Asia Express – Cointelegraph Magazine

Hong Kong's regulated exchanges have reached major milestones

HashKey Exchange, one of the first crypto exchanges to launch in Hong Kong, has raised $100 million in a Series A funding round valued at $1.2 billion. In a January 16 announcement, the company said the capital would be used for product diversification, compliance efforts and innovation. HashKey reports that 155,000 users have registered in the first four months, and the average daily trading volume in the last 30 days has reached $630 million.

Core businesses include HashKey Capital, an asset manager that invests exclusively in blockchain technology and digital assets, HashKey Cloud, a blockchain node verification service provider, HashKey Tokenization, and HashKey NFT, a Web3 PFP incubator and community operation service provider.

Since being licensed, the firm has established strategic partnerships with 10 brokerage firms and six publicly listed companies. In August 2023, HashKeu and OSL became the first crypto exchange to receive a Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) license to provide crypto trading services to retail investors.

OSL in 2010 It received a $91 million strategic investment from blockchain services firm BGX in November 2023 and currently has a market cap of $490 million.

The deal closed earlier this month with Patrick Pan as the company's new CEO. In a January 12 posting, OSL said it plans to expand its business offerings beyond Hong Kong and Singapore. Around the same time, the organization transitioned from the previous BC Technology Group to OSL to focus on its transformation efforts.

The United Nations reprimanded Teter.

The United Nations (UN) has published a highly critical report on the use of the Tether (USDT) stable coin by various criminal syndicates in East Asia and Southeast Asia. According to researchers on January 15:

“Online gambling platforms, and especially those operating illegally, have emerged as among the most popular vehicles for cryptocurrency-based money launderers, especially those using Tether or USDT on the TRON blockchain, as well as the strengthening of Southeast Asia's rapidly growing illegal digital economy.”

Specifically, researchers say that between September 2022 and September 2023, 17.07 billion transactions were “related to underground currency exchange, illegal commodity trading, illegal collection and payment processes, and various criminal activities.” In one incident in China alone, police busted a $1.7 billion money laundering network, arresting 63 suspects and seizing $18 million.

Teter has since rebuked the report. “The UN analysis ignored the existence of the Tether token and Tether's proven track record of cooperation with law enforcement,” he wrote. .

Thailand relaxes restrictions on crypto investors

Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has lifted restrictions on retail investors buying digital assets backed by real estate or infrastructure. According to local news reports on January 18, the move is intended to facilitate capital infusion and support financing through digital technologies and is “consistent with investment risks.” Before the policy was implemented, Thai retail investors were limited to a maximum of 300,000 baht ($8,411) in purchases of such properties.

The Southeast Asian country has been easing restrictions on digital assets since Prime Minister Serreta Thavisin's election victory last year. As part of its digitization initiatives, Tavisin introduced a 500 billion baht ($14 billion) universal basic income climate for all Thai citizens, financed using government loans. However, significant restrictions apply to how tokens can be used.

Zipmax is in trouble again

Compact Thai crypto exchange ZipMex has been reprimanded by Thailand's SEC. On January 13, Thailand's SEC issued another ruling, following several earlier requests, instructing Zipmex to “regularize its operations and submit an amendment report to the SEC within 15 days to avoid harm to investors.” The Thai SEC wrote:

“The rectification order deals with the company's failure to maintain funds in accordance with its governance rules and improper and inadequate management and personnel structure. In addition, the company must consider losses related to the customer's property.

Thailand's SEC Deputy Secretary Anek Youyen said, “Any digital asset trading operator who fails to comply has been warned.” […] may consider revocation of license. In the summer of 2022, Zipmax filed for bankruptcy protection in Singapore after revealing $53 million in exposure to failed crypto lenders Babel Finance and Celsius.

In the year On November 29, 2023, media reports Zipmax creditors will receive up to 3 cents on the dollar for first claims, with additional payments in the event of recovery. Zipmax CEO Marcus Lim declined to confirm details of the restructuring plan, but said there were “mistakes” in the numbers quoted by reporters. Last April, the firm lost a $100 million buyout deal backed by V Ventures after withdrawing.

Singapore Says No to Bitcoin Spot ETFs

Singapore has no plans to follow in the footsteps of the US SEC and list a spot bitcoin ETF for trading.

As reported by local news outlets on January 17, a spokesperson for the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said, “Bitcoin and other Digital Payment Tokens (DPT) are not currently eligible assets for Retail Mutual Investment Schemes (CIS).”

“Cryptocurrency trading is highly volatile and speculative in nature and is not suitable for retail investors. Those who choose to trade Bitcoin ETFs in foreign markets should exercise caution. They should also carefully consider the additional risks associated with overseas markets.”

The lack of listing plans, however, does not mean that Singaporean investors are denied access to Bitcoin Spot ETFs. Those with brokerage access to foreign securities such as US stocks and ETFs can still access Bitcoin Spot ETFs without the MAS restrictions.

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Zhiyuan Sun

Zhyuan Sun is a reporter at Cointelegraph, focusing on technology-related news. He has several years of experience writing for major financial media outlets such as The Motley Fool, Nasdaq.com and Seeking Alpha.