China’s blockchain satellite in space, Hong Kong’s McNuggets Metaverse: Asia Express
Chinese blockchain Sputnik’s maiden voyage
A Chinese satellite has become the first in the world to carry a blockchain imaging and screening system into orbit.
According to local news outlet Red Star News on July 22, the Tai’an Star Era 16 was successfully launched into orbit from the China Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Developed by NationStar Aerospace Technology Co., the satellite features a visual blockchain on-orbit certificate storage system dubbed ‘ADAChain’ (not related to Cardano) developed in-house by NationStar. Researchers wrote:
“The [ADAChain] can realize functions such on-orbit visual blockchain multi-signature authentication, on-orbit video visual broadcasting, and on-orbit visual remote sensing data storage certificate confirmation.”
The purpose of the satellite’s voyage is to “obtain rich spectral information on the surface of the target area,” in the fields of “precision agriculture, water resources management, mineral resource investigation, environmental monitoring, and emergency safety.” Blockchain technology will also assist in achieving the goals of “high spatial resolution, high spectral resolution, and high temporal resolution” in such satellite imaging.
Digital Yuan CBDC expands to Hong Kong
The Bank of China’s Hong Kong subsidiary has allowed individuals in the Special Administrative Region (SAR) to utilize the digital yuan central bank digital currency (e-CNY CBDC) for retail shopping.
According to a July 20 report, over 200 merchants, such as shopping centers, pharmacies, convenience stores, and electronic stores have accepted the e-CNY CBDC as a means of payment from shoppers originating in Mainland China. The e-CNY CBDC is currently not available to Hong Kong users.
As a SAR, Hong Kong maintains separate political, economic and social institutions from Mainland China. Advocates have previously called for the Hong Kong government to issue its own Hong Kong Dollar CBDC to compete with the likes of Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC). Similarly, Chinese President Xi Jinping has emphasized the importance of CBDCs as a means of settling international trade in local currencies.
Terraform Labs struggles to get back on its feet
“Every time we would make a little progress, there would be some accusation or something that would derail us,” said Terraform Labs’ interim CEO Chris Amani in a Twitter Space on July 20.
According to Amani, the arrest of the entity’s co-founder and former CEO Do Kwon in Montenegro has essentially shattered all momentum that the ailing network is trying to reestablish. In May 2022, the $40 billion Terra Luna (LUNC) ecosystem collapsed due to the implosion of its algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (USTC). Shortly afterward, Kwon created the Terra 2.0 (LUNA) ecosystem. The three tokens have a combined market cap of $1.3 billion at the time of publication.
In its next phase, Amani says that nine projects built on the combined Terra Luna ecosystem are scheduled to launch within the next few months. None of the projects will reportedly issue their own tokens. In addition, Amani warned that the projects face stiff competition from other layer-one projects due to lacking a Luna Foundation Guard or protocol treasury for financial support.
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South Korean crypto lender shuts down amid criminal proceedings
South Korean crypto lender Delio says all of its company and customers’ assets have been seized in a raid conducted by prosecutors on July 18.
In the July 22 announcement, Delio announced it would pause all interest payments to users effective immediately after the asset seizures made it impossible for the company to continue normal operations. In June, the crypto lender suspended all withdrawals and deposits on its platform, citing exposure to counterparty and fellow South Korean crypto lender Haru Invest, which in turn suspended all transfers due to an issue with a “consignment operator,” B&S Holdings.
Haru Invest is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings. Meanwhile, Delio is one of the largest crypto lenders in South Korea, with around $1.5 billion in customer Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and altcoin deposits. Since June 30, the firm has been under investigation by the country’s Financial Services Commission on allegations of fraud, embezzlement and breach of trust.
The firm previously stated that it would enable the withdrawal of users’ assets without stating a specific timeframe. However, similar to the Multichain saga, it is unlikely the company can do so when customers’ assets have been seized as part of criminal proceedings.
In a July 23 blog post, Haru Invest CEO Hugo Lee wrote that B&S Holdings’ assets have also been seized by authorities and that the company is currently trying to recover the funds. All of the firm’s operations have been suspended, and the company is scheduled to liquidate its remaining assets in phases. Haru Invest currently has more than 80,000 users.
Indonesia’s national crypto exchange goes live
A national cryptocurrency exchange operated by the government of Indonesia will be the only legal venue for trading crypto assets in the Southeast Asian country.
In a July 20 statement from the country’s Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency, also known as Bappebti, the exchange is currently open for spot trading, with future plans to expand its offering to cryptocurrency futures and derivatives. All cryptocurrency exchange registered within the country could join the national exchange, which serves as a clearing house to ensure transactions abide by relevant regulations.
Despite official support, Islamic organizations in Indonesia have previously deemed the use of cryptocurrency to be haram, or forbidden, for Muslim users. That said, there is no consensus from Islamic scholars regarding the matter.
On the 40th anniversary of the introduction of chicken McNuggets, McDonald’s Hong Kong is partnering with Sandbox to launch a namesake metaverse to celebrate the occasion.
Dubbed “McNuggets Land,” the metaverse will allow users to interact with McNuggets-themed gaming characters and avatars. Randy Lai, CEO of McDonald’s Hong Kong, commented:
“Rooted in Hong Kong for 48 years, McDonald’s has always strived to deliver innovative experiences and Happy Moments. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Chicken McNuggets, we are excited to collaborate with The Sandbox to provide fun-filled Web3 Metaverse game experience.”
