Sebastian Sinclair

Binance has finally locked down a digital asset license in Southeast Asia after partnering with a local business in Thailand to establish an exchange there.



Dubbed Gulf Binance, the initiative is a collaboration between the world’s largest crypto exchange and Gulf Innova Co, a wholly-owned Thai subsidiary of publicly listed holding company Gulf Energy.



It follows a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/binance-seeks-to-establish-thai-crypto-exchange-following-mou-with-local-business">year-long effort</a> for Binance to reestablish a foothold in the country after being booted out for operating without a license amid criminal complaints from Thailand’s securities regulator.&nbsp;



It’s also the first license Binance has secured across the region, despite continuing to operate in several countries such as the Philippines without <a href="https://forkast.news/headlines/no-legal-basis-to-ban-binance-philippines/#:~:text=The%20Philippines'%20Department%20of%20Trade,)%2C%20the%20nation's%20central%20bank." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">appropriate licensure</a>.



The agreement between the pair, laid out in January of last year, was designed to allow the exchange a viable pathway to reenter by assuaging those concerns through a domestic and publicly regulated business.&nbsp;



It’s a marked change from previous efforts from the major exchange which, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/binance-says-singapore-license-withdrawal-due-to-redundancy-not-aml-shortcomings">in the past</a>, has operated without licensure at the risk of souring relationships with country officials and watchdogs.



Just last month, Binance had its derivatives license canceled in Australia over allegations it had mislead retail investors by allowing them to pick up risky products designated for <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/binance-loses-australia-license">wholesale clients</a>.



By partnering together, Binance and Gulf are hoping to draw in domestic users to what they’re calling a “compliant-first exchange,” a statement on Friday reads.



Approximately 4.3 million individuals, equivalent to 6.47% of the total population in Thailand, own some form of crypto, according to data provided by <a href="https://triple-a.io/crypto-ownership-thailand-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Triple-A</a>.



Richard Teng, Binance’s regional head of Asia, Europe and MENA said those same users would be able to expect “access to a trusted and regulated service.”



Thailand stands as “a country with a thriving crypto space that has demonstrated strong commitment in embracing blockchain technology,” Teng said in the statement.



Further details on its business operations are expected to be made available closer to the exchange’s launch date in the fourth quarter of this year.



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Binance Gets Greenlight to Operate Exchange in Thailand

Britain&#8217;s most valuable fintech company, Revolut, faces a significant setback as the Bank of England reportedly prepares to reject its application for a banking license.&nbsp;



It follows a review of the company’s internal IT systems which were found to be insufficient in assuring revenue streams from different areas of its business including <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/03/01/revolut-posts-first-profit-wake-crypto-trading-surge/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">crypto trading</a> revenues, its accounting firm BDO said last month.



After a two-year campaign, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), responsible for licensing, informed the government of its intention to deny Revolut’s application. The decision also comes amid concerns over Revolut&#8217;s balance sheet and a qualified audit opinion on overdue accounts, local media <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/05/18/bank-england-reject-revoluts-bid-banking-licence/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Telegraph</a> reported Thursday. 



PRA has instructed Revolut to produce a set of accounts with an audit opinion and simplify its share structure before the license could be granted. The regulator had previously informed the UK government of its plans to issue a notice to Revolut in March.



To date, no warning notice has yet been issued, but backroom discussions are now underway in an attempt to salvage the license application, per the report.



In any case, a denial of its banking license is only expected to affect its offerings of mortgages and loans to UK customers, while its crypto services are expected to remain unaffected.



In March, BDO, one of the UK&#8217;s top accounting firms, said it was unable to fully verify £477 million ($591 million) of Revolut&#8217;s revenues for 2021 due to internal system deficiencies. This amount represents over two-thirds of Revolut&#8217;s total revenues of £636 million ($789 million) for the year.



Revolut, which provides neobanking services, recently <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/revolut-crypto-staking-rewards">doubled down</a> on its crypto offerings, including furthering its push with staking rewards to customers across the UK and Europe.



