Asia Express – Cointelegraph Magazine

Our weekly news roundup from East Asia selects the most important developments in the industry.

Korean market panics due to rumors of fake altcoin delisting

About half of the altcoins listed on major South Korean exchange Upbit plummeted between 10 and 20 percent last week amid rumors that a regulatory crackdown was imminent but not yet in place.

As reported by ebn.co.kr, the fake news that “financial authorities plan to review 600 domestic virtual assets on a quarterly basis starting next month and suspend trading of coins that do not meet the standards for maintaining listing” is widely spread. Investors panicked after seeing the spread.

However, the National Financial Supervisory Service later stated that it would not directly monitor altcoin listing reviews.

“Financial authorities inspect virtual asset businesses without directly reviewing the items. We have participated in the creation of best practices by requesting support, but presentations will be made by exchanges and the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA).”

South Korea’s new virtual asset regulations are scheduled to begin next month. The regulations, in part, require the 29 cryptocurrency exchanges registered in the country, including Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax, to regularly evaluate tokens listed on their exchanges and decide whether to continue supporting them. Their deal.

Afterwards, industry experts said that the items in the new guidelines, such as violations of distribution plans and unidentified hacking incidents, “are not significantly different from the existing ones.”

Binance Introduces Loyalty Rewards for BNB Holders

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance plans to reward its most loyal BNB token holders with an airdrop for holding on to their precious lives through the company’s ups and downs.

“Users who hold BNB for a long period of time will benefit, and Hodler’s project will be distributed to BNB holders,” exchange co-founder Yi He wrote on June 19. He said, “Statistical time is not based on future holding logic. , but look back at how long you have held BNB. We work for BNB holders!”

Exchange staff said the Binance HODLer airdrop was designed to benefit users who invest in Simple Earn products with BNB holdings. “This program will airdrop tokens from projects with significant token supply that are scheduled to be listed on Binance soon,” the developers explained.

The program encompasses small to medium-sized projects with strong foundations, significant circulating supply and vibrant, organic communities.

To participate, users must subscribe to flexible and fixed Simple Earn products using their BNB holdings and ensure their account is verified (KYC) in an eligible jurisdiction. Airdropped tokens are automatically transferred to the user’s Spot wallet before the token is listed on the exchange.

During Binance’s early days when it was headquartered in China, the exchange raised $15 million through its BNB ICO in July 2017. Since then, the token has gained 402,159% year to date and is currently trading at $601.74 per piece at the time. of publishing.

Hong Kong’s zero-tolerance policy towards unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges

Hong Kong regulators have become increasingly strict on cryptocurrency companies operating in the East Asian city after two unlicensed companies, JPEX and Hounax, collapsed last year, leaving investors with hundreds of millions of dollars in funding.

In the Securities and Futures Commission’s annual report, the regulator said that of the 23 virtual cryptocurrency exchange license applications it received, only two, HashKey and OSL, were approved. Additionally, the two approved exchanges received 234 in-person visits from SFC staff last year to ensure compliance.

On May 31, Hong Kong officially expelled all unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges, and all platforms that did not apply for an operating license from the SFC were required to immediately cease operations in the territory.

“Operating a VATP in Hong Kong in contravention of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Ordinance (AMLO) is a criminal offense and the SFC will take all appropriate action against any breach of the law,” the regulator warned.

Spot Bitcoin ​​ETF Hype Fades Off

Globally, investor enthusiasm for Bitcoin ETFs appears to have stalled.

On June 20, the first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) approved by Australia’s leading stock exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange, closed its first trading day with trading volume of just $1.3 million.

Australia has about one-tenth the population of the United States, so roughly equivalent to an influx of about $10 million. However, in Australia there are two Bitcoin ETFs listed on alternative exchange CBOE, and these products will be available from 2022.

“The Australian market is likely to follow a similar path, even though it is much smaller than the US and most of our flows are retail rather than institutional,” Jamie Hannah, vice president of investments and capital markets at VanEck, told Cointelegraph.

Last April, the first Hong Kong-listed spot Bitcoin and Ether ETF saw first-day trading volume of about $12 million, dwarfed by the billions of dollars in volume for the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF that debuted in January. It was.

Now all eyes are on the US-based Ethereum ETF, which is scheduled to launch on July 2 after receiving surprise approval from the US SEC. Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst, called the SEC staff’s comments on the Ether ETF applicant’s S-1 filing “very light and immaterial” and asked that it be returned within a week.

The future of Hong Kong cryptocurrency looks bright

David Wu, CFO of Hong Kong cryptocurrency exchange OSL, sees Hong Kong as a global financial center where innovative cryptocurrency asset products can be experimented with. Wu said:

“Various investment projects can raise funds in Hong Kong through debt issuance or equity offerings. In addition to these traditional methods, companies can also issue security token offerings (STOs) in Hong Kong, providing an alternative to mainstream fundraising methods.”

Representative Woo emphasized that, unlike other countries in Asia, East Asian cities have “low tax rates, clear legal systems, and comprehensive investor protection.” “Institutional investors in virtual assets have had difficulty opening accounts. “For example, many large banks in Japan refuse to open accounts for such funds,” Wu explained. “However, Hong Kong banks are open to this, and many Chinese banks are welcoming institutions specializing in virtual asset investment to open accounts.”

Currently, Hong Kong’s cryptocurrency exchange license allows trading of both cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets, providing features not available in other financial hubs such as Singapore and the United States. The SFC is currently actively considering protection plans, anti-money laundering, anti-hacker and We are exploring establishing policies to further strengthen Hong Kong’s advantage in the virtual asset market.

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Jyuyuan Line

Zhiyuan Sun is a journalist at Cointelegraph specializing in technology news. He has years of experience writing for major financial outlets such as The Motley Fool, Nasdaq.com, and Seeking Alpha.