Police Raids South Korean Cryptocurrency Exchanges 353

Traders in Asia have a huge influence on cryptocurrency markets. So much so that when news comes out of South Korea of police raids on exchanges and a possible all-out crypto ban the markets take a nose dive.

Two of the largest exchanges in the country and the rest of the world were raided by police and tax inspectors this week. This is not the first time the government has tried to quash the fervor for crypto in the Southeast Asian nation. South Korea is responsible for up to 20% of the global trade in cryptocurrencies so what happens there will have a ripple effect on the markets. Evidence of this can clearly be seen during the Asian trading session this morning as all assets are plummeting as panic selling ensues.

The world’s second largest crypto exchange, Bithumb, was raided this week as staff told reporters that they were asked to disclose paperwork to tax inspectors. Coinone was also targeted in the raids in what appears to be another government fear mongering effort;

“A few officials from the National Tax Service raided our office this week. Local police also have been investigating our company since last year, they think what we do is gambling,” 

Reports have also emerged of banks that offer crypto accounts being raided on accounts of crime prevention. The South Korean government is developing a system that seeks to ban the use of anonymous trading accounts according to local press Yonhap News. Under the measure, only real-name bank accounts and matching accounts at cryptocurrency exchanges can be used for deposits and withdrawals, while the issuance of new virtual accounts to cryptocurrency exchanges will be banned.

The government is also seeking to strengthen requirements of local crypto exchanges to prevent money laundering and toughen punishments for crimes related to virtual currency according to reports.

As usual, the media frenzy followed and a selloff has begun during the Asian session this morning. News outlets such as CNBC misreporting that South Korea has banned trading does not help the matter. All cryptos are in the red at the time of writing with Bitcoin falling 25% from $17,500 to just over $13,000. Ethereum and Litecoin are also retracting but Ripple has taken the biggest hit with a 50% drop in less than a week.

Clampdowns in Korea will always happen, trading has not been banned and there is no need to panic. Smart traders will use these opportunities to take advantages of dips in a market that has already seen an explosive growth in the past month, not so smart ones will panic sell.

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XVC Tech Announces Strategic Investment in TradeTogether to Enhance Web3 Wealth Management 7474

XVC Tech, has invested in TradeTogether, a leading Web3 wealth manager based in Singapore. The venture capital firm founded by the creators of the XDC Network blockchain.

XDC Network’s ecosystem includes RWA dApps focusing on Private Credit (TradeFinex), Trade Finance (XDC Trade Network), tokenized gold (Comtech Gold) and tokenized US Treasuries (Yieldteq powered by Tradeteq).

Ritesh Kakkad, co-founder of XVC Tech, noted, “TradeTogether approached XVC with a strong emphasis on compliance, which is key in sectors like private credit and trade finance. We believe this focus on compliance will attract more institutional adoption, leading to increased utilization of the XDC Network’s use cases.”

Added TradeTogether’s CEO Geoff Ira, “XDC Network is a robust Enterprise-grade Layer 1 blockchain with a strong focus on Real-World Assets (RWA). We eagerly anticipate collaborating with XDC and its ecosystem of dApps to develop top-tier Web3-centric funds, driving intelligent capital into RWAs and Web3, while adhering to regulatory compliance standards.”

TradeTogether introduces two innovative investment options

  1. Firstly, the TradeTogether Bitcoin Advantage Fund, allows clients to invest in Bitcoin with added protection against market downturns, offering a better experience than traditional ETFs.
  2. Additionally, TradeTogether provides high-net-worth individuals and financial institutions with transparent solutions in tokenized bonds and Web3 products for receivable financing, moving away from the DeFi platform model.

TradeTogether has prominent co-investors such as Orbit Startups, Tenity, Boleh Ventures and Leo Ventures. Other Angel investors who participated in TradeTogether’s funding round since it’s inception includes Samuel Rhee (Chairman of Endowus), Varun Mittal (Group Head Innovation Singlife), Reuben Lai (Former Senior MD Grab Financial Group), Mx Kuok (KUOK Family), E. BABA de Rothschild (EGR Partners), Chandrima Das (Ex bento founder acquired by Grab), Nicolas Gallet (Gallet Capital), David Bachelier (CEO Asia at Flowdesk).

