News linked to both this project and an event.
Odaily News: A 60-year-old woman in Hong Kong reported that she had earlier met a fraudster claiming to be an investment expert on an online platform, and was subsequently induced to invest in cryptocurrency on a fraudulent website.Between April 14 and September 22, the woman made multiple transfers totaling approximately HK$21.5 million to designated investment accounts. The platform later demanded that she pay a deposit to prove that the investment account was not being used for money laundering.Police initially classified the case as obtaining property by deception, and it is being followed up by the Fourth Team of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Sau Mau Ping Police District. No arrests have been made so far. (HK01 NFT)
According to Cointelegraph, data from the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) shows that operating profits of crypto exchanges in South Korea fell by 78% in the first half of 2026 compared to the previous six-month period, while exchange sales declined by 41% over the same timeframe. Market trading activity also cooled noticeably, with the average daily trading volume at domestic virtual asset exchanges dropping by 44% compared to the prior period. The total market capitalization of crypto assets decreased by 33%, KRW-denominated customer deposits fell by 35%, but the number of accounts eligible for trading saw a slight increase of 0.4%. The survey covered 26 registered virtual asset service providers, including 17 exchange operators and 9 custodian and wallet service providers, with data spanning from January 1 to June 30 this year.
Odaily News: Data from the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) shows that in the first half of 2026, the operating profit of South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges fell 78% compared with the previous six months. Over the same period, average daily trading volume dropped 44%, total market value declined 33%, KRW deposits fell 35%, and exchange revenue decreased 41%.The survey covered 26 registered virtual asset service providers, including 17 exchange operators and 9 custody and wallet service providers, with the reporting period from January 1 to June 30, 2026. The number of accounts eligible for trading rose slightly by 0.4% over the same period. (Cointelegraph)
According to Cnfinance, Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Warren Woo stated at the Treasury Markets Summit that Hong Kong's equity, foreign exchange, and debt markets are mature, while digital finance is rapidly emerging. The Central Money Markets Unit (CMU) will launch new services by year-end, providing 24/7 on-chain real-time settlement, supporting the digital Hong Kong dollar and central bank digital currency (CBDC), and will also explore accepting tokenized deposits and regulated stablecoins for settlement on the platform.
Hong Kong's Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui, stated at a press conference on the financial development measures of the Hong Kong SAR's first five-year plan for economic and social development and the Chief Executive's 2026 Policy Address that digital assets and fintech are new growth engines for Hong Kong. Digital bonds issued in Hong Kong account for approximately 50% of the global share. The tokenization of Exchange Fund Bills will be piloted before the end of 2026, and the Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU) will establish a digital asset platform within 2026 to provide one-stop services including digital bond issuance and settlement.In terms of regulation and market development, measures include improving the virtual asset licensing regime, enhancing the regulatory framework for tokenized investment products, promoting the trading of regulated stablecoins on licensed platforms, and encouraging the expansion of application scenarios for compliant stablecoins.
According to reports from Asia Economic, the Cyber Investigation Unit of the Gangwon Regional Police Agency has filed cases against 26 users of the overseas prediction market platform Polymarket and transferred 18 of them to prosecutors. The cumulative betting amount among those involved is approximately 17.6 billion Korean won, with the highest individual amount reaching about 5.7 billion KRW. Police maintain that users betting on uncertain event outcomes using crypto assets are suspected of committing illegal gambling. The involved users counter that because Polymarket employs order book trading and supports closing positions before maturity, it should be treated as a crypto derivatives market. Relevant South Korean authorities had previously decided to block the platform, and subsequent judicial disputes will focus on whether its trading structure should be classified as gambling or derivatives investment.
According to CoinDesk, India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND) issued non-compliance notices to 15 small and medium-sized offshore cryptocurrency platforms—including Weex, Blofin, Rezorex, Bitunix, DigiFinex, Toobit, XT.com, Latoken, WOO X, Pionex, ChangeNow, SimpleSwap, Fixedfloat, WhiteBIT, and Guardarian—pursuant to Section 13 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, alleging that these platforms violated regulations by serving Indian users without registering with FIU-IND. Since March 2023, India has brought cryptocurrency platforms under an anti-money laundering regulatory framework equivalent to that of traditional banks, mandating that all platforms serving Indian users, regardless of whether they maintain domestic offices, complete registration and fulfill obligations including customer identity verification and suspicious transaction reporting. In light of this enforcement, reports indicate that some Indian users are circumventing regulations by transferring USDT to overseas platforms to purchase gift cards. FIU-IND also cautioned the public that cryptocurrency products and NFTs remain unregulated and carry high risks, and that affected users may not be able to obtain regulatory recourse for any resulting losses.
