CoralApp, an AI-focussed project backed by Binance, is gearing up to enter the hypercompetitive smartphone market in the coming days. The company has conceptualised a smartphone, dubbed the Coral Phone, packed with Web3 and AI capabilities. While the device will support traditional smartphone functions and apps, it will also be able to work seamlessly with decentralised applications (dApps), decentralised finance (DeFi), and decentralised physical infrastructure networks (DePINs).

Details on Coral Phone

At present, there are an estimated 6.84 billion smartphones globally and the number is soon projected to reach 7.1 billion. Through its Web3-centric smartphone, CoralApp aims to push technologies like DeFi, GameFi, and SocialFi to the masses.

The Coral Phone has been designed to provide direct access to decentralised apps, allow users to experience native on-chain games, and let users save their private wallet keys into the in-built Coral Vault, CoralApp said on the official website.

“Coral Phone offers a comprehensive suite of features enabling users to explore, interact, and thrive in the decentralized digital landscape. From seamless multi-chain cryptocurrency management to native on-chain gaming, Coral Phone isn’t just a smartphone — it’s your portal to a new decentralised digital era,” the website explained.

The company has teamed up with Acurast, a ‘decentralised serverless cloud,’ to combine Web3 and cloud computing technologies for the Coral Phone.

On the hardware front, the smartphone features a 6.55-inch AMOLED display and a 4800mAh battery. The dual-SIM phone will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset and will work on customised Coral OS 1.0 based on Android 14.

“The first 2,000 early bird devices will be priced at 1500 USDT or $1,500 (roughly Rs. 1.25 lakh). Limited availability and the price of subsequent sales may be subject to change,” the website added.

The interfacing of this phone will be decentralised, giving more independence to the users over their apps and content privacy. This AI layering on the device will enable it to offer an ‘intelligent’ and secure overall performance, said a report by ZYCrypto.

For now, CoralApp is letting users pre-register for these devices. While the exact date of the release of this device remains undisclosed, the website does say that the early birds will receive their devices by up to six months after having registered.

Binance had incubated CoralApp as part of the Season 4 of its global Incubation Program in 2022.

Web3 smartphones coming to mainstream markets

The Coral Phone is not the first smartphone that combines the already matured smartphone technology with the emerging Web3 technology.

In 2022, Solana Labs had unveiled its Solana Saga smartphone, packed with Web3 features like an inbuilt Seed Vault to safely store all the private keys linked to the device, among other Web3 features.

This year in May, Jambo, a Web3-enabled smartphone brand gave details about the JamboPhone, which is priced at $99 (roughly Rs. 8,230) and is laden with support for Web3 functionalities.

Louisiana has become the latest US state to support cryptocurrency mining, as more regions in the country are warming up to digital assets. A newly signed bill is expected to protect the rights of crypto mining individuals and businesses, who can continue to operate in the state as long as they are in compliance with local regulations. The US crypto market evolving into the largest in the world with its industry size projected to reach the valuation of $23,220 million by the end of the year.

Rising Adoption of Crypto Mining Businesses in the US

The governor of Louisiana has signed a bill to foster the growth of businesses related to crypto mining activities in the state, while the state has banned the use of central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs. The state of Louisiana is among others in the US that are tailoring laws around crypto that could open job opportunities and revenue streams for the state treasury.

Bill HB 488 protects the rights of crypto mining individuals and businesses to continue operations but while being in compliance with local noise ordinances. Businesses conducting crypto mining on a commercial level have been directed to set up shops in the industrial zones located across the state, the bill notes.

Furthermore, the bill now restricts all foreign parties from controlling digital mining businesses.

Louisiana’s support for crypto mining could help generate revenue and also open job opportunities in the state, that reportedly houses over 4.6 million citizens. However, crypto mining is infamous for consuming loads of electricity, disrupting power supply for local residents.

The global cryptocurrency mining market was valued at $1.92 billion (roughly Rs. 16,017 crore) in 2022 and is reportedly projected to reach $7 billion (roughly Rs. 58,398 crore) by 2032. As per JP Morgan, the Bitcoin mining sector is reportedly is garnering interest from investors.

The states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Florida are taking similar pro-crypto mining steps, while the federal government is working on comprehensive legislation to oversee the overall crypto sector.

Crypto Mining in Other Countries

Owing to the electrical load crypto mining businesses put on power grids, several countries have decided to ban their operations. In May, Venezuela banned crypto mining and seized thousands of mining computers.

Norway has also cracked down on crypto mining businesses this year in April.