About XVC Tech

Founded by the co-founders of XDC Network, Atul Khekade and Ritesh Kakkad, XVC Tech is a US $125mn Fund focussed on exploring investment opportunities in NextGen Technology Solutions. Portfolio companies include DeGaming, a decentralized i-gaming infrastructure protocol, Bolero, a platform fractionalizing IP of music assets via smart contracts or Truflation, an oracle for RWA, indexes and inflation.

Current areas of focus include RWA, Web3 infrastructure, AI, and DePIN. For Web3 startups looking to make an impact, new investment opportunities are actively being sought. Users interested in learning more can visit XVC Tech at XVC.Tech to get in touch.

About XDC Network

The XDC Network is an open-source, carbon-neutral, enterprise-grade, EVM-compatible, Layer 1 blockchain, operational since 2019 focusing on Enterprise use cases such as Trade Finance, Payment and RWA tokenization. More details at: Xinfin.org

About TradeTogether

TradeTogether Pte Ltd is a pioneering Web3 digital asset management company based in Singapore. Operating under a regulatory exemption since October 25, 2021, TradeTogether is at the forefront of innovative financial solutions in the digital asset space. Led by CEO Geoff Ira, who has a strong background in the financial and banking industry. For more information, users can visit TradeTogether.com

Multis Team Joins Safe to Build Cross-Chain Smart Wallet Infrastructure 8728

Safe, the leading smart wallet infrastructure, with more than $100 billion in value of digital assets secured, has welcomed the senior leadership team of Multis to the Safe Ecosystem Foundation and completed the strategic acquisition of the Multis source code; Multis is an all-in-one financial software designed for crypto businesses. At the same time, Thibaut Sahaghian, the former CEO of Multis, is set to take on the new role of Network Abstraction Lead as a core contributor within the Safe ecosystem, where he and his team will continue their work towards enabling businesses and individuals to adopt and easily use digital assets every day.

With this move, Safe embarks on the next phase of its mission to simplify, improve, and enhance Web3 user experience. Leveraging their unique collective expertise, the Safe and former Multis team members will collaborate to solve the complexities of cross-chain interaction through network abstraction, with the end goal of enabling users to manage assets across diverse blockchain networks effortlessly.

As crypto usage soars, the demand for faster and more cost-efficient transactions has led to the rise of Layer 2 networks built atop the Ethereum mainnet (Layer 1), aiming to enhance scalability. However, this growth has considerably fragmented the blockchain landscape, complicating the development of user-friendly, on-chain applications and wallets. Addressing this complexity through network abstraction, which simplifies asset management across various blockchains, is crucial for setting the stage for mainstream adoption—a vital goal for the Ethereum community.

“The demand for Safe’s services is skyrocketing, particularly from emerging L2 ecosystems seeking robust infrastructure support to help users manage their digital assets. As we expand, simplifying the cross-network experience becomes crucial,” noted Richard Meissner, co-founder of Safe. “The synergy between Multis and Safe will undoubtedly help us become a staple in these evolving networks and beyond.”

Thibaut added, “Joining Safe is a game-changer for us. We’ve already been harnessing Safe’s robust infrastructure for years, and this is a new journey for us. It empowers us to broaden our mission, tapping into Safe’s expansive platform and extensive user base. Together, we’re set on building an ecosystem where digital assets and applications interact seamlessly across multiple networks, easing the path to adoption and creating a more integrated blockchain world.”

This strategic acquisition marks a turning point for Safe. It aligns with Safe’s recent collaboration with Coinbase-incubated Base to make smart accounts the standard on Ethereum. This announcement furthers Safe’s commitment to providing a seamless and secure foundation for managing assets within exploding L2 ecosystems on Ethereum.

