Blockchain Morning Post | South Korea's new president promised to deregulate the crypto industry; Dubai passed a virtual asset law

Today's Highlights:

1. Yoon Seok-yeol was elected president of South Korea and promised to deregulate the crypto industry

2.The Verge investigation said that Sun Yuchen was suspected of insider trading and other crimes, and Sun Yuchen responded that it was defamatory

3. Dubai has passed the Virtual Assets Act and established an independent supervisory authority for virtual assets

4. Soft Silver Company Z Holdings plans to open NFT markets in 180 countries around the world

5. Goldman Sachs is exploring ways to offer over-the-counter trading of bilateral cryptocurrency options

6. Venture capital firm Spartan Group will launch a $200 million universe fund, focusing on digital ownership

7. StarkWare is raising a new round of funding at a valuation of $6 billion, or more than $100 million

8. Data: Monthly web traffic on crypto exchanges fell 20% in February, which has been declining for four consecutive months

Regulatory messages

Yoon Seok-yeol, elected president of South Korea, has promised to deregulate the crypto industry

According to CoinDesk, South Korea's conservative candidate Yoon Seok-yeol won the election and will be elected as the next president. He had promised to deregulate the crypto industry, and at a cryptocurrency conference in January, Yin said that regulations that were "out of touch with reality and irrational" must be overhauled to "unleash the unlimited potential of the virtual asset market."

Yin also pledged to raise the proposed cryptocurrency capital gains tax threshold to 52.4 million won ($42,450). In addition, Yin Xilie said that he would "take legal measures to confiscate cryptocurrency profits obtained through illegal means and return them to the victims."

Earlier, South Korean lawmaker Yoon Chang-hyun had said that if Yoon Seok-yeol's government came to power, South Korea would introduce a professional banking system for virtual assets. In addition, Yin Xilie began issuing more than 22,000 NFTs on Monday to influence young voters in the final stages of the campaign.

Dubai passed the Virtual Assets Act and established an independent oversight body for virtual assets

Sheikha Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Chief of Dubai, tweeted that Dubai passed the first law regulating virtual assets and established an independent body to oversee the development of virtual assets in Dubai in terms of regulation, licensing, governance and consistency with the local and global financial system. He also said that the future belongs to those who design it (or virtual assets).

U.S. President Joe Biden signs an executive order on crypto

U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed the first executive order on cryptocurrencies, directing federal agencies to coordinate their handling of the digital asset industry. The executive order aims to address numerous issues within the crypto space, including consumer protection, financial stability, illegal use, global financial sector leadership, financial inclusion, and responsible innovation. Part of the order directs the U.S. Treasury Department to draft a report on "The Future of Money and Payment Systems." Institutions will also be asked to assess how the U.S. will issue central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and say "if the issuance is considered to be in the national interest."

The executive order is the first U.S. executive order to focus specifically on the digital asset space, directing federal agencies to better communicate their work in the digital asset space, but it does not list specific positions that the U.S. government wants agencies to take.

NFT

NBA superstar LeBron James applied for an NFT-related trademark

According to documents disclosed on Twitter by Mike Kondoudis lawyers, NBA superstar LeBron James has filed for four NFT-related trademarks, Coiningape reported. Specific information about NFTs was not disclosed.

Previously, in February, he appeared in a Cryptocom ad during the Super Bowl, the largest sporting event in the United States.

American smoked meat stick brand Slim Jim applied for NFT and meta-universe trademarks

According to CoinDesk, American smoked meat stick brand Slim Jim is planning to launch NFTs and its own metacosm to bring its meat to the virtual world. Slim Jim has filed three applications for trademarks related to NFTs and metacosms. Previously, Slim Jim had shown a keen interest in metaverses, such as changing Twitter's official name to MEATA after Facebook changed its name to Meta.

Gucci partnered with 10KTF to launch the 10KTF Gucci Grail series NFTs, which have now opened Mint Pass whitelist registration

According to Vogue Business, Gucci announced that it will launch the 10KTF Gucci Grail series NFTs in cooperation with 10KTF, and has now opened the Mint Pass whitelist registration.

It is reported that Mint Pass totals 5,000 pieces, granting holders the right to mint 10KTF x Gucci joint NFT. The whitelist registration deadline ends at 2:00 Beijing time on March 12, and Mint Pass will start selling at 2:00 Beijing time on March 15. The 10KTF x Gucci joint NFT will be finally unveiled on March 23.

