Circle invests in JPYC; Baby Shark NFTs announced

Transcript

Circle’s latest stablecoin investment has our newsroom buzzing today.

Welcome to The Daily Forkast November 16, 2021. I’m Angie Lau, Editor-in-Chief of Forkast.News covering all things blockchain.

Well, Circle, issuer of the second largest stablecoin by market cap, the USD Coin is going to invest in a Japanese yen backed stablecoin. We’re going to take a look at Japan’s crypto ecosystem and a whole lot more coming up.

Let’s get you up to speed from Asia to the world.

Well, let’s kick off with some of the top stories coming out of Asia today.

China has seen yet another fraud case involving the digital yuan. Local media reported that the victim received a call saying she was engaged in a fraud case and then was asked for her bank account information.

By the way, never get that out.

Using that data, the fraudsters set up an e-CNY wallet in her name and filled it with over 300,000 yuan. That’s almost US$50,000 from her bank account and then transferred it into their own digital wallet.

The police have since detained one person in the eastern province of Shandong on suspicion of facilitating money laundering through the e-CNY for an overseas fraud ring.

Over in the Philippines while the number of Axie Infinity players continue to grow, pay is stagnating. According to a report from Naavik – a gaming advisory firm, that growth rate has now declined for a third consecutive month and earnings are falling.

55% percent of all Axie players are based in the country. But while one high ranking player told Forkast.News he was able to earn US$20,000 a month from the game back in July, the earnings of a typical player have now fallen below the minimum daily wage level in the Philippines of just US$7 a day.

Puts into question the sustainability of this model.

And you can find more on those stories at Forkast.News.

Over in Japan, Circle Ventures, the venture capital arm of the issuer of the world’s second biggest stablecoin, has invested in a Series A funding round for JPYC, the issuer of a Japanese yen backed stablecoin.

It comes at a busy time for Circle, which is also establishing a regional hub in Singapore.

Forkast.News Lachlan Keller reports on what such an investment could mean for Japan’s crypto ecosystem.

Circle Ventures contributed to the 500 million yen, or almost US$4.5 million Series A funding round, which JPYC says it intends to use to increase its position as a stablecoin issuer by improving operational and developmental capabilities.

A stablecoin has its value pegged to an underlying asset, with the two current leading stablecoins in the world USDC and USDC, both pegged to the US dollar. The pair share a total market cap of over US$100 billion between them.

And while the JPC has not reached a market cap anywhere close to that. One expert told Forkast.News having a stablecoin based in Yen is a great advantage for Asian investors.

“We’re looking at Bitcoin as being a gold equivalent, but you’re kind of then moving into this sphere where you’re saying, OK, cryptos then could almost be a bond equivalent. So if you’re going to have, you know, bond equivalent, then having them denominated in different currencies and people, people can hedge out their currency risk. And I think for a lot of Asian investors, that may be something that they would look to do. So running one in in a yen denominated one just takes gives you an option of taking out the currency risk.”

The move marked another step into Asia for Circle after it announced a new hub in Singapore last week as part of its global expansion plans.

Sullivan says Singapore is a natural choice for many players in the crypto market because of its proactive attitude towards establishing a framework of regulation for them.

For Forkast.News, I’m Lachlan Keller.

Meanwhile, even if you don’t have kids, you probably know this song. Baby Shark, is the most viewed YouTube video of all time.

But could its creator repeat that feat in the NFT world?

Smartstudy, maker of the infuriatingly catchy children’s song, has joined hands with the NFT platform MakersPlace to try just that.

Forkast.News Danny Park has more.

These animated sharks have garnered over 43 billion views on YouTube, gaining a massive worldwide following since the song’s first release in 2015. And now in partnership with MakersPlace, the South Korean educational entertainment company Smart Study is to release its first NFT series of the Pink Fong Baby Shark Characters.

‘Baby Shark Collection No. 1’ is due to go on sale from December 2.

Smart Study says it is seeking ways to broaden the fan experience within the digital space, and the NFT drop is already being teased with a countdown clock on MakersPlace.

The series will include hologram themed artworks, combining the baby shark characters with soundtracks decked with new electronic sounds.

South Korea’s appetite for all things, NFT is voracious, with the four biggest K-pop agencies all already having announced investment in or release of NFTs, and many TV drama creators and game developers have also got in on the game.

For Forkast.News, I’m Danny Park.

And that’s The Daily Forkast from our vantage point right here in Asia.

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We appreciate it always, and it helps us reach our goal to reach more of you. For more, visit Forkast.News. I’m Editor-in-Chief Angie Lau. Until the next time.