Hong Kong Financial News

As US regulators sued three major crypto exchanges this year, billions of dollars of trading volumes have migrated to Asia. That shift could be poised to accelerate as market makers and exchanges move resources to a region where several jurisdictions have introduced regulatory frameworks and are vying for digital-asset traders. Investors and marketplaces are flocking to Singapore, Japan and South Korea — and more recently to Hong Kong, which this month introduced a new regulatory regime for crypto. Bitcoin trading activity in predominantly Asian hours have risen this year even as they slumped in US and European hours, data compiled by CryptoQuant show. The token accounts for almost half of crypto’s total market value. The resilience in Asian crypto volumes is underpinned by institutional investors who perceive the regulatory environment there as less risky, according to several market participants interviewed by Bloomberg. “With so much regulatory uncertainty in the US, Asia has become an increasingly important hub for digital-asset activity,” said Jonny Caldwell, who focuses on alternative investments including cryptocurrencies as co-head of asset management at Trovio Group. “We are observing a major shift to Asian-based exchanges and venues in the last few months.”

Winklevoss twins’ cryptocurrency exchange Gemini continues to actively expand its services across the world, debuting Ethereum staking in the United Kingdom.

A government study conducted by the Research Office at Hong Kong’s Legislative Council has suggested that the city should take cues from countries like Japan and Singapore in its efforts to develop and embrace Web3 technologies and crypto.

Crypto exchange Gemini has announced plans to expand into the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region to capture the “next wave of growth for crypto.”

The government of China has tried hard to make people believe that Bitcoin (BTC) would become worthless, but its predictions to date have been far off the mark. The original cryptocurrency has gained around 36% since the Chinese government stated it would become worthless in 2022.

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Alibaba has announced that crypto-friendly Joseph Tsai, currently Executive Vice Chairman, will replace eight-year veteran chief Daniel Zhang as the company's new Chairman.

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Once again, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) became the week’s headliner. Its intention to freeze the entirety of Binance.US’s assets got a reality check from U.S. district court Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who advised the regulator and the crypto exchange to negotiate a deal bilaterally. 

On June 19, European cryptocurrency investment firm CoinShares published its “Digital Asset Fund Flows Report,” revealing that cryptocurrency investment products experienced outflows totaling $5.1 million last week. The outflows contributed to the continuation of a nine-week streak of outflows, resulting in a cumulative total of $423 million.

Ethereum core developers plan to implement a 64-fold increase in the minimum amount of staked Ether (ETH) required to become a validator, from 32 ETH to 2048 ETH.

In the past year, more than 150 Web3 firms have set up operations in Hong Kong’s Cyberport — a digital hub set up by the country’s government to promote innovation — Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said in a statement.

Credit Suisse banker Nora Yeung is set to take up the role of co-head for equity capital markets at Deutsche Bank, overseeing Asia Pacific.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has successfully recovered over $1.7 million from CoinEx (COINEX) following a lawsuit against the cryptocurrency platform. CoinEx was found to be operating without the necessary registration as a securities and commodities broker-dealer and falsely representing itself as a crypto exchange. The resolution of the lawsuit requires CoinEx to refund more than $1.1 million to New York investors and pay over $600,000 in penalties to the state.

The regulatory crackdown on crypto in the US could prove to be just what is needed for the industry to thrive elsewhere, a recent Wall Street Journal article has indicated.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), which serves as the region's central bank and regulator, has reportedly put pressure on major banks including HSBC and Standard Chartered to accept crypto exchanges as clients.

Banco de la República, Colombia’s central bank, is partnering with Peersyst and Ripple to pilot blockchain technology on the XRP ledger. 

Hong Kong’s banking regulator has reportedly exerted pressure on banks including HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Bank of China to engage with crypto clients.

HSBC and Standard Chartered are among lenders facing pressure from Hong Kong's banking regulator to take on crypto exchanges as clients, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter. The UK-based lenders and the Bank of China were questioned by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) last month on why crypto exchanges were not being accepted as clients, according to the report. Standard Chartered is in regular dialogue with regulators on different subjects, it said in an emailed statement to Reuters, declining to comment further on the FT report. HSBC and the HKMA did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comments.

Hong Kong-based crypto exchange CoinEx has been banned from operating in New York by Attorney General Letitia James. According to an announcement on June 15, over $1.7 million worth of the exchange's funds were seized for allegedly failing to register as a securities and commodities brokerage.

Bank of China's investment arm BOCI has utilized the Ethereum blockchain network to issue $28 million worth of digital structured notes.