Former Universe

Thai FX Bank opens a virtual headquarters in The Sandbox

ScB 10X, the investment arm of Thailand's fourth-largest bank, SCB 10X, has set up a virtual headquarters in Animoca Brands subsidiary The Sandbox Metacosm, According to Blockchains. ScB will host a Metaversity Open Day on March 11 to showcase its virtual headquarters, where it will hold workshops. SCB said its virtual headquarters will invite users to experience a world that "reflects the past, present and future of Thai culture" in the future.

Following JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s opening of a virtual space in Decentraland last month, scAB became the second major banking institution to set up a presence in the virtual world. Last November, SCB 10X participated in The Sandbox's $93 million Series B funding round, kicking off a partnership between the two companies.

Project dynamics

Cryptocurrency company Bullish has postponed its backdoor listing plans and is awaiting SEC approval

Cryptocurrency firm Bullish has postponed its backdoor listing plans through a merger with Special Purpose Acquisition (SPAC) Far Peak Acquisition, as the M&A deal is still awaiting approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), According to Forkst.

Earlier, cryptocurrency company Bullish announced in July last year that it had agreed to list on the New York Stock Exchange for $9 billion through a merger with Special Purpose Acquisition (SPAC) Far Peak Acquisition, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.

Ethereum The Merge testnet Kill has released configuration information, and the PoW phase will last for a week

Ethereum The Merge testnet Kill has published configuration information. Praterosh Jayanthi, initiator of the Merge testing program, said that the PoW chain has been launched, and the PoW phase is expected to last for one week, and the beacon chain (execution layer) will be launched at 22:00 Beijing time this Friday.

The Verge investigation called Sun Yuchen suspected of insider trading and other charges, and Sun Yuchen responded by calling it defamation

According to Evidence cited by The Verge as a number of former employees of Sun Yuchen's company, as well as on-chain data, Sun Yuchen organized a market making team during the Tron period, suspected of insider trading, evading the IC0 ban; made a near-trial KYC tool during BitTorrent to expand user participation in transactions; organized a team to collect small assets lost by users in the trading platform during Poloniex as their own, and was suspected of fraud, money laundering through immigration or evading legal sanctions. In addition, people familiar with the disclosure expressed concern that the revelation would bring danger to their lives. At present, the US Internal Revenue Service and the FBI have intervened in the investigation, and Sun Yuchen may once again use the citizenship of other countries to evade legal sanctions.

In response, Sun Yuchen responded on Twitter that this is blatant defamation and will consider taking legal action.

Soft Silver Company Z Holdings plans to open NFT markets in 180 countries around the world

South Korean tech giants NAVER and SoftBank's Japanese subsidiary Z Holdings plan to open NFT markets in 180 countries around the world this spring and are making large-scale investments to increase the number of users of fintech subsidiary PayPay to 90 million, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Kentaro Kawabe, co-CEO of Z Holdings, said: "Web 3.0 has the potential to lead a world that offers a completely different life. We will not miss this huge growth opportunity. ”

Goldman Sachs is exploring ways to offer over-the-counter trading of bilateral cryptocurrency options

According to Bloomberg, Goldman Sachs Is Exploring How to Offer Over-the-Counter Trading Bilateral Cryptocurrency Options, suggesting that the bank is deeply involved in helping institutions trade digital currency derivatives. The giant is one of the few Wall Street banks exploring such products, with so-called bilateral options allowing custom trading so that cryptocurrency holders such as hedge funds and bitcoin miners can hedge risk or boost yields.

The Ethereum L2 protocol Optimism will introduce Cannon, a new generation of proof-of-failure methods

According to the official blog, Ethereum L2 protocol Optimism announced that it will launch a new generation of proof of failure method Cannon, unlike the proof-of-failure design that now re-runs THEVM in the entire transaction on L1, Cannon only needs to execute a single minigeth MIPS instruction on the chain, which can achieve EVM equivalence. In addition, Cannon can also achieve the lowest calldata gas cost in theory.

zkSync upgrades the 2.0 portal and supports paying Gas fees in any ERC20 token

According to the official Twitter, ZK Rollups-based Ethereum scaling solution zkSync upgrade version 2.0 of the portal, including support for paying Gas fees in any ERC20 tokens without being limited to ETH, adding block explorers, etc., users can apply for test tokens for trial.

Previously, the zkSync 2.0 public test network was officially launched in February.

