Asia's weekly TOP10 crypto news (Feb 20 to Feb 26)
Author：Lily
Editor：Colin Wu
1. South Korea’s weekly summary
1.1 MTL becomes the new Korean MEMECOIN link
Upbit MTL/KRW, South Korea’s largest exchange, had a trading volume of $260m. Binance MTL contract annualized negative funding rate is as high as 1430%. MTL is the token of Metal Pay, which allows users to buy, sell, transfer, and pay for cryptocurrencies.
1.2 Prosecutors are holding Bithumb’s largest shareholder Vident in custody link
South Korean prosecutors held and searched Vidente, the largest shareholder in Bithumb, in an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds by Bithumb-related companies. on February 20, prosecutors formally charged Kang Jong-hyun, the actual owner of Bithumb.
1.3 South Korean authorities scrutinize Gopax previously acquired by Binance link
After Binance acquired the South Korean exchange Gopax, regulators may require it to reapply for virtual asset operator certification; banks are considering whether to continue to provide accounts. But it could also be attacking information being spread by competitors.
2. Mainland China’s weekly summary
2.1 TaxDAO announced its launch on February 20 link
TaxDAO, a crypto tax research and consulting organization founded by a number of senior tax and finance executives from the cryptocurrency industry in China, announced its launch on February 20. The team hopes to use DAO as an open platform to gather professionals and practitioners to help smooth the compliance path of the industry.
2.2 China’s record new loans in January to boost recovery link
New bank loans in China jumped more than expected to a record US$713b in January as the central bank looks to kick-start recovery. It also conducted 39.33b of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2% today. Some analysts expect China to tout a rate cut after March.
2.3 Topnod reduces digital collection transfer cycle, collections plunge OTC link
Topnod recently announced a reduction in the transfer cycle for digital collections, allowing users to transfer their first purchase and gifted digital collections after 90 days (previously 180 days) of ownership. The prices of several digital collections began to plummet off-exchange.
2.4 The CAC issued a list of domestic blockchain information services for the record link
On February 21 The Cyberspace Administration of China on the release of the eleventh batch of domestic blockchain information service filing number announcement, a total of 502, of which more than half are digital collections, more than 100 from Beijing, in addition to a number of metaverse, distributed storage projects.
2.5 China’s central bank releases Q4 monetary policy report link
The report points out that in 2023, China’s CPI and core CPI will pick up as a general trend, but substantial inflationary pressure will be controlled throughout the year, making it difficult to constrain monetary policy; it points out that “the weighted average interest rate on loans hit a new low since statistics were available”, pointing to limited room for subsequent interest rate cuts.
3. Hong Kong’s weekly summary
3.1 SFC is consulting on whether to open retail investors to invest in crypto link
The Hong Kong SFC is consulting on whether to open retail investors to invest in crypto. In addition, before June 1, any operating crypto trading platform must be licensed, unlicensed transactions need to terminate their Hong Kong business.
3.2 Hong Kong plans to let retail sector trade larger crypto tokens like BTC link
The coins should be included in at least two acceptable, investible indexes from independent providers, one of which should have experience in the traditional financial sector. The consultation period will end on March 31.
3.3 HuobiGlobal is applying for a crypto trading license in Hong Kong link
Justin Sun said that Huobi Global has applied for a crypto trading license in Hong Kong and also launch the Huobi Hong Kong exchange, fully complying with local regulations. At present, there are only two cryptocurrency exchange licenses issued by Hong Kong, OSL and HashKey.
3.4 Gate, OKX, Bitget and others are applying for HK’s license link
Almost all cryptocurrency exchanges have stated that they will apply for the crypto trading license in Hong Kong, but how many will be approved in the end, whether it will be opened to retail investors, and how many tokens will be opened are still unknown.
3.5 Hong Kong SFC approves second upgrade of FlagshipFundSP link
The Hong Kong SFC has recently approved the second upgrade (Uplift) of FlagshipFundSP, which is the only cryptocurrency hedge fund under the current Hong Kong licensing regime that employs multiple strategies and achieves positive returns.
3.6 Hong Kong’s crypto hub ambitions win quiet backing from Beijing link
Bloomberg: Hong Kong’s supportive policies for cryptocurrencies have received low-key acquiescence from Beijing, as long as they do not threaten China’s financial stability. But there is no sign Beijing will relax its prohibition policy in mainland China.
