PayProtocol AG, the issuer of Paycoin, announced plans to terminate its virtual asset custody service for the Paycoin app in South Korea. 

This decision stems from challenges in the domestic regulatory environment, which have prevented PCI’s payment services from resuming since February 2023.

The company has decided not to renew its Virtual Asset Service Provider registration when it expires in April 2025, opting instead to focus on its growing international payment ecosystem.

In July, South Korean authorities considered delaying the 20% crypto gains tax until 2028, following concerns from the local crypto community. The delay was discussed due to fears of market impact and insufficient institutional preparation.

Paycoin’s international ventures

Paycoin has made strides abroad, launching a global app that allows PCI payments at international retailers like Apple, Shake Shack, and Swarovski. 

The company also established a presence in Lithuania and secured VASP status to expand in crypto-friendly jurisdictions.

Paycoin’s decision to discontinue its VASP registration reflects a shift in focus from South Korea to international markets, as ongoing regulatory ambiguity in the country hinders operations. While domestic wallet services will cease, other features such as Wallet Connect and Paycoin Shopping will remain available, according to the Paycoin release.

Withdrawals for PCI and other assets will be supported until April 21, 2025, while new wallet creation and deposits will end on Sept. 27, 2024.

Cardano and Quant prices drifted upwards on Sunday, Sep. 8 as the recent crypto sell-off eased a bit.

Quant (QNT) token rose for the second consecutive day, reaching a high of $70, its highest swing since Aug. 26. It rose by over 23% from its lowest point last week but remains 54% below its highest point this year.

Cardano and Quant have higher wallet activity

Cardano (ADA) rose to $0.3390, much higher than Friday’s low of $0.30. Like other coins, it has dropped by almost 60% from the year-to-date high.

These tokens rose slightly as Bitcoin’s (BTC) sell-off moderated. After falling to $52,900 on Friday, Bitcoin bounced back to $54,500 on Sunday as some investors bought the dip. In most periods, altcoins tend to track Bitcoin’s movement.

Cardano and Quant prices also rose as data shows heightened address activity. According to Santiment, this indicates that some investors are accumulating, and that often leads to a rebound.

Another evidence is that Cardano’s open interest in the futures market is rising. Data by CoinGlass shows that its open interest rose to $177 million on Sunday, the third consecutive day of gains.

It was slightly higher than Friday’s $167 million. Cardano’s active addresses have also risen to over 31,000, according to DeFi Llama.

Similarly, Quant’s futures open interest went parabolic, reaching a high of $12.15 million, its highest level since June 7, and much higher than last week’s low of $6.50 million. 

Futures open interest is an important metric in the financial market because it shows the volume of unfilled orders. 

Quant, Cardano: Big players in crypto

Cardano and Quant are some of the biggest players in the crypto industry. Cardano, with a market cap of $12 billion, is the 11th coin and its goal is to become the best alternative to Ethereum (ETH). 

However, over the years, the network has struggled to attract developers and users. As a result, it only has a handful of DeFi dApps and a total value locked of $191 million. This makes it smaller than other newer layer-1 and layer-2 networks like Arbitrum and Sui.

The developers recently launched the Chang hardfork, which its developers hope will lead to more activity.

Quant is a different network that helps companies build blockchain-enabled applications, especially in the payment services.

It is often seen as one of the top players in the fast-growing industry of Real World Asset tokenization, helped by its overledger technology.