Venture capital firm Sparan Group will launch a $200 million universe fund with a focus on digital ownership

According to The Block, crypto venture capital firm Spartan Group will launch a $200 million Metavalse fund that will focus on projects built in metaversities, particularly virtual worlds that support "digital ownership."

Jason Choi, general partner of Spartan Group, said the Axie Infinity example shows that in this NFT metaverse game vertical, there are clearly different types of users with DeFi projects. Specifically, Spartan Group's new fund focuses on three different levels of Metavalse: infrastructure, experience and value-added. Value-added tiers refer to types of projects that are outside the virtual world, including game guilds and NFT marketplaces.

It is reported that The Spartan Group is headquartered in Asia, and its portfolio includes 1inch, Acala, Synthetix and so on.

Financing messages

Ethereum Layer 2 developer StarkWare is raising a new round of funding at a valuation of $6 billion, or more than $100 million

Ethereum Layer 2 developer StarkWare is raising a new round of funding at a valuation of $6 billion, which is still unfinished and could raise at least $100 million, CTECH reported.

Previously, on November 16, 2021, Israel-based Ethereum Layer 2 developer StarkWare completed a $50 million Series C financing and is now valued at $2 billion. The round was led by Sequoia Capital, with the participation of existing investors Paradigm, Three Arrows Capital, Alameda Research and Founders Fund, IOSG and others.

Indian game streaming platform Loco announced a $42 million funding round, led by Hashed

Indian game streaming platform Loco announced a $42 million (Rs 3.3 billion) funding round, led by Hashed and invested by Makers Fund, Catamaran Ventures, Korea Investment Partners, Krafton, Lumikai, Hiro Capital and others, IndiaTimes. The financing will be used to enhance the content side, as well as technology development around areas such as Web 3.0 and blockchain.

Nordic new bank Luna completed $77 million in funding at a valuation of $2 billion and launched a crypto trading platform

According to Tech Crunch, the new nordic bank Lunar completed a €70 million (about $77 million) Series D expansion round at a valuation of $2 billion, and it completed a €210 million Series D funding round in July last year, with a total financing amount of 280 million euros, led by Heartland and invested by Kinnevik, Tencent (Tencent), IDC Ventures and FerrWillell. Ken Villum Klausen, founder and CEO of Lunar, said Lunar is still in the middle of the rolling funding process, with a Series E funding round, which is expected to be completed at a higher valuation in May this year.

In addition, Lunar has launched crypto trading platforms and B2B payments for SME clients, enabling users to trade and cash out BTC, ETH, Cardano, Polkadot and DOGE.

Mining news

Agora Digital Holdings, the parent company of crypto miner Bitstream Mining, plans to list on the NASDAQ

According to a prospectus filed Wednesday to the U.S. SEC, Agora Digital Holdings, owner of U.S. crypto mining company Bitstream Mining, plans to list on the NASDAQ. Agora, under the ticker code DEFY, is expected to have total shareholders' equity of $53 million, but has not yet announced its share price. According to the prospectus, Agora recorded a loss of $3.3 million in the nine months ended December 31, 2021. The company's listing and share offering are still subject to regulatory approval. Documents show that Agora has invested $7.2 million to build the Bitstream business, including the purchase of 5,000 used Canalan AvalonMiner 841 mining rigs for $1.35 million.

Important data

Report: Investors made more than $5.4 billion from NFT sales last year

According to a report by NFT data firm Nonfungible, NFT transactions reached $17.6 billion last year, up 21,000 percent from 82 million in 2020, CNBC reported.

According to Nonfungible's research, there are more than 2.5 million crypto wallets belonging to people who hold or trade NFTs in 2021, up from just 89,000 a year ago. The number of buyers rose from 75,000 to 2.3 million.

People are also better at making money from NFTs, with investors making a total of $5.4 billion from NFT sales last year, including more than $1 million for more than 470 wallets, the report said.

Data: Monthly web traffic on crypto exchanges fell 20% in February, which has been declining for four consecutive months

According to online data analytics platform SimilarWeb, monthly web traffic on cryptocurrency exchanges fell by 20.6% month-on-month in February. Monthly visits to crypto exchanges have been declining for four consecutive months since November 2021, when 546.6 million visits were reached. Last month, that number dropped to 339.4 million.

Among them, Binance accounted for the majority of cryptocurrency trading network traffic in February (31.5%), followed by Coinbase (17.9%), Bybit (8.7%), FTX (4.9%) and Gate.io (4.0%).