Asia news roundup: Traders to sue Coincheck, Alibaba inks deal with Disney, and more

Photo credit: Pixabay

Cryptocurrencies

Traders to file lawsuit vs Coincheck (Japan). A group of cryptocurrency traders will file on Thursday a lawsuit against the exchange over last month’s US$530 million heist. The traders want Coincheck to allow them to withdraw cryptocurrencies to their digital wallets amid a freeze the firm imposed on cryptocurrency withdrawals. The group is also mulling a second lawsuit at the end of the month to claim for damages over the theft. (Reuters)

Video streaming

Alibaba to stream Disney’s animated shows (China). The Chinese tech titan’s entertainment unit has signed a major licensing deal to show many of Disney’s animated series and movies on Youku, its video streaming service. The partnership comes nearly two years after Disney’s own streaming service stopped operating in China. (TechCrunch)

Co-working

Ucommune now valued at $1.4b after $17m new round (China). Previously known as UrWork, the country’s largest co-working office space provider has raised fresh capital from an existing investor to fend off rivals, such as American counterpart WeWork. Ucommune, which is said to be valued at over US$1.4 billion, changed its name in December after WeWork sued it for trademark infringement in London and New York. Apart from those two countries and China, Ucommune operates in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. (China Money Network)

Human resources

HRnetGroup makes first startup investment (Singapore). A major player in the city-state’s HR industry, the publicly listed firm has injected money into Glints, an algorithm-based recruitment service focused on young professionals and graduates. The strategic investment gives HRnetGroup deeper access to Indonesia, Glints’ biggest market. (Tech in Asia)

Photo credit: Glints

Big tech

Google lands ex-Samsung exec (US/South Korea). The company has hired Injong Ree, who recently resigned as Samsung’s CTO, to lead its internet of things (IoT) business. Ree will serve as entrepreneur-in-residence under Diane Greene, chief executive of Google’s cloud computing group. He aims to harmonize the tech giant’s various IoT-related projects, which include self-driving cars and home appliances with virtual assistants. (Reuters)

Payments

New guidelines eyed to protect consumers using e-payments (Singapore). The Monetary Authority of Singapore proposed new guidelines for financial institutions to protect their users when fraud or mistakes occur in e-payments. The proposal spells out the losses that users – from individuals to microenterprises – are expected to shoulder when digital transactions go wrong, their duties in keeping their accounts secure, and how they can be compensated for unauthorized transactions. (Channel NewsAisa)

Automotive

China may retain local subsidies for electric cars (China). The government is leaning towards retaining the subsidies in order to sustain a rising demand for new energy automobiles in the country. Until last month, it was expected that China would further cut the subsidies in 2018 and phase them out completely by 2020, according to reports. (Reuters)

See: Previous Asia news roundups