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Cake DeFi Co-Founder Launches Ordzaar Ordinals Marketplace

Web3 & Enterprise·May 23, 2023, 12:47 AM

U-Zyn Chua, Singaporean Co-Founder and CTO of Singapore-based Cake DeFi, has launched Ordzaar, a Bitcoin Ordinals marketplace.

In a social media post on Friday, the marketplace described itself as “a decentralized & trustless marketplace for #Bitcoin Ordinals, bridging the gap between trustlessness and true decentralization.” The Ordinals protocol has been enabled due to the SegWit and Taproot upgrades to the bitcoin protocol. It’s a system for numbering satoshis, the smallest denomination of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. The protocol assigns each satoshi with a serial number, using that number to track them across transactions.

By taking this approach, each individual satoshi becomes unique, allowing additional data to be attached to them in a process called inscription. The project has hit the ground running, with its website online and a step by step guide released, instructing new users in how to buy and sell Ordinals on the marketplace.

Releasing a press release to publicize the launch, the project pointed out that “the lack of a fully decentralized Ordinals marketplace [poses] a major challenge”, given a backdrop in which Bitcoin Ordinal inscriptions have surged in popularity over the course of recent weeks. Elaborating on that point, the team stated: “There is a growing need for a reliable and secure platform that allows buyers and sellers to transact in a decentralized manner, giving them complete control over their assets, this is where Ordzaar comes in.”

 

Asia Ordinals marketplace first

Ordzaar represents the first ever Bitcoin Ordinals marketplace based within the Asian region. Alongside U-Zyn Chua, the team behind the project implicates three other seasoned crypto-natives with a wealth of experience in crypto, bitcoin, and blockchain. Cake DeFi colleague Naqib Noor assumes the role of Co-Founder and Development Lead. As well as being Co-Founder, Chua is the project’s Lead Researcher.

In an effort to showcase the brand new marketplace, the Ordzaar team sponsored and participated in the Bitcoin Ordinals 2023 conference in Miami late last week, with Chua appearing as a speaker at the event. The Co-Founder told Blockhead that:

“Ordinals have proven that Bitcoin is more than just a peer-to-peer payment system and has demonstrated a new, high-value use case for the longest-running cryptocurrency. As the industry continues to build and innovate, Ordinals have the potential to unlock even more value on the Bitcoin blockchain, and will lift the entire crypto ecosystem as a whole.”

NFTs took on a life all of their own with a market surge, tripling in value to $250 million in 2020. While that largely Ethereum-based market has cooled somewhat since then, it nonetheless continues to broaden and establish itself. Chua believes that Bitcoin-centric Ordinals can take a large slice of that development. “Along with the explosive adoption seen in the traditional ETH NFT market, we expect to see a similar trajectory in the Ordinals space,” he explained.

In a tweet published on Saturday, Crypto journalist and investment team member at Seoul-based crypto venture capital firm #Hashed, Joseph Young, referred to changing dynamics within the NFT space, with relative newcomers Blur and Tensor taking on OpenSea and Magic Eden. Not short on confidence, the Ordinals team responded, stating: “And Ordzaar will be dominating decentralized Ordinals and BRC20 trading.” The overarching crypto space continues its progression at pace, and it will be intriguing to see how Ordinals, together with new marketplaces like Ordzaar, perform as the industry trundles forward.

Photo by Dmitry Demidko on Unsplash
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Web3 & Enterprise·

Oct 27, 2023

Memeland Coin Launch Secures $10M for the Project

Memeland Coin Launch Secures $10M for the ProjectMemeland, a Web3 venture studio, made headlines on Thursday as its token sale for MEME tokens reached $10 million in commitments just after going live. The people behind the project are the Hong Kong-based team that is also associated with the popular meme-sharing site, 9GAG.Memeland represents a collection of 9,999 utility-enabled profile pictures (PFPs).9GAG is a meme-centric Hong Kong-based entertainment website that gained a significant following since its launch in 2008. With millions of followers across various social media platforms, 9GAG’s foray into the Web3 space through Memeland was eagerly awaited. Memeland had already introduced several NFT projects, including Captainz, Potatoez, and MVP, prior to launching its native token on Thursday.Photo by Nattanan Kanchanaprat on Pixabay42 minute sell-outSupporters of the project had joined a waitlist prior to them being granted access to the sale. Earlier in the week, the project had tweeted out that the MEME tokens that it was gearing up to sell had “No utility. No roadmap. No promises. No expectation of financial return. Just 100% memes.” In fact, this mantra has been etched into the project’s whitepaper from the outset. “$MEME is completely useless and for entertainment purposes only,” the whitepaper clarifies.Even though the sale had already sold out in record time, it was scheduled to continue until Friday morning. During this extended period, those who have previously joined the waitlist can gain access to the tokens.The team behind Memeland, having clocked up experience previously via 9GAG, has made them no strangers to the world of online humor and entertainment. The Memeland project introduces an array of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and innovative applications that fuse elements from the metaverse, gaming, and NFTs.Project pipelineMemeland is gearing up to launch various additional platforms in the near future. These include Holders.com, a travel service; GMGM.com, a video-sharing platform; Stakeland, which will be a crypto staking application; and Petsland, a service centered around pets.MEME tokenomicsThe MEME token has a total supply of 69,000,000,000 MEME, with an initial price per token set at US$0.001. According to the Memecoin team, 2.75% of the total supply will be unlocked on the first day, with the remaining amount unlocked daily over the next 18 months.The token distribution breakdown is as follows:Private sale: 6,900,000,000 (10%) — Exclusively for Memeland Captainz holdersContributors: 13,800,000,000 (20%) — Partners and team members contributing to the Memeland projectFire sale: 8,280,000,000 (12%) — Reserved for the allowlist and certain waitlist participantsAirdrops: 17,250,000,000 (25%)Ecosystem fund: 22,770,000,000 (33%)Those who possess specific NFTs from the Memeland ecosystem have received varying allocations during the Fire Sale, depending on the type, rarity, and quantity of their holdings.With a strong foundation rooted in meme culture and a team experienced in delivering internet humor to millions, Memeland’s potential development going forward may be as exciting as the memes that inspired it.

