Blockchain

Sony will launch a blockchain network, becoming the latest major Japanese company to enter the Web3 space.

Marketing expert Lucie outlined Shibarium’s goals to become a hub for gaming, metaverse, and DApps while keeping costs low in recent tweets.

Planetarium Labs unveiled two new Web3 RPGs—Verse8 and Immortal Rising 2—at Korea Blockchain Week, highlighting innovations in community-driven gaming, virtual economies, and tokenized incentives.

Gaming company Krafton will launch Settlus, a Cosmos blockchain designed for transparent creator settlements, with testnet coming in 2024.

TOKYO BEAST, a new crypto entertainment game developed by gumi and advised by Turingum, announced its launch on the Polygon blockchain at the Korea Blockchain Week conference.

The Central African Republic persists in implementing blockchain and crypto solutions despite past setbacks.

Leading South Korean metaverse Zepeto, valued over $1 billion with 400M+ users, raised $13M to expand into the blockchain via the new initiative ZepetoX, aiming to leverage its Web2 success with brands like Gucci into NFTs and a creator-focused metaverse platform.

Chinese officials have reinforced their tough stand toward foreign telecom companies engaged in cryptocurrency and blockchain activities, warning them against abusing “new technologies” including blockchain, digital assets, artificial intelligence (AI), and the metaverse for illegal purposes.

Shanghai has unveiled an initiative to build comprehensive blockchain infrastructure across public and economic sectors by 2025, positioning the city as a global blockchain leader. Major Chinese cities like Nanjing, Zhengzhou, and Jinan are pioneering metaverse, blockchain, and digital yuan projects to spearhead nationwide digital transformation.

The Japan Blockchain Association (JBA) has urged the government to reform the tax system to account for cryptocurrencies, citing that the current structure is hindering the growth of web3 businesses in Japan; specifically, they are calling for the elimination of taxes on cryptocurrency earnings and a flat 20% tax on personal transactions.