Asia's weekly TOP10 crypto news (Feb 6 to Feb 12)

Author：Lily

Editor：Colin Wu

1. Turkey’s weekly summary

1.1 Turkey and Syria earthquake, exchanges launch donations link

Earthquake in Turkey kills thousands. Exchanges have launched donations. Huobi announced 2 million TRY; Bitfinex and Tether announced a donation of 5 million TRY; Bitget announced a donation of 1 million TRY. Turkey is currently one of the most active cryptocurrency markets.

1.2 Turkish rock star Haluk Levent raises over $460,000 via cryptocurrency link

Turkish rock star Haluk Levent and charitable organization Ahbap created a multi-signature wallet on BNB Chain, ETH, Avalanche to accept donations from the crypto community. Donations currently exceed $460,000.

1.3 Binance to airdrop $100 USD in BNB to users in the Turkey earthquake region link

In response to the devastation caused by the recent earthquake in Turkey, Binance will airdrop BNB worth USD $100 to all Binance users identified to be living in the regions most affected by the tragedy. The total donations will be around $5 million USD.

1.4 Vitalik Buterin donates 99 ether to Ahbap Earthquake Support link

Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin donated about $150,000 in ether to Ahbap Earthquake Support to help with the recent disaster in Turkey and Syria. Ahbap’s official website says $4,207,562 in crypto donations has been collected.

2. Dubai’s VARA issues specialised regulations for Virtual Assets link

On Feb 7, Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) has issued its Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations 2023, requiring crypto companies to obtain authorization and relevant licenses to operate in Dubai. The regulations detail the requirements for companies. In addition, VARA has clarified that it is the sole authority regulating virtual assets across Dubai. According to the latest rules issued by VARA, privacy tokens such as ZEC and XMR are not allowed in Dubai, nor can local entities create such tokens.

3. Saudi Arabia, The Sandbox agree to collaborate on metaverse projects link

The Sandbox and Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum of understanding but without revealing details explaining the scope of the agreement. Like the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia has shown significant interest in crypto and web3.

4. Kazakhstan approved new legislation for the crypto industry link

Kazakhstan has finally approved new legislation for the crypto industry, which will come into effect on April 1, 2023. Mining requires authorized mining pools and farms. Pools need to provide miner’s data for tax purposes. Miners must sell part bitcoins on approved exchanges.

5. Russia expands its crypto mining capacity link

The total capacity of crypto mining facilities in Russia has been increasing in the past year, despite the market downturn and sanctions. Depressed prices of mining equipment and stronger interest from domestic customers have been identified as major factors for the trend. The capacity of Russian mining farms has exceeded 500 megawatts (MW) at the end 2022.

6. Record-breaking 2022 for North Korea crypto theft link

North Korea stole more cryptocurrency assets in 2022 than in any other year and targeted the networks of foreign aerospace and defense companies. The sanctions monitors said South Korea estimated that North Korean-linked hackers stole virtual assets worth $630 million in 2022, while a cybersecurity firm assessed that North Korean cybercrime yielded cybercurrencies worth more than $1 billion.

7. Korean soccer star joins Chiliz as new ambassador link

Chiliz has announced star of the Korean national football team Minjae Kim as its new Brand Ambassador. Minjae, who plays as a centre-back for Italian Serie A club S.S.C Napoli, will promote the Chiliz Blockchain sports and entertainment ecosystem in Korea and internationally. The partnership with Minjae Kim forms part of Chiliz long-term commitment to invest in Korea as Chiliz launches its new Layer-1 blockchain.

8. Hong Kong securities regulator adds crypto personnel for industry supervision link

Regulators in Hong Kong are stepping up their game when it comes to monitoring the activities of the crypto industry. According to a Securities and Futures Commission report filed on Feb 6, it plans to hire four additional staff to “better supervise” the activities of local virtual asset (VA) providers. This is in response to an increasing number of operators who have expressed interest in carrying on VA activities such as trading platforms and the management of VA funds.

9. India’s weekly summary

9.1 Indian social video app Chingari announces partnership with Aptos link

Chingari goes multichain with adoption of Aptos as its preferred Level 1 (L1) blockchain for Web3 operations, with a scheduled launch on the Aptos Network in Q2 of 2023. The Block reports that Aptos Labs has made an equity investment in Chingari.

9.2 MetaMask will integrate with Onramp.money to empower users in India link

ConsenSys announced that MetaMask will integrate with Onramp.money, a platform that enables transactions for crypto users in India, in a move that will allow Indian users to easily make transactions using their bank to get instant crypto access. Users of MetaMask in India will now be able to purchase crypto directly within the MetaMask mobile app using onramp.money’s API which supports various local payment methods, such as UPI & IMPS, for a more seamless experience.

9.3 Nirmala Sitharaman: The G20 is exploring coordinated crypto regulation link

Nirmala Sitharaman, finance minister of current G20 president India, said the group of major economies is exploring whether it can coordinate on crypto regulation. “We are talking to all nations, that if it requires regulation, then one country alone cannot do anything,” India’s finance minister said.

10. Beijing Municipal Administration for Market Regulation: Be aware of new types of illegal fund raising under the name of metaverse link

The official public number of Beijing Municipal Administration for Market Regulation of China pointed out that in recent years, illegal fund raising has started to emerge under the new concepts of “metaverse” and “NFT”. These criminal activities are suspected of illegal fund-raising, fraud and other illegal criminal activities, and are more tempting and deceptive, and participants are vulnerable to property losses.