August 15, 2023
Hello from Coco. I am back from a break. Hope you have been enjoying a reflective and relaxing summer. Asia has been boiling hot this summer but the heat wave has not slowed things down there.
Table of Contents (clicking on each title below will bring you to the particular session of this newsletter)
Investments & New Product Launches
Here are my Top Picks for News and Events
Singapore’s MAS published “Response to Public Consultation on Proposed Regulatory Approach for Stablecoin-related Activities”. Patricia Ho’s comments
Hong Kong issued the first retail exchange licenses to HashKey Exchange, under HashKey Group, and OSL, legalizing retail token trading in Hong Kong. OSL and HashKey were among the earliest companies applying for institution-only digital asset trading platform licenses as early as 2020. The licenses were recently upgraded to serve retail traders. Bloomberg
Binance received an operational MVP license in Dubai. Binance has more than 900K customers and a $85+B trade volume from Mainland China, even though cryptocurrency trading is considered illegal there. Wall Street Journal, Binance Blog
A total of $228M disappeared from Multichain, a Shanghai-headquartered bridging protocol. Chainalysis flagged the hack as an inside job, which supports the most accepted speculation after CEO Jun Zhao and his sister were detained by Chinese authorities. Zhao has lost control of the company to the local police. Coindesk, Scoop Podcast
CZ, Du Jun tried to help stabilize the defi ecosystem by investing in CRV after Curve Finance was hacked.
Investments & New Product Launches
Singapore’s MAS allocates $111M over three years to fund innovative fintech solutions including blockchain and Web3. CoinGeek
Jump Crypto invested $5M in the Bitcoin Web3 wallet Xverse, which is based in Hong Kong. Xverse supports Ordinals and STX staking. CoinDesk
Singapore DEX DigiFT launched the first fully regulatory-compliant U.S. Treasury token. DigiFT website
Malaysia's first licensed digital asset fund manager Halogen Fintech Malaysia
Sora Ventures, a Taiwanese VC, led the investment of $5M in Silent Protocol, a data privacy layer for Web3. Unlike other protocols of ZK solutions that require asset migration to their protocols, Silent Protocol is developing a layer that allows existing dapps to maintain liquidity and scale while using its ZK solutions. CryptoSlate
Singapore-based dappOS, a Web3 operating protocol, received funding from IDG Capital and Sequoia China at a $50 million valuation. It received pre-seed funding from Binance Labs. Cointelegraph
Hong Kong-based Web3 startup Terminal 3, which builds user data infrastructure with decentralized storage and ZK-proof solutions, closed its pre-Seed round. Investors include 500 Global, CMCC Global and others. Decrypt
Singapore-based Web3Go, an on-chain data analytics company backed by AI, raised $4 million in a seed round led by Binance Labs with participation from HashKey Capital, NGC and others. CoinDesk
Side Labs, which is behind Side Protocol, the cross-chain liquidity network, raised $1.5 million via a SAFT round with participation from HashKey Capital, KR1 and others. The Block
Deep Dive
Taiwan Blockchain Industry Report: English version, Chinese version.
I want to thank Yifang Wang of None Capital in Taiwan for helping me grasp the highlight of this 70-page report:
This project is jointly initiated by the Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Development Association, Media Web3+, and my company, None Capital. The report was produced by the None Capital research team.
The report has 4 sections, global overview, the overview of Taiwan’s industry by sector, the ecosystem of the industry in Taiwan, and regulatory trends in Taiwan and the Asia Pacific region.
The third section of the report is a groundbreaking achievement for the industry in Taiwan, as it marks the first time that data related to cryptocurrency companies in Taiwan has been collected. The data includes information such as the establishment date of companies, company size, primary target markets, and future market development plans. Our goal is to continue accumulating data in the future and use the collected information to help everyone gain an objective perspective on the industry's development.
Currently, in Taiwan, there are no clear regulations. The only requirement is that if a company in Taiwan wants to conduct fiat-to-cryptocurrency transactions, it must apply for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) certification and obtain approval from the relevant authorities.
Additionally, in Taiwan, legally compliant exchanges cannot offer derivative products or leveraged trading.
Regarding future regulatory developments, based on our understanding, the Taiwanese government has been actively engaging with local exchange operators to discuss future regulatory policies.
Initially, they plan to draft self-regulatory requirements for operators and are actively promoting industry associations to provide a clearer definition of the industry. This would establish a formal channel for long-term communication with the government to facilitate the industry's development.
Currently, to the best of our knowledge, Taiwan's regulatory direction focuses on aspects such as "investor protection," "product listing and review," and "asset segregation." However, Taiwan's regulatory framework is undecided yet.
Through this project, we have observed more objectively that a significant portion of Taiwan's industry is centered around solution and tool development. Notably, we have well-known companies like Cybavo and Blocto.
Conferences in Asia
KBW2023, September 5-6, South Korea
Token2049, September 13-14, 2023, Singapore
9th Shanghai International Blockchain Summit 2023 September 19-20, Shanghai
Thank you for reading!
Coco
About the Author
I am Coco Kee, Co-founder of Kee Global Advisors and author of Blockchain Asia. More than 3 years ago, I started following innovations and developments in Asia’s blockchain, digital & crypto assets with the belief that this industry is inherently global and Asia is the other side of the coin. Blockchain Asia serves as a valuable resource, keeping readers stay informed of the latest developments and opportunities in Asia. It aims to be a platform for showcasing emerging Asian startups and VC funds.
Email me if you want me to include your company’s stories or interview you. Follow me on Linkedin and Twitter.
The curated content is selective and serves as information and contains personal views only, not investment advice.