PANews reported on September 9 that Mina Protocol announced on Twitter that it will usher in a major upgrade and will introduce ZK smart contracts to the main network. The upgrade will support the use of o1js to achieve zkApp programmability, and will also enhance the security and efficiency of the new proof system Kimchi. Over-rewards used to increase staking during the early stages of mainnet will also be eliminated. In addition, Testworld Mission 2.0. is undergoing upgrade preparations.

Odaily Planet Daily News Mina Protocol announced on the X platform that the protocol will undergo a major upgrade and plans to introduce ZK smart contracts to the main network, aiming to significantly increase the number of products built using Mina. Key features of the upgrade include: easier zkApp programmability using o1js; enhanced security and efficiency through the new proof system Kimchi; and removal of over-rewards (a temporary incentive to increase staking adoption during the early stages of mainnet). Testworld Mission 2.0 is being prepared for an upgrade.

PANews, July 25, News1 reported that South Korean prosecutors have brought to trial 49 suspects suspected of illegal foreign exchange outflows and profits of 390 billion won (about 304 million U.S. dollars) from virtual asset speculation by abusing the so-called "kimchi premium." It is reported that starting from August 2022, the Prosecutor's Office, together with the Customs Office and the Financial Supervisory Service, will launch a concentrated crackdown on speculators who abuse the "kimchi premium" and capture them. The kimchi premium is a phenomenon in which the domestic virtual asset market price is higher than that in overseas markets, and it is a phenomenon that has emerged with the surge in domestic virtual asset investment. Prosecutors found that speculators sent overseas virtual assets to domestic paper companies for sale, and remitted 13 trillion won of sales proceeds in the form of false trade proceeds in order to obtain transaction profits by taking advantage of the premium on kimchi. Considering that the bitcoin-based kimchi premium has averaged around 3-5% over the past two years, speculators were found to have gained unfair profits worth at least 390 billion won based on a total remittance of 13 trillion won. Prosecutors also tried seven employees of a financial firm for condoning or helping the speculators illicit foreign exchange outflows. After investigation, although they knew that the data provided by the speculators was false, they continued to leak large amounts of foreign currency in exchange for cash and luxury watches. Two financial companies that failed to monitor the illegal outflow of foreign exchange worth tens of millions to trillions of won were also prosecuted under the penalty clause.

According to news on July 25, South Korean prosecutors have submitted for trial 49 criminal suspects suspected of illegal foreign exchange outflows and profits of 390 billion won (approximately US$304 million) from virtual asset speculation. These people speculated on virtual currency by abusing the so-called "kimchi premium". In order to sell, and disguised as 13 trillion won of fake trade funds transferred overseas. The prosecution believes that based on Bitcoin, the average premium of kimchi in the past two years is about 3% to 5%, so it can be inferred that these speculators have obtained at least 390 billion won in improper benefits. In addition, prosecutors charged seven financial company employees who are suspected of acquiescing or assisting in these illegal foreign exchange outflows.

According to PANews news on July 21, according to The Block, two proposals from O(1) Labs and RISC Zero are advancing in Optimism to add zk-proofs to the OP chain. These submissions are in response to a request for proposals aimed at enabling secure and efficient cross-chain communication. The Optimism Foundation is contacting O(1) Labs and RISC Zero directly to "start the project and discuss expectations in more detail." It is reported that Zk-proof infrastructure and tool company RISC Zero suggested upgrading Optimism’s existing failure protocol, using zero-knowledge proofs to ensure the correctness of state changes on Optimism, and reducing the time to achieve finality. O(1) Labs, which incubated the Mina protocol, proposes to use Kimchi (the zk proof system currently used by the Mina protocol) to create a new error-proof solution to efficiently prove the correct execution of transactions. These proofs are then used to update the state of the Ethereum network via smart contracts.

According to the "Chosun Ilbo" report, South Korea's Seoul South District Prosecutor's Office has established an independent agency "Virtual Assets Joint Investigation Team" that specializes in investigating virtual currency-related crimes. According to the report, the prosecutorial agency established a special organization to investigate cryptocurrencies because of the rapid increase in related criminal activities such as "virtual currency fraud", and the focus will first be on "kimchi coins" that are only traded in Korean won in South Korea.

PANews news on May 22, according to Fortune magazine, cryptocurrency hedge fund BXB Capital plans to raise 1,000 bitcoins to launch the fund in July, and has raised about 400 bitcoins (approximately $10 million). BXB Capital will focus on margin futures trading, with trading strategies and investor returns also denominated in Bitcoin. BXB Capital was previously in the limelight with the Kimchi premium and the first Korean won-backed stablecoin.