Asia's weekly TOP10 crypto news (Feb 13 to Feb 19)

Author：Lily

Editor：Colin Wu

1. Hong Kong’s weekly summary

1.1 DBS plans to apply for license to offer crypto in HK link

DBS Group Holdings Ltd plans to apply for a license to allow it to offer crypto to Hong Kong customers. The bank welcomes the policies in Hong Kong, and is also “very sensitive” of the risks associated with digital assets, said Paredes.

1.2 China Telecom has partnered with Conflux to launch BSIM in HK link

Conflux announced that it has cooperated with China Telecom, the second largest wireless carrier in China, to launch Blockchain-enabled SIM cards — BSIM in HongKong. The BSIM card can allow encrypted storage, key retrieval, and has storage & sending functions for digital assets.

1.3 HKSAR Government offers HK$800 million tokenized green bond link

The Hong Kong government announced that it has successfully sold 800 million Hong Kong dollars in tokenized green bonds and this is the world’s first tokenized green bond issued by the government, with a yield of 4.05%. It is issued on a private blockchain.

1.4 OKX started to apply for the Hong Kong cryptocurrency license in 2022 link

OKX founder Xu said that OKX started to apply for the Hong Kong cryptocurrency license in 2022. In addition, OKX is working on getting more than 15 licenses globally. In different jurisdictions there are different restrictions on the product features.

2. Global Unicorn Programs (GUP) study tour to Dubai link

The visiting group of the Global Unicorn Programs launched by CKGSB, founded by the Li Ka-shing Foundation, came to Binance in Dubai. He Yi, co-founder and CMO of Binance and head of Binance Labs, shared and communicated with the visiting group on the spot. The executive education project will provide the candidates with technical support such as Web3.0, blockchain, intelligent manufacturing and artificial intelligence.

3. Abu Dhabi launches ‘Hub71+ Digital Assets’ to accelerate growth of Web3 startups link

The ecosystem has over US$2 billion of capital committed to fund Web3 startups and blockchain technologies in Abu Dhabi. Ahmad Ali Alwan, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Hub71, stated that the launch of Hub71+ Digital Assets represents Abu Dhabi’s openness to disruptive businesses that drive change and transformation on a global scale.

4. Nomura’s Laser Digital invests in DeFi protocol Infinity Exchange link

Laser Digital, the crypto subsidiary of Japanese financial services giant Nomura, invested in Infinity Exchange, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol for institutional lending and borrowing. Laser’s investment is additional to the $4.2 million seed round Infinity raised last September from several backers, including GSR and Flow Traders.

5. Terraform Labs’ weekly summary

5.1 Former CEO of TMON arrested for taking bribes and promoting Terra’s security link

The former CEO of TMON, South Korea’s largest group buying website, was arrested because he received bribes from the co-founder of Terraform Labs worth billions of won in LUNA, and promoted Terra on TMON to support “secure payments like cash.”

5.2 SEC charges Terraform and Do Kwon with defrauding investors in crypto schemes link

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Singapore-based Terraform Labs PTE Ltd and Do Hyeong Kwon with orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud involving an algorithmic stablecoin and other crypto asset securities.

6. South Korean authorities investigate staking services link

South Korean financial regulators are expected to conduct a comprehensive review of the staking services of the country’s exchanges, possibly because of the impact of the US SEC’s suspension of Kraken’s staking services. South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit, launched staking services in 2020.

7. Korea Customs Service promotes exchange of information on illegal foreign exchange crimes with HK link

The Korean Customs Administration and the Hong Kong Customs authorities decided to cooperate in cracking down on illegal foreign exchange transactions related to virtual assets. More than 60% illegal foreign exchange transaction funds under investigation flowed to HK companies.

8. WeMade withdraws all lawsuits against DAXA link

South Korean gaming giant WeMade has withdrawn all lawsuits against Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA) for violating the virtual currency WEMIX delisting rules. According to legal sources, WeMade filed a notice of withdrawal with the Seoul Central District Court against Upbit, Bithumb Korea, Coinone and Korbit.

9. Chinese user seized 30728 USDT by the Santa Clara County District Court link

Recently an address received a large amount of USDT, some of which came from an online gambling platform, thus the client was seized 30,728 USDT by the US District Court in Santa Clara County. the particularity of this case is that the enforcer is a US agency and the target of enforcement is an ordinary Chinese investor.

10. Taiwan to include cryptocurrency as reportable property of public officials link

Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice stated that it has included crypto trading platforms and businesses in the scope of money laundering prevention, and is actively preparing to include cryptocurrencies as assets that civil servants need to declare.