According to The New York Times, two successive heads of the Polish crypto exchange Zondacrypto (formerly BitBay) have gone missing over a four-year period. Founder Sylwester Suszek disappeared in 2022, and his successor, Przemyslaw Kral, has also been missing since April this year. Prior to his disappearance, Kral stated that the exchange held approximately 4,500 BTC, valued at over $300 million, but the access keys to the relevant wallets were controlled by the already-missing Suszek. Zondacrypto subsequently became embroiled in disputes over client assets and withdrawals and came under investigation by Polish prosecutors. Its operating entity, BB Trade Estonia, had its virtual asset service license revoked by the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) on June 29.
According to Yonhap News Agency, global virtual asset infrastructure company BitGo announced that its Korean entity, BitGo Korea, had its VASP (Virtual Asset Service Provider) registration application accepted by the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) on August 18, becoming the first overseas crypto corporate entity to directly complete VASP registration in Korea to date. Established in 2024, BitGo Korea chose to enter the market by directly complying with regulatory requirements this time, rather than adopting the common industry practice of acquiring existing VASP companies. Moving forward, it will officially launch virtual asset custody (Custody) and transfer services in Korea based on this foundation, focusing on expanding business to financial institutions and corporate clients.
According to News1, the South Korean Financial Services Commission, Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), and Financial Supervisory Service stated that starting from August 20, the scope of reporting review for virtual asset service providers will be expanded to include major shareholders; if changes occur to major shareholders or the compliance system, prior reporting must be submitted 30 days prior to the change.
the Korea Exchange has drafted amendments to the "Securities Market Business Regulations Implementation Rules," which will raise the minimum trading unit for single-stock leveraged ETFs from the current 1 share to 20 shares, and for ETNs from 1 security to 20 securities. The exchange is currently seeking market feedback.It is understood that South Korean financial regulators originally planned to implement this measure in November, but given the rising speculative trading in single-stock leveraged products and the need to cool it down ahead of schedule, the exchange is pushing for implementation as early as next month. In addition to raising the trading unit, regulators will also strengthen investor protection measures. New retail investors must complete at least 5 trading days of simulated trading—1 hour per day, totaling 5 hours—before participating in single-stock leveraged product trading. (EDaily)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced the establishment of a new "Financial Reporting and Accounting Unit" within the Division of Enforcement to strengthen investigations and enforcement regarding financial reporting fraud, accounting violations, and audit misconduct. The unit will be composed of attorneys and accountants with expertise in financial reporting, accounting, and auditing, and will be led by Timothy Zimmerman.
Odaily News: Luxembourg has passed a new law authorizing the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to send cross-institutional fraud alerts to traditional banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, with the relevant measures taking effect on August 8. The bill, numbered 8722, requires cryptocurrency exchanges operating in Luxembourg to receive alerts in sync with banks and payment institutions. The bill aims to close the loophole that allows fraudulent funds to move rapidly between traditional financial institutions and digital assets. Under previous rules, banks could only block transactions of flagged accounts within their own systems and were unable to notify another financial institution or cryptocurrency exchange to prevent funds from entering or leaving. Max Braun, head of Luxembourg's FIU, stated that incorporating cryptocurrency exchanges into the cross-departmental alert system will make it more difficult to cash out from flagged accounts. According to data from Luxembourg's Ministry of Justice, police recorded 6,382 fraud cases in the country in 2024, and financial practitioners submitted more than 18,000 reports of fraud and scams.