The fintech unicorn, which has raised $1.8 billion over 19 rounds and is valued at roughly $33 billion, first began offering crypto in 2017 by allowing users to acquire bitcoin, ether and litecoin.



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Revolut Could See License Application Denied, But Crypto Offerings Unaffected

Ornella Hernandez

<div id="highlights-block_62fb90fb5110b" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Moonbirds’ move to a Creative Commons Zero license sparked debate</li>
 <li>Meebits and CryptoPunks collections have updated the terms of service to extend commercial rights use away from creators and to NFT holders</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



The popular NFT collection, Moonbirds, recently rescinded its holders’ full commercial art rights over the NFTs they own.&nbsp;



Announced via a <a href="https://twitter.com/kevinrose/status/1555262099093200896?s=20&amp;t=OsBUkskNyNnITovpSiPXIQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter thread</a> by the project founder, Kevin Rose, the move to a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license stripped holders of any claim to copyright on the intellectual property (IP) and lets the public reuse the image of a Moonbird or Oddity. 



Rose tweeted this move “honors and respects the values of the internet and web3” and “sets Moonbirds and Oddities free” to embrace the CC0 movement.&nbsp;



The greater Moonbirds community was shaken up, and the floor price of the collection has gone from 18 ETH on the day of the announcement on Aug. 4 to 12 ETH at the time of publication. Moonbirds’ trading volume on OpenSea makes it the ninth-most traded collection of all time.&nbsp;



One Moonbirds collector, NFTbark, <a href="https://twitter.com/NFTbark/status/1556980583028359168?s=20&amp;t=gqom_N55hzoFdSAt8aGmRQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a> that many of his friends have sold their NFTs in response. Although he remains hopeful, he said, “this isn’t about cc0. It’s about a loss of trust.”  



The main criticism against the sudden license switch is that it was done without the consent of the community members. The Moonbirds founders, however, acted in their legal right.&nbsp;&nbsp;



According to its terms of service, NFT holders were always subject to whatever the creators decided in the context of commercial rights concerning the image of the NFTs. Moonbirds creators could legally adjust the license without consent from the community.



The fact that creators had given holders the right to own an NFT does not mean that the owners cannot later on give others access to it too, explained Teddy Bornstein, general counsel at authenticated NFT marketplace Ethernity Chain. Any commercial rights that they were given are no longer valid. “Now they’re useless since they put those same rights in the public domain,” he said.&nbsp;



There’s a distinction between NFT collectibles and PFPs versus NFT art, according to Hugh Heslep, Chief Operating Officer of NFT art company Art Blocks.



“When you think of Moonbirds, you don&#8217;t think about the artist&#8217;s name. You don&#8217;t think about the art itself. You think about [Moonbirds’ parent company] Proof Collective. You may think about Kevin himself,” Heslep told Blockworks.



He added that CC0 “may make sense” if the purpose is to expand the community and to create digital assets that can drive utility and value.”&nbsp;



<h3>Evolving licensing models for blue chip NFT companies</h3>



Moonbirds has sparked a greater conversation about the pros and cons of different licensing models.&nbsp;



Each of the top NFT projects varies in its terms of service. Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), for example, grants holders unlimited commercial rights to use, copy and display the purchased art for the purpose of creating derivative works.



This allowed the founders of the Bored &amp; Hungry burger restaurant in California and the project Jenkins the Valet: The Writer&#8217;s Room to turn their Apes into the faces of their businesses.



One of the main advantages of owning an NFT is, arguably, the right to own the IP. However, building and marketing a brand from scratch is no walk in the park.&nbsp;



That’s where CC0 comes in. It lets other people do the building and marketing on behalf of an NFT holder.



The Nouns NFT project is an example of a popular CC0 collection, with plenty of derivative projects and merch made by non-holders that use Nouns IP.&nbsp;



Similar to open source software, when the IP is open, anyone can reuse, repurpose and distribute the NFT’s image.



The IP of Doodles NFTs, on the other hand, is company-owned. This model prevents individual NFT holders from monetizing their NFTs and instead allows community members to earn passive revenue via limited and non-exclusive access to NFT images.



