Seoul, South, Korea, November 20th, 2024, Chainwire

Hashed and its technology arm, ShardLab, have joined forces with Naver Pay, one of the highest-used mobile payment services in South Korea, to integrate NFT-based ticketing technology.

The collaboration, which debuted at Naver’s annual technology conference, DAN24, saw over 20,867 NFTs issued and 8,849 transactions processed during the two-day event, with a total of 6,000 attendees, making this initiative one of South Korea’s largest deployments of NFTs for real-world and event-based utilities.

During the event, these digital assets were seamlessly integrated into the Naver Pay wallet, enabling their use for admission, activity verification, and prize entry. The integration of NFTs into an existing payment system used by millions represents a strong use case bridging Web2 and Web3 for mainstream audiences and provides proof of concept for broader applications in events, concerts, and large-scale activities. 

The integration leverages ShardLab’s proprietary NFT technology, including airdrop APIs and smart contracts, to provide a user-friendly solution. Unlike traditional blockchain applications that require separate wallets, at the event attendees could access their NFT tickets directly within their existing Naver Pay accounts, bringing a simplified process removing barriers to adoption.

“This collaboration with Naver Pay signifies a step forward in integrating Web3 technology into everyday digital experiences,” said Simon Kim, CEO of Hashed. “With our technical advisory and collaboration-friendly approach with Web2 companies, we can focus and accelerate the development of user-friendly Web3 infrastructure.”

Through the use of NFT-based tickets, attendees received proof of attendance and streamlined authentication for various conference activities. This functionality showcased the practicality of blockchain-based solutions to elevate user experience without requiring extensive technical knowledge or new tools.

“DAN24 marks our first step in bringing NFT technology to Naver Pay Wallet, following the growing trend of NFT adoption in major events, concerts, and ticketing,” said Mi-young Lee, Head of Pay Infrastructure and Business at Naver Pay. “We will continue to work with leading Web3 companies to pioneer innovative digital experiences.”

“We’re honored to provide this unique experience to DAN24 attendees,” said Hojin Kim, CEO of ShardLab. “This collaboration demonstrates the technical maturity and practical potential that Web3 holds, redefining what is possible to achieve widespread adoption in the digital landscape.”

With 2.3 million users and $13 billion in quarterly transactions, Naver Pay offers a robust platform to scale Web3 integrations. ShardLab, an R&D partnership between Hashed and SCBX, brings blockchain expertise, enabling seamless Web3 experiences through Naver Pay’s trusted ecosystem.

The collaboration between Hashed, ShardLab, and Naver Pay is expected to expand into additional use cases, supporting the adoption of blockchain technology across industries.

About Hashed

Hashed, established in 2017, is a blockchain-focused venture capital firm that conducts extensive investment and research activities in global startups and decentralized projects pursuing protocol economy. Operating globally, Hashed maintains presence in major cities including Seoul, San Francisco, Singapore, and Bengaluru, India.

The firm has made early-stage investments in innovative blockchain startups worldwide, including Story Protocol, CryptoQuant, and dYdX. Rather than functioning as a traditional venture capital firm, Hashed operates as a ‘second team’ to its portfolio companies, providing hands-on business development support to help them connect with the global Web3 ecosystem and accelerate their growth.

About ShardLab 

ShardLab is the innovation arm of Hashed, a leading global Web3 venture capital firm based in Asia. Under the strategic partnership between Hashed and SCBX (the mothership of Thailand’s leading financial technology group and the parent company of Siam Commercial Bank), ShardLab is having various innovative activities, such as Web3 R&D, venture building, and ecosystem building. The firm’s vision extends to fostering mass adoption of Web3 in Southeast Asia, making technology accessible, and empowering communities in this dynamic digital frontier.

About Naver Pay

Naver Pay is a fintech service provided by Naver Financial (Subsidiary of Naver, the largest IT and search engine service in South Korea) that allows users to make simple payments through pre-registered payment methods such as bank accounts, debit cards, or credit cards.

Naver partners with e-commerce sellers of all sizes to enable Naver Pay on their own websites, promoting it as a way to increase convenience and accessibility for users.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Contact

Community Lead
Wooster Han
Hashed
wooster@hashed.com

Singapore, Singapore, November 14th, 2024, Chainwire

VALR, the Pantera-backed crypto exchange and the largest crypto trading platform in Africa by trade volume, announced today that its user base has doubled in 2024, surpassing the one million mark. This growth comes on the back of VALR’s ongoing global expansion efforts as crypto markets heat up and Bitcoin is charting new highs north of $90,000. 

This year, VALR added 500,000 users to its platform, a marked increase from the initial 500,000 who joined during the first 5 and a half years since VALR’s founding in 2018.  This includes over 1,100 institutional and corporate clients. The proportion of international users has grown and now more than 1 in 4 VALR customers comes from outside South Africa’s borders.  

In 2022 VALR raised its $50 million Series B round – the largest crypto raise in Africa to date – led by prominent investors including Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and F-Prime, an investment arm of Fidelity. VALR has now raised $55 million in total.

VALR started as a spot-only crypto exchange and have since added multiple products to serve their international client base, including spot margin, perpetual futures, staking, lending, an over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk and a leading application programming interface (API) for its high-frequency traders. 

VALR’s user growth and brand recognition have been bolstered by a focus on both African markets and other jurisdictions in Asia and Europe, reaching key milestones in 2024, including being one of the first exchanges to obtain a Category I & II license from South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA).

