Issue #057: India’s digital loans, cross-border CBDC trial, Korean app law, NFTs in art…
Asia’s tech, startup and funding news in brief, drawn from South & SE Asia, Australia & NZ, with wider-world items for reference. Get the app here
Cambodia’s CBDC: “…more than 1.4M Bakong transactions were recorded in the first half of 2021 alone…” — europeansting.com
The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) developed the Bakong system along with Japanese technology company Soramitsu using the open source Hyperledger Iroha blockchain framework. The…
South Korea: Nat’l Assembly bans major app store operators from forcing devs to use their in-app payments — economictimes.indiatimes.com
The tech giants have faced widespread criticism over their practice of requiring app developers to use in-app purchasing systems, for which the companies receive commissions of up to 30%….
The companies from Day 2 of Y Combinator’s Summer 2021 Demo Day — techcrunch.com
Today we’re back in the action, listening to a few hundred rapid-fire pitches throughout the day. What follows are short overviews of each company based on their one-minute pitch. Elsewhere on the site…
“India’s digital loan market is becoming a battleground for companies from Facebook to Xiaomi seeking…” — businessmirror.com.ph
Facebook this month said India would be the first country where it rolls out its small business loan program offering loans via a partner to firms that advertise on its platform. The loans will range from 500,000 rupees ($6,720) to 5 million rupees…
Central banks in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia & S Africa to conduct cross-border payments trial with CBDCs — www.reuters.com
This latest project aims to develop prototype shared platforms for cross-border transactions using multiple CBDCs, said the statement from the Reserve Bank of Australia, Bank Negara Malaysia, the…
Asia Pacific startup applications for The Kesavan Cup in the Tech Trailblazers Awards close Sept 10th — techtrailblazers.com
The Tech Trailblazers Awards has launched three new regional awards spanning The Americas, Asia Pacific, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). ..
China’s UnionPay card network and US payments giant Stripe deepen partnership — www.emarketer.com
Letting sellers tap into UnionPay’s massive base — and Chinese interest in cross-border ecommerce — could boost volume and attract sellers who might want to switch providers….
Vietnam: A brief intro to 4 blockchain-based games, recently launched or currently in development — vietnamnet.vn
Before Axie Infinity was created, Vietnamese programmers knew concepts like blockchain, play to earn, and digital works (NFT). But it was not until Axie Infinity achieved great success that…
NFTs & the art market: “Digital tokens offer a way to buy and own shares in instantly recognisable works…” — www.ft.com
“Kouros” is the work of Fabio Viale, an Italian sculptor who takes fine stone, chisels it into replicas of classical statues, then inks tattoos on their marble flesh. He has adorned the neck of Michelangelo…
Download: China Internet Report — How the platform business model is powering China’s digital economy — ow.ly
That led us to a fundamental question: Why is the unique platform business model so prevalent in China? Our research points to four major reasons. First, the government has laid a foundation with…
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