Crypto LVL

2023-07-29 16:01:49 Halogen Capital Launched by Jirnexu Founders to Make Crypto Investing Mainstream in Malaysia

Malaysia’s newest crypto fund management firm, Halogen Capital, has been launched by the entrepreneurs behind the local fintech player Jirnexu. The new firm already offers a spot Bitcoin (BTC) fund and a lower-risk Income Fund denominated in Malaysian ringgit, with a spot Ethereum (ETH) fund coming soon.

The firm also offers custom-designed investment portfolios as a solution to certain private clients, according to its website.

All of the funds are Shariah compliant, and are open to both retail and institutional investors.Halogen Capital’s founders are Hann Liew and Lucas Ooi, two Malaysian nationals who have previously founded the local fintech firm Jirnexu. Liew has been designated as the company’s CEO, while Ooi will act as chief business officer.

News of the new fund was first shared in a LinkedIn post by Hann Liew on Wednesday, where the founder pointed out that he has followed crypto more closely over the past several years.

“We've just soft launched in July 2023 with the initial goal of making crypto investing easily accessible to institutional and individual investors, providing access and professional management through familiar traditional structures such as mutual funds, managed portfolios and hopefully ETFs soon,” Liew wrote. Open / Comment

2023-07-26 15:30:41 Wall Street Grapples with Crypto Custody: Nasdaq's Decision Sparks Activity

A decision by the Nasdaq stock exchange to shelf its plans to launch a crypto custody service has led other US firms to also reconsider their planned push into crypto.

Following the Nasdaq news, major investment bank Citigroup is now also taking time to rethink its approach to crypto, with Bloomberg reporting on Monday that the bank is “reviewing its partnership” with Swiss crypto custody software provider Metaco.

At the same time, State Street, another major US asset manager, has axed its deal with the London-based crypto custody provider Copper Technologies, Bloomberg said.

As with Nasdaq’s decision to move away from crypto, regulatory uncertainty in the US is believed to be a major reason for the firms to distance themselves from the nascent industry.

However, some things are also moving forward in the relationships between traditional finance and crypto-native firms. In Europe, French banking giant Societe Generale has been granted a license by the country’s regulator that will allow it to offer crypto custody services. Open / Comment

2023-07-23 18:00:45 Crypto Exchange FTX and Alameda Seek to Retrieve $71 Million from Philanthropic and Life Science Entities

Defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX and its sister company Alameda Research are seeking clawbacks from FTX's philanthropic arm and other life science entities.

According to court documents filed on Wednesday, the firms are seeking to recover more than $71 million that was allegedly diverted from the FTX Foundation and “Latona” – a “sham non-profit company organized in the Bahamas” – for ex-FTX boss Sam Bankman Fried (SBF)’s personal aggrandizement and political influence.

Lawyers representing FTX and Alameda Research argued that the funds were transferred to life science companies, including Lumen Bioscience Inc. and Platform Life Sciences Inc., purportedly to support “effective altruism” – a philosophy often espoused by SBF before his empire came crashing down.

The philosophy advocates for the redistribution of wealth from wealthy individuals to those in need. However, FTX’s lawyers claim that the true intention behind these transactions was far from philanthropic.

“Bankman-Fried in fact pursued these transactions because he believed that doing so would generate goodwill and amass political capital and influence for himself," the lawyers said in the filing. Open / Comment

2023-07-20 17:01:15 Financial Services Giant Societe Generale Secures First French Crypto License For Its Crypto Division

French banking giant Societe Generale’s crypto arm has received a full Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) license from the country’s financial regulator Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF).

SG Forge, the bank’s digital asset division, has become the first entity to obtain a crypto permit in the country, allowing it to offer services including crypto custody, trading and sales as of July 18, according to an update on AMF’s website.

Although crypto exchanges like Binance, Voyager and Bitstamp have registered with the French financial watchdog, SG Forge has so far been the first and only company to receive a DASP license.

This is because AMF clearly differentiates between registration and licensing of digital asset service providers in France. In order to obtain a license, “you must comply with certain requirements in terms of organization, financial resources and business conduct,” the regulator noted.