A reward pool of 100,000 SAND tokens and 10,000 vouchers for McNugget perks will be distributed to participants. Since its entry into then British Hong Kong in 1975, the franchise currently operates 250 restaurants around the city, serving more than 1 million customers per day.
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Politics
Red Wall MPs should focus on two-child benefit cap rather than winter fuel, Harriet Harman says
Red Wall MPs should push for the two-child benefit cap to be lifted rather than a reversal of the winter fuel payment policy, Baroness Harriet Harman has said.
Baroness Harman, the former Labour Party chair, told Sky’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast that this would hand the group a “progressive win” rather than simply “protesting and annoying Sir Keir Starmer” over winter fuel.
Earlier this week, a number of MPs in the Red Wall – Labour’s traditional heartlands in the north of England – reposted a statement on social media in which they said the leadership’s response to the local elections had “fallen on deaf ears”.
They singled out the cut to the winter fuel allowance as an issue that was raised on the doorstep and urged the government to rethink the policy, arguing doing so “isn’t weak, it takes us to a position of strength”.
Labour’s decision to means test the policy has snatched the benefit away from millions of pensioners.
But Baroness Harman said a better target for the group could be an overhaul of George Osborne’s two-child benefit cap.
The cap, announced in 2015 as part of Lord David Cameron’s austerity measures, means while parents can claim child tax credit or Universal Credit payments for their first and second child, they can’t make claims for any further children they have.
Labour faced pressure to remove the cap in the early months of government, with ministers suggesting in February that they were considering relaxing the limit.
Baroness Harman told Beth Rigby that this could be a sensible pressure point for Red Wall MPs to target.
She said: “It could be that they have a kind of progressive win, and it might not be a bad thing to do in the context of an overall strategy on child poverty.
“Let’s see whether instead of just protesting and annoying Sir Keir Starmer, they can build a bridge to a new progressive set of policies.”
Jo White, the Labour MP for Bassetlaw and a member of the Red Wall group, suggested that her party’s “connection” to a core group of voters “died” with the decision to means test the winter fuel payment for pensioners.
“We need to reset the government,” she told Electoral Dysfunction. “The biggest way to do that is by tackling issues such as winter fuel payments.
“I think we should raise the thresholds so that people perhaps who are paying a higher level of tax are the only people who are exempt from getting it.”
Pic: AP
A group of MPs in the Red Wall, thought to number about 40, met on Tuesday night following the fallout of local election results in England, which saw Labour lose the Runcorn by-election and control of Doncaster Council to Reform UK.
Following the results, Sir Keir said “we must deliver that change even more quickly – we must go even further”.
Some Labour MPs believe it amounted to ignoring voters’ concerns.
Read more:
UK and US trade deal will save thousands of UK jobs – Starmer
Starmer faces rebellion from Labour MPs over welfare reforms
One of the MPs who was present at the meeting told Sky News there was “lots of anger at the government’s response to the results”.
“People acknowledged the winter fuel allowance was the main issue for us on the doorstep,” they said.
“There is a lack of vision from this government.”
Another added: “Everyone was furious.”
Downing Street has ruled out a U-turn on means testing the winter fuel payment, following newspaper reports earlier this week that one might be on the cards.
A man from the US state of Virginia will spend over three decades behind bars after being convicted of sending crypto to the terrorist organization commonly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Federal Judge David Novak sentenced Mohammed Azharuddin Chhipa to 30 years and four months in prison on May 7 for sending over $185,000 to the Islamic State, the Department of Justice said on May 8.
Prosecutors said that from around October 2019 until October 2022, the 35-year-old Chhipa collected and sent money to female Islamic State members in Syria, which helped them escape prison camps and funded fighting.
The Justice Department said Chhipa would raise funds for the United Nations-designated terror organization through social media — receiving money online, or traveling hundreds of miles to accept donations in person.
He’d convert the money into crypto and send it to Turkey for it to be smuggled to Islamic State members across the border in Syria, prosecutors said.
A federal jury convicted Chhipa in December, finding him guilty on a charge of conspiracy to provide support to a terrorist organization and four charges of providing and attempting to provide support to a terrorist organization.
“This defendant directly financed ISIS in its efforts to commit vile terrorist atrocities against innocent citizens in America and abroad,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “This severe sentence illustrates that if you fund terrorism, we will prosecute you and put you behind bars for decades.”
Chhipa tried to flee US during FBI probe
Prosecutors said that during the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation into Chhipa, he tried to flee the country to escape prosecution and tried to hide his tracks through a series of actions seemingly aimed at confusing authorities.
According to a motion for detention filed in August, FBI agents searched Chhipa’s house on Aug. 2, 2019, and that night Chhipa drove to a bank, withdrew $1,800 from an ATM, and then went to a Taco Bell, where he paid a stranger for a ride to a relative’s house. The relative then drove him to a grocery store.
Related: US Treasury sanctions Myanmar militia group for alleged crypto scams
Three days later, prosecutors said Chhipa “purchased a series of bus tickets using variations and/or misspelling of his name and recently created email accounts.”
He then travelled from Virginia to Mexico and onto Guatemala. He then bought tickets to fly from Guatemala to Panama, then onto Germany, and then to Egypt, but an Interpol Blue Notice was issued, and he was returned to the US.
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