What The FinTech #83: 6 Feb 2022
Medhy Souidi
?? AI, FinTech & Digital Banking Strategist | Gen AI, Payments & Web3 Innovation | Ecosystem & Partnerships Leader | ??? Industry Speaker & Podcast Host
Kung Hei Fat Choi??! Sun Nin Fai Lok!! Wishing all your loved ones and you a healthy, prosperous and joyous year of the Tiger! ??
Welcome back to?What The FinTech,?your regular FinTech & Innovation Newsletter focusing on Hong Kong & Asia ! Here are the selection and the top headlines for this week.
To stay fully updated with all the latest HK & Asia FinTech & banking news, insights & intelligence impacting the sector - click on the button "subscribe" next to the Title.
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What was the FinTech this week in:???
BLOCKCHAIN - CRYPTO - DIGITAL ASSETS - DE FI
Wormhole, a communication bridge between Solana and other decentralised-finance blockchain networks, was hit with one of the largest crypto heists on record. Hackers was said to have stolen about US$320 million in cryptocurrency. However, the cryptocurrency arm of Jump Trading said on Thursday it had restored more than $320 million to the crypto platform after the hack. Chicago-based Jump Trading acquired Certus One, the developer behind Wormhole, in August. The theft was the latest to hit the fast-growing but mostly unregulated DeFi sector.
America’s first blockchain-based stock exchange has received final approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). SEC has issued an order approving the creation of the Boston Security Token Exchange (BSTX) as a trading facility of BOX Exchange. BSTX, a joint venture of tZERO Group Inc. and BOX Digital, will become the first fully-automated, price/time priority execution exchange for trading securities that is both regulated by the SEC and leverages private blockchain technologies.??
President Vladimir Putin backs a Russian government proposal to tax and regulate mining of cryptocurrencies, rejecting the central bank’s proposal to ban it completely, according to people familiar with the matter. Putin supports the proposal, which would allow mining to continue, as Russia has many regions with a surplus of electricity, including Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk and Karelia. A Kremlin spokesperson declined to say what Putin’s stance was and said that the president ordered the government and central bank to work out their differences. The central bank continues to oppose mining on environmental grounds and because it creates incentives to bypass regulations, its press service said in a response to questions.?
McDonald's is heralding the Lunar New Year with a metaverse activation designed with Opening Ceremony co-founder Humberto Leon. Billed as the burger chain's first cross-media collaboration, the virtual space celebrating the Year of the Tiger showcases Leon's elaborate zodiac sculptures, which take inspiration from Chinese cork carving dioramas and 3D wood puzzles. Visitors can receive horoscope readings based on their zodiac signs while exploring a venue arranged by Cliff Tan, an architect who applies feng shui principles to imbue interiors with feel-good energy.
HONG KONG
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority issued a joint circular on Friday, 28 January, giving the financial-services industry the green light to do crypto business. For licensed institutions that have been nervous about handling assets without regulatory clarity, the message from Hong Kong’s two key regulators means such fears can be put to rest. The circular opens the door to banks and brokers to offer digital-asset trading services to professional investors. They can do so in two ways: through an omnibus account (in which assets trade in the institution’s name), or as an introducing broker. Institutions must ensure crypto products are suitable for clients, whether they are selling (distributing) or advising on them. The SFC/HKMA circular says VA products should be considered complex products, and therefore unsuited to retail.
领英推荐
Bank of America Corp. named Robert Chiu as Asia vice chairman of its investment banking business, adding to a string of recent hires in the city amid questions over its appeal as financial hub. Chiu rejoins the bank after 10 years and will relocate from Shanghai. The bank has boosted its client-facing roles in Hong Kong by about 10% in the past 12 months. The front-office headcount in investment banking increased more than 20% in the period, asking not to be identified because the information is confidential. The bank has more than 1,800 staff in Hong Kong.
