PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia, Dec. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) has announced the appointment of Futurise Sdn Bhd (Futurise) as the Secretariat of the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Steering Committee. The appointment is underpinned by Futurise's established regulatory sandbox expertise in various new innovations including drone technology and will now be involved in assisting CAAM in the development as well as charting the regulatory direction of the AAM industry.
This appointment comes at a pivotal moment as CAAM recognises the immense potential Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) holds for Malaysia, positioning the nation at the forefront of next- generation transportation solutions within the low-altitude economy. As urbanisation and congestion strain traditional infrastructure, AAM presents innovative alternatives for faster, more efficient, and sustainable travel, particularly in urban hubs and remote regions. Malaysia's strategic location, coupled with its advancing technological capabilities and government initiatives like the National Transport Policy, lays a solid foundation for AAM to revolutionise the transportation landscape. By integrating cutting-edge solutions such as eVTOLs (electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing aircraft) and drone-based logistics, the country can unlock significant economic opportunities, drive the growth of industries such as mobility and air-based services, and improve overall connectivity and accessibility. With this progress, Malaysia is poised to lead the development of a thriving, sustainable low-altitude economy.
In the soon to be released AAM industry report, which is a collaboration between Futurise and Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), the introduction of AAM is expected to generate RM70bn in additional revenues, representing an additional 1.9% of total revenues in the economy. Similarly, value added to the economy will also rise, contributing 2.3% to GDP or an additional RM34bn during the 2021-2040 period. The expansion of AAM services will also generate more income for workers involved in infrastructure preparation and operation, with 2.3% of total salaries or RM14bn shall be added to total income in the country.
"The future of transportation lies in the sky, and Malaysia is uniquely positioned to harness the potential of AAM. By fostering innovation and creating the right regulatory environment, we are enabling the development of the low-altitude economy, which will transform industries and improve quality of life for Malaysians," said Rosihan Zain Baharudin, CEO of Futurise.
Meanwhile, CEO of CAAM, YBhg. Dato' Captain Norazman Bin Mahmud stated, "The regulatory environment will play a crucial role in the successful adoption of AAM technologies. By creating a clear and effective regulatory sandbox, we can test, refine, and safely scale AAM solutions, ensuring that Malaysia leads the way in shaping the low-altitude economy while prioritizing safety and innovation."
He also further added, "It is our hope that this collaboration with Futurise can strengthen the efficiency of the country's civil aviation industry in a sustainable manner, in addition to ensuring compliance with international surveillance and safety standards".
Under the AAM Steering Committee, Futurise will play a key role in coordinating meetings/discussions, conducting preliminary evaluations of proposals from AAM industry players, and performing benchmarking studies. Futurise will also oversee the management of the regulatory sandbox, which includes drafting the operational concept documents (ConOps) in alignment with CAAM's policy decisions. Additionally, Futurise will provide expert advice and insights on the development of the AAM roadmap, ensuring a clear and strategic path forward for Malaysia's integration into the low-altitude economy
About Futurise
Futurise is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cyberview Sdn Bhd under the Ministry of Finance. It is mandated by the Government of Malaysia to manage the National Regulatory Sandbox, providing public policy advisory and acting as a key enabler of regulatory solutions to expedite innovation and future-proof Malaysia's economy.
About CAAM
The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) is the regulatory body responsible to ensure the efficient management of the safety and security of the civil aviation industry. CAAM's roles include regulating, overseeing, and promote safety in the industry, provide air navigation services, and to ensure that the national and international obligations of Malaysia complies with universal safety and security standards.
Follow Futurise & CAAM social media for updates:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/futurisemy/
https://www.facebook.com/CivilAviationAuthorityOfMalaysia.Official
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/futurisemy
https://www.instagram.com/caa_malaysia/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/futurise/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/civil-aviation-authority-of-malaysia/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FuturiseMY
X: https://x.com/caa_malaysia
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
CAAM Appoints Futurise to Spearhead Advanced Air Mobility Steering Committee for Malaysia
SINGAPORE, Dec. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As Bitcoin surpassed the $100,000 mark on December 5, 2024, this landmark year for the crypto industry is closing on a high note. It has also been a fruitful year for HTX Ventures, the global investment division of HTX, which supported a total of 28 leading crypto projects and funds, continually exploring new frontiers of crypto utility. Recently, HTX Ventures released its 2024 Year In Review, highlighting this year's key developments in the crypto industry and forecasting market trends for the upcoming year.
Within this report, HTX Ventures highlighted five key sectors that showed encouraging progress in 2024 – the Bitcoin Ecosystem, Infrastructure, Meme Coins, AI, and the TON Ecosystem – and will continue to closely monitor these areas in 2025.
Bitcoin Ecosystem
With Bitcoin dominance reaching 56.81% and Bitcoin spot ETFs now accounting for 5.3% of the total Bitcoin supply, a new market trend has emerged. Bitcoin has solidified its position as the core asset, with spot ETFs acting as liquidity channels, and U.S. listed companies such as MicroStrategy (MSTR) serving as the vehicles to absorb unlimited dollar liquidity.
As a result, it is increasingly essential to further develop Bitcoin's ecosystem and enhance capital utilization efficiency. It has driven infrastructure projects, including Layer 2s, execution layers, interoperability solutions and security layers, to continuously emerge.
