Ethereum is now unforkable? Asian Miners and Entrepreneurs are still Trying
Blockchain & Crypto #29
Welcome to another issue of Blockchain & Crypto Asia. South Korea takes center stage of crypto in August. What about the Terra crash? Where is crypto winter? 7,000 people, including CFTC’s Caroline Pham, joined Korea Blockchain Week 2022, forgetting for a week what happened a couple of months ago and the mess still to be cleaned up at home.
In Singapore, Hodlnaut’s suspension of withdrawals reminds us that the chaos caused by Celsius is far from over. India’s law enforcement agency seized the assets of India’s largest crypto exchange WazirX. While Vitalik is touting Ethereum’s Merge in Seoul, some influential and deep-pocketed Chinese miners and entrepreneurs are working on a PoW hard fork.
Regardless of the mess, there is no lack of people who are bullish and no lack of encouraging news out there in the East.
Singapore
Singapore-based crypto exchange Crypto.com, by acquiring a payment service provider and a virtual asset service provider in South Korea, qualifies to operate its exchange services. Read more.
Singapore-based cryptocurrency management company Amber Group is expanding retail trading and lending services to Brazil through its product platform WhaleFin. Recently, Amber Group also announced to be a sponsor of the professional football club Atlético de Madrid. Read here, and here.
Hodlnaut, a crypto lender, becomes the latest company in Singapore affected by the crypto market’s turmoil. It suspended withdrawals, swaps and deposits. According to court filings, Hodlnaut is listed as one of Celsius’ institutional clients. Hodlnaut received in-principle approval from MAS in March 2022. Read more.
Binance
Binance and India’s leading crypto exchange WazirX India are publicly arguing who really owns WazirX after India’s law enforcement agency Directorate of Enforcement (ED) froze WazirX’s assets, accusing it of money-laundering. Watch here.
Binance is launching BAB, a Soulbound Token built on its BNB Chain, to address identity issues unique to the decentralized society. Read more.
Investment
Henri Arslanian, an ex-PwC veteran, launched a crypto hedge fund Nine Blocks Capital Management in Dubai serving institutional investors. Hong Kong-based hedge fund Nine Masts invested $75M. Read more.
Animoca Brands is one of the most active investors in Asia.
Web3 in Asia
Sequoia India’s managing partner Shailesh Lakhani is bullish on Web3 and sees Web3, cleantech and Electric Vehicles become the mainstream. Read more.
“We are bullish on Web3, there could be a few bad apples in the lot but there are also many success stories that we are seeing and we should just allow things to settle down and not stop everything because of a few bad apples,'' he said.
Southeast Asia is at the forefront of digital assets development, with an astounding 627 crypto/blockchain companies headquartered in the region. To date, there has been $3.3B worth of VC investment into the region’s digital assets companies, according to the report by White Star Capital.
Conferences
7000 people showed up at Korea Blockchain Week 2022! Read more and check here for its speakers.
Concurrently held in South Korea is BUIDL Asia.
Photo credit @tingblockchain
Ethereum Merge Contenders
Crypto miner Chandler Guo and Tron founder Justin Sun team up to support Ethereum PoW fork (ETHW). Vitalik Buterin scolded those supporting the hard fork as “trying to make a quick buck”. Laura Shin interviewed Kevin Zhou, co-founder of Galois Capital to learn about his prediction and thoughts about a PoW hard fork. ETC Cooperative sent an open letter to Chandler Guo laying out the extreme difficulties of hard fork ETHW. It asks the miners supporting PoW to move to ETC. AntPool invested $10M to support ETC ecosystem and will continue to support it.
Thank you for reading. Enjoy the summer.
In the innovative blockchain/crypto & digital asset ecosystem, Asia is the other side of the coin. Blockchain & Crypto Asia, which covers exclusively blockchain and crypto & digital asset developments in Asia, including regulation, investments, and company highlights, helps you stay on top of what is going on in the Far East. The content is selective and curated and serves as information only, not investment advice.
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