FD International joins hands with Lbank to expand global blockchain ecosystem

Linear Finance Dealing With LUSD ExploitLinear Finance, the Hong Kong-based DeFi protocol, made an announcement by way of a blog post published to the project’s website on Thursday, suggesting that the project’s native stablecoin, LUSD, has come under attack.Photo by Markus Spiske on UnsplashTaking precautionary actionThis security breach has prompted the team to take immediate action to safeguard user accounts and the project’s integrity. The project team is actively investigating the exploit attack on LUSD. It has issued a stern warning to its users, advising them against buying or trading LUSD until the team can confirm the situation’s status.This measure is aimed at preventing further complications and ensuring the community’s interests remain protected. Furthermore, the project has temporarily suspended liquidations to secure users’ accounts. This step has been taken to mitigate immediate concerns and ensure that no user faces undue losses as a result of the exploit.Assets disposed on PancakeSwap & AscendexAmid the ongoing investigation, Linear Finance’s team has pledged to provide timely updates as soon as more information becomes available. In explaining away the nature of the attack, the project team clarified:”The attacker was able to mint an unlimited supply of LAAVE and subsequently traded the liquid asset to LUSD on the Linear Exchange, prior to selling it on PancakeSwap and Ascendex.”Project responseIn its efforts to deal with the issue, the Linear Finance project team has engaged an on-chain data specialist to track down the attackers. The Linear bridge contract has been disabled relative to LUSD. All protocol contracts that allow tokens to be minted, exchanged, or burnt have been paused. Meanwhile, wallets identified as having been involved in the protocol exploit have been shared with the authorities and major cryptocurrency exchanges.Synthetic asset protocolLinear Finance creates synthetic assets with the protocol design enabling unlimited liquidity. The network has been built on top of the Ethereum blockchain. As a consequence of activity surrounding the exploit, trading of LUSD over the course of the past 24 hours has proven to be out of the ordinary. At the time of writing volume over the past 24-hour period had increased by 8412%. The current market price of the stablecoin stands at $0.9874.Protocol and network hacks and exploits have been coming in thick and fast in recent days. Hong Kong crypto exchange CoinEx has been trying to recover from a $70 million hack on the platform over recent days. Meanwhile, Seychelles-headquartered peer-to-peer crypto platform Remitano suffered a $2.7 million hack late last week.On Wednesday, the project team behind DeFi protocol Balancer warned network users that the Balancer front-end user interface was under attack. The Ethereum-based DeFi network fell victim to another exploit last month, resulting in losses in the region of $900,000.In the dynamic crypto sector, unforeseen events like potential exploits can disrupt the market and sow uncertainty. The issue remains a major challenge both for centralized exchange platforms and DeFi protocols.