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Web3 & Enterprise·

Jun 19, 2025

China’s JD.com to apply for stablecoin licenses in key markets

JD.com, also known as JINGDONG, a NASDAQ-listed Chinese e-commerce giant, is understood to be making plans to acquire stablecoin licensing in key international markets.  According to Chinese news site, Guancha.cn, Richard Liu, the founder of JD.com, which recorded revenues of $41.5 billion in Q1 2025, outlined details regarding the company’s stablecoin plans in a press briefing held in Beijing on June 17. Liu stated: "We hope to apply for stablecoin licenses in all major countries with sovereign currencies. With these licenses, our goal is to enable global foreign exchange transactions, starting with business-to-business payments."Photo by Shutter Speed on UnsplashReducing costs & settlement timeThe JD.com founder added that using stablecoins, the company “can reduce payment costs by 90% and complete transactions within 10 seconds,” while going on to point out that payments made by way of the traditional SWIFT financial messaging system take up to four working days to settle. While JD.com plans to commence with a utilization of stablecoins for business-to-business transactions, Liu said, “We hope that one day, people around the world will be able to use JD’s digital currency for global payments.” JD.com’s move towards the use of stablecoins follows a similar step taken by Ant Group, an affiliate company of Chinese e-commerce rival, Alibaba Group. It emerged last week that subsidiary company Ant International intends to apply for stablecoin licensing in Hong Kong, Singapore and Luxembourg. Additionally, Ant Digital Technologies, another Ant Group subsidiary, is also planning on applying for a stablecoin license in Hong Kong, once the Chinese autonomous territory rolls out its stablecoin regulation this summer. Stablecoin sandbox participantWhile JD.com has now announced its intentions with regard to the use of stablecoins, it has not as yet fully deployed its own token. However, JD Coinlink, a subsidiary company under its JD Technology arm, recently launched the second testing phase for a Hong Kong dollar (HKD)-pegged stablecoin.  The project first announced its intentions to issue a HKD-pegged stablecoin called the “JD Stablecoin,” back in June 2024. At that time, it asserted that reserves would be composed of highly liquid and credible assets, with those funds being regularly audited and held independently via licensed financial institutions.  Last July, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) launched a regulatory sandbox for stablecoin issuers with JD Coinlink joining Animoca Brands, Standard Chartered and Hong Kong Telecommunications as participants. The sandbox allows participants to test both the issuance and the use of stablecoins for a variety of use cases including payments, supply chain management and capital markets. Hong Kong has set Aug. 1 as the effective date for its Stablecoin Ordinance, which will enable certain stablecoins to be issued without a license when offered to professional investors, while a stablecoin must be licensed if offered to a retail market participant. JD.com has developed its own proprietary blockchain, Zhizhen Chain, with that network already accounting for $7 billion in supply chain finance-related transactions. KuCoin CEO BC Wong commented on JD.com’s stablecoin plans, stating that the development is a “big signal,” while noting that in the United States, the GENIUS Act, legislation concerned with the issuance and exchange of stablecoins, has just been passed by the U.S. Senate.

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Policy & Regulation·

Oct 18, 2023

Almost 60K Korean Crypto-Holding Households Owe $389M in Unpaid Social Insurance Premiums

Almost 60K Korean Crypto-Holding Households Owe $389M in Unpaid Social Insurance PremiumsThe National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) in South Korea is intensifying its efforts to collect overdue premiums. Many high-income individuals who can afford to pay premiums for social insurance, including health insurance, have been neglecting their dues.Photo by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography on UnsplashVirtual assets for seizureAccording to the documents submitted on October 18 by the NHIS to lawmaker Jung Choun-sook, a member of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, the NHIS is actively identifying a range of assets, including copyrights and virtual assets, that can be seized from these individuals. The NHIS aims to recover overdue premiums through stringent measures such as confiscation and government auctions. This move is designed to deter high-income earners from neglecting their obligations, ensuring fairness for those who consistently pay their premiums.Almost 60,000 crypto-holding householdsThis year, the NHIS discovered that 59,513 households, despite owning virtual assets, had outstanding social insurance premiums amounting to KRW 525 billion ($389 million). The NHIS has initiated collection efforts. In 2021, the insurance agency identified 5,336 households with virtual assets that had unpaid social insurance premiums totaling KRW 62.2 billion. Of this, the NHIS successfully collected KRW 6.92 billion, representing 11.13% of the total arrears.On this matter, lawmaker Jung highlighted that the government should strive to bolster the NHIS’s financial health. She underscored the importance of identifying concealed income sources or assets, like cryptocurrency holdings, of premium defaulters to ensure the collection of their overdue premiums.

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