BeInCrypto’s Asia Crypto Roundup dives into the area’s most vital updates and advancements. Covering crucial markets like China, South Korea, Japan, and Singapore, our roundup uses insights into Asia’s regulative shifts, blockchain developments, significant job launches, and market patterns.
Last week’s significant occasions consistof Story Protocol’s effective $80 million series B financing round and Dubai’s legal judgment that acknowledges cryptocurrency payments for wages.
Bitpanda and RAKBANK Partner to Boost UAE’s Crypto Access
On August 19, Bitpanda Technology Solutions (BTS) and The National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah (RAKBANK) settled an contract to boost digital property gainaccessto in the UAE. This cooperation will makeitpossiblefor UAE locals to handle numerous digital possessions safely. The collaboration is a tactical relocation that permits banks to takepart in the virtual possession economy without establishing in-house abilities.
In this effort, Bitpanda Broker MENA DMCC’s functional approval and licensing by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) are vital. Similarly, RAKBANK should acquire approval from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE).
Read more: Top 9 Safest Crypto Exchanges in 2024
Korean Founder Secures $80 Million from Andreessen Horowitz
On August 21, endeavor capitalist Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) revealed leading an $80 million series B financing round for PIP Labs, the designer of Story Protocol. The financing likewise saw involvement from Polychain Capital and significant financiers like HYBE creator Bang Si-hyuk and Paris Hilton. This financialinvestment moves PIP Labs’ assessment at over $2.2 billion.
Story Protocol is a blockchain start-up that assists developers safeguard their intellectual home (IP). It intends to produce sustainable profits in an period where AI-driven copyright theft is endingupbeing significantly widespread.
Furthermore, it offers developers with a platform to register their IP, set use terms, and get payment for their work. These will successfully secure their developments from unapproved AI use.
“We think that all intellectual and innovative works can fall under the classification of IP, and all of them are going to face significant modifications in this brand-new age of AI. […] Story is attempting to resolve a issue of how IP will be generatedincomefrom when the whole web is being scraped by these AI designs,” Jason Zhao, Chief Protocol Officer and co-founder of the PIP Labs, stated.
Zhao, a previous item supervisor at Google’s AI laboratory DeepMind, co-founded PIP Labs with Lee Seung-Yoon, a South Korean businessowner who offered his mobile fiction platform, Radish, for $374 million in2021 Together, they bring deep proficiency in the tech and imaginative markets to Story Protocol.
The company has currently drewin over 200 entities to register over 20 million intellectual residentialorcommercialproperties on the platform. Story Protocol is tailoring up for its mainnet launch to endedupbeing a foundation for future web material production and moneymaking.
Dubai Recognizes Crypto as Legitimate Salary Payment
The Dubai Court of First Instance has justrecently acknowledged cryptocurrency payments for incomes under work agreements. The judgment was based on Article 912 of the UAE Civil Transactions Law and the Federal Decree-Law No. (33) of2021 It highlights the value of maintaining clear legal arrangements, supplied they lineup with public policy and law.
This judgment contrasts with a previous choice in 2023, where a comparable claim was rejected due to the complainant’s failure to offer a accurate evaluation of the digital currency included.
The current case included a wrongful termination and unsettled incomes claim. The complainant’s work agreement stated a wage in fiat currency and extra payment in EcoWatt tokens, a kind of cryptocurrency.
The company argued that the crypto payments were not lawfully enforceable. Still, the court ruled in favor of the staffmember. It verified the payment in EcoWatt tokens rather than transforming them into fiat currency.
Malaysia Cracks Down on Illegal Bitcoin Mining
Following a court order, on August 19, Malaysian authorities ruined 985 Bitcoin mining makers worth around $452,500. The devices, took throughout enforcement operations from 2022 to April 2023, were squashed with a steamroller in the Perak Tengah district.
This action came after the arrest of 7 people included in unlawful Bitcoin mining operations that supposedly took electricalenergy to power their activities. The thinks were apprehended independently last week, consistingof 3 regional locals and 4 foreign nationals.
Sepang District Police Chief ACP Wan Kamarul Azran Wan Yusof specified that these people had no previous criminal records, however their unlawful activities had triggered considerable losses to the nation. The authorities quote Malaysia lost as much as 3.4 billion Malaysian ringgits ($757 million) inbetween 2018 and 2023 due to electricalenergy theft connected to Bitcoin mining.
Deputy Energy Transition and Water Tran