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Hong Kong’s financial regulators are prepared to adjust their approach to cryptocurrency regulation as the industry develops, according to Finance Secretary Christopher Hui.
Speaking at a parliamentary session, Hui stated that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) would consider market trends when devising regulations. He said:
The HKMA and the SFC will keep in view market developments, and review the requirements on VA-related activities as appropriate.
Hui’s comments came in response to questions about potentially expediting the crypto licensing process and easing rules for intermediaries distributing crypto assets. He clarified that licensed corporations and registered institutions can distribute crypto-related products after notifying regulators, without needing to modify their licensing conditions.
This discussion follows the withdrawal of license applications by several major global crypto exchanges, including OKX, Gate.io, and HTX, ahead of a June 1 deadline set by the SFC. After this date, all crypto trading platforms operating in Hong Kong must be either licensed or “deemed-to-be-licensed” applicants.
The stringency of Hong Kong’s licensing regulations has drawn criticism from some quarters. Lawmaker Duncan Chiu expressed concerns that overly strict rules have deterred major global exchanges from entering the Hong Kong market. In a recent opinion piece, Chiu argued that these withdrawals have undermined confidence in Hong Kong’s efforts to establish itself as a Web3 hub.
Hong Kong’s crypto landscape
Hong Kong approved the launch of six spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) back in early May. The products in question were issued by China Asset Management (ChinaAMC), Bosera Asset Management, and Harvest Global Investments and allow exposure to crypto without technical expertise.
Earlier this month, Banque de France (BDF) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority also signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral collaboration on wholesale central bank digital currency and tokenization development. The two regulators are willing to explore interoperability between their digital currencies and cross-country transactions.
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Assassin’s Creed is a legendary intellectual property (IP) in its own right and has appeared in many other Ubisoft crossovers.
Now, the rooftop-jumping assassin game is being represented in cardboard with the Universes Beyond treatment of Magic the Gathering. Published by Dungeons and Dragons and Baldur’s Gate studio Wizards of the Coast.
Wizards of the Coast Senior game designer Corey Bowen has promised fans, via Den of Geek that AC stories and narratives will be carefully “revisualized into Magic’s style.”
Assassin’s Creed represented in MTG’s Universes Beyond
Wizards have been active in promoting the MTG X AC across X:

You’ve got a full selection of blades to choose from in #MTGxAC.
Grab your whetstone and get to sharpening! pic.twitter.com/1NFKkYBlsM
— Magic: The Gathering (@wizards_magic) July 2, 2024

Bowen continued, “I worked really closely with the art director and creative designer. We were collaborating on what characters and concepts that we wanted to bring. What I really love is seeing whatever the style is of Assassin’s Creed and we’re taking that essence and bringing it in Magic’s arthouse style.”
Assassins in MTG are predominantly associated with black mana, the fuel used to play them on the tabletop. Bowen said of converting the stealthy world of AC, “We still want Assassins of different colors. There is going to be a little bit more Black (Mana cards) because Assassins feel really Black, but we also have a lot of Red/White Assassins that represent the historic side of the series; maybe the Valhalla or Odyssey characters feel more towards that identity.”
As we previously reported when the set was unveiled, the MTG X AC crossover will feature signature items from the series as marquee cards. The iconic haystack players tumble into from epic heights was featured as a playable card. The wrist-mounted hidden blade and animus also take their place as legendary artifacts.
“My favorite card is called Haystack,” Bowen said. “It’s just a haystack and you tap it to hide a creature for a turn and then it phases out. It’s such a simple concept and idea of hiding your creature, but it’s resonant and Assassin’s Creed fans will immediately get the joke.”
Memory corridor treatments will be present in the Collector Booster packs, as well as unique serialized versions of the game’s historical characters. These limited five hundred cards will also come in the language they spoke, such as ancient Egyptian for Cleopatra and Italian for Leonardo Da Vinci.
MTG Universes Beyond snapping up gaming IPs
This is not the first time a gaming franchise or a major pop culture name has been lovingly transported to Magic The Gathering. Lara Croft, Godzilla, Doctor Who, and the Lord of The Rings have all had their own treatments in the card game.
We also reported on the smash hit set for Fallout: Universes Beyond which was a healthy part of Wizards of the Coast’s earning report for the first quarter of this year.
The Lord of the Rings: Universes Beyond propped up a struggling Hasbro, as we covered late last year. Combined with the success of Baldur’s Gate 3, Wizards and Hasbro raked in the profits from fans of all things geeky.
Hasbro and Wizards sadly left a bad taste in fans’ mouths after mass layoffs in the face of the record income.
Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian cut ties with both Hasbro and Wizards despite the game being the best game of 2023. Sven Wicke, CEO of Larian stated that being involved with any new Wizards plans is “literally the opposite of what Larian is about. We want to do big, new things. We don’t want to rehash the thing that we’ve done already.”
Cynthia Williams, the President of Wizards at the time, was shown the exit door swiftly afterward, leaving behind her a legacy of disharmony.
Image: Wizards of the Coast.
The post Assassin’s Creed crossover with Magic the Gathering to be released this week appeared first on ReadWrite.