This year, VALR’s team embarked on an international tour, engaging with partners and communities across 12 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, further raising the brand’s global profile. As a Platinum Sponsor at Token2049, the world’s largest crypto event, VALR positioned itself as a values-driven exchange that prioritizes customer experience and high standards in both technology and service.

Farzam Ehsani, Co-Founder and CEO of VALR, reflected on VALR’s journey: “It’s inspiring to see how far we’ve come since 2018. Surpassing one million users, with half a million joining us this year, is a testament to our team’s dedication, the trust our customers place in us, and VALR’s momentum. As we continue our growth, we remain committed to providing innovative, high-quality services that serve not just individual traders, but also larger institutions and fintechs looking to build the future of finance.”

As part of its growth strategy in 2024, VALR introduced several initiatives to attract new users, including VALR’s Grand Slam – a year-long futures trading competition with monthly reward pools of up to US$5 million – and VALR’s Futures Trade Arena, where traders compete on return-on-investment (ROI) and profit and loss (PnL) performance with weekly and monthly prizes.

In October, VALR launched a Chinese version of its app, featuring a localized brand and logo, further catering to the platform’s growing Asian user base. VALR’s expansion into Asia complements its established presence in Africa and reflects the global demand for secure, efficient, and values-based crypto services.

About VALR

VALR provides a comprehensive suite of crypto products and services, including Spot Trading, Spot Margin, Perpetual Futures, an API for high-frequency traders, Subaccounts with governance features, OTC Trading, Staking, Lending & Borrowing, Simple Buy/Sell Swap, and VALR Pay.

Founded in 2018, VALR is Africa’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trade volume, serving over 1,100 corporate and institutional clients and more than 1 million users globally. Headquartered in Johannesburg, VALR is licensed by the FSCA in South Africa, with regulatory approvals in Europe and initial approval from Dubai’s VARA. VALR has secured $55 million in equity funding from top investors, including Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, GSR, and F-Prime, affiliated with Fidelity Investments.

For more information, visit valr.com.

Contact

VALR
press@valr.com

Singapore, Singapore, November 7th, 2024, Chainwire

Solv Protocol has announced its classification of underlying assets for its SolvBTC reserve. By this, Solv protocol ensures security for users as well as yield-generating opportunities while maintaining liquidity.

These classifications help to ensure stability with various asset types, with minting caps and cross-chain rate limits being implemented for innovative reserves to manage and minimize risk. 

This standardization serves as an essential layer of protection as the protocol continues to scale. The SolvBTC reserve categorizes assets into two groups: Core Reserve and Innovative Reserve. Core reserves consist of native BTC and BTCB (Binance-backed), while innovative reserves include wrapped assets WBTC, cbBTC, FBTC, BTC.b and tBTC. 

Solv is now one of the largest BTC Liquid Staking Token (LST) issuer to go multichain in terms of TVL and network connections, accessible across more than ten blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Base, BNB Chain, and Arbitrum, with over 25,000 BTC in reserves (over $2 Billion). 

This multichain expansion means users can engage BTC in diverse DeFi strategies with its added utility, allowing staking and lending to maximize BTC’s liquidity and versatility across networks.

In addition, Solv is marking the first introduction of the SOLV token utility making Solv Protocol as one of the first BTCFi protocols to classify its reserve assets.

Currently, the classifications and parameters are decided by Solv Protocol, but as the platform transitions to fully decentralized governance SOLV token holders will make the determination.

Solv’s token utility is further amplified as SolvBTC was accepted into the core pool of Venus Protocol, the largest lending protocol on BNB Chain and in the top five globally on DeFiLlama. SolvBTC joins BTCB as the only BTC assets in the Venus core pool, enabling users to collateralize SolvBTC to borrow assets like BNB, further facilitating DeFi strategies, including participation in the Binance Launchpool.

“SolvBTC’s multichain deployment and our fresh approach to categorizing BTC reserves is providing diversification and setting a higher standard for Bitcoin utility in DeFi,” said Ryan Chow, Co-founder & CEO of Solv. “With our robust network connections and TVL, we are allowing Bitcoin to work across chains with more ways for users to leverage BTC in a secure and robust ecosystem like never before.”

This announcement follows Solv’s recent move to bring Bitcoin staking to wider adoption with its Staking Abstraction Layer (SAL). The SAL framework has facilitated the launch of four SolvBTC Liquid Staked Tokens (LSTs): SolvBTC.BBN (Babylon), SolvBTC.ENA (Ethena), SolvBTC.Core, and SolvBTC.JUP (Jupiter). The full tokenomics and additional utility of the SOLV token will be introduced in a multiphase rollout. 

To learn more about Solv’s new reserve classifications, click here. 

About Solv

Solv Protocol is the leading Bitcoin staking platform, powered by its innovative Staking Abstraction Layer (SAL). Through SolvBTC, a Bitcoin Reserve for everyone, we unlock the full potential of over $1 trillion in Bitcoin assets. With SolvBTC.LSTs (Liquid Staking Tokens), Bitcoin holders gain access to diverse yield opportunities without sacrificing liquidity, allowing them to seamlessly participate in DeFi ecosystems. Solv acts as a comprehensive gateway to BTCFi, paving the way for institutional and traditional funds to confidently enter the crypto space.

Solv Protocol is backed by prominent investors such as Binance Labs, Blockchain Capital, Laser Digital, and others. Solv Protocol has undergone extensive security audits by leading firms, including Quantstamp, Certik, SlowMist, Salus, and Secbit.

Contact

PR & Partnerships
Catherine Chan
catherine@solv.finance