Indonesia tightens grip on crypto exchanges

In the Token Issue this week, we analyze Indonesia’s tightened crypto rules and check out a big tech player's entry into the crypto club. [Read from your browser]( Token Issue Welcome to Token Issue! Delivered every Friday, this free newsletter breaks down the biggest stories in Asia’s crypto scene and beyond. View past issues [here]( or [sign up here]( to receive future newsletters. Written by Deepti Sri Journalist Hi {NAME} I've always been a fan of the All-In podcast, which features four billionaires talking about current hot topics. In one of their [recent episodes]( they went all in on Bitcoin. The takeaways were pretty insightful: They talked about how the likes of Warren Buffet, Charlie Munger, and Howard Marks are all legendary investors and yet are not technologists. These bigwigs all hate Bitcoin and sound like my grandma asking me what channel Netflix is on her TV. The podcasters also spoke about how Bitcoin can be the perfect solution to the separation of state and church. While governments can control fiat currencies, Bitcoin cannot be controlled by a centralized government or printed infinitely. In today's Big Story, we throw the spotlight on the Indonesian government's take on regulating the country's crypto market. Fun fact: Locally issued crypto tokens could possibly join palm oil or coal among the country's major export commodities. Our subscriber-only analysis has all the details you're looking for! -- Deepti  ---------------------------------------------------------------  THE BIG STORY [Indonesia’s crypto exchanges face fuzzy future amid new regulations]( Indonesia, where crypto is wildly popular for its [speculative nature]( has proposed new rules that could make survival incredibly tough for the smaller crypto firms that exchange tokens. We analyze what the broader implications of these rules are.  --------------------------------------------------------------- ⭐ TO THE STARS A look at what’s pushing Web3 forward. Google joins the crypto club At the Google Cloud Next conference, the tech giant said it will use [Coinbase's services]( to let some customers pay for cloud offerings with cryptocurrencies early in 2023. This will be done through an integration with Coinbase Commerce, which helps merchants anywhere in the world accept crypto payments. Coinbase Commerce supports 10 currencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDC, USDT, and ApeCoin. As part of the deal, Coinbase, which depends heavily on market-leading Amazon Web Services, will now transfer data-related applications to Google. A handful of clients in the Web3 world who want to pay with crypto will now be able to do so through Google Cloud Platform. This year, Google Cloud has also announced the creation of teams that will work to integrate blockchain into its services and create tools that can be used by third-party developers to run blockchain apps. Crypto is definitely having its moment among big tech firms.  --------------------------------------------------------------- 🌙 TO THE MOON Tokens, NFTs, and yield generators we’re noticing. [Deep Objects]( This is a decentralized design studio founded by designer [David Stamatis]( who has worked with Nike, Yeezy, and Uber Eats, among others, on several projects. The platform’s first job: developing a design for sneakers. NFT holders take part in the process by looking through a million AI-generated designs and then voting until one winner is selected. [YuGiYn]( This is a virtual world that aims to create a digital economic zone based on Tokyo's culture. Its NFT acts as a pass to enter the virtual world, where players can move back and forth between the space’s four districts and engage in conversation with one another through games, manga, anime, fashion, and music elements. [Cocky]( Launched by UK-based payroll company Parasol Group, Cocky is an NFT lifestyle club that offers exclusive access to music events. It hosts in-person events twice or thrice a year as well as virtual activities. Its NFTs are depicted as cans with three lids. NFT holders can receive travel and lodging deals, extra invites, bar tabs, and unique merchandise based on the color of the lid. --------------------------------------------------------------- 🌏 BACK TO EARTH The week’s biggest roadblocks. The royalty problem in NFTs DeGods, a Solana-based NFT collection, recently said it will switch to a [zero-royalty scheme](. What that means is it will be traded in marketplaces where creators will receive no royalty fees, a decision that has spurred debate about the ethics of royalty-free trading. The move helps lower the costs of NFT transactions, resulting in more trading volume. However, it may deprive artists of being fairly compensated for their work. While the popular Ethereum NFT collection, CryptoPunks, has also advocated for zero royalties on NFTs, NFT marketplace Magic Eden has taken a different route. Magic Eden launched [MetaShield]( which discourages consumers from buying NFTs without paying royalties to creators. The company said the new tool aims to protect artists, rather than punish buyers. It later surprised and dismayed many by [joining forces]( with CoralCube, an NFT marketplace where royalty fees are optional. On the other hand, charging zero royalties for NFTs, some say, is the ["fastest cash grab"]( method for promoting NFT mints and is seen as a "huge win" for the ecosystem. This is exactly what crypto exchange FTX did last year after it said it wouldn’t list NFTs that pay secondary market royalties to their holders. Zero royalties on NFT projects could also push teams to diversify their sources of income in the crypto space.  --------------------------------------------------------------- STILL A PONZI SCHEME The dark underbelly of Web3 and crypto today “Just smashed my monitor in front of 22 guests at my son's birthday party because of a Solana block explorer. My wife just took our crying kids and said they’re all spending the week at her mom’s house. This crypto shit has ruined my marriage. I can’t handle this anymore. Goodbye.” -- [Anonymous twitter critic]( While this might sound like an extreme reaction to something related to crypto, the details of the Mango Markets hack will justify just this. Mango Markets, a trading and lending platform based on Solana, was hacked, and a bad actor [stole]( US$117 million from the protocol. October has shaped up to be the [worst month]( for decentralized finance (DeFi) hacks ever. In an interesting turn of events, the hacker submitted a proposal on the platform's governance forum to return most of the stolen money in exchange for not being criminally investigated. The person then used the MNGO tokens they owned to vote "yes" on the proposal, which now has a [99.9% approval rate](. Yes, DeFI is a weird place. --------------------------------------------------------------- MORE TO CHEW ON Essential news and views. 1️⃣ [a16z's newest bet on Twitch co-founder's Web3 startup]( Twitch co-founder Justin Kan's newest venture, Rye, is an ecommerce marketplace that wants to be the “Spotify for ecommerce.” 2️⃣ [Singapore gets sweeter on crypto]( Coinbase Singapore and [Blockchain.com]( have earned the Monetary Authority of Singapore's in-principle approval this week to provide crypto services in the country. The city-state has emerged as one of the top crypto hubs in Southeast Asia, especially as China banned cryptocurrencies in 2021. 3️⃣ [Ban ban ban in China]( Speaking of China's ban on crypto, the country has gone all out and barred 13 underground cryptocurrency trading apps, took down 23 crypto media websites, and banned 440 online accounts promoting crypto. China’s central bank also blocked 10 addresses for downloading crypto exchange apps, a cryptocurrency trading platform, and 32 crypto-related domain names. 4️⃣ [Scrutinizing the apes]( The US Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly looking into Yuga Labs, the company behind the well-known NFT collection Bored Ape Yacht Club, to find out if some of its NFTs had run afoul of federal securities rules. The broader theme of the investigation is to determine if NFTs can be considered as securities. 5️⃣ [Blockchain-powered police reports in India]( The Indian police have launched a pilot [web portal]( using Polygon to file complaints that cannot be erased or manipulated. A corruption-proof system to file police reports is a pleasant surprise for India, where bribery is rampant among enforcers.  --------------------------------------------------------------- That’s all for this issue - we hope you liked it. WAGMI! P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Too many emails? Switch to a different frequency or get new content through our [preference center]( or [unsubscribe](. You can also break our hearts and remove yourself from all Tech in Asia emails over [here](  Copyright © 2022 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 63 Robinson Road, Singapore 068894