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SBI Holdings embraces blockchain gaming, invests in Oasys

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The latest deal in the blockchain space will mesh old-school finance with next-generation gaming.

SBI backs Oasys

SBI Holdings Inc., founded in 1999, is touted as one of the largest financial conglomerates in Japan. It specializes in traditional finance (aka tradfi), including asset management and venture capital.

Over the past few years, the firm started integrating blockchain technology into its services. It even developed its own cryptocurrency exchange called SBI VC Trade.

As of Aug. 29, a new segment is being added to its portfolio via a partnership with the Oasys blockchain network: gaming.

The Tokyo-based firm invested an undisclosed amount in Oasys, promising to enhance “synergies” with the game tokens on the blockchain.

“From its inception, [Oasys] has included several globally renowned major game development companies as initial validators,” SBI CEO Yoshitaka Kitao said in a blog post confirming the deal.

Earlier in the year, SBI and Oasys had partnered on an NFT initiative. But it’s worth noting that NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are plummeting in value.

In contrast, Oasys shows more promise by making inroads with video game companies. After all, the Oasys network is affiliated with household names like Sega and Ubisoft.

In February, Oasys partnered with Com2uS to integrate several game franchises, including ‘Summoners War: Chronicle’ and ‘The Walking Dead: All Stars,’ onto its network.

Since 2021, Singapore-based Oasys raised about $20 million throughout three funding rounds.

In addition to SBI, Hyperithm — a Tokyo- and Seoul-based digital asset financial service provider backed by Coinbase, Samsung, Kakao and Hashed — also invested an undisclosed amount.

Tradfi’s new territory

This isn’t the first time SBI has expressed interest in digital tokens or blockchain technology.

In 2016, SBI created a new company called SBI Ripple Asia, which expanded the use of Ripple (XRP) products throughout China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan. It was also a part of the consortium that launched the R3 blockchain initiative.

And SBI is just one of several old-school finance firms dipping their toes in the burgeoning sector.

JPMorgan Chase remains committed to expanding its Onyx segment, hoping to further integrate blockchain into mainstream financial services. And BlackRock, along with Fidelity, began offering cryptocurrency exposure to clients, including Bitcoin ETFs and digital asset funds.

These moves reflect a broader trend of institutional adoption, driven by the bet that blockchain can enhance transparency, security, and efficiency in financial services.

SBI’s Oasys investment, however, is unique in that video games play a prominent role in the partnership.

According to Deloitte’s 2024 banking outlook report, blockchain-based and fiat currency-backed stablecoins are “entering the world of consumer payments.”

As tradfi continues to merge with the world of crypto and blockchain, the line between traditional and digital finance is becoming increasingly blurred, paving the way for a more interconnected and innovative financial system.

By investing in Oasys, SBI Holdings is seemingly looking to stay ahead of the curve.



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MANTRA partners with Libre Capital to facilitate tokenized money market funds

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Layer-1 blockchain MANTRA and United Arab Emirates-based tokenization platform Libre Capital aim to drive further adoption of tokenized real-world assets

On Nov. 4, MANTRA (OM) and Libre Capital announced a partnership leveraging their combined strengths to offer on-chain funds to MANTRA’s institutional or accredited users.

MANTRA stated that the collaboration would use its purpose-built RWA blockchain along with Libre’s tokenization and issuance capabilities. Together, they aim to provide on-chain access to investment opportunities in hedge funds, money market funds, and private credit funds.

According to details in the announcement, a new integration is what will help eligible institutional investors access the on-chain funds on MANTRA. This will be via Libre’s decentralized applications deployment dubbed “Libre Gateway DeFi dApps”.

Libre deploys this feature on integrated chains, allowing access to top-tier tokenized money market funds and others in a compliant way.

John Patrick Mullin, co-founder and chief executive officer of MANTRA said:

“With the addition of protocols like the Libre Gateway, MANTRA can better equip users with a best-in-class collection of tools to continue to grow the real-world asset economy.”

MANTRA Chain’s integration of Libre Gateway allows various benefits for the L1 platform’s users, including access to treasury management tools. Libre on the other hand will explore the RWA-specific infrastructure that the layer-1 blockchain network offers, Dr. Avtar Sehra, founder and chief executive officer of Libre, noted.

MANTRA Chain launched its mainnet in October and recently partnered with Google Cloud, which is a validator and infrastructure provider. One of the goals of the partnership is to bolster MANTRA’s real-world assets market via an accelerator program.

The RWA accelerator program will go live in the first quarter of next year.



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Tether CEO denies rumors of Tether building a blockchain

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Paolo Ardoino, the chief executive officer of Tether, said Tether has no plans of building a an official blockchain ‘at this time’ after hearing rumors of Tether Chain.

In an X post on Nov. 4, Tether’s CEO, Paolo Ardoino, denied any rumors that stated Tether (USDT) had an official blockchain in the works. He explained that Tether is currently more focused on partnering with other companies and communities instead of “trying to centralize everything.”

“I hear again few rumors about a Tether Chain. Tether is not planning to build an official blockchain at this time,” said Ardoino.

He went on to state that Tether has backed the integration of various independent layer 2 networks in order to support the gas fees needed for USDT.

Ardoino also hints at a new product launch that was supposed to be scheduled around the U.S Election day, but Tether decided to push it back seven days so that the news would not be drowned out by the “election noise.”

https://twitter.com/paoloardoino/status/1853157037854646643

In a separate post, Ardoino cited the reason for Tether’s reluctance to jump into the blockchain pool. He believes establishing a Tether blockchain would enforce centralization, stating that “neutrality is very important.”

“Unstoppable TogETHER, our motto, underlines our interest to partner up with other companies and communities rather than trying to centralize everything,” added Ardoino.

In a past interview with Bloomberg in August 2024, Ardoino said that the blockchain marketplace was already very saturated. He also predicted blockchains will become more of a “commodity” in the future.

“Launching a blockchain ourselves might be not the right move. There are very good blockchains,” said Ardoino.

At the time of writing, Ethereum, TRON and Solana are the three leading blockchains based on total value locked, according to data from DeFi Llama. Ethereum is in first place with a $47.55 billion TVL and 381,444 active addresses. Meanwhile, TRON is in second place with $6.81 billion TVL and 1.71 million active addresses. In third place is Solana with $5.92 billion TVL and 4.28 million active addresses.

On Nov. 1, Tether reported its Q3 2024 earnings which consisted of many record breaking highs, including equity of $14.2 billion and total assets on a consolidated basis of $134.4 billion. Tether’s Q3 report also showed an increasing demand for USDT stablecoins, as circulation grew to nearly 30% in 2024. Tether also issued an additional $27.8 billion worth of tokens this year.





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Bitcoin

BlockJoy Introduces ‘BlockVisor 2.0,’ a Bespoke Solution for Blockchain Node Operators

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In today’s issue: Privado ID, BlockJoy, Superstate, Phylax Systems, Mawari Network, Coinbase, Base, Soulbound, Termina, Nitro Labs, Deep Blue, Arbitrum, Ika, Sui, OKX Ventures, TOP, Folius Ventures, TON, Telegram, Nebra, Truflation, ALEX, XLink, NEAR, EtherMail, Unstoppable Domains.



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