Toyota’s love for Ethereum, HK nods inverse Bitcoin ETF, stablecoin: Asia Express

Asia's largest car manufacturer is high on Ethereum.

Japanese carmaker Toyota is exploring how its blockchain research arm Ethereum can contribute to its “mobility” campaign.

This campaign focuses on the company's future concept of a connected transportation system where vehicles operate completely autonomously and communicate with public infrastructure through data exchange. These autonomous vehicles are intended as public entities that serve all users, including the disabled and the elderly.

In a research paper published on July 19, Toyota proposed the implementation of blockchain technology as part of its “mobility” concept.

Smart contracts on Ethereum see the blockchain as enabling automation at the programmatic level, similar to how to execute agreements without intermediaries.

Blockchain brings a standardized interface that connects to other services. For example, in the automotive industry, blockchain can facilitate automatic payments for tolls or parking fees directly from the vehicle's wallet.

And by removing rights, vehicles can be converted into service entities. This is similar to how digital rights are managed in the music industry, where intangible tokens (NFTs) represent the rights to own and use digital assets.

But a blockchain account is required to access this, and private keys can be lost through unexpected events such as device failures.

Toyota suggests Ethereum's ERC-4337 standard could be key. The Ethereum standard introduces token abstraction, which allows users to perform transactions with modern contract codes instead of private keys.

The car company suggests using ERC-721 (NFTs) to license blockchain-based vehicles.

Toyota is Asia's largest vehicle manufacturer with a market capitalization of $270 billion. It is second only to Tesla globally.

Bitcoin bears rejoice as Hong Kong launches inverse ETF

While the crypto world was abuzz with the launch of the Spot Ether ETF in the United States, Hong Kong made headlines for Asia's first inverse Bitcoin ETF.

The fund is managed by CSOP Asset Management, one of China's largest asset managers. It allows investors to bet on falling Bitcoin prices.

“By enabling off-market betting, such financial instruments balance speculative activities and contribute to long-term market stability, which is critical to the maturity of the crypto sector and the acceptance of crypto as an established investment asset,” Tristan said. Frieza, founder of Zeta Markets, told Cointelegraph.

Hong Kong's crypto ETF listings have been expanding, with Ether even beating the US in listing the ETF space.

However, the number of interested cryptocurrency businesses is dwindling.

Most recently, HKX became the 13th exchange to withdraw or reject its license application from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).

Hong Kong securities watchdog Doug Hashkey and OSL allowed businesses to operate legally in the city.

Meanwhile, some other exchanges are coming back from the dead.

Bitforex, an exchange that the SFC identified as “suspicious” in March 2024, has re-emerged after five months of silence and hiatus.

In an X post on July 19, Bitforex revealed that its team had been detained and investigated by the police in China, which made the platform and users' assets inaccessible.

The exchange added that the platform is allowed to “reopen soon”, but services will be limited to withdrawals.

Seoul's $2M Crypto Drug Dealers Arrested in Dark Web Attack

South Korean police have arrested a group of 10 individuals for allegedly selling illegal drugs for crypto, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on July 24.

The group allegedly advertised their products on the dark web to customers in the Seoul metropolitan area from January to April 2024. Police also arrested 50 people suspected of selling and using drugs.

Authorities seized 38 pounds (17.2 kilograms) of marijuana and 205 cannabis plants, six types of drugs, including methamphetamine and LSD, with a total market value of $2 million (2.7 billion Korean won) in the case.

It is known that one of the arrested suspects is the provider of the suspected activity. Since April 2023, the supplier has been growing marijuana in greenhouses and containers in a remote mountain in the western part of the country in Cheungchengnam Province.

Over four months, the operation made approximately $18,600 (26 million won) in cryptocurrencies by distributing them to customers using a “throw method” in the metropolitan area.

The so-called drop method is one of the preferred drug disposal methods in South Korea, where the distributor leaves products at an agreed location and sends a confirmation image to the customer. The customer then picks up the item to complete the transaction without contacting the seller.

Under local laws, criminals involved in the sale of illegal drugs face a minimum sentence of five years in prison.

The country's drug control law states that repeat offenders will be “punished by death” or “imprisoned by force” for at least ten years. But the country has not carried out a single death sentence since 1997, and 59 people are still on death row.

Six of the ten suspects are known to be repeat offenders.

A subsidiary of the Chinese retail giant HKD has launched a stablecoin on the public blockchain

Jingdong Coinlink, a subsidiary of Chinese retail titan JD.com, has launched a Hong Kong-based dollar-peg stablecoin on a “public blockchain.”

In the year On July 18, Jingdong was listed as one of the participants in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's (HKMA) stable coin sandbox. The sandbox arrangement allows stablecoin issuers to conduct testing and issue potential regulatory requirements.

HMA, the city's central bank, has announced the stablecoin sandblasting program following the launch of a consultation paper on the regulation of stablecoin issuers.

HMA concluded the consultation paper that stablecoins should always be backed by reserve assets at all times which should be supported by monthly verifications verified by independent auditors.

He added that reserve assets should be “high-quality liquid assets” such as banknotes and coins, licensed bank deposits, marketable securities representing claims, overnight reverse repurchase agreements or versions of these assets.

Jingdong's website uses similar terms to describe its reserve assets: “highly liquid” and “highly reliable”.

India's crypto industry finds answer to tax cuts

India's crypto industry was disappointed after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman left out any mention of crypto in her budget speech on July 23.

The industry was pressured to reduce the nation's 0.01% to 1% cryptocurrency business tax, transactions levied on transactions (TDS), to.

The 1% TDS is levied on top of the 30% flat tax on crypto profits and has been blamed for 97% of trading on Indian exchanges ahead of its implementation in 2022.

CoinSwitch co-founder Ashish Singhal said in a statement: “We had hoped that the government would lower taxes to bring them in line with other asset classes.

“Unfortunately, that did not happen. It is a missed opportunity to encourage startups and investors in the crypto space.

Unocoin CEO Satvik Vishwanath told Cointelegraph that the 2024 budget is a sign that the government still doesn't see crypto as a serious business in India, compared to gambling and betting.

However, Vishwanath added that “it's not about if and when” domestic crypto tax cuts are a matter.

“Before we take a firm decision to reform taxation for the industry, our country needs rich countries to promote crypto, promote ETFs or make it a legal tender,” Vishwanath said.

Subscribe

A very engaging read in Blockchain. It is given once a week.

John Yun

Yohan Yun is a multimedia journalist who has been reporting on blockchain since 2017. He has contributed as an editor to crypto media outlet Forkast and covered Asian technology stories as an assistant reporter for Bloomberg BNA and Forbes. He spends his free time cooking and experimenting with new recipes.