SINGAPORE
Several banks here have reported a rapid rise in e-hongbaos (electronic red packets) given out during Chinese New Year over the last couple of years, amid growing consciousness about sustainability and Covid-19 safe distancing measures. To encourage the use of e-hongbaos, banks are also rolling out more features so that customers can personalise their gifts. Hongbaos filled with money are usually gifted to family and friends during Chinese New Year as a token of one’s good wishes. While some felt it was a safer and more convenient alternative to a physical hongbao during the Covid-19 pandemic, others felt that it took away from the tradition associated with the new year. Standard Chartered introduced e-hongbaos three years ago, transaction figures have doubled from 2019 to 2020, and tripled from 2020 to 2021. The rise is in line with the cashless lifestyle that its clients are adopting.
CHINA
Shopify, the Canadian e-commerce platform has linked up with the Chinese retail giant JD.com to facilitate cross-border commerce between the US and China. The joint partnership will help international brands on Shopify set up their own storefronts on JD.com and allow them to access JD’s source network of dropshipping merchants. Meanwhile, JD.com will also help Chinese brands set up their own DTC channels through Shopify, a move that will bring more domestic brands abroad. The collaboration will link Shopify’s millions of merchants worldwide with JD.com’s 550 million active customers in China. Shopify does not currently have servers in China, but its sites are still accessible through a VPN (unfortunately offering a much poorer user experience with slow-loading websites). Meanwhile, the e-commerce platform involves integrating third-party apps to use the additional features, making most sites and their resources (e.g. images, YouTube videos, Instagram content, analytics, etc.) inaccessible due to China’s censored internet. hopify currently gets used by millions of merchants, popular independent brands, and start-ups due to its easy-to-use platform.
China is betting that a requirement for companies that provide deepfake services to verify the identities of their users could shut down the potentially disruptive technology. The “Internet Information Service Deep Synthesis Management Regulations” proposed by the Cyberspace Administration of China promised to regulate technologies that generate or manipulate images, audio, video or text with face swap and image enhancement. Under the regulation, deepfake service providers must verify the identities of their customers prior to giving them to products. In addition, companies are also expected to “respect social morality and ethics, adhere to the correct political direction, public opinion orientation, and value orientation, and promote deep synthesis services to be upward and good,”
ASIA
Thailand is preparing rules for the setting up of virtual banks, set to join peers including Singapore and Malaysia in promoting financial technology to spur competition and wider access to banking services. The Bank of Thailand (BOT) plans to issue the guidelines for digital banks by June and may allow existing lender and new applicants to seek licences. The central bank also plans to scrap a limit on investment by commercial banks in financial technology, except digital assets, as well as finalise guidelines to steer the financial sector to incorporate environmental risk assessment into business operations and support the transition of companies away from unsustainable activities.?
India on Tuesday announced plans to launch a digital currency by next year and tax cryptocurrencies and NFTs as the country moves closer to recognizing cryptocurrencies as legal tender in the world’s second largest internet market. Income from the transfer of any virtual assets will be taxed at 30%. To capture details of all such crypto transactions, a 1% tax deduction at source on payments made related to purchase of virtual assets is proposed. The proposal comes at a time when the purchase of cryptocurrencies and NFTs are quickly making inroads in India despite regulatory uncertainty in the nation.?
Sultan Gustaf Al Ghozali’s, the Indonesian student minted 933 photographs of himself as NFTs and put them up for sale on OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace. Within two weeks, the total traded volume of his images hit ETH 387, the equivalent of USD 945,000. Some NFT creators have even minted images of their identification cards, inadvertently putting sensitive personal information like their names and addresses online. One particular creator even posted a caption accompanying his NFT that read, “I need money, so I sell my own ID card.” In the wake of this frenzy, dubbed the “Ghozali effect” by Indonesian netizens, the country’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (KOMINFO) announced that it will work with OpenSea to block access to NFTs that are in violation of Indonesian law. It will supervise NFT transactions in the country and take legal action against internet users who disseminate content such as those that breach personal data privacy regulations and intellectual property rights on NFT marketplaces.
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Digital Investment & WealthTech | Strategy, Innovation & Transformation
3 年The wave of virtual banks continues. Thailand poised the join the global rush for virtual banks, after Singapore and Malaysia in SEA region! Thanks for sharing!
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3 年Appreciate you sharing this
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3 年Thanks for super super relevant content Medhy Souidi .. I enjoy your posts . Keep enriching the readers ????