Japan’s national police have pinned North Korean hacking group, Lazarus, as the organization behind several years of crypto-related cyber attacks. In the public advisory statement sent out on Oct. 14, Japan’s National Police Agency (NPA) and Financial Services Agency (FSA) sent a warning to the country's crypto-asset businesses, asking them to stay vigilant of “phishing” attacks by the hacking groupaimed at stealing crypto assets. The advisory statement is known as “public attribution,” and according to local reports, is the fifth time in history that the government has issued such a warning. The statement warns that the hacking group uses social …

Last week, the European Union appeared to be rather busy with making decisions that could define the future of the crypto industry. First of all, 566 out of 705 members of the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution originally drafted by member of the European Parliament (MEP) Lídia Pereira. The resolution recommends authorities in the 27 member states consider a “simplified tax treatment” for crypto users involved in occasional or small transactions and have national tax administrations use blockchain technology “to facilitate efficient tax collection.” It also calls on the European Commission to assess whether converting crypto to …

Creditors from the defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox have until January 2023 to register and select a repayment method as part of the plan to compensate them for their losses. According to an Oct. 6 announcement from Mt. Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi, creditors have until Jan. 10 to select a repayment method and to register payee information in an online rehabilitation claim filing system in order to be paid through bank remittance, fund transfer service provider, or a cryptocurrency exchange or custodian. Kobayashi’s update is the latest development in a rehabilitation plan that began with a 2018 petition to compensate …

Fumio Kishida, the prime minister of Japan since 2021, has said the government will be making efforts to promote Web3 services, including those dealing with nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, and the metaverse. In an Oct. 3 speech before Japan’s National Diet, Kishida said the government’s investment in the country’s digital transformation had already included issuing NFTs to local authorities using digital technology to solve challenges in their respective jurisdictions, and hinted at digitizing national identity cards. In addition, the prime minister said the cabinet would “promote efforts to expand the use of Web 3.0 services that utilize the metaverse and …

Nomura, one of the largest investment banks in Japan, has established a venture capital arm aimed at investing in companies focusing on crypto and blockchain. In a Wednesday announcement, Nomura said the business, named Laser Digital, will “provide new value in the area of digital assets” for clients under the Switzerland-based holding company Laser Digital Holdings AG. The investment bank said it chose Switzerland based on its “robust regulatory regime for digital assets and blockchain projects” in addition to potentially recruiting talent. “Staying at the forefront of digital innovation is a key priority for Nomura,” said president and group CEO …

The blockchain-based gaming industry will need to look at localized strategies to attract Web3 gamers, says decentralized gaming guild Yield Guild Games (YGG). Speaking with Cointelegraph at the 2022 Tokyo Games Show last week, Andy Chou, YGG’s head of ecosystem development, and Brian Lu, partner of Taiwan-based VC firm Infinity Ventures Crypto (IVC) gave a rundown of YGG’s plans moving forward, including how it is using its subDAOs. YGG was initially launched in the Philippines in late 2020, but following an early-stage investment from IVC, the duo teamed up to expand YGG across the globe via subDAOs, initially starting in …

Japanese gaming giants are positioning for mainstream blockchain game adoption, and will not be swayed by the section of gamers that are against crypto and nonfungible tokens (NFTs), an exec from the Oasys blockchain project told Cointelegraph. Speaking to Cointelegraph at the 2022 Tokyo Games Show last week, Oasys Representative Director Ryo Matsubara emphasized that the project’s big-name partners such as Bandai Namco, Sega and Square Enix are not just jumping on the crypto bandwagon —there's a long-term vision for blockchain-based Play-to-Earn (P2E) gaming: "We have a shared vision about blockchain at the executive level. They don't [want to] change …

Blockchain-based games need to spend more time actually being “fun to play” rather than developing flashy tokenomics, an Animoca Brand-owned blockchain game developer told Cointelegraph. Speaking to Cointelegraph on the first day of the 2022 Tokyo Games Show, Luke Sillay, the lead community manager at Australia-based game developer Blowfish Studios said that far too many blockchain games have put the focus on in-game rewards and tokenomics rather than gameplay. “You can see from a lot of other blockchain games that they're not actually fun to play. Like, yes, you have potential to earn quite a significant amount of token and …

An upcoming blockchain game has revealed when it will launch. Reta Wars is going to be available to players from Oct. 3 — and the project says it's determined to usher in a new era of GameFi. It's a strategy "war-to-earn" game powered by NFTs, where two decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) compete strategically for revenue. The game involves using NFT heroes to grow territory, concocting compelling strategies with fellow players, and leading their faction to victory. Each NFT hero will have the ability to produce resources on command, or fight enemies in battle — and they'll be a crucial component …

The Monetary Authority of Singapore, or MAS, has granted SBI Digital Markets, a subsidiary of the digital asset arm of Japan-based financial giant SBI Holdings, a license to conduct certain regulated activities in the country. In a Thursday announcement, MAS said it had awarded SBI Digital Markets a Capital Markets Services license following the firm receiving in-principle approval in May. The firm, whose parent company offers digital asset custody and trading, will be providing custodial services, capital markets products, and corporate finance advisory services in Singapore as a regulated business, and also planned to launch a digital asset securities platform. …

Mt. Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi released updated information on Aug. 31 regarding the rehabilitation plan for creditors of the long defunct crypto exchange. According to the file, the restriction reference period starts on September 15, in which "the assignment, transfer or succession, provision as collateral, or disposition by other means of rehabilitation claims are prohibited." Kobayashi confirmed that creditors have until September 15 to submit claims regarding funds lost when the early crypto exchange collapsed in 2014: "During the Assignment, etc. Restriction Reference Period, the Rehabilitation Trustee will cease accepting applications for claim transfer procedures through the Rehabilitation Claim Filing …

According to local news outlet Yomiuri, Japan's Financial Services Agency is considering amending the virtual currency taxation system for corporate entities ahead of the country's 2023 tax reform. Proposed change includes removing capital gain liabilities for undisposed corporate crypto assets at the end of each taxation year, as well as changing the classification of virtual assets, so the maximum capital gains tax applicable is reduced to 20% from 55%. Under Japan's current taxation laws, unrealized capital gains on virtual currencies are recognized as income at the end of each fiscal year (on March 31), resulting in income tax liabilities. In …