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Pencil Finance announces US$10 million for student loan financing backed by Animoca Brands and Open Campus

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SINGAPORE, April 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Pencil Finance, the student loan real-world-asset (RWA) protocol on EDU Chain that is co-incubated by Animoca Brands and HackQuest, today announced that Open Campus and Animoca Brands have deployed US$10 million in liquidity as loan collateral to facilitate DeFi student loans on the Pencil Finance platform.

Pencil Finance is a decentralized lending protocol designed to bring student loan financing on-chain, transforming how student debt is serviced. It connects global investors with trusted student loan originators through tokenized loan bundles.

EDU Chain is a Layer 3 blockchain on Arbitrum Orbit that is designed for consumer-facing education apps and on-chain education finance (EduFi). EDU Chain is powered by the EDU token (EDU) which is listed on Binance, KuCoin, Gate.io, Bithumb, MEXC, Bitmart, and various other exchanges.

Open Campus, which is the foundation behind EDU Chain, and Animoca Brands have contributed US$10 million as liquidity to Pencil Finance to be used as loan collateral. The goal is to expand access to education financing through blockchain technology.

Recent policy changes in the U.S. could put millions of borrowers at risk of defaulting on their student loans, highlighting the urgent need for accessible, transparent, and efficient financing solutions for the student loan market, which is estimated to be worth around US$3 trillion globally (Market Research Future, April 2025).

Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, said: “Blockchain is redefining how education is funded and developed. By bringing student loans on-chain, this initiative seeks to boost transparency, efficiency, and Web3 adoption for potentially hundreds of millions of students globally, while also increasing financial literacy. We believe this will have very significant implications for the US$3 trillion student loan market.”

Frank Li, co-founder of Pencil Finance, said: “Blockchain technology allows us to reimagine student lending from the ground up. By bringing loans on-chain, we deliver transparency, efficiency, and access at a global scale, helping students everywhere unlock new educational opportunities.”

Harry Zhang, co-founder and CMO of HackQuest, said: ‘This milestone demonstrates the real-world impact of blockchain in education. On-chain loans empower students and open new opportunities for investors.”

Through Pencil Finance’s student loan RWA protocol, whitelisted users can provide liquidity to loan pools. Whitelisted users can choose to deploy capital to a Senior Tranche or a Junior Tranche for higher returns with first-loss risk. Pencil Finance enables loans to be deployed, and repayments to be managed, transparently on-chain.

Pencil Finance issued its first loan this week; the recipient is HackQuest, which will use the loan proceeds to incentivize student developers learning about EDU Chain on the HackQuest platform.

About Open Campus

Open Campus is a community-led DAO that is building an on-chain education network to empower both educators and students. Core contributors to the Open Campus DAO include Animoca Brands, TinyTap, NewCampus, RiseIn, and HackQuest. Together, they are working with Open Campus to enhance the education system for teachers, learners, and institutions by using innovative blockchain protocols and funding initiatives. Open Campus has launched EDU Chain, a Layer 3 blockchain on Arbitrum Orbit designed for consumer-facing education apps and on-chain education finance (EduFi), powered by the EDU token.

About Animoca Brands

Animoca Brands Corporation Limited (ACN: 122 921 813) is a Web3 leader that leverages tokenization and blockchain to deliver digital property rights to consumers, helping to establish the open metaverse and its associated network effects. It has received broad industry and market recognition including Fortune Crypto 40, Top 50 Blockchain Game Companies 2025, Financial Times’ High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific, and Deloitte Tech Fast.

Animoca Brands realizes its mission via three integrated business pillars: operating Web3 businesses to advance blockchain adoption with native projects such as Moca Network, Anichess, The Sandbox, Open Campus, NEOM Web3 initiatives, and a regulated stablecoin project in partnership with Standard Chartered and HKT; providing digital asset advisory services including tokenomics advisory, liquidity provisioning, and institutional research to help external Web3 projects grow; and investment management, with a portfolio of investments in over 540 companies including industry leaders Pudgy Penguins, Yuga Labs, Axie Infinity, Polygon, Consensys, Magic Eden, OpenSea, Dapper Labs, YGG, and many others.

For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or follow on X, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and TikTok.

About HackQuest

HackQuest is the gateway to the Web3 development world, providing a comprehensive, one-stop educational infrastructure that minimizes friction and helps onboard developers and non developers to the world of Web3. HackQuest believes that improving Web3 developer education is key to driving mass adoption.