Cryptocurrencies have made their mark on the fintech sector in several nations but have met with regulatory challenges because of the associated risks and volatile nature of the crypto market. Hong Kong is the latest to join the list of Asian regions that are accelerating efforts to establish a regulatory framework to oversee the crypto sector. The HKSAR Legislative Council, over the weekend, announced the setting up of a new subcommittee, that will dedicate its time to drafting detailed crypto laws.

Hong Kong aims to become crypto hotspot

Hong Kong authorities have prioritised making the region lucrative for Web3 businesses. After all, despite the financial risks involved with digital assets, the crypto market presently sits atop a valuation of $2.26 trillion (roughly Rs. 1,88,68,265 crore).

Johnny NG Kit-Chong, a member of the HKSAR, took to X to announce the creation of the crypto-focussed subcommittee. In his post, Kit-Chong disclosed that the subcommittee will explore regulations from two aspects – one regarding Web3 policies and the other around virtual assets.

From the point of view of Web3 policies, the subcommittee is tasked with balancing the growth of Web3 under a regulatory framework. The artificial intelligence (AI) sector will also be fostered by this newly formed body.

Policy work around virtual assets, meanwhile, will revolve around protecting investors and consumers that could lead to a boost in market confidence.

Other responsibilities assigned to the subcommittee, as per Kit-Chong, include assessing “potential application scenarios and risks of stablecoins in Hong Kong, and regulatory systems that ensure financial stability without stifling innovation.”

The body will also devote time to exploring the demand for professional custody services due to the rise of virtual assets in Hong Kong and conducting research around corresponding custody methods and regulatory measures.

The members of the committee are also inviting recommendations from the public, which they think can help them oversee Web3 elements like decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs).

“I welcome suggestions from the global Web3 industry. I will study them in detail and summarise them to present to the government through the Legislative Council platform,” the HKSAR Legislative Council member said.

Where does Hong Kong stand on crypto?

Hong Kong allows the trading and holding of cryptocurrencies, but no cryptocurrency is recognised as legal tender there. Crypto activities related to individual investors are not subject to taxes, however, firms indulging in professional crypto activities are subject to income tax.

As per Triple-a.io, over 2.45 lakh people, or 3.27 percent of Hong Kong’s total population, currently own cryptocurrencies.

Last month, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) announced that it would be conducting checks to see if all crypto functional exchanges were adhering to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO) on priority.

Prior to this in April, Hong Kong followed the US to approve ETFs related to Bitcoin and Ether, aiming to boost the engagement of institutional investors with these otherwise risky digital assets.

The Web3 sector is generally considered to have a high exposure to cyber-attacks and hacks, but Telegram-backed The Open Network (TON) blockchain has particularly found itself in trouble. As per blockchain security firm SlowMist, the TON blockchain faces a high risk of phishing attacks. The entire TON ecosystem is currently under threat, which could negatively impact the blockchain’s near future plans, especially at a time when the project admittedly aims to onboard 500 million users on-chain by 2028.

What do cyber experts say?

Yu Xian, the founder of SlowMist, alerted the team behind the TON blockchain about looming phishing threats to the network on June 23. In phishing attacks, the actor entices potential victims into sharing their private information – personal as well as financial – in order to exploit the information and steal funds.

“There are more and more phishing activities in the TON ecosystem. The Telegram ecosystem is too free, and many phishing links (or bot forms) are spread through message groups, airdrops and other deceptive methods,” Xian posted through his Twitter account that goes by the handle @evilcos.

Since TON users can link their wallets to their Telegram accounts, Xian fears that if the integrity of TON-linked wallets is violated, it could expose the affected users’ private messages as well.

The expert believes that the developers behind the TON blockchain should start taking measures to mitigate the situation.

As per Chainalysis, 2022 saw victims lose an estimated $516.8 million (roughly Rs. 4,314 crore) to crypto phishing scams. In 2023, this number stood at $374.6 million (roughly Rs. 3,127 crore) through November.

As of now, TON has not reacted to the development.

Growth of TON

For Telegram founders, the Durov brothers, the idea for The Open Network first took shape around 2018. Later in 2022, the TON mainnet went fully live and operational.

Just recently, the TON coin was listed on Binance for deposits and withdrawals. At the time of writing, TON was trading at $7.31 (roughly Rs. 610) on CoinMarketCap.

Since 2022, Web3 investment company DWF Labs infused $10 million (roughly Rs. 80 crore) in the Layer-1 blockchain network. Around the same time, Telegram said it would auction rare usernames on the TON marketplace.