3.7 Paul Chan: I will allocate $50 million to expedite the Web3 ecosystem development link
When the Hong Kong government released the 23–24 budget speech, it stated that it will allocate 50 million HKD to expedite the Web3 ecosystem development, must keep up with the times and seize this golden opportunity of Web3.
3.8 A new type of OTC scam has emerged in Hong Kong link
The victim lost 25,000 USD buying coins at Huobi OTC. The buyer deposited a blank check into the bank account. After the seller released the coins, the check was returned and the coins had been transferred out. The victim explained that a blank check from Hong Kong can make the bank balance show an increase, but it is actually a frozen deposit.
3.9 The Hong Kong Web3 Hackathon of HAPathon will be held on April 11 link
Cyberport will co-organise the Hong Kong Web3 Hackathon of HAPathon with PlatON, HashKey Group and Alibaba Cloud to support the Web3 developer community in Hong Kong. Cyberport will provide the 3 winning teams a fast track to the vetting presentation stage of Cyberport Creative Micro Fund (CCMF) or Cyberport Incubation Programme (CIP). The teams will need to meet the application requirements. Cyberport will have final decision on whether the projects are eligible for CCMF or CIP fast track, and the fast track option can be used within 1 year.
3.10 HashKey obtains SFC approval to conduct OTC link
HashKey Group announced that it has obtained approval from the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong to carry on an off-platform virtual asset trading business (“OTC”) . It is also the second exchange in Hong Kong to obtain a compliance license.
4. Conflux expressed its hope to promote offshore CNY and HKD stablecoins link
Binance Futures will launch USDⓈ-M CFX perpetual contracts on 2023–02–20 14:30 (UTC) with up to 20x leverage. Affected by the news from China, CFX rose nearly 10x in the past 30d. Conflux expressed its hope to take advantage of the opportunity in Hong Kong to promote offshore CNY and HKD stablecoins.
5. Multichain receives policy support from EDBI and HKTDC link
Multichain: Backed by Sequoia China, IDG and other investment institutions, Multichain was in touch with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDBI) and Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) for the policy support, licence applications and new business development.
6. Zipmex to restart customer withdrawals once rescue deal closes link
Zipmex, the southeast Asian cryptocurrency exchange that found itself embroiled in a credit crunch last year, plans to restart customer withdrawals once a deal signed with a venture capital firm last month is finalized. A rescue deal is “signed but not closed,” according to Zipmex CEO Marcus Lim.
7. FTX Japan will resume withdrawals of fiat currency and crypto assets on Feb 21 link
FTX Japan will resume the services for withdrawal of fiat currency and crypto assets of FTX Japan via the Liquid Japan web platform at 12:00 p.m. (noon, JST) on February, 21, 2023. Previously, FTX Japan was ordered by Japan’s Financial Services Agency to stop its crypto business and resolve issues such as users not being able to withdraw assets after the FTX collapse.
8. QCP: We have to be conscious of BOJ and PBOC liquidity injections link
QCP Capital: Contrary to consensus, central banks have net added $1 trillion of liquidity since the market’s bottom in October 2022, with the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and People’s Bank of China (PBOC) the largest contributors. In that regard, the next 2 BOJ meetings, which will mark the transition of BOJ governors for the first time in 10 years, will take on added importance even for crypto traders. Along with that, we will be closely watching China’s CPI over the next few months — not as a market moving event in itself, but as a sign of when the PBOC will be forced to slow down its stimulus.
9. Taiwan must mandate a central authority to oversee crypto by May 16, says lawmaker link
Tseng Ming-Chung, a Taiwanese legislator and former chair of Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), has reiterated that the cabinet will have to mandate an acting central authority to shape regulatory frameworks and development roadmap for the cryptocurrency industry by May 16, a move that would push Taiwan closer to adequate crypto regulation.
10. Crypto exchanges are allowing sanctioned Russian banks access, report says link
Huobi and KuCoin enable people to trade crypto using debit cards issued by sanctioned Russian banks like Sberbank, according to a report from digital asset data analytics firm Inca Digital. Inca Digital Chief Executive Officer Adam Zarazinski said that this could be a violation of US and European sanctions and that the transactions often involve Tether, a stablecoin that has faced its own scrutiny from regulators.
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