About Safe

Safe (previously Gnosis Safe) is an onchain asset custody protocol, securing ~$100 Billion in assets today. It is establishing a universal ‘smart account’ standard for secure custody of digital assets, data, and identity. With Safe{Wallet}, it’s flagship web and mobile wallet and Safe{Core} account abstraction infrastructure, Safe is on a mission to unlock digital ownership for everyone in web3 including DAOs, enterprises, retail and institutional users.

About Multis

Multis offers a comprehensive financial software solution, empowering DAOs and enterprises to seamlessly manage transactions with both USD and digital assets, across multiple networks. Historically backed by Sequoia Capital and Y Combinator, Multis has been a front-runner in enhancing the crypto business user experience, now set to amplify its impact with Safe.

AirDAO aims for the moon with ‘Star Fleet’ 9014

AirDAO, a community-governed layer-one blockchain ecosystem, is excited to reveal “Star Fleet,” an innovative marketing initiative to launch new products in 2024. The announcement comes in celebration of the fifth anniversary of the AirDAO blockchain, and Star Fleet marks a significant next chapter of growth and development.

The Star Fleet initiative is part of the AirDAO team’s long-term strategic plans to grow the AirDAO ecosystem this year. The initial DeFi products to launch with Star Fleet are a crypto bond market called ”Kosmos,” “Astra,” a decentralized exchange (DEX), and “Harbor,” a liquid staking product.

The AirDAO team’s marketing efforts will increase considerably over the next five months, prioritizing community & ecosystem growth and engagement. AirDAO’s $AMB token will be at the campaign’s center and act as the community’s ticket to join Star Fleet; AirDAO will give rewards in proportion to ecosystem participation.

The Star Fleet campaign will culminate in October 2024 with the single, synchronized launch of three tokens for the three new products. With a unified offering of all three tokens, venture capital funds and the community can get exposure to the next generation of the AirDAO ecosystem with a single investment. AirDAO is raising additional capital to expand the ecosystem and user base, with the end goal of a significant increase in network usage and total value locked (TVL).

AirDAO is a pioneering, community-led, layer-one blockchain ecosystem. The technical backbone of the ecosystem is the AirDAO blockchain. It’s an EVM-compatible layer one with 100% uptime since its launch. It also boasts high scalability, low fees, and rapid transaction times, making it the ideal platform for Web3 products. AirDAO isn’t just building a blockchain — it’s fostering a community where each member’s ideas shape the ecosystem.

Star Fleet is AirDAO’s latest achievement in what’s shaping up to be a pivotal year. It isn’t a small step forward; it’s a giant leap toward AirDAO’s north-star vision of becoming an industry-leading ecosystem.

The new Fintopio DeFi Wallet launches in open beta on Telegram and web app 9360

Fintopio, a Web3 company creating a wallet that enables digital asset sending and receiving via messaging apps, recently launched the beta version of the Fintopio DeFi Wallet. This launch is Fintopio’s first salvo in its mission of improving and simplifying digital asset transactions. The Fintopio DeFi wallet has been launched via Telegram bot and web app, and the company is working on a mobile application for iOS and Android.

Fintopio’s DeFi Wallet is built on Telegram, a messaging tool with 900 million monthly active members. The wallet provides a convenient way for people to send and receive crypto assets, and it also integrates with different DeFi services. Users maintain complete control of their assets by having their crypto stored in their non-custodial wallets.

Steve Milton, co-founder and CEO of Fintopio, noted that “There are a lot of untapped opportunities related to integrating convenient payment options in messaging apps, especially given that these are some of the world’s most widely and frequently used services. At Fintopio, we want to unlock this huge potential with solutions that allow people to send money just like sending a message or an emoji,”

Fintopio is led by Steve Milton, a prominent executive who worked in the field of multinational companies as a high-ranking official at BNB Chain and Binance. Working with him is a 20-member team of experts in the fields of Web3, cryptocurrency, technology, and finance. Fintopio is devoted to changing the crypto payments landscape and becoming a reliable global brand capable of providing cutting-edge financial solutions to individuals and enterprises.

