India considering ban on new cryptocurrencies to support CBDC, Lazarus Group strikes again: Asia Express

Concerns over India Bitcoin and cryptocurrency ban resurface

Indian regulators are reportedly reconsidering a ban on cryptocurrencies.

According to local media outlet Hindustan Times, the government has been consulting with experts who support a ban on cryptocurrencies in support of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

The news outlet, citing two anonymous sources familiar with the matter, reported the consensus view that the risks of cryptocurrencies outweigh the benefits.

One of the anonymous sources stated that CBDCs can do “everything that cryptocurrencies can do” and offer many more benefits.

India’s cryptocurrency sector has often faced regulatory restrictions imposed by local authorities.

In 2018, the RBI banned financial institutions from providing services to cryptocurrency companies, a decision that was later overturned by the Supreme Court.

A bill has been proposed to ban cryptocurrencies once again in 2021. However, in 2022, instead of enforcing an outright ban, the government introduced one of the heaviest cryptocurrency tax regimes in the world.

Cryptocurrency traders in India are subject to a 30% tax on their cryptocurrency income, with an additional 1% tax on each transaction. India’s CBDC, known as Digital Rupee, is currently in the pilot phase.

Retail test users reached 5 million, according to India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India.

Autopsy again suspects Lazarus, linking BingX hack to Indodax exploit

According to MistTrack, the recent hacks of Asian exchanges BingX and Indodax were linked due to the attackers’ use of a common address.

Security experts previously identified North Korean state hacking group Lazarus as a suspect in the $22 million Indodax hack last September.

Now, according to blockchain tracking, the Lazarus Group is also the main suspect in the BingX attack.

North Korean hackers have been implicated in some of the largest cyberattacks of the year, two of which targeted Asian cryptocurrency exchanges.

Japan’s DMM Bitcoin lost $305 million in May, while India’s WazirX lost $235 million in July.

WazirX has been at the center of controversy over the past week, after being accused of carrying out a ‘disinformation campaign’ by its storage partner Liminal. WazirX is accused of causing the breach.

$13 million in user funds trapped in Korean cryptocurrency exchange graveyard

South Korea’s cryptocurrency exchange licensing requirements have caused 14 domestic exchanges to close or cease operations.

According to data provided by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) to Rep. Kang Min-guk, more than 33,000 customers of these now-defunct exchanges did not receive back 17.8 billion won (about $13 million) in fiat and cryptocurrency.

Representative Kang said during the National Assembly audit on October 24 that it is expected that more exchanges will be closed due to strict local regulations, making it difficult to raise additional funds.

The domestic industry’s self-regulatory body, known as the Digital Asset Exchange Association, established a foundation with the blessing of the FSC to return funds to users through a voluntary system.

Kang has been critical of the voluntary model, telling local media from his office that it is absurd.

The FSC’s handling of the cryptocurrency industry has come under harsh criticism from lawmakers during the national audit, which typically lasts about three weeks in October.

They accused the committee of favoring Upbit and allowing it to achieve a monopoly while putting other exchanges out of business.

One lawmaker likened the FSC’s alleged actions to the children’s game ‘Squid Game’, made popular by the popular Netflix series. In the show, contestants are killed until only one remains.

Assassin’s Creed developer creates blockchain game.

Ubisoft, the gaming giant behind popular titles like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry, entered the blockchain gaming space with the launch of its first Web3 game, Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles, on Japanese blockchain Oasys on October 23.

This turn-based role-playing game allows players to battle others using non-fungible token (NFT) characters on Oasys, a blockchain specifically designed for gaming.

Oasys has already attracted major gaming companies such as Sonic the Hedgehog creator Sega and Pac-Man creator Bandai Namco.

The game is supported by a specialized scaling network known as “Verses”.

The project recently received support from Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings, which pledged to expand Web3 gaming in Asia.

Ubisoft’s entry into the Web3 space further strengthens the growth momentum of blockchain gaming following the success of Off The Grid, a game with optional blockchain elements on the Avalanche subnet Gunz.

But Off The Grid has taken a different approach, ignoring the cryptocurrency and NFT components and even distancing itself from the labels.

“Off The Grid is not an NFT game. A battle royale game with optional NFT elements. If you want to try out NFTs, here’s what you can do: If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. How the game is played is entirely up to the player, and the game can be played without being immersed in NFTs,” the FAQ page states.

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Yoon Yohan

Yohan Yoon is a multimedia journalist covering blockchain since 2017. He has contributed as an editor to Forkast, a cryptocurrency media outlet, and has covered Asian technology stories as an assistant reporter for Bloomberg BNA and Forbes. He spends his free time cooking and experimenting with new recipes.