Plus Token’s $1.3B ETH May Sell, ‘Crypto King’ Arrested: Asia Express

Plus Token-linked Ether is available and in motion

Roughly $16 million worth of Ether from the Plus Token scam began moving to exchanges this week, indicating a desire to sell, according to on-chain analyst ErgoBTC.

The Plus Token Ponzi scheme, which defrauded investors between 2018 and 2019, was reportedly seized by Chinese authorities with $4.2 billion in crypto, including 833,083 ETH.

According to ErgoBTC's latest analyst, one-third of the held Ether will be sold by the now-defunct crypto exchange Bidesk in 2021, and the remaining approximately 542,000 Ether in thousands of wallets started moving in August and consolidated to 294 addresses.

This week saw the movement of 15,700 ether, of which 7,000 ($16 million) entered the exchange.

“Given the recent efforts to hide ETH again, it is unlikely that the active distribution of 15.7k ETH that moved yesterday is the final distribution of the 540k ETH supply,” ErgoBTC said in X.

The Plus Token Fund movement caused a major split last August, as no one could agree on how much ETH the Ponzi scheme still had to sell.

Blockchain tracker Lookonchain said it initially moved 789,533 Dormant Ether from the Plus Token scheme.

Lookonchain has deleted its post after Onchain Analyst EmberCN reported that it sold 268,843 ETH on Bidesk in 2021. EmberCN says it has tracked 25,757 remaining Ether to 12 addresses, with most of the Ether sold in 2021.

Data platform Arkham Intelligence has provided its own analysis, estimating that 196,000 Dormant Ether linked to Plus Token started moving within 12 hours.

ErgoBTC's analysis agrees with EmberCN's statement about 269,000 Ether near Bidesk, but it finds Ether in fraud of more than 12 wallets.

Similar to Arkham's original report, ErgoBTC confirmed that dormant Ether – with an estimated remaining 540,000 – started moving in August.

A $16 million movement in Ether is not a significant supply shock for the cryptocurrency, but a movement of 540,000 Ether, around $1.3 billion, indicates an even bigger selling push.

The Rise, Fall and Another Fall of the $10.5M ‘Crypto King'

Philippine police have arrested a 23-year-old self-proclaimed “crypto king” accused of defrauding investors of nearly 600 million Philippine pesos ($10.5 million).

The suspect, identified as “Joshua” in a police press release, targeted high-profile victims, including members of the media, police and government officials, according to the Philippine News Agency.

It reportedly contained a database of potential victims, indicating that the targeting was planned rather than random.

The so-called crypto king was previously arrested in September 2023 under the name Vance Joshua Tamayo.

Tamayo has proven himself as a crypto genius, with a scheme that offered investors 4.5% monthly returns as a legitimate business. At first he fulfilled these promises, but later he cut ties with investors.

In the first case, he was accused of defrauding victims of more than 100 million pesos ($1.7 million), but was released on bail of 54,000 pesos (less than $950).

After authorities received more complaints from more alleged victims, the volume of his fraud increased.

Police said they plan to file charges of “grand estafa,” or large-scale fraud, against Tamayo, which would eliminate the option of bail for him.

Upbit's ‘squid game' has sparked fears of a monopoly bank run

Upbit's dominance in South Korea's crypto market has sparked fears of a possible bank freeze on K-Bank, the country's largest online bank and cryptocurrency exchange's banking partner.

Under South Korean law, crypto exchanges must partner with local banks to facilitate fiat on and off routes. Customers of these exchanges must maintain an account with a partner bank to ensure that their crypto activities are linked to their legal identity.

Only five exchanges in South Korea meet these requirements, and the Upbit-K-Bank partnership controls 70% of the local market.

On Oct. 10 during the National Assembly's government affairs audit, lawmaker Lee Kang-il said K-Bank holds 4 trillion won (about $3 billion) in customer deposits at Apbit, accounting for a fifth of the bank's total assets.

Lee said that if Upbit's services are disrupted, it may create banking operations at K-Bank.

Lee took the blame to the Financial Services Commission for creating such risks by finding favourites.

“FSC is playing the Squid Game, saving only one company and killing all others,” Lee said.

FSC Chairman Kim Byung-hwan acknowledged Lee's concerns and cited ongoing efforts to improve anti-money laundering and investor protection regulations. The FSC has also stated that it will investigate market monopoly cases and the structural risks posed by such concentration.

A K-Bank-related bank run could have global implications, as the South Korean winner is the main currency traded on crypto and will lead the world's trading volume in the first quarter of 2024.

K-Bank is aiming for a $730 billion IPO, with an expected valuation of $4 billion by the end of October.

Lawmaker Lee expressed FSC's skepticism of K-Bank's IPO application, to which Kim responded, “I think the FSC has done an adequate review.”

Hong Kong to issue additional licenses

Asia's financial hub Hong Kong is expected to add more licensed crypto exchanges by the end of the year, according to Julia Ling, chief executive of the city's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).

In an interview with local media, Leung mentioned that her agency has started vetting crypto license applicants on the spot. Confirmations are expected to be issued in batches by the end of the year.

So far, only three exchanges are allowed to conduct licensed crypto operations in Hong Kong.

On October 4, Hong Kong Virtual Asset Exchange Limited joined Hashkey and OSL as a licensed exchange.

Meanwhile, 14 exchanges have withdrawn their applications and one has been withdrawn by the SFC.

The last to issue was the Hong Kong Digital Asset Xchange (HKDAX) on October 9.

HKDAX recently made headlines after submitting its crypto license application three months past the deadline.

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John Yun

Yohan Yun is a multimedia journalist who has been reporting on blockchain since 2017. He has contributed to the crypto media outlet Forkast as an editor and covered Asian tech stories as an assistant reporter for Bloomberg BNA and Forbes. He spends his free time cooking and experimenting with new recipes.