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Thailand’s government has delayed the launch of a planned digital money program aimed at stimulating its economy, while opposition leaders call for a probe of the scheme. Thailand’s planned digital wallet scheme that intends to payout 10,000 baht (~$274) to citizens over 16 years old has been delayed while critics call for a probe from the country’s electoral commission. As originally reported by the Bangkok Post, Thailand’s deputy finance minister Julapun Amornvivat announced that the planned Feb. 2024 launch of a new digital wallet has been delayed to buy more time for the development of the system. The Thai government hopes to use the wallet to issue 10,000 baht to eligible citizens in a bid to stimulate the local economy. A statement from Amornvivat highlighted that the government wants more time to ensure the security of the system underpinning the digital grant wallet, while reaffirming its launch will still take place in the first quarter of 2024. Related: BTC price nears 202...

In June, the Virtual Asset Users Protection Act was ushered into existence without the necessary regulator y underpinning, as highlighted by the chief of South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service. The FSS of South Korea is actively formulating supplementary regulations to fortify the Virtual Asset Users Protection Act, ratified earlier in 2023, as per local reports. Anticipated to be finalized by January, these new regulations are poised to be in effect concurrent with the law’s enforcement, revealed the head of FSS. On October 17, the Political Affairs Committee of the South Korean National Assembly scrutinized the FSS, during which Lee Bok-hyeon, the head of FSS, responded to criticisms asserting that South Koreans were incurring losses due to crypto “burger coins” – a colloquial term denoting foreign-issued cryptocurrencies traded within South Korea. FSS is gearing up to institute criteria for listing processes, internal controls, and the issuance and distr...

The credential wallet will be provided as a browser extension and customers will be able to set it up without any prior knowledge of blockchain. Big Four accounting firm Deloitte has integrated blockchain technology to enable its customers to verify themselves with a single credential wallet, in an effort to streamline the “typically inefficient” verification processes. In a May 4 statement, Deloitte announced it has integrated with KILT blockchain, a Polkadot (DOT) parachain, to issue reusable digital credentials to streamline Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) verification processes. Establish a digital identity with Deloitte and keep control of your data, sharing only the data you want to share. We are launching a credential verifier, in partnership with @Kiltprotocol and @Polkadot. Applications opening soon. #KYC #Blockchain #Web3 https://t.co/NDkUf9XMqk — Deloitte Switzerland (@DeloitteCH) May 4, 2023 The integration is intended to enhance the efficien...

Join Our Telegram channel to stay up to date on breaking news coverage In the United Arab Emirates, free-trade zones are places where business owners own 100% of their companies and enjoy unique legal and tax structures. While the nation’s approach to the industry continues to draw in international crypto players, Ras Al Khaimah, one of the United Arab Emirate’s (UAE) seven Emirates, is getting ready to introduce a free zone for businesses dealing in digital and virtual assets. A “purpose-built, innovation-enabling free zone for unregulated operations in the virtual assets sector,” the RAK Digital Assets Oasis (RAK DAO) will be. The statement stated that applications would be available in the second quarter of 2023. The free zone will be reserved for companies that provide services for digital and virtual assets in cutting-edge fields like the metaverse, blockchain, utility tokens, virtual asset wallets, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomo...

Despite most of the cryptocurrency market being down 60% from all time highs, Demissie said the digital asset industry is “here to stay.” Michael Demissie, the head of digital assets at Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) is adamant that the cryptocurrency market fall in 2022 won’t waver institutional interest in digital assets.  At a conference run by Afore Consulting on Feb. 8, Demissie said the digital asset industry is “here to stay” as institutional investors have held a strong interest in crypto. "What we see is clients are absolutely interested in digital assets , broadly,” he said, according to a Feb. 8 report from Reuters. Demissie backed up his thoughts by referencing a survey conducted by BNY Mellon in October, 2022, which found that 91% of custodian bank clients are interested in investing in blockchain-based tokenized products. The survey also found that 86% of institutional players are adopting a “buy and hold” strategy, which may suggest that they see the crypt...