Asia | Crypto

Singapore’s crypto economy grows 55%, South Korea set to make crypto market makers legal, and Chinese spy ministry warns would-be foreign spies it’s watching the blockchain. CHINA China’s Ministry of State Security has toughened its rhetoric on the risks of cryptocurrencies, highlighting their role in crime and stressing transactions are not really anonymous. According to the South China Morning Post the spooks published an article on social media stating cryptocurrencies are used to facilitate money laundering and cyberattacks and serve as “accomplices” in espionage. Read more

The Asia-session quote crossed the lower edge of Friday's range while oil and Treasury yields rose in the wider market. The post Bitcoin dips below $83,000 to start the week as Asia markets sell, extending last week’s retreat appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The APAC region accounts for half of the Global Crypto Adoption Index. Bitget suffers massive $351M loss and OpenAI forgets to mention its agents hacked the Australian Government. Almost half of the top 20 nations in terms of grassroots crypto adoption are in the Asia Pacific region. According to Chainalysis’s newly released 2026 Global Crypto Adoption Index, Japan ranks at number 4, followed by South Korea (5), India (6), Thailand (8), China (12), Indonesia (14), Australia (15), Vietnam (18) and the Philippines (19), which totals nine countries out of 20 on the index. A big growth area in the APAC region is cross border stablecoin transfers. Tianwei Liu, co-founder and CEO of StraitsX, told Cointelegraph that in Asia, fragmented currencies and payment systems have created demand for stablecoin settlement.  Read more

Shareholders of Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet are seething over equity allocations for insiders, while new figures cement Singapore’s role as the top Asian crypto hub. JAPAN Japanese Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet’s executive stock pool continues to draw shareholder backlash over stock dilution concerns.  Multiple shareholders objected across social media to Metaplanet’s 10th Series executive option pool, which was designed as 20% of fully diluted shares and automatically expanded as the company issued new shares to fund its Bitcoin (BTC) accumulation. Read more

Ripple was among the latest blockchain companies to sign a strategic partnership to build more custody and tokenized asset management solutions for Asian institutional participants. Blockchain enterprise solutions provider Ripple has partnered with digital asset infrastructure company SettleMint to offer financial institutions solutions for custody, issuance and management of tokenized assets across their full lifecycle. The strategic partnership will integrate Ripple’s institutional digital asset custody infrastructure, Ripple Custody, and SettleMint’s Digital Asset Lifecycle Platform (DALP) to offer institutions a less complex way to secure digital assets, Ripple announced on Tuesday. A day earlier, digital asset service provider Coincheck Group partnered with wallet infrastructure provider DFNS to build digital asset wallet technology and custody services in Japan. Read more

Bitcoin saw fresh downside pressure as US stocks tracked sideways into the end of the month, diverging from the relief bounce seen in Asia. Bitcoin (BTC) fell to its lowest levels in over two weeks on Friday as US stocks saw pressure into the monthly close. Key points: Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD falling 3.5% to reach $62,369 on Bitstamp, a level last seen on July 14. Read more

Bitcoin and crypto dropped as contagion from a major Asia stock-market correction spreads to the US at the Wall Street open. Bitcoin (BTC) hit ten-day lows at Tuesday’s Wall Street open as BTC price action followed a US stocks sell-off. Key points: Semiconductor-led losses from Asia spilled over into US trading. South Korea’s KOSPI Index finished the day down 10.8% in a single session, fueled by 14.8% losses for chip-maker SK Hynix, while Japan’s memory manufacturer Kioxia Holdings fell 18.3% on the day. Read more

Bitcoin analysis warned of "new lows" as Asia markets dropped as much as 10% and BTC price action dipped below $62,000 for the first time in nearly two weeks. Bitcoin (BTC) neared two-week lows on Tuesday as Asia stock markets pulled back on a tech sell-off. Key points: Bitcoin heads lower with Asia equities as "unprecedented inflows" become a tech-driven rout. Read more

The Siiibo deal gives its BTC treasury regulated rails, but the product terms will decide whether investors get access or complexity. The post Asia’s top Bitcoin holder wants to turn its BTC pile into income, but the returns hide new risks appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin price downside returned to send BTC to one-week lows thanks to renewed concerns over global oil supplies focused on the Strait of Hormuz blockade. Bitcoin (BTC) headed to weekly lows after Tuesday’s Wall Street open as oil-supply woes panicked global markets. Key points: Read more

A Hong Kong-listed company wants to attract more than 10,000 BTC into a regulated asset management strategy, a target worth roughly $760 million at current prices. While the number itself is jaw-dropping, it's the strategy's structure that reveals the true scope of this plan. Hong Kong is trying to become a place where large pools […] The post Hong Kong eyes 10,000 BTC investment for Asia’s first regulated Bitcoin capital pool appeared first on CryptoSlate.