The crypto exchanges operating in South Korea are said to be gearing up for an internal audit. As part of this process, over 600 cryptocurrencies will reportedly be re-examined to see whether they meet the regulatory standards laid out by Seoul. The aim is to protect South Korea’s investor community as well as its financial ecosystem against risks posed by unregulated and volatile crypto assets. The exchanges will also conduct a maintenance review of their respective firms in order to identify any security or cyber threat that may be looming over their businesses, as per the report.

South Korea to identify risky tokens

A total of 29 crypto exchanges operate in South Korea, which include Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax among others. The decision of these exchanges to conduct audits of the crypto tokens that are listed for trading on these exchanges is influenced by the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, that is set to go under implementation on June 19 in South Korea, a report by S.Korean publication Chosun said.

The crypto tokens that fail to meet the regulatory standards will reportedly be delisted by exchanges. The exchanges are then said to provide information about the delisting to their respective user communities. Crypto tokens listed less than six months ago are said to get a strict warning to adhere to the country’s legal requirements before facing an expulsion from the trade lists.

“We will allow virtual asset exchanges to review whether to maintain trading support for virtual asset items that have been trading for six months. It is inevitable that transaction support will be suspended for virtual asset items that do not meet the standards for maintaining transaction support,” the Chosun report quoted an anonymous source familiar with the matter.

Process of Token review

Crypto exchanges getting ready to conduct this internal probe have reportedly chalked out important points to cover in order to ensure that all crypto assets are safe for investors to engage with. Audits for these tokens will be conducted along the lines of security, technology level, regulatory compliance, transaction support, and past business history.

Transparency of virtual asset operation, market capitalisation, as well as total issuance and circulation volume are other parameters linked to over 600 tokens said to be analysed by exchanges. The exchanges will reportedly establish an alternate screening method for cryptocurrencies issued by decentralised organisations (DAOs) — that may be difficult to be traded in South Korea.

Furthermore, the Virtual Asset User Protection Act in South Korea directs all exchanges to conduct internal maintenance reviews every three months.

South Korea cracking down on risky crypto habits

The Asian nation has been rather pro-crypto in its approach towards the digital assets sector despite the risks linked to it. With South Korean banks stepping into metaverse ecosystems to authorities approving licences for crypto firms looking to set up shop there – the nation has taken many pro-Web3 steps. The nation categorised blockchain-based tokens as ‘Securities’ back in February 2023, bringing them under its Securities laws.

It is however, notable, that the government there has remained vigilant in terms of overseeing industry players that are engaged with the virtual assets sector. In April 2022, the authorities conducted investigations on exchanges like KuCoin and Coinex to check if their operations were legal or not.

In January 2024, the South Korean authorities reportedly said that the purchase of cryptocurrencies through credit cards could soon be banned in South Korea.

The crypto market seems to be on upswing price-wise, with majority cryptocurrencies reflecting profits on Wednesday, June 19. Bitcoin recorded a small gain of 0.35 percent to trade at the price point of $65,573 (roughly Rs. 54.6 lakh), as per CoinMarketCap. This is the first time in weeks that Bitcoin has managed to reach and breach the mark of $65,000 (roughly Rs. 54 lakh) on international exchanges. Meanwhile in India, Bitcoin is trading at $71,915 (roughly Rs. 59.9 lakh) on exchanges like WazirX and CoinDCX.

“Although Bitcoin appears slightly bearish on shorter time frames, it is performing well on weekly charts, indicating that the bull market is likely still ongoing. Bitcoin’s dominance also remains steady at around 55 percent,” the CoinSwitch Markets Desk told Gadgets360.

Ether slipped in value by 2.73 percent on Wednesday, as per Gadgets360’s crypto price tracker. At the time of writing, ETH was trading at $3,092 (roughly Rs. 2.57 lakh) on Indian exchanges and at around $3,560 (roughly Rs. 2. 96 lakh) on international exchanges. Ether price is estimated to go up, given the latest development around it in the US.

“Ethereum developer Consensys has announced that the US Securities and Exchange Commission is ending its investigation into whether ETH is a security and whether sales of ETH constitute security transactions,” the CoinSwitch desk added.

Most cryptocurrencies logged gains on Wednesday. These include Tether, Binance Coin, Solana, Ripple, Dogecoin, Cardano, Shiba Inu, Avalanche, and Tron.

Polkadot, Chainlink, Uniswap, Polygon, and Near Protocol also registered minor gains.

“Overall, the market has been slowly rebounding from recent declines. Ethereum ETF issuers received SEC feedback on their S-1 forms last week, with a deadline to finalise them by this Friday,” Edul Patel, CEO of Mudrex told Gadgets360.

The small bunch of altcoins that reflected losses on Wednesday include Litecoin, Elrond, EOS Coin, and Underdog.

