Asia Express – Cointelegraph Magazine

China protects NFTs

Surprisingly, the Chinese government has guaranteed legal protection for NFTs.

In response to a series of often conflicting judicial opinions on the status of cryptocurrencies in China, the Chinese government has officially released a legal commentary addressing instances of non-fungible token (NFT) theft and their status as virtual property protected by law.

Unlike ordinary online images, digital collectibles such as NFTs follow the characteristics of online virtual assets due to their tamper-proof nature, according to a November 9 publication by China’s state-run Southwest University of Political Science and Law (SUPL). Provides unique code and detailed transaction information.

“This highlights the scarcity of digital collections that have both use and exchange value,” the legal scholars wrote. “According to Article 127 of the Civil Law, from the perspective of the Civil Law, online virtual properties are considered ‘objects of rights different from property rights, creditor rights, intellectual property rights, etc.’ and are protected by the Civil Law.”

Additionally, legal scholars say NFT theft carries corresponding criminal penalties, which can be assessed alongside related crimes committed during the theft, such as hacking computer systems or data theft.

“Digital collections have technical characteristics that make them uncopyable, which indicates that the holder has exclusive control. If someone else steals a digital collection, the owner loses exclusive control,” say legal scholars at SUPL.

“Although our country has not yet opened the NFT secondary distribution market, consumers can complete tasks such as purchase, collection, transfer, and destruction through the transaction platform and obtain exclusive ownership, use, and disposal rights.”

In China, civil disputes related to cryptocurrency have increased this year. Some courts have ruled that virtual assets are protected by law, while others have ruled that they are not. Last month, China Daily, China’s state-run newspaper, announced a 2.813 million yuan ($390,000) grant to help third-party contractors design NFT platforms. Last May, Chinese prosecutors announced that they would crack down on ‘pseudo-innovation’ in the NFT market.

Bitget invests in India

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget plans to invest $10 million over five years in startups primarily based in India.

According to a November 7 announcement, startups will have the opportunity to pitch to venture capitalists including Bitget and Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Ventures, and Draper Labs at the BUIDL for Web3 Multichain Summit in India.

“Bitget aims to accelerate innovation in emerging technologies by identifying valuable and promising projects in the cryptocurrency space and providing comprehensive support,” the exchange says. To qualify, projects must have a minimum viable product and multiple layers of security features with audit transparency.

Gracy Chen, managing director at Bitget, said India is “the most desirable place to invest in Asia,” citing continued advancements in blockchain and overall entrepreneurship. The exchange’s previous investments in Indian Web3 startups include AI-based script generator Grease Pencil, AI resume generator HAIr and AI dermatology app Derma360.

Linekong’s $15 Million Bitcoin Fund

Linekong Interactive, a Chinese technology company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), plans to raise a $15 million fund to revitalize the Bitcoin (BTC) ecosystem.

Depending on the For founder Wang Feng, the new fund is called “BTC Next” and will accelerate new projects developing asset issuance, exchanges, virtual machines, NFTs and GameFi protocols on the Bitcoin blockchain.

“BTC NEXT will engage in the research and investment of Bitcoin network ecological assets as soon as possible, regularly publish crypto investment portfolios, and update the list of Bitcoin ecological crypto assets participating in investment,” Wang said. I wrote it.

The Bitcoin ecosystem expanded significantly this year with the invention of Ordinals and Inscriptions, two new data storage methods that allow users to create unique digital assets on the Bitcoin blockchain. The market capitalization of Bitcoin tokens issued according to the BRC-20 standard, which reflects the Ethereum ERC-20 standard, has exceeded $1.4 billion since its inception.

Linekong was founded in Beijing in 2007 with a focus on video games and movies. In 2018, Wang Feng resigned as CEO of Linekong to focus on blockchain and founded several projects in the non-fungible tokens, decentralized finance, and Bitcoin mining spaces. He returned to Linekong as CEO in 2022 after being invited by the company’s board of directors to better integrate Linekong products with Web3.

SEBA Bank Approval in Hong Kong

Swiss fintech SEBA Bank has received a license from Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).

This license allows SEBA Bank to conduct regulated activities in Hong Kong, distribute virtual asset-backed securities, advise on crypto assets, and manage crypto investment accounts on behalf of customers. SEBA Bank can also distribute, manage and advise on traditional securities such as stocks.

“Hong Kong has been at the heart of the cryptocurrency economy since the inception of Bitcoin, and we are very pleased to have received full approval from the SFC to add the Hong Kong license to our existing licenses in Switzerland (FINMA) and Abu Dhabi (FSRA). ” says SEBA Bank CEO Franz Bergmueller. Meanwhile, the company’s Asia Pacific CEO Amy Yu praised SFC for creating a “facilitating” environment during the licensing process.

Cointelegraph previously reported that SEBA Bank launched an institutional Ethereum staking service in September. In early 2022, the company raised $119 million in a Series C funding round.

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Jiyuan Line

Zhiyuan Sun is a journalist at Cointelegraph specializing in technology news. He has years of experience writing for major financial outlets such as The Motley Fool, Nasdaq.com, and Seeking Alpha.