Ryze Ledger Edition 4
Ryze Labs Monthly Update: Delivering the latest insights and trends in crypto, straight to your inbox. In this edition, we celebrate the New Chinese Year with a focus on China and Asia.
Contents
What to Expect
Market Overview
Spotlight: OpenTrade
Regulatory Updates
Ryze Labs Portfolio News
Emerging Markets Focus
1. What to Expect
In this fourth edition of the Ryze Ledger, we cast the spotlight on OpenTrade's transformative approach to credit markets through decentralized technologies.
Our regulatory updates cover South Korea's dialogue with the U.S. SEC on Bitcoin ETFs, Ripple's court-ordered financial disclosures, and Binance navigating new UK marketing rules.
You'll find the latest achievements of our portfolio companies, from Blocklords' user engagement success to Nyan Heroes' innovative Play-to-Airdrop campaign, and much more.
We also examine the burgeoning developments in emerging markets, including Thailand's crypto-friendly policies, China's digital yuan initiatives, and significant policy moves in Hong Kong that shape the future of the online new economy.
2. Market Overview
Bitcoin (BTC) has seen a modest increase of 0.51% over the last 30 days, hinting at stability in its valuation.
Ethereum (ETH) has exhibited a healthier growth of 6.92%, possibly influenced by the prospects of an Ethereum spot ETF following Bitcoin's ETF approval.
Solana (SOL), showing resilience and growth potential, has recorded an 8.28% rise, outperforming several other major tokens, once again.
All data as of Thursday, February 8, 2024.
3. Spotlight: OpenTrade - Pioneering Decentralized Credit Markets
As we venture deeper into the digital age, OpenTrade stands at the forefront of financial innovation, challenging traditional credit markets with a decentralized, internet-native framework. Launched with the vision to make financial services more inclusive and transparent, OpenTrade offers a platform where institutional borrowers and investors can seamlessly exchange credit across private and public markets.
OpenTrade's platform is engineered to empower fintechs and institutional investors, providing a suite of tools that facilitate the lending of tokenized financial assets. With initial products catering to structured credit for real-world assets, OpenTrade is setting the stage for a new era in treasury management and yield generation.
At the helm, CEO Dave Sutter brings a wealth of experience from the intersection of blockchain and financial markets, having contributed to significant projects like Centre and the Marco Polo Network. Alongside him, Chief Commercial Officer Jeff Handler leverages his deep expertise in blockchain implementations across finance and technology sectors.
OpenTrade's commitment to reshaping the credit landscape is underpinned by its integration with Ethereum and Polygon, and a focus on multi-chain interoperability. The platform's extension into non-EVM chains promises a more connected and efficient future for financial communication.
In a world where financial transactions are evolving rapidly, OpenTrade's initiative presents a compelling narrative of progress, security, and efficiency.
4. Regulatory Updates
1. South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) is set to discuss the potential for a spot Bitcoin ETF with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)..
2. Ripple has been ordered by a judge to turn over financial statements, which could offer insights into the company's operations and financial health.
3. Binance's efforts to restart its UK business are facing challenges due to new marketing rules in the country.
4. Hong Kong's finance firm VSFG plans to apply for a spot Ethereum ETF in the second quarter, following the expected launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF.
5. Hong Kong is preparing to release a consultation on the regulation of over-the-counter (OTC) crypto venues.
5. Ryze Labs Portfolio News
Blocklords has just distributed 300k $LRDS to the early players of the game. The game is showing phenomenal 10+k of daily active users.
Nyan Heroes has announced the Play to Airdrop campaign incentivizing the early adopters of the game to test it out. You can add it to your wishlist on the Epic Games Store here.
150 projects use Pyth as an Oracle provider!
You can try out Texture’s new Borrow/Lending product here.
Vybe has started accepting beta users for their API product - reach out to the team if you want to try it out.
Atomic Form’s Proof of Exhibition is getting traction and more and more artists have been blockchain to prove offchain history to onchain assets.
XDEFI has announced the 2024 roadmap - their gas tank idea is removing one more obstacle on the road to omnichain world.
Using pStake you can liquid-stake your DyDx tokens.
Clearpool has launched its product on Mantle chain - there is a boosted yield campaign to try out.
Ondo Finance, which specializes in tokenized securities, is expanding to the Asia-Pacific region, aiming to cater to the region's demand for U.S. asset exposure through tokenized products.
6. Emerging Markets Focus
Thailand's SEC has introduced crypto-friendly regulations in 2024, easing the path for crypto business operations in the country
Shanghai is set to launch significant digital yuan pilot projects as part of a modernization plan for the Pudong New Area, bolstering China's CBDC initiative.
Telefónica has partnered with Helium to deploy mobile hotspots across Mexico, leveraging blockchain technology for expanded connectivity.
A stablecoin sandbox in Hong Kong has attracted significant interest from China's Harvest Global, indicating growing institutional engagement with digital assets.
The Hong Kong SFC once again reminded that if a virtual asset trading platform operating in Hong Kong fails to submit a license application to the Securities and Futures Commission on or before February 29, 2024, it will have to end its business in Hong Kong on or before May 31, 2024.
The SFC official website shows that Bybit applied for a Hong Kong virtual asset trading platform license on January 31, 2024. The trading platform is called Spark Fintech Limited. There are currently 14 companies on the applicant list.
The Shanghai Municipal People's Government is implementing policies to foster the healthy development of the online new economy. This initiative includes encouraging tech enterprises to engage in Web3 advancements, such as smart contracts and digital identity authentication, and to create distributed applications for various business uses. These efforts are coordinated by the Municipal Economic and Informatization Commission and the Municipal Science and Technology Commission.
The Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration of China issued a notice titled "Notice on the Preferential Tax Policies for Corporate Income Tax in the Shenzhen Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation zone for technology and innovation." According to the notice, eligible encouraged industries located in specific enclosed areas within the Shenzhen Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation zone for technology and innovation will be subject to a reduced corporate income tax rate of 15%. This policy also includes blockchain technology-related enterprises.
The Ministry of Finance of Thailand announced the exemption of value-added tax (VAT) on digital asset transactions to promote Thailand as a center for digital assets. Paopoom Rojanasakul, Secretary to the Minister of Finance, stated that the ministry aims to promote digital assets as a new alternative fundraising tool.
Authorities hope that this move will support the growth of the digital asset industry in Thailand and provide the necessary impetus for the country's digital economy in the near future. Therefore, they have chosen to suspend the 7% VAT on cryptocurrency and digital token trading income. The VAT exemption came into effect on January 1, 2024, with no expiration date.
Crypto custody company BitGo obtained in-principle approval from Singapore’s top financial regulator for a Major Payment Institution license through its local entity.