According to Digital Asset, South Korean People Power Party lawmaker Kim Sang-hoon, together with 15 lawmakers, introduced an amendment to the Specific Financial Information Act on July 28. The bill defines the unique identification number assigned by virtual asset service providers to users as an "account," and grants the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) the power to request payment freezes on bank accounts and virtual asset accounts suspected of being used for illegal property transfers. The freeze period is 30 days and may be extended once; financial institutions failing to execute in a timely manner will face fines of up to 100 million Korean won. The bill will officially take effect 6 months after promulgation.
at least 29 overseas virtual asset exchange applications are currently unavailable for download on the Google Play Store in South Korea. As one of the main reasons Korean users turn to overseas exchanges is to participate in derivative trading such as futures, this investigation primarily focuses on derivative platforms. Among them, 14 platforms were previously identified by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Financial Services Commission as unregistered Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) and have been referred to investigative authorities. Notably, another 15 exchanges, although not included in the FIU's official investigation notice list, also have their applications blocked from installation on Google Play in South Korea. (Digital Asset)
Odaily Planet Daily reported that South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinone announced on July 22 that it had received approval from the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to complete its major shareholder change declaration, formally establishing a new shareholder structure centered around Korea Investment & Securities, OKX Ventures, and Com2uS Holdings. Coinone stated that it will leverage the enhanced compliance and technical capabilities of its new shareholders to upgrade digital asset trading services and accelerate its transition into a comprehensive blockchain financial platform. (EDaily)
the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of Pakistan has established a cryptocurrency investigation unit within its newly inaugurated National Command and Control Center (NC3) to probe money laundering and terrorist financing activities conducted through virtual currencies.Dr. Muhammad Athar Waheed, head of the FIA's Counter-Terrorism Department, stated that the new unit will investigate the criminal use of cryptocurrencies. The newly formed Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (PVARA) will be responsible for overseeing digital assets. Dr. Waheed also urged the National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency and the Anti-Narcotics Force to establish similar departments to address the use of cryptocurrencies in cybercrime and drug trafficking.The NC3 integrates the FIA's financial crime tools onto a single platform, including anti-money laundering and virtual currency investigation units, an Interpol coordination point, open-source intelligence, cyber patrolling, and dark web investigation departments. Pakistan previously lifted its eight-year ban on cryptocurrency banking, created the PVARA, and is advancing the licensing of cryptocurrency exchanges. (Decrypt)
Investigations revealed that one of the defendants declared an annual income of only 444 pounds, yet frequently visited high-end stores such as Harrods, Hermes, and Louis Vuitton, and stored approximately 500,000 pounds in cash in a safe deposit box in Dubai. The Metropolitan Police Cryptocurrency Unit reconstructed the criminal network through multi-dimensional evidence including blockchain transaction records, communication data, and cryptocurrency exchange records, ultimately recovering approximately 1 million pounds of victim funds.
: India imposes a uniform 30% tax on gains from virtual digital assets, along with an additional 1% tax deducted at source on the transaction amount. Around 54 crypto service providers in the country have registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit, serving 39 million verified users who collectively hold approximately $2.1 billion in assets. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has repeatedly stated to parliament its preference for a restrictive policy towards private cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, urging banks to avoid related exposure to protect financial stability. The long-promised crypto bill has yet to be finalized. Meanwhile, Indian government agencies are utilizing permissioned blockchains in non-trading scenarios. AIIMS Delhi uses blockchain to manage teacher recruitment records, the Cotton Corporation of India tracks cotton bales via a blockchain-based identification system, and the aviation regulator DGCA is building a digital service platform linked to blockchain.
According to Bitcoin.com, Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis launched a nighttime special operation in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police Department, seizing multiple luxury vehicles using forged or unregistered license plates, with drivers all claiming to be cryptocurrency and forex "traders". Among them was a Mercedes-AMG GLE valued at over $153,000 (approximately 2.5 million South African rand), which was fraudulently registered as a white BMW. Authorities pointed out that such "financial influencers" are accustomed to flaunting wealth with luxury cars on social media platforms like TikTok, luring victims into investing in fraudulent platforms. A report released in March had previously identified Cape Town and Johannesburg as hubs for organized crypto fraud, where criminal groups employ technologies such as deepfakes and cloned apps to commit fraud, and illicit funds are laundered through crypto wallets and physical assets. To address increasingly complex financial crimes, the mayor has established an independent Metropolitan Police Detective Unit to enforce the law independently, bypassing the under-resourced national police system.