Transforming digital asset payments with Telegram

Fintopio’s DeFi Wallet is a crypto financial solution integrated with Telegram. The app is designed so that users can send crypto payments directly on Telegram, as well as web and mobile platforms. What defines Fintopio as a robust DeFi wallet in contrast to other similar wallets released today is the careful attention paid to user-friendly interfaces and intuitive designs. This is crucial for Fintopio’s efforts to solve the ongoing challenge of making crypto easier and more convenient to use while maintaining the safety of users’ funds.

According to Steve Milton, “Telegram has a great combination of market size and growth trajectory. Even at its current reach, it’s still one of the most downloaded apps worldwide. And it has a young, tech-adept demographic, with 30.6% of its users being in the 25-34 age bracket, making it an ideal foundation upon which we can grow Fintopio especially in a crowded crypto payments space.”

The Future of Crypto Payments

Fintopio acknowledges the digital payments industry’s intricacies, the growth in the demand for new, innovative solutions on the market, and the vast opportunities that innovation can bring to the whole sector. According to the latest forecasts, the global volume of cashless payment services is expected to reach 1.9 trillion transactions by 2025 and double or triple that number by 2032. The fact that payment features have been integrated into major social media and messaging platforms shows that messaging is the new frontier in fintech and crypto solutions.

Through Fintopio, sending digital assets becomes the same as sending a message. Recipients can access their assets via a wallet they already possess, route them to familiar financial institutions, or, if they’re new to digital assets, create a lightweight non-custodial wallet within seconds, all through their Telegram app. This innovation extends the reach of digital assets beyond the confines of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Steve Milton explained, “Ultimately, what we’re doing with the beta launch of the Fintopio DeFi Wallet is an opening act that demonstrates what’s possible with messaging-based, convenient crypto payments, as well as what we can build further. Once the Fintopio infrastructure for simple payments through chat apps is built, and it shows significant traction, this innovation will be easier to replicate as a viable payment solution for other major messaging and social media apps. At that point, it’s not that big a leap to take.”

In the first phase of their DeFi Wallet beta starting program, Fintopio is implementing a beta test exercise. The exact process includes reaching out to the Fintopio community and inviting them to inform them of the bugs they encountered or provide them with their recommendations for improvement. In exchange, participants have a chance to gain rewards.

About Fintopio

Fintopio is a software development company at the forefront of digital asset distribution innovation. With its wallet solution, Fintopio simplifies the process of sending and receiving digital assets. The company’s groundbreaking approach is poised to democratize access to digital assets globally, reshaping the landscape of digital transactions.

Fintopio completed a $10 million seed funding round led by a group of private investors from the tech industry, fueling the company’s mission to provide people and businesses with easy, secure, and fast ways to pay. The company was also awarded a CSAP license in Poland.

Plena – The first Crypto Super App to use Account Abstraction announces $5M fundraising milestone 9630

In an impressive display of industry support and confidence, Plena Crypto Super App has successfully closed a $5 million funding round, uniting a broad spectrum of investors and partners in its mission to drive widespread crypto adoption. This formidable coalition includes Big Brain Holdings, DeWhale,GBV, WebWise, Galxe, Normie Ventures, FounderHeads, and more.

Accelerated by crypto giants Cointelegraph and ConsenSys, Plena Crypto Super App has drawn the attention and endorsement of the industry’s most respected advisors and angel investors. This prestigious group includes Ivan on Tech, Trader XO, Trader SZ, Boxmining, The Martini Guy, Michaël van de Poppe, Eric Cryptoman, Crypto Zoran, Nischal Shetty, Anshul Dhir, Crypto ISO, MANDO CT, Anbessa, ASH Crypto, Sjuul | AltCryptoGems, Ted Pillows, Joshnomics, vocado Toast andAlex Belov among others.

Plena’s extensive network of Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) from every region underscores its position as one of the most universally supported applications within the crypto community. Since its inception in 2021 by Sparsh Jhamb, Yajash Jhamb, Tushant Suneja, and Sayuj Kumar, Plena has been dedicated to simplify the user experience for decentralized applications, with a mission to onboard a billion users to Web3. They pioneered Account Abstraction, setting the stage for a more accessible blockchain ecosystem a year before Vitalik Buterin’s white paper on ERC4337. This innovation marks a significant leap towards making blockchain technology user-friendly and widely adopted.