Noodles, a collection created in homage to instant noodles, was Doodles’ first officially approved derivative project. Doodle holders can participate in the Doodles community treasury, known as the Doodlebank, and vote on how to use the funds for community experiences, collaborations and new projects.&nbsp;



<h3>CryptoPunks get new terms&nbsp;</h3>



CryptoPunks IP agreement was also company-owned until Monday. Larva Labs had originally retained the intellectual property rights to their creations, but since Yuga Labs acquired the IP of CryptoPunks and Meebits in March, the company foreshadowed BAYC-esque licensing rights.



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/tiffany-co-turns-cryptopunks-into-12-5m-luxury-jewelry-sale/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CryptoPunks’ first derivative project</a>, approved by but not officially affiliated with CryptoPunks, was the <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/tiffanys-wants-cryptopunk-holders-to-buy-matching-bling-for-50k-eth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tiffany &amp; Co. NFTiff campaign</a> that let Punk owners manufacture their Punk into a physical pendant necklace for 30 ETH.  



Noah Davis, CryptoPunks’ brand lead, called the NFTiff project a “great illustration of what Punks are soon going to be able to do.”



When asked about his view on CC0, Davis said, “Not all projects were meant to be CC0 projects. It&#8217;s not a one size fits all thing.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



Both CryptoPunks and Meebits will now tie the IP rights to the NFTs. Meebits explained what these changes mean in a Twitter thread: “All Meebit IP rights will travel with whoever is the current owner, but allows for former owners to continue to use and profit off what they have already created and published.”



Yuga Labs does reserve the right to make further changes to the licensing terms, <a href="https://twitter.com/MeebitsNFTs/status/1553837379785482243" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the thread said</a>.



“Don’t panic. This is there only because we are breaking new ground and need to be flexible in order to best serve the community,” it said.



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From Moonbirds to CryptoPunks, Terms of Service Are Changing

<div id="highlights-block_62b103469c71b" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>BTC Markets&#8217; sister company, BTCM Payments, has been awarded a financial services license from the securities regulator</li>
 <li>It marks the first time such a license has been handed to a crypto company in Australia</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Major Australian crypto exchange BTC Markets said Monday it has become the first of its kind in the country to receive a financial services license via its sister company.



The Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL), issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), has been awarded to BTCM Payments, according to a statement. The license paves the way for BTC Markets to provide non-cash payment products and general financial advice.



 As part of the conditions surrounding licensure, BTC Markets has been appointed as an authorized representative. For <a href="https://opengovau.com/company/643241829" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BTCM Payments</a>, which was registered on August 5, 2020, it marks an almost two-year journey to be granted an AFSL via ASIC, where it was said to be &#8220;engaging in robust and productive discussions.&#8221;



BTC Markets said the move will allow it to more closely bridge the crypto and traditional finance gap while offering new products to its customers. In Australia, those businesses offering financial services, advice and products must register for a license via ASIC.



Crypto remains excluded from the list of those companies required to apply for a license due to lagging regulations around digital assets within the country, though that is expected to change sometime next year.



&#8220;Our preference has always been to own our own AFSL rather than buying an existing one from a license holder,&#8221; BTC Markets CEO Caroline Bowler said. &#8220;We’re now the masters of our own destiny — we have a clean slate and full control over the AFSL.&#8221;



Bowler also said the license would prepare the exchange business for impending regulation and would bolster BTC Markets&#8217; existing ISO certification while complementing its progress in obtaining a voluntary compliance standard for service organizations (SOC 2).



It&#8217;s the latest win for the seasoned crypto marketplace which began operating nearly a decade ago. Earlier this year, the exchange inked a deal with stockbroker <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/australian-broker-selfwealth-taps-btc-markets-to-offer-crypto-in-country-first/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SelfWealth</a>, establishing it as the first traditional brokerage firm in the country to offer crypto to its clients.



&#8220;From an industry perspective, we’re seeking to demonstrate how crypto can sit alongside traditional finance to seamlessly work together in a financially inclusive future,&#8221; Bowler said.



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Licenses