- The Osaka Digital Exchange in Japan initiated its first-ever digital securities trading.
- UniSat Wallet added support for ARC20 on December 26th.
- Thailand’s decree exempting cryptocurrency transactions from value-added tax expired at the end of the year.
- Nearly $80 million worth of OP tokens unlocked on December 30th.
- Balancer DAO’s proposal vote, which restricts the maximum voting power to 45%, will conclude.
Key Events
Osaka Digital Exchange Co. initiates Japan’s first digital securities trading on December 25th. The inaugural traded assets will be security tokens issued by real estate investment firm Ichigo Inc. Ichigo plans to sell around 3 billion yen (approximately $20.1 million) worth of property-backed securities, marking Japan’s attempt to sell high-risk, high-return assets, aiming to raise funds to address an aging population. Other Asian markets are also actively promoting regulatory frameworks for security tokens. For instance, Hong Kong removed its restrictions on issuance to professional investors, and South Korea amended laws to allow for the issuance and distribution of security tokens.
Thailand’s 7% exemption policy on cryptocurrency value-added tax (VAT) ended on December 31st. Previously, in May 2022, Thailand passed legislation exempting cryptocurrency transactions from a 7% VAT from April 1, 2022, to December 31, 2023. The exemption applied to the transfer of digital assets completed on authorized digital asset exchanges approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the transfer of digital currencies issued by the Bank of Thailand (BOT). The primary goal of the tax relief was to promote cryptocurrency transactions on regulated exchanges. Whether this policy will continue in 2024 remains uncertain.
Project Progress
As BRC20 gains traction recently, attention is turning to the progress of ARC20, the other major native asset protocol for Bitcoin. The ARC20 protocol supports the creation of various types of tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain. UniSat, the Bitcoin engraving marketplace and wallet provider, will be rolling out ARC20 wallet, marketplace, and engraving services this week:
- UniSat Wallet will support ARC20 on December 26, 2023.
- UniSat Marketplace will open its ARC20 market on December 28.
- UniSat Inscribe will support ARC20 engraving on December 30.
Subsequently, UniSat will extend comprehensive support to the entire Atomicals protocol, including non-ARC20 assets.
In the final week of 2023, numerous crypto market airdrops are scheduled:
- Render Network, a decentralized 3D rendering solution provider, will distribute its first batch of RENDER SPL tokens on December 27.
- Gaming Layer3 solution XAI will conduct its first-season token airdrop on December 27.
- RPGF airdrop from Layer1 privacy chain Namada will conclude on December 28 at 17:00.
- Users logging into Gods Unchained using Immutable Passport before December 31 will receive free in-game and external appearance airdrops.
Additionally, projects announcing the cessation of operations at the end of 2023 include Yield Protocol, a fixed-rate lending protocol, and cross-chain DeFi lending aggregator Fuji Finance. Yield Protocol attributed the closure to insufficient demand for fixed-rate borrowing and increased regulatory requirements in the US, Europe, and the UK. Lending activities on Yield Protocol will cease on December 31, 2023. Fuji Finance users must withdraw funds through the Fuji user interface before December 31, 2023; starting in 2024, users will need to interact directly with smart contracts.
Upcoming Event
The Viction Horizon Hackathon is set to evaluation on December 28, running until January 5, 2024. The Demo Day is scheduled from January 8 to January 9, 2024. The hackathon boasts a total reward exceeding $200,000, encompassing five tracks: social, gaming, payments, stablecoins, and DeFi.
Token Unlock
According to Token Unlocks data, from December 25 to December 31, ACA, DYDX, 1INCH, YGG, AGIX, X2Y2, OP, and SUI tokens will experience a new unlock this week. Of note is the substantial unlock of Optimism’s token OP on December 30 at 12:00, unlocking 24.16 million tokens, approximately $79.97 million, accounting for 2.65% of the circulating supply.
Governance Voting
Contributors to Aura have initiated a proposal within the Balancer DAO community. This proposal aims to cap the maximum voting power of individual Snapshot voters at 45%. The proposal emphasizes that Aura is nearing 50% of the veBAL supply and suggests that the Aura representative committee vote proportionally based on the voting outcome, rather than block-by-block voting. The proposal mentions the possibility of expanding the voting cap to include addresses under a single entity. The voting for this proposal concludes in 1 day.
Feld, the founder of Boring Security, has submitted a proposal within the ApeCoin community seeking a $239,000 allocation for 2024. Boring Security plans to deploy these funds into Uniswap V3 liquidity pools, enabling the Boring Security DAO to make structured withdrawals from the monthly generated income to cover partner revenue and other operational expenses not covered by grants. The voting for this proposal concludes in 3 days.