Kakao Games affiliate Metabora Singapore announces partnership with Oasys

How will Binance’s criminal case affect its presence in South Korea?Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has reached a settlement with the U.S. government to pay a fine of more than $4.3 billion after the exchange was accused of anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions violations. Co-founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao also pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act, which requires financial institutions to submit documentation to prevent them from becoming mediums for criminal funding. Binance will thus be withdrawing completely from the U.S.Photo by Vadim Artyukhin on UnsplashNews of this incident has sparked keen interest within the South Korean crypto industry regarding the impact it could have on Binance’s presence and influence in the country.Murky future for Binance as Zhao resignsBinance allegedly failed to report transactions involving criminal entities such as terrorist groups, ransomware perpetrators and money launderers without implementing a system to prevent such crimes. In particular, organizations like the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades — the armed wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas — as well as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and ISIS were found to have utilized Binance as a channel for their funds. Furthermore, the exchange also facilitated transactions with users in sanctioned territories such as Iran, North Korea and Syria.Zhao has subsequently decided to step down as Binance’s CEO, taking to his X (formerly Twitter) account to state that he believes it is the right move. However, he also emphasized that the U.S. government did not accuse Binance of misappropriating user assets or engaging in market manipulation.Despite this fiasco, some insights have painted Binance’s future in a positive light. JPMorgan, the largest bank in the U.S., stated that the uncertainty surrounding Binance itself would diminish. “For crypto investors, the prospect of settlement would see the elimination of a potential systemic risk emanating from a hypothetical Binance collapse,” the bank said, according to an article published by digital asset news outlet The Block.GOPAX reaffirms partnership with Binance despite concernsGOPAX, a Korean fiat-to-crypto exchange that was acquired by Binance in February, also maintained a rather unexpected positive outlook. The acquisition had been followed by a complicated string of events hindering Binance’s full-fledged expansion in Korea, including delayed approval from the country’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to become a virtual asset service provider (VASP) and multiple leadership changes as a result.Investors in GOFi — GOPAX’s decentralized finance (DeFi) service — subsequently responded by filing a lawsuit at the end of June, claiming that financial authorities unjustly delayed the approval. They argued that, by approving the request, the FIU would enable Binance to provide the capital that GOPAX had struggled to gather to pay principal and interest payments on GOFi in the wake of last year’s FTX collapse.However, these circumstances did not sway GOPAX’s decision to work with Binance. “We learned of the news about Binance’s fine through articles from foreign media platforms,” GOPAX said. “Regardless, we are still in a business and technical partnership with the exchange.”Prospects for Binance’s landing in KoreaIn contrast to GOPAX’s seemingly positive outlook, the Korean crypto community has voiced mixed opinions about the effect of this development, especially on Binance’s successful entry into the domestic market.If GOPAX’s VASP approval had been delayed due to concerns about Binance’s suitability as its largest shareholder — incited by the legal risks it posed in the U.S. — the possibility of the approval going through may be more plausible as some of these risks have since been alleviated, said Yoon Seung-sik, an analyst at Seoul-based research firm Tiger Research.However, Jang Hye-won, an analyst at crypto data research platform Xangle, pointed out that interpretations may differ depending on the reasons behind FIU’s hesitation in approving the GOPAX acquisition. “If the concerns revolved around legal risks, then the path for Binance’s entry into Korea may seem cleared since those risks have been resolved. But if the concerns are about Binance’s capital inflow into the country, then this incident (Binance’s criminal case) will have no effect,” she explained.On the other end of the spectrum, some experts believe that this incident may have negatively affected the GOPAX acquisition. Hwang Suk-jin, a professor at Dongguk University’s Graduate School of International Affairs & Information Security and a member of the ruling People Power Party’s committee for virtual assets, stated, “Since criminal punishment for Zhao and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) lawsuit are still pending, it’s hard to conclude that legal risks have been completely resolved. Binance paying a fine for money laundering may actually reinforce the FIU’s concerns about legal risks, making the GOPAX acquisition decisively unfavorable.”These statements come after a public opinion survey conducted earlier in June by Cratos, a Korean blockchain-based polling app, revealed that a 64.6% majority of respondents favored approving the GOPAX acquisition.