As per CoinMarketCap, the overall crypto market cap rose by 0.92 percent in the last 24 hours. With this, the sector’s valuation has come to $2.38 trillion (roughly Rs. 1,98,41,691 crore).

Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article. 

Giottus, a crypto exchange based in India, has bumped up the number of cryptocurrencies listed on its platform for trading. Cryptocurrencies related to decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols, real world assets (RWA), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and memecoins have made it to Giottus’ refreshed list. The exchange claims that it caters to over one million users and the listing of these new tokens is a result of user requests that it has analysed in recent times.

In a statement shared with Gadgets360, Giottus claimed to have conducted analysis of each new token that have been added to the list. Asset quality, reliability, asset fundamentals, and history of market performance are among parameters that were examined, as per the exchange, before adding them to the list.

“The listing of new tokens has been driven by significant demand from our valued customers, particularly in light of the ongoing bull market. The tokens chosen for listing have undergone a rigorous due diligence process which evaluated aspects such as asset quality, reliability, asset fundamentals, and market performance,” the exchange founded in 2017 said.

As per CoinMarketCap, presently the crypto market is lush with over 2.4 million cryptocurrencies in circulation. Giottus alone, claims that it now has 300 cryptocurrencies listed on its platform.

Realising the trend of new tokens finding their ways onto crypto exchanges, the Bharat Web3 Association (BWA) recently laid out a bunch of self-regulatory guidelines for exchanges to follow before listing new tokens on their platforms. The guidelines suggest that all crypto exchanges establish minimum standards to review tokens that are in the pipeline to be listed for public engagement. The exchanges have also been instructed to create their own filtering framework for token listings.

Given that India is deploying regulations to make the crypto sector safe for user engagement, it is expected that more people may attempt to experiment with crypto assets, which despite being volatile in nature, lure-in investors who are looking to make quick money.

As of now, the Government of India has not released its own rulebook on token listings, but has instructed exchanges to complete the KYC formalities of all customers and report any suspicious activities identified internally.

Giottus claims to have registered with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) — which was recently mandated by the Centre to ensure that no firm was illegally exposing Indians to the volatile and financially risky crypto space.

“As a registered entity with the FIU and a reporting entity under the India Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (i4C), Giottus adheres to the highest standards of regulatory compliance and believes that such user-centric measures will boost crypto adoption among the masses with its stated aim of reaching five million users by end of 2024,” the exchange added to its statement.

Bitcoin price fell by 1.22 percent over the last 24 hours, while the values of several other cryptocurrencies also took a hit on Thursday. As a result, the price of Bitcoin has dropped to $65,255 (roughly Rs. 54.4 lakh) on international exchanges and to $70,540 (roughly Rs. 58.8 lakh) on national exchanges. Market analysts believe that if the price of BTC continues to fall in the same manner, it could eventually plummet to as low as $60,000 (roughly Rs. 50 lakh).

“BTC consolidated in a very narrow range yesterday with altcoins showing some strength after days of choppy markets. This comes as Bitcoin exchange reserves reach a three year low, which means there could be a supply shock on the cards with the unprecedented demand of Bitcoin ETFs,” the CoinSwitch markets desk told Gadgets360 on Thursday.

Ether, on the other hand, performed rather well as its value grew by 1.35 percent over the past day. With this, the price of ETH is now $3,576 (roughly Rs. 2.98 lakh) on foreign exchanges. As per Gadgets360’s crypto price tracker, ETH price in India is currently set at $3,130 (roughly Rs. 2.60 lakh).

Prices of most altcoins drop

Popular altcoins also saw their prices drop on Thursday, just like Bitcoin. These include Binance Coin, Solana, Ripple, Dogecoin, and Cardano.

Shiba Inu, Avalanche, Polkadot, and Leo also registered losses on Thursday.

The overall crypto market cap dipped by 0.17 percent in the last 24 hours. The total crypto market valuation, at the time of writing, stood at $2.38 trillion (roughly Rs. 1,98,55,804 crore), shows CoinMarketCap.

Relatively unknown cryptocurrencies that manged to perform better than their popular counterparts on Thursday include Tron, Chainlink, Uniswap, Polygon, Near Protocol, Litecoin, and Stellar registered profits.

Cosmos, Cronos, Neo Coin, and EOS Coin also saw a small increase in value.

“Ethereum-based tokens, including Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and Lido DAO (LDO), are also gaining strength, suggesting the potential for a significant upswing in the near future,” said WazirX Vice President Rajagopal Menon in a statement to Gadgets 360.

Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article. 

