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ToggleHong Kong Regulators FOMO Amid SEC Bitcoin Spot ETF Approval
Hong Kong Legislative Council member Johnny Ng this week followed in America's footsteps and wants China's Special Administrative Region (SAR) to speed up approval of local Bitcoin Spot ETFs. The Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) has previously stated that it is ready to accept applications for a Bitcoin ETF.
“With rapid development and intense competition in virtual assets, I hope Hong Kong will take the world seat as soon as possible. This will be the first opportunity to implement relevant policies and products in Asia and strengthen Hong Kong's potential as a global hub for virtual assets.
Ng said there is a need to “strengthen popular education on virtual assets” to raise awareness and mitigate fraud. Hong Kong experienced the largest financial fraud in its history with the collapse of unlicensed crypto exchanges JPEX and Hounax.
In a separate interview on January 10, HashKey Group's Livio Weng revealed that 10 financial services firms are currently preparing listing applications for the Bitcoin Spot ETF in Hong Kong. SFC green-lighted pathways to approve such applications by December 2023. Bitcoin futures ETFs, including the one issued by Samsung, have been on Hong Kong exchanges for some time.
Wemix's rollercoaster will start in 2024
South Korean game giant Wemix 2024 had a great roller-coaster start.
On January 9, the developers of the $2.65 billion Wemix blockchain said they would stop block rewards in Q1 2024. WEMIX tokens currently have an inflation rate of 3.15% per year. Instead of issuing a new token, they will instead promote ecosystem protocols using WEMIX tokens held in the foundation's digital wallets. Combined with a token burning mechanism for gas payments on the protocol, Wemix's new move transforms the network into an activist blockchain:
“In order to further strengthen the fundamental and functional aspects of WEMIX tokenomics, the Foundation has decided to end block rewards. This effectively means that the total supply of WEMIX will remain constant or the block height will decrease if the block rewards are implemented.”
Developers say the new incentive model could last for “about 20 years.” Wemade, the parent entity of Wemix, is the creator of the popular Legend of Mir series and claims that Mir 4, released in 2021, was the most successful blockchain game at the time.
Wemade revealed on January 3 that it owes South Korean authorities 53.7 billion won ($41 million) in taxes related to the issuance of Wemix tokens between 2019 and 2022. February 29.
In the year In November 2022, Wemix plunged 70% in one day after listing on several Korean exchanges, the firm responded to an investment warning with “false information”.
“The WEMIX team does not recognize or agree with the unreasonable decision made by the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA),” the developers responded to the details listed at the time. Initial coin offerings are currently banned in South Korea, despite some attempts at legal reform.
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Thailand allows $14 billion in airdrops.
Thai government officials have approved a 500 billion baht ($14 billion) digital wallet plan.
On January 9, local news reports indicated that Thailand would cover the airdrop with a series of loans mandated by the 2018 State Fiscal and Financial Discipline Act to revive the struggling economy.
Earlier, Thailand's ruling Pheu Thai Party said it would consult with the Bank of Thailand to develop the necessary “Utility Type 1” token for the airdrop. The solution will require Know Your Customer blockchain-based infrastructure, which sources say will take at least six months to roll out. A fee of 100 baht per user is also charged for the KYC process.
Under the proposed plan, Thai citizens will receive up to 10,000 baht ($284) each in an airdrop. However, restrictions on the use of funds apply. Individuals must redeem the tokens within six months and only on goods and services within a 4km radius of their residence. In addition, the tokens cannot be sold for cash or to pay off debts.
The move follows real estate tycoon and crypto advocate Sereta Tavisi's election win on August 22, 2023. In 2021, Sunsiri participated in raising $225 million for crypto-friendly investment management firm XSpring Capital. In 2022
Bank of China seeks blockchain patent
China's state-owned Bank of China has applied for a patent called “SDK”. [Software Development Kit] A method of updating, hardware and computing devices based on blockchain. According to documents from the State Intellectual Property Office and local news reports, patent CN117369845A covers:
“The server obtains the annotation information when the SDK is created, stores the annotation information in the blockchain, and when it detects changes in the SDK, determines the SDK change information, stores the change information in the blockchain, and provides such. Information for SDK customers.
An SDK is a set of tools that allow developers to build software for a specific platform. The patented technology allows developers to update their SDKs as new patches are released without human intervention. The Bank of China has long experimented with blockchain technologies, the most recent being the facilitation of a $14 million cross-border e-CNI gold purchase in Shanghai last month.
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Zhiyuan Sun
Zhyuan Sun is a reporter at Cointelegraph, focusing on technology-related news. He has several years of experience writing for major financial media outlets such as The Motley Fool, Nasdaq.com and Seeking Alpha.