Korea invites distinguished financial officials to discuss digital moneyThe Bank of Korea (BOK), South Korea’s central bank, announced on Friday (local time) its participation in an international conference focused on the economic impact and future prospects of digital currencies. This event, co-hosted by the BOK, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF), the Financial Services Commission (FSC), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is scheduled to take place in Seoul on Dec. 14 and 15.The conference, titled “Digital Money: Navigating a Changing Financial Landscape,” is set to welcome high-ranking officials such as Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the IMF; Choo Kyung-ho, the Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF); Rhee Chang-yong, the Governor of the Bank of Korea (BOK); and Kim So-young, the Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC). This event is particularly significant as it marks the first visit of IMF head Kristalina Georgieva to South Korea.Photo by pan zhen on UnsplashCrypto, stablecoins, CBDCsDuring the conference, MOEF Minister Choo and FSC Vice Chairman Kim will kick off the event with welcome remarks, followed by a keynote speech from IMF’s Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva. Spanning over two days, the conference will include seven sessions, covering a diverse range of topics. These sessions will delve into various aspects of digital money, such as practical use cases of digital currencies, regulatory approaches to cryptocurrencies, and discussions on stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).The conference will feature prominent financial officials in both its opening and closing sessions. On the first day, Thursday, a distinguished panel, including IMF Chief Georgieva; Stefan Ingves, the former Governor of Sveriges Riksbank; FSC Vice Chairman Kim; David E. Rutter, the Founder of R3; and Shin Hyun-song, the Economic Adviser at the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), will discuss the opportunities and challenges facing digital money.The final session on Friday will see another group of high-level financial authorities sharing their expertise and insights. This session will include BOK Governor Rhee; Eddie Yue, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority; Serey Chea, the Governor of the National Bank of Cambodia; and Veerathai Santiprabhob, the former Governor of the Bank of Thailand. Their discussion will focus on regulatory policies surrounding digital currencies.Live-streaming scheduledThe two sessions of this conference will be accessible to a global audience as they will be live-streamed on the BOK’s official YouTube channel. This provides an opportunity for interested individuals from around the world to tune in and gain insights into the evolving landscape of digital money and its regulatory environment.

China’s Fuzhou City Offers Incentives to Entice Blockchain Start-UpsAdministrators in Fuzhou city, the capital and one of the largest cities in China’s Fujian Province, have introduced a raft of policies aimed at enticing blockchain-centric companies to establish themselves in the city.Photo by 尧智 林 on UnsplashMonetary rewardsThe measures are understood to include rent subsidies applicable to the use of commercial office space in the city, as well as the payment of cash rewards based on such start-up businesses hitting various revenue targets. The cash reward incentives are being capped at 500,000 yuan, around $71,800 US dollars, for each applicable project.The city administrators are also offering cash rewards to institutions within the city area and local blockchain firms in cases where they attain government-issued certifications. Another category through which these entities can reap more cash rewards is in providing training services centered upon blockchain technology.A blockchain firm basing itself within the city limits that is successful in attaining state certification reflecting its status as a national level laboratory specializing in blockchain technologies may be awarded as much as 1 million yuan ($144,000).Rent subsidiesThree specific industrial locations are applicable where the rent subsidy is concerned. Blockchain-based businesses wanting to avail of that incentive will have access to an annual rent subsidy of up to 600,000 yuan ($86,300) for every 1,000 square meters of commercial office space that they rent.Stepping up activityThere seems to be heightened activity related to various aspects of blockchain-related technology within China’s borders in recent months. It appears that while the country is taking the initiative with blockchain-related technology, that excludes the development of or open market use of decentralized cryptocurrencies.China has been pursuing a policy of pushing cryptocurrency beyond its borders in recent years, to include bans on cryptocurrency exchanges and crypto miners. However, over recent months, it is allowing this segment of the overall blockchain innovation to develop within the autonomous Chinese territory of Hong Kong. In fact, it’s actively encouraging it. It’s quite a savvy move by the Chinese who don’t want their citizens using decentralized cryptocurrency generally but are quite happy to still participate on a global level in that sector, by having Hong Kong make efforts to become a regional crypto hub.A second strand to its overall strategy appears to be a concerted effort to expand the user base within China of the digital yuan, its central bank digital currency (CBDC). A series of initiatives have been rolled out in an effort to bring the CBDC into active use. China remains the global leader in CBDC development, much further along in that process than its international peers.Lastly, it’s strategically pursuing the development of blockchain-related business, just as this initiative in Fuzhou indicates. The local government initiative is not an isolated one. Last Wednesday, China’s National Blockchain Technology Innovation Center was formally launched. As far back as 2019, Beijing-based smart contract platform Trias has been assisting authorities in Fuzhou in utilizing blockchain in an effort to better manage its electrical grid infrastructure.