New Key Hire at Coins, Smart Enters Web3 | Weekly Crypto News Roundup May 22, 2023 | BitPinas

Bitcoin Month culminates with Bitcoin Pizza Day on May 22nd, an annual celebration of sorts in the crypto industry, where the industry reminds the guy who bought two boxes of pizza in 2010 that he paid 10,000 BTC for it. 

Meanwhile, Axie Infinity had a landmark week, celebrating its much-anticipated release in the App Store in select countries and the launch of its marketplace. Also, our interview with Coins.ph CEO happened (who also announced a new key hire), and we’ll be spending the week digesting everything in that interview.

Here’s the top news:

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Coins.ph Interview with BitPinas

In a substantial interview lasting an hour and a half, we asked Coins.ph CEO Wei Zhou a number of pressing questions – from the recent upgrade up to policy and regulation questions, questions like the following: 

• Could Coins.ph have done better in communicating with its customers the new upgrades?
• Is Coins.ph developing a non-custodial wallet?
• What are the pros and cons of being a licensed crypto exchange in the Philippines?
• Why is Coins.ph implementing a more stricter version than what is imposed by the FATF’s Travel Rule?
• High fees
• Why do I need to complete KYC if I already completed it before?
• His view on e-wallet players in the Philippines, as well as the presence of international exchanges.
• Coins Token?

The full interview can be watched here.

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Ledger in Hot Water

Ledger, the makers of popular hardware wallets, is (and continues to be) in hot water because of a new feature called “Ledger Recover”, which, for brevity’s sake, means that for a certain subscription fee per month, Leder will be the custodian of your crypto inside their hardware so you don’t worry about losing your private keys. 

• The feature is optional and users can choose not to use it.
• The problem is that Ledger has built its entire brand in such a way that everyone associates it with “your money being controlled by you alone.” That is the selling point of the hardware wallet product sector – you own your keys, you control your money and do what you want with it, but you are also responsible for it because if you lose your keys, the company behind the hardware wallet will not be able to recover it for you. This is a core ideal of what crypto is supposed to be. 
• Ledger continues to defend its new service, with its CEO saying it is what new customers want. 
• And embarrassingly, they tweeted: “Technically speaking it is and always has been possible to write firmware that facilitates key extraction. You have always trusted Ledger not to deploy such firmware whether you knew it or not.”
• I don’t know if they can recover as I do think this is more of a communication problem. 

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Regulation and Policy

Regulatory framework on crypto eyed

• The G20 has tasked countries including the Philippines into creating implementing rules that will regulate crypto in the next two years, Cabuenas reported on GMA News.
  • This will be high level recommendations, according to Financial Stability Board Chairman Dr. Klaas Knot. 
  • Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe Medalla added that the good thing for now is that not many people are involved in crypto, but they are going to study it now before crypto is adopted widely.

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Industry Developments

New leadership at Coins.ph

Jen Bilango, the former GameFi and web3 executive of BlockchainSpace, announced her appointment as the new country manager for the Philippines at Coins.ph.

• A seasoned industry executive, Jen had fostered key partnerships within the web3 sector during her tenure at BlockchainSpace, and also played a significant role in the Philippine Web3 Festival. Prior to her appointment at Coins.ph, she represented the decentralized platform The Sandbox in the Philippines and held roles at Mabuhay Capital Corporation and is currently a venture fellow in Insignia Ventures Academy.
• As Coins.ph shifts its focus towards crypto under the leadership of Wei Zhou, Bilango steps into her new role amid a period of rapid expansion. Her background in finance and GameFi is expected to contribute significantly to the firm’s growth, with a vision of operating a global exchange headquartered in the Philippines.

Also at Coins.ph, they recently listed the MV token of Gensokishi Online. They also reported inking a partnership with Investagrams.

Telco Smart enters web3 with BlockchainSpace

Aiming to unlock new opportunities and drive growth for all stakeholders, community-enablement platform BlockchainSpace (BSPC) and telecommunications provider Smart Communications recently forged a partnership on May 17, 2023.

• The collaboration includes the launch of the Creator Circle program, which assists content creators in adopting web3 technology, fostering audience connections, and gradually introducing blockchain solutions. 
• In the beta phase, the program has already attracted over 150 creators with a combined following of over 20 million on social media platforms.

BlockchainSpace has also partnered with RankerDAO, announced last May 17.

On the NFT and web3 front

• Titik Poetry’s eighth year celebration will happen on May 27, 2023, at Cafe Salvacion in Dasmarinas City, Cavite.
• Stanible is the only ticketing service for an upcoming OPM concert featuring Chicosci, Rico Blanco, Zild Benitez, and Fragments.
• YGG Pilipinas reveals first batch of instructors at upcoming Web3 Community Summit.
• Manny Pacquiao headlined the MetaSpaceX event on May 19.
• Unlockd is looking for a new community builder.
• Tezos Philippines unveils Community Rewards Program.
• Artifract: Masterpieces of Vicente Manansala are now available on its website.
• MetaverseGo partners with Star Symphony and Crypto Unicorns.
• Playdex is partner of inaugural MLBB collegiate national championship

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Market Trends

• Binance is set to support Ordinals inscriptions on its NFT marketplace, allowing a Bitcoin NFT experience to its users.
• Binance Introduces Binance Sensei, a Web3-Focused AI Chatbot 

Things to Note: Bitcoin Mining

Atty. Rafael Padilla talked how private ordering can lead to the integration of ESG principles as lex mercatoria among bitcoin miners.

Things to Note: Web3

• Is web3 the future or is just another tech buzzword, by Metacrafters.
• BreederDAO on why gaming skins will be the next hottest digital fashion in blockchain.
• Unlockd CEO on nailing the financial sustainability game.
• What does AI mean for blockchain? By Luis Buenaventura.

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Happening this Thursday: 

Bitcoin, Beer & Bitstories organized by Draper Startup House is happening again this Thursday and this time, the crypto exchange BitGet will take center stage.

For more on the latest news on cryptocurrency in the Philippines, always check out BitPinas.

This article is published on BitPinas: New Key Hire at Coins, Smart Enters Web3 | Weekly Crypto News Roundup May 22, 2023

Disclaimer: BitPinas articles and its external content are not financial advice. The team serves to deliver independent, unbiased news to provide information for Philippine-crypto and beyond.

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• Source: https://bitpinas.com/feature/philippines-crypto-news-roundup-may-22-2023/