Binance launched its crypto exchange officially in New Zealand on Sept 30, following its registration approval as a financial service provider in the country on Sept 10.
“The history of fintech innovation in New Zealand is very well known, with one of the earliest and most rapid uptakes of digital transactions in the world,” says Chang Peng Zhao, Binance founder and CEO, in a statement.
Zhao notes how many major technology firms have been slow to open a New Zealand office. “I guess for some, it’s easy to overlook as it’s a smaller market, but we see significant value in having a serious New Zealand presence,” Zhao adds.
Ben Rose, former chief commercial officer (COO) of CodeHQ, a New Zealand software company, holds the fort as general manager of Binance New Zealand.
Meanwhile, the DFINITY Foundation, a Zurich-based non-profit organisation developing a public blockchain platform called the Internet Computer (IC), announced on Sept 29 the implementation of a HTTPS outcall functionality to the IC. With this feature, smart contracts will now be able to securely make HTTP calls from within a secure blockchain sandbox which allows multiple partners to work on the same cloud-hosted network, to external Web 2.0 services.
This move allows for IC users to have access to real-time Web 2.0-based information like exchange rates for cryptocurrencies, weather data, sports scores, voting results and stock prices. Most fundamentally, it paves the way towards more secure and sophisticated blockchain service offerings on the IC.
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“HTTPS outcalls will now allow smart contracts to directly and securely retrieve data from the outside world, such as price feeds from exchanges, in a trustless manner,” says Dominic Williams, founder and chief scientist of the DFINITY Foundation. “The functionality will also be used to integrate services built with smart contracts on the Internet Computer with external services in the Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 worlds, realising exciting opportunities in the ecosystem.”
At present, the IC blockchain enables systems and services to be built exclusively using smart contracts running entirely on the blockchain, without the need for traditional information technology (IT) services.
Next, on Sept 28, global cryptocurrency exchange ByBit unveiled its latest listing – PUMLx – the utility token of PUML Better Health, an original Web 3.0, move-to-earn platform for corporate wellness.
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PUML Better Health is an app that motivates users to stay active, specialising in move-to-earn programmes and connections to the wider fitness and wellness industry. Its has since partnered with large corporations such as Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), Deloitte and Western Union to encourage users to keep fit and stay active.
The PUMLx token will be listed on Bybit’s Launchpad 2.0, the latest edition of the platform, one of its newest features being its lottery model which allows users to stake Tether for the chance to win allocations of new tokens.
Users will be able to use PUMLx for staking rewards, swapping of assets and purchasing athlete NFTs.