[PRESS RELEASE – Road Town, British Virgin Islands, April 9th, 2026] Today, USDT0, the unified liquidity network for Tether’s US dollar-pegged stablecoin (USDT), announces XAUt0, the omnichain deployment of Tether Gold (XAUt), is now live on the Conflux Network, expanding access to tokenized gold within one of Asia’s most strategically connected blockchain ecosystems. With this […]

In this week’s Crypto Long & Short Newsletter, Bob Williams covers how stricter crypto regulations in Asia are putting more personal responsibility on senior leaders, making strong governance and D&O insurance essential. Then, the FBI’s Haidy Grigsby writes on how crypto scams are increasingly targeting experienced investors by building trust and tricking them into making larger deposits until their money is gone.

The Web3 company will provide capital, advisory support and business development to help Avalanche projects scale, with a focus on real-world assets and digital identity. Animoca Brands has made a strategic investment in Ava Labs and entered a partnership to support projects building on the Avalanche blockchain, focusing on capital deployment, advisory support and expansion in Asia and the Middle East. According to Thursday’s announcement by the Hong Kong-based Web3 company, the collaboration will target sectors including real-world assets, digital identity and entertainment, with Animoca providing business development support and access to regional networks to help Avalanche-based projects scale and reach institutional users. Projects pursued under the partnership may also tap into the broader ecosystem of portfolio companies, Animoca said. Read more

The South Korean stock market (KOSPI) closed near 5,094 after falling 12.06% in a single session today. The index had already fallen 7.24% the prior session, taking the two-day slide to roughly 18.4% on a compounded basis. South Korean equities did not fall alone, but the magnitude set Korea apart in a global risk-off window. […] The post Bitcoin jumps to $72,000 as Asia’s stock market meltdown deepens appeared first on CryptoSlate.

During a panel discussion at Consensus in Hong Kong, Peach pointed to massive capital pools in traditional finance as ETF adoption spreads across Asia.

Crypto payments network Mesh has raised $75 million in a Series C round pushing its total funding past $200 million and valuing the company at $1 billion. The post Mesh Targets LatAm, Asia, Europe After $75M Raise – Can It Beat Legacy Rails? appeared first on Cryptonews.

The following is a guest post and opinion from Anurag Arjun, Founder of Avail. The global stablecoin narrative is about to shift fast. What began as a US-dominated experiment in digital liquidity is morphing into a multipolar fight over who controls the rails of tomorrow’s monetary system. And the most consequential moves are unfolding in […] The post Asia is quietly building a counterweight to the dollar stablecoin empire, and the West isn’t ready appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Companies that pivot to Bitcoin treasuries face crackdown in Asia, China doubles down on crypto ban. Asia Express 2025 in review. With the end of the year in sight, Asia Express looks back at some of the most significant developments for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in the region in 2025. The rise of Bitcoin treasury firms was a major development in Asia in 2024, after Japan-based Metaplanet adopted the blueprint popularized by Michael Saylor’s Strategy. In 2025, the model gained a formal label with the firms now known as digital asset treasury companies, or DATs. But for many DATs, the embrace of Bitcoin was really just a last-ditch attempt to revive moribund share prices. Several had little to do with crypto prior to their pivots, and DAT announcements often triggered short-lived stock rallies before prices normalized. Read more

Malaysia’s RMJDT shows how Asia is pulling stablecoins into regulated finance, linking tokenized assets with local-currency onchain settlement. RMJDT is a ringgit stablecoin pitched for payments and cross-border trade. Its treasury and validator setup is designed to make onchain settlement function like reliable infrastructure. Across Asia, stablecoins are being brought under licensing and reserve and redemption rules. Read more