This suggests that licensing demonstrates more significant compliance with AMF’s regulatory requirements, than registration. The DASP license is the “highest level of regulatory certification currently possible” for crypto-related activities, the company press release said. Open / Comment

2023-07-17 17:02:31 Cathie Wood's Ark Invest Sells $53 Million Coinbase Shares Amid Record Highs

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest sold 478,356 Coinbase shares valued at $53 million on Friday as the crypto exchange’s stock prices reached a 52-week high. This is the second time Cathie Wood-led investment management firm offloaded Coinbase shares within a week.

As reported earlier, Ark Invest sold 135,152 Coinbase shares worth $12 million on July 11 from the Ark Innovation ETF. On July 14, Ark Invest sold 478,356 shares of Coinbase when the price of stock reached an yearly high of $114.43, as per an update from the fund manager's trading desk.

The investment management firm’s Ark Next Generation Internet ETF sold 93,227 shares, ARK Innovation ETF sold 263,247 and Ark Fintech Innovation ETF sold 121,882 shares. In total, the sales were worth $53 million, based on the COIN’'s closing price of around $110 on Friday. Open / Comment

2023-07-13 18:01:47 IMF Highlights Climate Change and DAOs as Major Threats to the Marshall Islands

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has identified climate change and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) as potential threats to the Republic of Marshall Islands. Therefore, the IMF urges reforms in light of these challenges.

On July 9, the IMF published its disclosure titled "Republic of the Marshall Islands: Concluding Statement of the 2023 Article IV Consultation Mission" following the completion of its annual consultation with the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI).

According to the IMF, the country is expected to experience an economic recovery, rebounding from the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the decline in its fishing industry. The organization concluded that the RMI's GDP is set to grow, with a projected increase of 3% in real terms for the fiscal year 2023.

Despite this positive outlook, the IMF identified climate change and DAOs as ongoing threats to the nation. These factors continue to pose significant challenges and risks to the economy and overall development of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Open / Comment

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Mint is LIVE Open / Comment

2023-07-10 21:02:26 Sega Admits Crypto Games ‘Aren’t Fun to Play’

A top executive at the gaming giant Sega says “play to earn crypto games” are “no fun” to play, and could reel in its blockchain gaming ambitions. The firm has previously explored the notion of using NFTs in gaming and has signed blockchain partnership deals with a number of notable domestic crypto and gaming firms.

But, per Bloomberg and CoinPost, Sega’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Shuji Utsumi waded into the crypto gaming controversy, stating: “The action in play-to-earn [P2E] games is boring. What’s the point if games are no fun?”

The COO admitted that Sega was now “looking into whether this technology” was “really going to take off in this industry after all.” The media outlet noted that “fans of Sonic and Yakuza can rest assured that characters from those games will not be popping up on NFT marketplaces any time soon.”

Blockchain gaming has become a sensitive topic among gamers, who have thus far expressed disdain for titles that incorporate elements of crypto and blockchain. Open / Comment

2023-07-07 21:02:34 Russian Ministry Proposes ‘Crypto Ban’ – But Miners & Stablecoin Issuers May Be Safe

The Russian finance ministry has reportedly proposed banning the circulation of crypto in the nation, but wants to make exceptions for stablecoin issuers and crypto miners. Per Frank Media, sources “familiar with the matter” told the news agency Interfax that the proposals could be bundled with the much-delayed crypto mining legalization bill, and have already been drafted.

The ministry wants to press ahead with legislation that would officially allow industrial miners to operate in the country. Russia’s crypto mining sector is already highly advanced, due mainly to the nation’s rich energy resources and cold winter climate.

But mining is not currently recognized as a legal form of business, nor can it be taxed accordingly. And it hopes the mining bill will be passed by the State Duma soon. But it has been hampered by the crypto-skeptic Central Bank.

The bank wants to blanket-ban “private” cryptoassets like Bitcoin (BTC). In recent months, the bank has suggested it is ready to compromise on some aspects of its stance. And it has reluctantly given the go-ahead to trade firms who use crypto to evade sanctions. Open / Comment

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TG Group | Website Open / Comment