Hashed CEO Emphasizes South Korea’s Potential to Lead Mass Adoption of Web3 in Asia

Korean pro female golfers to compete in WEMIX golf tournament this weekendThe world’s first blockchain-assisted golf tournament, WEMIX Championship 2023, will take place this weekend at the Haeundae Beach Golf and Resort in Busan. 24 female golfers from the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) — including the top 20 who earned the most WEMIX points during the preliminary Race to WEMIX Championship — are set to compete.Photo by Mick De Paola on UnsplashBringing blockchain to sportsNotably, blockchain technology is incorporated into all aspects of the tournament. This includes dynamic Real World Event NFTs that are available via NFT Is Life Evolution (NILE), Wemade’s decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and NFT platform. These NFTs come in two categories: “ticket NFTs,” which function as admission tickets and food or parking vouchers for spectators, and “prize NFTs,” which contain WEMIX token awards for tournament winners. The total prize budget is one million WEMIX, or approximately KRW 2.4 billion ($1.9 million) as of 4:30 p.m. on Thursday (local time). The first-place winner will receive 250,000 WEMIXThe tournament venue will also have a Gallery Plaza with various activities and showcases for visitors to enjoy, like exhibitions for Volvo’s newest vehicles, photo zones and putting games. The food and beverage zone will serve BAYC-themed burgers from Californian burger brand Bored and Hungry, as well as beverages from Hide Me, Please, a Korean food and beverage NFT membership brand. BAYC is the globally renowned IP from the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection.The competition’s top playersMeanwhile, the subject of many golfing enthusiasts’ interest is Im Jin-hee, the golfer who won the most WEMIX points during the Race to WEMIX Championship with 6,450 points. She secured 90,000 WEMIX for earning the top ranking, adding another personal achievement to her successful season this year. Coming in second and third place were Lee Ye-won and Kim Min-byeol. The final results of the competition were determined based on the golfers’ performances in the Lotte Rent-a-Car’s Ladies Open and the SK Shieldus-SK Telecom Championship.

Israel Freezes Crypto Accounts Linked to HamasIsrael has taken action to freeze cryptocurrency accounts believed to be involved in a fundraising campaign for the Palestinian militant group Hamas on social media, according to a statement by Israeli police on Tuesday.Hamas recently carried out a series of devastating attacks from Gaza into Israel, leading to one of the most severe escalations in the Israel-Palestinian conflict in years.According to the police statement:“With the outbreak of the war, Hamas’ terrorist organisation initiated a fundraising campaign on social networks, urging the public to deposit cryptocurrencies into their accounts.”Photo by Taylor Brandon on UnsplashBinance implicatedIn response, the Police Cyber Unit and the Ministry of Defense, with the cooperation of global crypto exchange Binance, located and froze these accounts, with the intention of diverting the funds to the state treasury.While the statement did not provide specific details about the number of accounts frozen or the value of the cryptocurrencies seized, it emphasized the government’s proactive efforts to counteract these activities.Hamas had been using cryptocurrencies as a fundraising method for some time, but in April, the group announced that it would discontinue receiving donations in Bitcoin, citing an increase in “hostile” activities against its donors.Binance has been cooperating with global law enforcement agencies and regulators to combat illicit activities, including those related to terrorism financing. A spokesperson for Binance stated:“Over the past few days, our team has been working in real time, around the clock, to support ongoing efforts to combat terror financing.”Unwelcome attentionThe exchange also mentioned that the data used to identify individuals and entities associated with specific organizations comes from intelligence provided by law enforcement and investigative tools developed in collaboration with partners.While Binance is cooperating with law enforcement on these matters, such specific attention is likely to be unwelcome. The exchange platform has been the subject of severe regulatory pushback internationally in 2023. Any suggestion of terrorist financing being enabled through the platform, even if unknowingly so, won’t be helpful to the business in overcoming its regulatory challenges.In the lawsuit taken against Binance by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the United States earlier this year, the CFTC claimed that Binance was aware that it had facilitated terrorist financing, specifically referring to Hamas-related transactions.Given that all eyes are currently on the activities of the Palestinian terrorist group, there could also be trouble for rival platform Bitfinex. According to a Wall Street Journal report earlier this year, Bitfinex Turkiye was alleged to have facilitated an account that was used by Hamas for money laundering purposes.Previous crypto seizuresThis action by Israel is not the first of its kind. In May, Reuters reported that Israel had seized approximately 190 crypto accounts on Binance since 2021, including two accounts linked to the Islamic State and dozens owned by Palestinian firms associated with Hamas.Binance responded to these developments by affirming its commitment to cooperate with law enforcement agencies and emphasized that it uses information available only to law enforcement to identify individuals involved in activities related to illicit organizations.

Korean Lawmakers Make Progress on Virtual Asset User Protection BillOn Tuesday, the subcommittee for legal deliberations under the South Korean National Assembly’s National Policy Committee reached a consensus during the first review of the Virtual Asset User Protection Bill, according to Yonhap Infomax.©Pexels/Andrea PiacquadioFirst review phaseThe bill is undergoing a two-phase review process before being legislated. During the first phase, the primary focus was on safeguarding customer assets and preventing unfair transactions. The second phase is expected to concentrate on market order regulations, including the issuance and disclosure of virtual assets.Application of Capital Markets ActSeveral stipulations were included in the approved draft of the Virtual Asset User Protection Bill during the initial review phase. These stipulations include prioritizing the application of the Capital Markets Act to virtual assets that are classified as securities, while excluding central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) from the definition of virtual assets to avoid any potential confusion. The bill also seeks to impose compensatory damages and penalties for any unfair trading practices, and establish a virtual asset committee responsible for investigating any unfair transactions in the digital asset market.The virtual asset committee will also engage in preliminary deliberations regarding the management, supervision, and monitoring of the digital asset market. The committee will carry out tasks assigned to it by the Financial Services Commission (FSC). Furthermore, the Bank of Korea has been granted the right to request data from virtual asset operators since virtual assets, although not currencies, are necessary to consider when establishing monetary credit and financial stability policies.No class action systemHowever, the introduction of a class action lawsuit system was not adopted, and details about inspecting virtual asset operators will be stipulated in a presidential decree rather than a law.Second review phaseFor the second review phase, the FSC will report several matters to the National Assembly. These will involve tasks such as establishing a regulatory framework for stablecoins, security tokens, and utility tokens. In addition, the agency will be responsible for creating a regulatory system for virtual asset valuation, advisory, and disclosure services, as well as an integrated computerized system that provides reliable and reasonable information on digital assets. The FSC will also explore ways to enhance the business conduct discipline of cryptocurrency operators by commissioning research from external organizations.Additionally, the FSC and the Financial Supervisory Service will work on supporting virtual asset exchanges to establish uniform standards for the circulation supply of virtual assets. The regulatory bodies will also enforce the requirement for transparent disclosure and strict internal control on virtual asset operators. Moreover, regulations will be developed to enhance virtual asset usability and remove any obstacles that may impede the development of innovative real-life services.