Throughout 2023, Plena has celebrated numerous achievements, including surpassing 5 million transactions, forming over 200+ Plena Connect partnerships, amassing a community of over 240K+ registered users, and expanding its blockchain integrations. The launch of Plena 2.0 with Chat & Pay feature and the introduction of Plena Smart Portfolios have further solidified its commitment to simplifying the crypto experience.

Looking forward to 2024, Plena is set to expand its chain integrations, launch Super App 3.0, and further develop its Plena Connect SDK across an even broader array of dapps. Additional highlights include the $PLENA Token Generation Event (TGE), and a series of community-engaging Plena Quests.

Plena’s ecosystem stands as a testament to its commitment to innovation and community, providing grants to dApps integrating the Plena Connect SDK. Moreover, Plena has announced its largest airdrop campaign in partnership with DAO Maker, Chain GPT, Decubate, AI Tech, and Viction Chain by Coin98, distributing 2% of its total supply ahead of its eagerly anticipated listing.

About Plena Crypto Super App

Plena Crypto Super App is a crypto super app with a base layer of a wallet designed to simplify and enhance the user experience in the crypto space. By leveraging account abstraction and a comprehensive suite of crypto tools, Plena is on a mission to onboard the next billion users into the cryptocurrency world.

Somnia Launches Betanet, Ushering in a New Era of Interoperability in the Metaverse 9232

Somnia, an L1 blockchain and a set of omnichain protocols, has taken another step towards its goal of a connected metaverse with the recent launch of its protocol Betanet. This significant milestone marks the beginning of a new era in the metaverse, where experiences and assets can seamlessly move across different virtual environments.

Thanks to the technology from MSquared and Improbable, Somnia is able to launch a high-quality Betanet on their protocol, while simultaneously developing the highly scalable and affordable Somnia Blockchain.

Somnia’s omni-chain protocols, known as SOM0, are designed to connect the metaverse into a cohesive ecosystem, enabling unprecedented compatibility and interoperability. The Betanet will test these protocols, which consist of three key components: the ‘Object protocol’ for creating virtual objects that can move through any metaversal experience, the ‘Attestation protocol’ for streamlined validation, and the ‘Marketplace protocol’, which serves as a global liquidity layer for creators to sell digital assets.
“The metaverse is on the cusp of a major transformation, and Somnia is leading the charge with the launch of our Betanet,” Somnia CEO Paul Thomas said. “We’re excited to empower creators and users with the tools they need to bring their visions to life.”

Phase 1 of Somnia’s Betanet, running on the ETH Sepolia Testnet, allows users to bring their digital identities into the Somnia Protocol by creating personalized avatars through a collaboration with Avaturn. These avatars will be compatible with any world or experience built on Somnia, empowering users to attend massive MSquared events like the Twice listening party and MLB Virtual Ballpark.

In future phases, Somnia will collaborate with established NFT projects to give beloved collections a soul in the metaverse by rendering them as 3D avatars for use across interoperable experiences. This initiative will unlock new realms of utility and value for NFT collectors.

Later stages of the Betanet will grant users access to the Metaverse Browser, allowing them to explore the Somnia Ecosystem and the Playground, where they can create virtual spaces, socialize with friends, and import or create 3D objects. The following Testnet phase will introduce a prototype of Somnia’s blockchain, which will act as the foundation for the metaverse’s economy.

To participate in the Betanet visit betanet.somnia.network

About Somnia:

Somnia is creating a virtual society with an L1 blockchain and a set of omnichain protocols designed to bring millions of users into an open and unified metaverse, allowing users to move seamlessly across experiences. Somnia opens up endless possibilities for builders to create content that is portable and remixable content by upgrading existing NFTs. Somnia was developed by the Virtual Society Foundation (VSF), a nonprofit organization initiated by MSquared, and Improbable.