Top10 Asia Crypto News (Oct 3 to Oct 9)
1.
On October 8 (UTC+8), Huobi, once the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the Chinese region with more than 20 million users, is acquired by About Capital Management’s M&A Funds in Hong Kong. FTX/SBF, Justin Sun and even Binance were involved in early acquisition discussions. But due to political and security factors, Huobi Exchange ultimately chose to sell the capital in Hong Kong. Huobi founder Li Lin’s reluctance to leave China, his being investigated by the police in 2020, and the unsustainable business in 2022 are the reasons why he finally chose to sell.
2.
According to an announcement on the South Korean Foreign Ministry website, Do Kwon was asked to return his passport within 14 days, and if not returned, the passport will be administratively invalidated.
Earlier, South Korean prosecutors had frozen 56.2 billion won ($39.66 million) of Do Kwon’s crypto assets through two crypto exchanges.
In response, Do Kwon tweeted, “I don’t even use Kucoin and OkEx, have no time to trade, no funds have been frozen.”
Meanwhile, according to JTBC, Yoo, who is said to be Terraform Labs’ head of general business operations, is accused of wash trading and inflating crypto prices and have been arrested by South Korean prosecutors.
However, Yonhap News has since reported that a judge has dismissed the arrest warrant, questioning whether detainment was necessary.
3.
According to the official website of the Russian Internet censorship agency Roskomnadzor, the IP (Internet Protocol) of the official website of the exchange OKX was blocked by the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office on October 4. The reason for the ban cited Article 15.3 of the Federal Law “On information, information technologies and information protection”. OKX has not yet responded to this.
4.
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a policy speech on Oct 3 that the country’s plans for investing in digital transformation include NFT and metaverse services.
Since Fumio Kishida took office in October 2021, the Japanese government has taken a proactive approach to the Web3 industry. Kishida’s administration recently established a Web3 policy office under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), which is focused on creating policies for the country’s gradual blockchain expansion.
5.
BitMEX’s largest office has shifted from Hong Kong to Singapore. “We love Hong Kong so much, [but] because of the COVID-19 situation I moved out and a lot of people moved out,” said Alexander Hoeptner, BitMEX’s CEO. BitMEX is the second large crypto company to shift its physical presence focus from Hong Kong due to the city’s Covid policies. (CoinDesk)
6.
Animoca Brands (Headquarters: Hong Kong) announced a strategic partnership with Japanese cryptocurrency trading platform Coincheck, Inc. whereby Animoca Brands will serve as the blockchain gaming producer responsible for intellectual property (IP) and content development, while Coincheck will take the role of distribution and community development in the Japanese market. This comes on the heels of Animoca Brands’ subsidiary, Animoca Brands Japan, closing a $45 million funding round at a $500 million valuation.
7.
U.S.-regulated cryptocurrency custody specialist Anchorage Digital is continuing its push into Asia and is currently partnering with Bitkub, IOSG Ventures, Antalpha and other Asian institutions. “Currently about 10% of our business is in the Asia region, but we are projecting it to become closer to 20 to 25% in the next 12 to 18 months,” said Anchorage Digital co-founder and President Diogo Mónica. (CoinDesk)
8.
According to Techin Asia, Sygnum, a Switzerland-based digital asset bank, has partnered with Thai media giant T&B Media Global to facilitate a US$300 million round for the latter through a structure that hybridizes equity and NFTs. Sygnum will provide T&B with digital asset services, which includes advising in and setting up the hybrid equity-NFT structure, developing metaverse token economic models, and providing custody for traditional tokens.
9.
Deng Jianpeng, Professor of the Law School of Central University of Finance and Economics, talks about the theory of meta-universe financial regulation: China’s current “ban-type” regulation in the field of virtual currency is a temporary policy choice and regulatory wait-and-see, and it is necessary to continue to explore a governance mechanism that is more in line with the risk characteristics of fintech. Meta-universe finance breaks through the traditional financial industry, so that the legal system of financial regulation must respond and reconstruct, and the “one-size-fits-all” type of inherent regulation thinking does not work.
10.
Community members say that Sex Dao is suspected of “rug pull”. Its official Twitter @SEXDAOSED is now inaccessible, and all the assets in its project master wallet sexxdao.eth (0x05feed0ee41dbcc2df6f155dd33681281281e008) have been transferred.
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