About Pencil Finance

Pencil Finance is a decentralized lending protocol focused on bringing real-world student loan financing on-chain. It connects investors with verified student loan originators, turning student debt into a transparent, investable asset class. Pencil uses blockchain infrastructure, a dual-tranche capital structure, and smart contracts to deliver structured, risk-adjusted returns backed by real-world student loan portfolios, enabling sustainable yield generation with tangible social impact.

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SOURCE Animoca Brands

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Crab2B Makes AsiaWorld-Expo Debut, Connecting Hong Kong’s Mobile Wholesalers with Global Buyers

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HONG KONG, Oct. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Crab2B, a pioneering B2B trading platform dedicated to mobile devices and digital products, will make its debut at the HKICEC Global Mobile Exchange Pavilion during the Global Sources Hong Kong Shows, opening at AsiaWorld-Expo on October 18, 2026.

Hong Kong has long been a major hub for electronics wholesale trade, but buyers still often rely on fragmented channels to identify suppliers. Crab2B was created to bridge this gap, bringing Hong Kong-based mobile and digital product wholesalers together on one dedicated B2B platform. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Crab2B combines the manufacturing strength of mainland China and the Greater Bay Area’s extensive supply chain capabilities with Hong Kong’s established global trading network. Together, these strengths enable Crab2B to simplify cross-border sourcing, connect buyers directly with suppliers and make international trade more accessible and efficient.

For its first appearance at a major industry trade show, Crab2B is bringing together more than 200 merchants already registered on the platform, marking a significant milestone in its development. The Crab2B booth is expected to attract electronics traders from Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East and beyond. Visitors will be able to discover the app’s capabilities through live demonstrations, register on the platform and connect directly with participating merchants to explore business opportunities.

A buyer who experienced the Crab2B app shared: “With Crab2B, we no longer have to search far and wide for reliable suppliers. The platform brings Hong Kong’s mobile phone wholesalers together in one place, giving us greater visibility into available products and sourcing opportunities. Whether I’m at my desk or on the move, I can find products and connect with suppliers whenever I need to. For businesses like ours that source across borders, that kind of access makes a real difference. It saves time, reduces transaction costs and helps us do business more efficiently.”

Crab2B CEO Luo Yaohong said, “We want to be pioneers in cross-border B2B trading for digital products, creating new opportunities for Hong Kong’s wholesale industry. As Hong Kong places greater emphasis on developing digital trade, we’re addressing a longstanding gap in the market with a dedicated digital platform that connects Hong Kong’s electronics suppliers directly with buyers around the world. Our ambition is to make cross-border trading easier, faster and more accessible, while helping Hong Kong businesses reach new markets.”

The platform’s trade show debut is also attracting attention from international merchants, with exhibitors expressing interest in joining Crab2B to expand their reach into overseas markets. Meanwhile, merchants already registered on the platform are looking forward to the launch of its planned online marketplace, which will create further opportunities for sustained collaboration and business growth.

Building on this debut, Crab2B will remain firmly rooted in Hong Kong while expanding its connections with businesses around the world. The company will continue to enhance its platform with smarter sourcing tools, more comprehensive trading capabilities and an increasingly connected network of suppliers and buyers. By making it easier to discover products, establish business relationships and conduct cross-border transactions, Crab2B aims to open new opportunities for merchants of all sizes and help shape the next chapter of Hong Kong’s digital trade industry.

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SOURCE Crab2B

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Canton Fair Buyers Alliance Launched as the 140th Edition Opens

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GUANGZHOU, China, Oct. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On October 15, the Canton Fair Buyers Alliance was officially launched at the Canton Fair Complex, marking a significant milestone as the fair celebrates the 70th anniversary of its founding.

More than 140 overseas buyers attended the launch ceremony, highlighting the fair’s enduring role as a bridge connecting global commerce with China’s export sector.

Speaking at the ceremony, Luís Vilariça, CEO of Joinco, Import & Export, Ltd., discussed his company’s long-standing relationship with the Canton Fair. Drawing on years of participation, he reflected on the growth opportunities created through cooperation with Chinese suppliers and highlighted the fair’s role in supporting international business development and global trade exchanges.

The ceremony also featured a joint declaration by alliance members. Representatives from five member companies read the statement in their respective native languages, underscoring the international character of the new organization. Additional members sent video congratulatory messages, joining the celebration and witnessing the official launch of the alliance.

