‘Chinese MicroStrategy’ Meitu sells all Bitcoin and Ethereum: Asia Express

‘Asia MicroStrategy’ exits cryptocurrency

Meitu, a Chinese selfie app developer, cashed out all its cryptocurrency holdings and made a profit of about 80%. The company began selling cryptocurrency assets in November.

In a statement on December 4, Meitu confirmed that it no longer holds the cryptocurrency.

Meitu invested 31,000 Ether and 940 Bitcoin in spring 2021, earning it the nickname Asia’s MicroStrategy.

The company invested a total of $100 million in the cryptocurrency and ultimately sold it for $180 million, a not bad small return over a three-year holding period.

The company announced that it plans to pay the sale proceeds as bonuses to shareholders, including working capital, business expansion, and special dividend payments.

Headquartered in Xiamen, a port city in southeastern China, Meitu also has branches in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the United States. It is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and its investment subsidiary, Meitu Investments, is registered in the British Virgin Islands.

Meitu’s decision to liquidate its cryptocurrency holdings runs counter to a broader trend in Asia.

Japan’s Metaplanet, nicknamed ‘Asian MicroStrategy’ for its aggressive Bitcoin accumulation, currently holds over 1,100 BTC. Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based Booya Interactive recently exchanged $49 million of its Ethereum holdings for Bitcoin.

Metaplanet also announced a partnership with SBI VC Trade, a subsidiary of financial services giant SBI Holdings, to further solidify its commitment to cryptocurrency by hosting a Bitcoin sweepstakes for 2,350 eligible shareholders.

Coinbase’s SEA Stablecoin

Coinbase Wallet and Base are helping developers in Southeast Asia create apps designed to support future stablecoins tied to Thai and Philippine currencies, Nikkei Asia reported.

Thailand’s oldest bank, Siam Commercial Bank, demonstrated ForEx fee-free dollar-to-baht stablecoin conversion via a crypto wallet on Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer 2 Base for attendees at its recent Devcon event.

To fully launch these products, banks must first evaluate pilot programs with regulators for approval, Base creator Jesse Pollak said.

The report added that the Coinbase exchange itself has no plans to enter Southeast Asian jurisdictions. However, the Singapore branch secured Lion City’s cryptocurrency license in October 2023.

Chainalytic, a blockchain forensics company, ranked Thailand and the Philippines among the top 20 countries for cryptocurrency adoption. Among the Southeast Asian countries included in that list, two stand out as the only ones with trading volumes higher than the global average on centralized exchanges.

Meanwhile, it is the only player with a lower share of DEX trading volume compared to the global average and other DeFi activity.

Japan DMM Bitcoin Shutdown

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange DMM Bitcoin is abandoning efforts to reorganize its operations and plans to liquidate. DMM transfers remaining client assets to SBI VC Trade.

Last May, DMM Bitcoin suffered a $320 million hack in a cyberattack in which North Korean state hacking group Lazarus was accused of abusing private keys.

The perpetrators stole 4,502 bitcoins, currently worth more than $450 million, in the attack.

The hermit kingdom’s cyber operatives have been named as prime suspects in some high-profile attacks on crypto companies, including recent hacks of Asia-based exchanges such as WazirX, BingX, and Indodax.

According to cyber sleuth ZachXBT, some of the funds stolen in the DMM Bitcoin incident passed through Huione Guarantee, a Cambodian market known to have emerged as a money laundering hotspot for fraudsters.

Recently, Cambodian internet regulators reportedly blocked access to 102 websites, including 16 cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance and OKX.

Last August, Chainalysis revealed that Huione Guarantee had processed more than $49 billion in cryptocurrency transactions since 2021.

Korean corporate Bitcoin account rumors

The Korea Economic Daily reported that the Financial Services Commission plans to announce a roadmap for corporate cryptocurrency accounts by the end of the year.

Citing anonymous sources, the media reported that the roadmap is expected to include a series of approvals, starting with local governments and universities, and pushing businesses and financial institutions down the priority list.

However, the Financial Supervisory Commission denies that it has made a decision on issues related to corporate cryptocurrency accounts and plans to hold further discussions.

The domestic cryptocurrency market is mainly driven by individual investors due to local trading rules. To open an account at a domestic cryptocurrency exchange, investors must first open a real-name bank account at the exchange’s affiliated bank. Only exchanges in partnership with partner banks can provide entry and exit entry services, and to date, only five across the country have met these requirements.

However, businesses are currently prohibited from opening this specific bank account, effectively preventing them from investing in cryptocurrencies.

Retail investors pushed South Korea as a major cryptocurrency market earlier this year, with the Korean currency emerging as the world’s top fiat trading pair.

Cryptocurrency trading volume in South Korea reportedly exceeded $35 billion during the 24 hours that six-hour martial law was imposed earlier this week. This is more than Indonesia’s $30 billion trading volume from January to October.

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Yoon Yohan

Yohan Yoon is a multimedia journalist covering blockchain since 2017. He contributed as an editor to Forkast, a cryptocurrency media outlet, and covered Asian technology stories as an assistant reporter for Bloomberg BNA and Forbes. He spends his free time cooking and experimenting with new recipes.