Financial technology firm Circle is taking a measured approach in Hong Kong, favoring focus over expansion. In an interview with the Hong Kong Economic Journal, cited by local financial content provider AAStocks, Yam Ki Chan, the company’s vice president for Asia Pacific, said there are no current plans to issue a stablecoin pegged to the Hong Kong dollar. Still, he noted the company’s openness to partnering with local initiatives, adding that Circle has been in discussions with several firms to share its expertise and insights. The firm hopes the Chinese special administrative region will evolve into a launchpad for stablecoins tied to the local currency alongside other major currencies. Chan said Circle is doubling down on its two core products, the U.S. dollar stablecoin USDC and the euro stablecoin EURC. He pointed out that USDC has been catching on across the region, with more local corporations and professional investors starting to use it. His comments come after the Stablecoins Ordinance came into force on Aug. 1 in the city, setting up a mandatory licensing system for issuers under the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). The regulator has said it does not plan to hand out the first licenses until early next year.Photo by tommao wang on UnsplashMoving assets on-chainWhile Circle continues to focus on stablecoins, other firms are finding new ways to bring traditional assets on-chain. DL Holdings, a Hong Kong-headquartered one-stop financial services group, is moving ahead with plans to tokenize about $40 million worth of its non-voting Class B membership interest in ONE Carmel, its luxury real estate investment project in California’s San Francisco Bay Area. The initiative, the firm’s first step into real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, will use blockchain-based smart contracts to automate distributions, transfers, and investor rights, allowing the company to pay out dividends to shareholders and give on-chain investors a chance to participate in ONE Carmel. Insurance is another testbed for blockchain. Anthea Holding Limited, a crypto-fintech licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, raised $22 million in a Series A led by Yunfeng Financial. The proceeds will fund what Anthea says is the world’s first life insurance policy denominated in Ethereum (ETH). Yunfeng Financial, listed in Hong Kong, has close ties to Alibaba founder Jack Ma. Mainland firms deepen crypto exposureMainland companies are stepping into crypto investments. Hangzhou-based Jiuzi Holdings, a Nasdaq-listed operator of new energy vehicle stores, said it completed a private placement transaction settled in 100 Bitcoin. The company plans to allocate the proceeds to building a digital-asset custody platform and developing encrypted storage systems. Separately, China Renaissance is seeking to raise around $600 million for a publicly listed vehicle designed to invest in BNB, the cryptocurrency tied to Binance, according to Bloomberg. Venture firm YZi Labs, formerly Binance Labs, is expected to join the effort. In an August filing, the Beijing-based investment bank said it would commit about $100 million of its own capital to BNB. If completed, the proceeds would establish a U.S.-based crypto treasury company to hold and manage BNB reserves. Back in Hong Kong, momentum in the digital asset sector is now reaching the capital markets. HashKey Group, the financial services firm behind a licensed crypto exchange, has confidentially filed for an initial public offering in the city. Bloomberg reported the plan, citing a source familiar with the matter. The listing could take place as early as this year and raise up to $500 million. Market bounces back on softer trade rhetoricAmid these developments, crypto prices have rebounded from sharp losses linked to trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. The market had tumbled after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose additional 100% tariffs on China. Sentiment shifted when Trump softened his stance on Truth Social, writing, “Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine!” and “The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!” Bitcoin reflected that whiplash. The token dropped to $103,893.3 on Oct. 10 during what Investing.com described as the largest single-day liquidation in crypto history at nearly $19 billion in positions. It has since recovered to $112,608.31 as of publication time. 

LH Leverages Blockchain to Certify Legally Important DocumentsThe Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) is set to build a certification platform to replace paper documents as the sole form of legal certification. The initiative aims to bring the credibility of traditional methods like contents-certified mail to electronic documents by leveraging blockchain technology.Photo by Liam Truong on UnsplashContents-certified mail — transitioning from postal to digitalContents-certified mail refers to a specific type of mail service provided by the post office, which offers special guarantees regarding the delivery and content of a document. When a document is sent using contents-certified mail, the post office provides certain assurances that can be beneficial in legal and official contexts.Amidst the rise in demand for digital administrative services due to increased remote technologies in the post-COVID-19 era, the ongoing expansion of Web3, and enhanced customized administration, there has also been a growing need for the digitization of documents related to compensation for land and buildings.According to industry sources, LH plans to automate document transmission and management functions through the platform, establishing a digital environment for generating, sending, receiving, viewing, and storing electronic documents.Factoring in blockchain techA key feature of the proof platform is its integrated blockchain technology. “Utilizing blockchain allows accurate documentation of LH as the sender, as well as the timestamps of delivery and reception. This will subsequently enhance transparency and security,” LH said.Going paperlessBy establishing the digital platform, LH will be able to introduce a more convenient method of sending legally significant documents, essentially replacing the manual method of sending them through postal services. This could include sending them via platforms used nationwide like Naver or KakaoTalk or through text messages sent by the country’s major telecommunication companies.This innovation can contribute to the proliferation of paperless methods, addressing the expected increase in postal delivery failures tied to the rise of single-person households.“By constructing this platform, we can better protect user rights and provide administrative services that transcend the temporal and spatial constraints of registered mail,” LH said. “We will broaden our legal, institutional, and technical discussions to innovate processes for verifying the validity of electronic documents.”The project is currently in operation in certain areas related to compensation. According to LH, the plan is to expand the project’s scope to encompass all areas of compensation by next year and then to other areas such as the management and sale of rental apartments.The corporation said that it posted a bidding notice last Wednesday to hire a company that can build the blockchain-powered platform that certifies legally important documents. LH is currently undergoing a selection process.Employing smart contractsLH also mentioned that it is preparing a smart contract system. The system programs the terms agreed upon by involved parties in advance, embeds them in an electronic contract, and enables automatic execution of the terms of the contract when all conditions are met.