Ahead of India’s final budget announcement for FY2024-2025, a policy paper has outlined the reasons why the government should consider revising the crypto tax laws in the country. The report has collectively been compiled by the Centre for Tax Laws, Hyderabad-based NALSAR University of Law, and some individual members of the crypto community in India. The report claimed that India could fetch Rs. 5,144 crores through capital gains by 2027, only if country revises its crypto laws.

India’s crypto tax laws

Since 2022, India has been levying 30 percent tax on all crypto gains. In addition, it deducts one percent TDS (tax deducted at source) on every crypto transaction. The Finance Ministry wishes to maintain a trail of all crypto transactions, that are otherwise largely anonymous.

About the 30 percent tax on crypto profits in India, the report said that it was the highest across comparative economies like Ukraine, Canada, and the US. Commenting on the TDS law, the report noted that no other nation with significant exposure to virtual assets imposed “such withholding tax”.

A reduction in this one percent TDS cut could decrease overall TDS refunds, increase government revenue through capital gains taxes, and improve transaction monitoring by the virtual asset service providers (VASPs) that are operating in India, the policy paper explained.

“The tax impact is particularly harsh considering that India does not allow set off and carry forward of losses, which is uniquely discriminatory, even when compared to other industry sectors in India,” the report noted.

The impact of these taxes on crypto activities has led to a drop in the number of users engaging with crypto exchanges in India. Time and again, exchanges have complained that they have had to take cost cutting measures to keep their businesses afloat because of reduced number of investors signing up on the platform.

The report has shown that the number of active users in India’s crypto space dropped by 81 percent in 2023 alone. Several are even moving to foreign exchanges to go around these laws.

Where does India stand on crypto tax regime?

As of now, the Indian government has not disclosed if it is even considering revising the crypto tax laws. Earlier this year, when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the interim budget before India conducted its general elections, she skipped mentioning the crypto sector.

The government has thus far not addressed the crypto sector’s demand to reduce the taxes.

Meta is attempting to enhance and streamline its operations in the Web3 and wearables markets. The company has reportedly divided its Reality Labs team into two separate entities where one team will work on the metaverse-focussed Quest headsets and the other will dedicate its time to hardware wearables that Meta may launch in the future. As per a report that surfaced online recently, Meta’s CTO Andrew Bosworth announced this segregation in the Reality Labs team earlier this week.

What is Reality Labs, and what are Meta’s plans for it?

After Mark Zuckerberg rebranded Facebook to Meta in 2021, he formed the Reality Labs unit formally in 2022. This division merged multiple initiatives that were already being worked upon within the company like Artificial Intelligence, virtual headsets, as well as CTRL Labs among others. Later, the Reality Labs unit of Meta also became the centre point of the company’s exploration into the metaverse technology.

According to a report by The Verge Bosworth conveyed details about the internal restructuring through at Meta througha memo. The website also reported that layoffs have also been announced for some members of the team. The exact number of people terminated remains unknown for now – but the report claims that it was a relatively small group.

Moving forward, all of Meta’s initiatives related to the metaverse technology will be reportedly handled by the newly separated Metaverse division. The Quest VR headset, its operating system called Horizon OS, as well as Meta’s social VR platform Horizon Worlds will be overseen by the Metaverse unit, as per the report. Horizon leader Vishal Shah will reportedly now monitor developments around the Quest headsets as well.

In 2022, Meta refreshed the Quest headset lineup with the ‘Meta Quest Pro’ that starts at the price point of $999 (roughly Rs. 83,520). In 2023, Meta unveiled the Meta Quest 3 priced at $499.99 (roughly Rs. 41,800). As of March 2023, Meta had reportedly sold 20 million Quest headsets.

Meanwhile, the company has not yet addressed the reported development publicly.

Meta’s Metaverse journey so far

Zuckerberg announced his big plans to venture into the metaverse industry when he rebranded Facebook to Meta in October 8, 2021. With Web3 technologies meeting with scrutiny around the world because of their links to volatile and risky digital assets, the growth of these technologies have been gradual.

Meta’s Reality Labs unit has been reporting losses constantly since the rebranding. Reality Labs lost $13.7 billion (roughly Rs. 1,12,200 crore) in 2022, whereas it suffered a loss of $46.5 billion while generating nearly $11 billion (roughly Rs. 91,744 crore) in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2023.

In May 2023, Meta had commissioned a study that claimed that the metaverse could contribute as much as $760 billion (roughly Rs. 62,36,088 crore) or about 2.4 percent to the US annual gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035. Zuckerberg projects that his metaverse initiatives could see more losses in the coming times but he remains diligent about exploring its use cases.