Today in Crypto: Coinbase to Close Down Most Japanese Operations, Voyager Granted Initial Approval to Sell Assets to Binance.US, Ledger Integrates ‘Cometh Battle’ Card Game

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Sead Fadilpašić

Journalist

Sead Fadilpašić

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Sead specializes in writing factual and informative articles to help the public navigate the ever-changing world of crypto. He has extensive experience in the blockchain industry, where he has served...

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Last updated:

June 26, 2023 06:55 EDT

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Exchange news

• Coinbase will be closing down most of its operations in Japan as part of its efforts to survive the crypto winter, Bloomberg reported. The vice president for business development Nana Murugesan said in an interview: “We’ve decided to wind down the majority of our operations in Japan, which led to eliminating most of the roles in our Japan entity.”
• Huobi clarified that it has no relationship with Huobi Korea. The statement said that “in response to media reports related to Huobi Korea’s share change, Huobi responded that Huobi Korea is not a subsidiary of Huobi, and its shares belong to the former Huobi Global’s shareholders and have no relationship with Huobi. […] Huobi has no relationship with Huobi Korea and is unaware of their upcoming plans in the region.”
• Bitvavo has rejected an offer by Digital Currency Group (DCG) to pay part of the $297 million owed by its crypto lending subsidiary Genesis. The statement said that “we received a (counter)proposal from DCG offering to refund at least ±70% of the outstanding amount in a period acceptable to Bitvavo. The residual amount is still under discussion with DCG as they are only willing to repay part of it within a period acceptable to Bitvavo. As creditors, the latter is not acceptable because DCG has sufficient funds available for full repayment.”
• CoinGabbar, a third-party platform that tracks crypto assets, released WazirX’s proof-of-reserves report, showing that some 91% of its user assets was held in Binance wallets. WazirX had $284.5 million of total user assets, of which $258.08 million was held in Binance wallets.
• Bitget launched the Fund Custody service for professional investors and institutions, which “will provide dedicated wallets to qualified accounts to maximize protection of customers’ funds on the platform,” said the press release. To be qualified, users will have to store equal to or more than USDT 100,000 worth of combined assets on the platform, and once the application is approved, the user will be assigned a separate custodial wallet, with its own address to check and withdraw funds separated from the main reserve. The exchange also released the latest snapshot of its Merkle tree Proof of Reserves to “reassure users that their assets are held in 1:1 reserves,” it added.

Legal news

• Defunct crypto broker Voyager has been granted initial court approval to sell some of its assets to Binance.US in a proposed deal worth $1.022 billion. Per the court filing, Voyager can enter into an asset purchase agreement and hold a vote among its creditors on the sale, but the deal will not be final until a court hearing is held in March.

Gaming news

• Web3 Studio Cometh announced the integration of Cometh Battle, a blockchain free-to-play tactical card game, within Ledger via Ledger Live. Per a press release, Cometh Battle is the first blockchain game on Ledger Live, and the integration will allow worldwide users to access the game directly from the Ledger Live app. The Genesis Season, which includes over 230 cards with a growing card library and new features to enhance the gameplay, has attracted over 20,000 players and has played over 600,000 games, it added.

DeFi news

• BitDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), announced the launch of the public testnet “Wadsley” for Mantle, a modular Ethereum (ETH) layer-2 blockchain designed for hyper-scalability, said a press release. It “aims to accelerate the adoption of web3 technology by providing high performance and low costs without sacrificing security,” it added. The testnet is named after mineralogist Arthur David Wadsley, the namesake of the wadsleyite layer in Earth’s mantle.
• Hacken, a Web3 cybersecurity audit company, officially confirmed the launch of its DAO, which per the announcement is the first company from this sector to do so. hDAO members will get governance rights to define the organization’s future by proposing cybersecurity initiatives and participating in decision-making by voting with HAI, said an announcement. Treasury reserves, also called hDAO members’ funds, will be allocated by Hacken to support trust-improving activities for the proper internal products and to finance promising cybersecurity initiatives.

Investment news

• Financial platform Structure.fi announced a long-term strategic partnership with Quai Network, a Proof-of-Work Layer 1 network of blockchains, said the press release. The partnership with Quai will help improve the speed, security, and stability of all on-chain transactions on the Structure platform, it added, while Quai Network’s native token, QUAI, will be listed on Structure.fi in the coming months.