With strong support from macro markets and infrastructure support, HTX Ventures anticipates a further surge in Bitcoin demand over the next two years.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure remained a cornerstone in this year's crypto investments and funding. The synergy between capital and technology has driven the rapid development of Layer 1, Layer 2, and middleware projects, among others.
Through ongoing upgrades and construction, the Ethereum ecosystem has improved Layer 2s' performance and reduced network fees. Other Layer 1s, such as Solana and TRON, achieved active on-chain transactions, attributable to the development of meme coins, and infrastructure like Pump.fun and Sunpump. Layer 0 and cross-chain middleware have made breakthroughs in interoperability, expanding the multi-chain landscape. Modular public blockchains, like Celestia and Monad, offered exceptional performance and flexibility, thus attracting diverse applications. Restaking projects, which aim to enhance network security and capital efficiency, has seen speedy development and gained market attention. Bitcoin Layer 2 has emerged as a new focus in the primary market for its attempt to combine Bitcoin's security with high-performance scaling solutions.
As HTX Ventures stated, infrastructure is still imperative in this year's crypto investments and funding. Layer 1 solutions, in particular, now represent the focal point of technical development and exploration within the crypto space, and it is expected to remain a priority for development resources and capital investment in the future.
Meme Coins
The Meme coin sector emerged as a hotspot in the crypto market in 2024, fostering community consensus while integrating with fields like DeFi and GameFi to create new use cases. For example, Solana has actively championed the innovation and growth of meme projects, successfully energizing its ecosystem. As the crypto market environment grows increasingly favorable, more retail investors are expected to enter the market, positioning Meme projects as vital channels for capital inflows.
The Meme coin fair launch sector has gained significant market attention and attracted substantial participants this year. Infrastructure projects such as Pump.fun and SunPump have emerged as top-performing cash flow generators, injecting fresh momentum into Meme coin development. As multi-chain ecosystems mature and real-world use cases expand, Meme coin infrastructure will continue injecting more vitality into this sector.
AI
In 2024, the intersection of Crypto and AI sector has been driving the exploration of several segmented fields such as ZK/OPML for enabling AI on-chain, AI data crowdsourcing, decentralized computing power rental, AI data trading, AI games, and AI agents.
One of the hottest segmented fields is AI agents, which are put on chains to take advantage of the token mechanism to incentivise and bootstrap certain behaviors with the agents, including interacting with smart contracts, trading and querying on behalf of users. In the future, AI agents will gradually become personal butlers and assistants for users, serving them with comprehensive capabilities, such as independent asset issuance, initiation of viral marketing campaigns, formation of DAOs, and even fund management and investment decision-making. Over time, they may develop unique cultures and religions. This deep integration of AI and encryption technology is a groundbreaking evolution that is unattainable within Web2 and cannot be achieved by Web3 relying solely on encryption technology.
TON Ecosystem
Attributable to Telegram's hundreds of millions of users and robust technical support, the TON (The Open Network) ecosystem has progressively developed into a multi-layered blockchain ecosystem. In 2024, it experienced a full-scale boom in its ecosystem and market presence. From DeFi and meme coins to NFTs and gaming, TON leveraged its massive user base to achieve significant milestones in various fields, pioneering the monetization of Web2 social applications through crypto.
One standout success was the adoption of "tap-to-earn" games with token airdrop incentives, which effectively onboarded a large number of Web2 users. However, as the TON ecosystem moves into 2025, it must explore and find new business models to improve user retention and identify its next growth curve.
2025 Outlook
Donald Trump's expected repeal of SAB 121 after his inauguration on January 20, 2025, would allow traditional financial institutions to hold crypto assets on their balance sheets, further accelerating the institutionalization of crypto assets. The repeal will not only open up more financing options for crypto but also make spot cryptos more accessible through existing institutional exchanges and partnerships.
At the same time, this regulatory easing is poised to enhance the overall maturity of the institutional crypto market. With the entry of traditional financial institutions, Bitcoin is anticipated to gain stronger support and gradually establish itself as a core dollar-denominated asset, alongside others tied to the dollar industry cycles, such as AI.
HTX Ventures points out that the market is still far from its bull market peak. Against the backdrop of Trump's fiscal expansion policies and unprecedented crypto-friendly signals, a robust bull market is expected.
To learn more, please visit: https://square.htx.com/htx-ventures-2024-year-in-review/
About HTX Ventures
HTX Ventures, the global investment division of HTX, integrates investment, incubation, and research to identify the best and brightest teams worldwide. With more than a decade-long history as an industry pioneer, HTX Ventures excels at identifying cutting-edge technologies and emerging business models within the sector. To foster growth within the blockchain ecosystem, we provide comprehensive support to projects, including financing, resources, and strategic advice.
HTX Ventures currently backs over 300 projects spanning multiple blockchain sectors, with select high-quality initiatives already trading on the HTX exchange. Furthermore, as one of the most active Fund of Funds ("FOF") investors, HTX Ventures invests in 30 top global funds and collaborates with leading blockchain funds such as Polychain, Dragonfly, Bankless, Gitcoin, Figment, Nomad, Animoca, and Hack VC to jointly build a blockchain ecosystem. Visit us here.
Feel free to contact us for investment and collaboration at VC@htx-inc.com
Contact Details
Ruder Finn Asia
htx@ruderfinn.com
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
HTX Ventures Identifies Five Rapidly-Growing Sectors in 2024, Expects Positive Crypto Regulations Driven by Trump Next Year