The Canton Fair Buyers Alliance represents one of the fair’s key service innovations. Designed primarily for Fortune Global 500 companies, buyers from the world’s top 250 retailers and leading sourcing enterprises across a diverse range of markets, the alliance aims to offer members a platform for information sharing and resource coordination. The first cohort of alliance members includes 58 companies from 32 countries and regions across 5 continents. Through the alliance, members will gain access to a range of priority benefits spanning four major areas: services, events, resources and information.

 For more convenient attendance, please click here for pre-registration:

https://buyer.cantonfair.org.cn/register/buyer/email?source_type=16

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SOURCE Canton Fair

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Bioethanol from human hair – Indian start-up’s solution to rising prices of grains and sugar

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GUJARAT, India, Oct. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — In what could be called the beginning of the 5G (fifth-generation) of bioethanol or non-cellulosic bioethanol or non-sugar-based biofuels, an Indian start-up, Techofest Global, based out of Gujarat, has developed its own, indigenous, and patented technology for the production of bioethanol from waste human hair. Such processes would significantly reduce the employment of sugars, grains, and agricultural residues, which form the classical first- and second-generation bioethanol feedstocks. As a result, the rising fuel-vs.-food/fodder debate is anticipated to reduce, and instead, ethanol produced from municipal/industrial waste, after trials, can supplement the current supply being used as blends with presently retailed fossil fuels (E20, E27, etc.). 

As stated by Dr. Ravi, the founder-CEO of Techofest Global, the strategic priority and the USP of the start-up is industrial symbiosis, which, typically, involves an ecosystem of up-cycling/valorising the effluents of an industry, thereby creating a value-chain for residues often lacking an end-of-life. With more than three decades of experience in designing customized nuclear fusion reactors for international programmes, such as ITER, JET/UKAEA and SST-1, Dr. Ravi, a seasoned mechanical engineer, spearheads the start-up’s patented technologies’ scale-up and commercialization.

Two biochemical engineers, Dr. Navnit – the former CTO, and Dr. Kabilan – the former CEO of Biomakerz, Chennai, are the brains behind the current technology/process portfolio of the joint-venture between Techofest Global and Biomakerz. They have been working on biorefineries’ process intensification for more than a decade. “Having foreseen the fuel-vs-fodder/food competition as early as the year 2015, we began developing techno-economically feasible and viable in-vitro metabolically-engineered bioprocesses for scaling-up ethanol production from municipal waste streams between 2019–2021”, says Navnit. After developing operational technologies for international biofuel organizations, serving process engineer roles with certain biorefineries-related OMC R&D’s of India, Dr. Navnit, presently works for a premier academic institution.

An on-going fermentation trial at the Techofest Global-Biomakerz JV’s R&D facility

Techofest Global has developed and tested, in its R&D JV’s pilot-facility of ~100-L, 3 innovative and cost-effective technologies, such as 5G ethanol production using human hair, used cooking oil (UCO), and enriched bio-methane production from disposed sanitary napkins.

“With massive CapEx and OpEx, 2G ethanol technology is facing a major commercialization bottleneck, owing to competition with food/livestock fodder, requirement of a cost-intensive pre-treatment procedure, and the requirement of cellulolytic cocktails, which have a poor recycle efficiency. The proprietary 5G SAFE process developed for the start-up circumvents the mentioned constraints, and instead, utilizes a single-stage saccharification followed by fermentation, and records over 85–90% biocatalyst recovery. Likewise, the proprietary SIM process for bio-methane production, exclusively developed for the start-up, is 2x faster with improved intermittent feeding cycles and continuous gas harvest”, says Navnit.

“With on-going pre-commercialization trials, the proprietary ethanol and bio-methane processes of ours are soon being commercialized”, says Ms. Bhumika, the co-founder and the corporate advisor of the start-up. Furthermore, Mr. Ronak pilots the organization’s global market entry and commercialization frontier.

Techofest Global’s veteran Principal Technology Advisors include: Dr VS Tripathi, former Joint Director, DRDE Gwalior, Dr B S Munjal, former Director, Structures and Thermal group, SAC/ISRO, Academician and Advisor CIKS-Dharohar, GTU, and Dr AV Santhanababu, former Scientist at Satish Dhawan Space Centre. With on-going R&D activities, Dr. Munjal says, “the start-up is striving to provide a unique solution along the lines of the Atmanirbhar and Viksit Bharat Vision 2047”.

Media Contact: www.techofestglobal.com; e-mail: info@techofestglobal.com; contact person: The PR team of Techofest Global.

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