Cango ramps up crypto production

A United Nations (UN) report published on Monday pointed fingers at USDT for its alleged role in money laundering and scams in Southeast Asia, prompting the stablecoin’s issuer, Tether, to respond.Photo by DrawKit Illustrations on UnsplashFighting backThe stablecoin issuer finds itself under the spotlight once again, facing intense scrutiny over its association with illicit activities, according to the UN report. Responding by way of a blog post, Tether expressed disappointment and pushed back against the accusations. The firm asserted that the report disproportionately focuses on USDT's alleged connection to illicit activities, neglecting to acknowledge the positive impact it has had on developing economies in emerging markets. Collaborating with law enforcementTether defended its position by highlighting its collaborative efforts with global law enforcement agencies, such as the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the recently onboarded United States Secret Service (USSS). The company expressed disappointment with the UN's assessment and stressed that its monitoring measures surpass those of traditional banking systems, historically implicated in money laundering cases. Having frozen over $300 million in recent months to combat the criminal use of crypto assets, Tether emphasized the traceability of its tokens and its established track record of collaboration with law enforcement. In its blog post, Tether urged the UN to shift the conversation from concentrating solely on risks to discussing how centralized stablecoins like USDT could contribute to the fight against financial crimes. The UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) division responsible for Southeast Asia and the Pacific released the report, specifically highlighting USDT as a significant instrument for money laundering in the region, notably on the Tron blockchain. Tether's response came soon after the release of the UNODC report, where the company emphasized the need for a broader discussion with the UN on addressing financial crimes within blockchain platforms. Tether acknowledged that there are still numerous opportunities to combat financial crimes on blockchain platforms and encouraged the UN to engage with the industry to comprehend and implement contemporary strategies. The company expressed a willingness to collaborate on initiatives aimed at enhancing the understanding of blockchain technology and its potential in fighting financial crime. A perennial controversyTether has been the subject of a perennial controversy inside and outside the crypto space over the years. Its critics have long accused the company of not having the asset backing to reflect the U.S. dollar stablecoins it issues. The issue has been compounded by Tether’s inability to produce fully fledged audits as opposed to attestation reports to verify its holdings. Speaking on the edges of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Howard Lutnick, CEO of leading global financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald spoke positively about Tether. He said that his firm has held and managed large quantities of Tether’s assets. Lutnick confirmed that “they have the money they say they have.” Off the back of Lutnick’s comments, Nic Carter, partner at venture capital and private equity firm Castle Island Ventures, outlined that Tether’s critics have been proven wrong. Carter wrote: “Tether truthers spent 6 years trying to convince everyone tether would collapse and drag down the industry. it didn't. . . . Not sure anyone has ever been more wrong about anything.”

The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB), a policy bureau attached to the government of the special administrative region of Hong Kong, has released a new digital assets policy statement, incorporating its “LEAP” framework for the digital assets industry within the city. The document, outlining the government’s objectives and guiding principles relative to the digital assets sector, builds on its first policy statement for the industry which it published in October 2022.Photo by Harry Shum on PexelsA ‘LEAP’ towards an integrated digital assets ecosystemThe FSTB suggests that this new policy statement builds upon foundational initiatives pioneered through the initial policy statement, asserting that “Hong Kong is poised to 'LEAP' towards a trusted, sustainable, and deeply integrated [Digital Assets] ecosystem embedded within the real economy.” The government agency also suggested that this “Policy Statement 2.0” also builds on the “ASPIRe” digital asset regulatory roadmap introduced by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in February, outlining the next phase of digital asset sector development in Hong Kong. Strengthening global hub statusThe government has set out to home in on strategic measures to bring about greater liquidity in digital asset markets and diversify digital asset product offerings, while strengthening the Chinese autonomous territory’s position as a global hub for the digital asset sector. “LEAP” is an acronym for the proposed initiatives that underpin the new framework, including: - Legal and regulatory streamlining- Expanding the suite of tokenized products- Advancing use cases and cross-sectoral collaboration- People and partnership development The framework focuses heavily on the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA), with particular emphasis on bond tokenization. In February 2023, Hong Kong pioneered the issuance of the world’s first-ever tokenized government green bond. Building on that, it now seeks to bring about the regularization of the issuance of tokenized government bonds. The Hong Kong government would also like to see tokenization efforts expanding into “a broader range of assets and financial instruments.” It cited sectors such as precious metals, non-ferrous metals and renewable energy as candidates for tokenization. Promoting tokenized ETFsThe authorities are also encouraging tokenized exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with plans to introduce a stamp duty waiver for these products as an incentive. Additionally, the Hong Kong government is interested in nurturing the development of secondary market trading of such tokenized ETF products, whether that’s through digital asset trading platforms or other channels. The framework considers the further development of stablecoins. The city’s new licensing regimen for stablecoin issuers commences on Aug. 1. The FSTB maintains that stablecoins have the potential “to transform payments, supply chain management, and capital market activities by offering a cost-effective and efficient alternative to traditional systems.” In order to capitalize on this potential, the Hong Kong government, together with the city’s regulators, intends to enable licensed stablecoin issuers in the city “to explore and implement different stablecoin use cases.” Cyberport, a Hong Kong business park and digital technology incubator that hosts in excess of 1,650 startups, will also extend its support through its incubation ecosystem to further the objectives set out in the Hong Kong government’s new digital assets policy statement.

Miracle Play and HAVAH team up to expand Web3 ecosystemWeb3 e-sports tournament platform Miracle Play has signed a business agreement with the interchain platform HAVAH to exchange technologies and build a joint ecosystem, according to an official announcement on Miracle Play’s Medium page on Monday (KST).“With our interchain technology, we expect to play a pivotal role in the expansion and organic interoperability of the Web3 e-sports ecosystem, and we will actively cooperate with Miracle Play in building a leading ecosystem and infrastructure,” said Lim Young-kwang, CEO of HAVAH.Photo by Mateo on UnsplashNavigating the interchain landscape and blockchain gamingLaunched in January, HAVAH is an L1 interchain platform that allows users to freely move their digital assets across multiple blockchains. It features multiple decentralized applications (dApps) such as HAVAH Wallet and HAVAH Scan, and houses some 500,000 users.Miracle Play uses smart contract technology to ensure that anyone and everyone can hold various types of gaming tournaments in the form of PC, mobile and console games. It is currently in the open beta phase, with a cumulative participation rate of about 30,000 players. Although it is only supported on Polygon as of now, it will eventually be available on a total of nine major networks including Avalanche, XPLA, Solana and more, to facilitate cross-network gaming tournaments.Collaborative synergyThe two companies plan to collaborate on multiple fronts. Miracle Play will adopt HAVAH’s various mechanisms including the Mitter Protocol, which will allow the platform to implement one-click bridging services on the Miracle Play website and mobile app; as well as its interchain mechanism to bring multi-chain services to Miracle Play.HAVAH also aims to provide technical support for distributing and utilizing in-game rewards across networks on Miracle Play. Miracle Play tournaments will also be available via GameFi dApps in HAVAH’s ecosystem.“We will continue to work with companies in various fields to strengthen the interconnection of the blockchain ecosystem and expand the base of WEB3 Esport by making it conveniently accessible to everyone,” said Kim Hyun, CEO of Miracle Play.