crypto exchanges Bithumb, Bittrex, and Huobi, according to CoinMarketCap.