In a recent interview, Cate Blanchett revealed that she purchased a PS5 and Borderlands to get to know the character Lilith.
Blanchett will portray the gunslinging Pandoran in the new Eli Roth take on the world of Borderlands. Roth is known for his graphic works, and Borderlands’ grim comic subtext is a welcome canvas for the controversial horror filmmaker.
Roth and Blanchett will team up again after their recent adaptation of John Ballair’s The House with a Clock in Its Walls. The movie included stars like Jack Black, Twin Peaks royalty Kyle MacLachlan, and God of War’s Sunny Suljic.
Blanchett buys PS5 and Borderlands
Blanchett told Empire of her Covid-19 woes of having too much time on her hands. Saying, “The crazy asks are usually the things I gravitate towards. I think there also may have been a little Covid madness — I was spending a lot of time in the garden, using the chainsaw a little too freely.”
The legendary actor, known for roles such as Galadriel and Hela, said her husband played a big part in convincing her to take on the role of Lilith. She told the movie magazine that he even went as far as to say, “This film could save your life.”
“My thumbs can barely control a phone, but I bought a PS5 and we played each other,” she says of her process to grips with the crazy world of Pandora. Blanchett continued, “I wanted to know the limits of the game and what fans loved about the character. I got really absorbed in that whole world. The cosplayers. The YouTube make-up tutorials.”
Lilith, Roland, Tiny Tina, Krieg, Tannis, and Claptrap are all represented in the Borderlands movie trailer we broke down and what we know so far.
Fans have, however, been left disappointed that the movie has been given a PG-13 rating. The world of the Pandoran Vault and the stories surrounding it are entirely made for mature audiences, and Roth generally likes buckets of gore and blood in most movie adaptations.
Roth has had to battle comparisons with Marvel’s superhero team-up, Guardians of the Galaxy. He said, “I was very conscious of not remaking Guardians. (Audiences will) see the movie, and they’ll see it’s different.”
“I don’t want (audiences) to be like, ‘Oh, that was a good video game movie.’ I want them to say, ‘That was a really fun science-fiction film, period,’” he concluded.
Image: Lionsgate.
 
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A consortium of 20 South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges has launched a six-month review of 1,333 digital assets to address concerns about potential mass delistings under new regulations.
The Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA) announced this initiative on July 2, aiming to mitigate the risk of sudden, widespread token removals. This review process is mandated by South Korea’s new investor protection laws, set to take effect on July 19.
Major platforms like Bithumb and Upbit must comply with these regulations, which will serve as the benchmark for future token listings. DAXA has collaborated with participating exchanges to establish best practices for reviewing and potentially delisting cryptocurrencies.
The alliance also plans to implement a more flexible “alternative screening plan” for tokens traded on reputable overseas markets for over two years. DAXA is currently identifying eligible foreign exchanges, including those recognized by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
South Korea’s crypto landscape
South Korea’s crypto market significance is underscored by the Korean won’s status as the most traded fiat cryptocurrency pair in Q1 2024, with $456 billion in trading volume, slightly surpassing the U.S. dollar. Upbit, the country’s largest exchange, ranks among the top 20 globally by daily trading volume.
A recent survey reveals that young South Koreans are increasingly turning to crypto and stocks as retirement alternatives, with over half of respondents aged 20-39 distrusting the national pension system. Notably, about 7% of election candidates own digital assets, according to their asset disclosures.
The South Korean government is preparing to introduce stricter regulations for token listings, including measures to block hacked tokens. Financial authorities are expected to release guidelines for virtual asset trading support by early next month.
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In The First Descendant, while a lot of the gameplay is shooting any foes that are between your and your end goal, there are also some secrets to uncover.
One that many are stumbling across are Encrypted Vaults but most are struggling in both how to find their location and ultimately how to open them.
Here, we’ll run through both of these aspects so you can get to these Vaults and crack them open to receive the goodies.
How to find Encrypted Vaults in The First Descendant
To start the Encrypted Vault process, you must first head out into the world and locate what look like blue, square-shaped holograms on the floor. These are quite small and missable so ensure you’re keeping an eye out for them.
Once finding one, hover over it and press Tab/Right Stick depending on your input. You should be able to hear a noise when you do so, and this is what you need to use to locate the Vault.
Rotate your camera around and listen out for when the noise it at its highest – this will mean you are facing in the correct direction of the Vault.
Now, head toward the noise, and look out for either another of those blue squares, or if its a short one, the actual Encrypted Vault.
While you might think that an Encrypted Vault would be some form of safe-looking object, it’s actually more in line with a colored robot, so keep that in mind.
How to open Encrypted Vaults in The First Descendant
Once you’ve made it to the Vault, to open it, you will need a Code Analyzer. There are two different versions of these – the basic Code Analyzer and a Precision Code Analyzer.
You may have one, or both of these in your inventory but if you don’t, you can earn them by simply killing enemies and hope luck is on your side for one to drop.
With Analyzer in hand, now you can interact with the Vault and you’ll enter a timing minigame. You must complete this otherwise you’ll use up your Code Analyzer and you will require another to try again.

If you were successful then great, you’ve now opened up an Encrypted Vault!
Other The First Descendant guides you may like

How to unlock Bunny
How to get Valby
The First Descendant Twitch Drops
The First Descendant beta rewards

The post The First Descendant Encrypted Vaults: How to find and open appeared first on ReadWrite.

Running around in games is not for everybody. While some may like the process of getting from one side of a map to another, it’s definitely not something every player enjoys. At least when a game offers the opportunity of fast Travel it is there for whoever wishes to take advantage of it.
If you have started out playing The First Descendant you will note that the map is pretty sizable and is split into regions. Each of these regions has a Fast Travel spot so let’s quickly learn how to take advantage of that!
Fast Travel points in The First Descendant
As with most fast travel, you need to unlock certain areas of the story in order to return to that location when you want to in the future. They are shown on the map as green markers which highlight the position of Outposts.

How to Fast Travel
Once you have unlocked a point you can fast travel back to it for a later mission by doing the following.
Open the Map
Select the region you wish to go to
The area will open up into three zones
Select the section you want to travel to and long-press the Interact button (E – PC, A – controller)
Unlocking Fast Travel points
To unlock a Fast Travel Point / outpost you will need to mooch through the story of The First Descendant which will lead you to various points on the map. When you reach a new region for the first time it will unlock its location to Fast Travel too whenever you feel the need to return there.
Here are some more First Descendant pages you may like:

How to get Valby
Beta rewards and how to claim them
What is The First Descendant Max Level – levels and Mastery explained
Twitch Drops and how to get them
How to unlock Bunny

The post How to Fast Travel in The First Descendant appeared first on ReadWrite.