Author：Lily

Editor：Colin Wu

1. Hong Kong’s weekly summary

1.1 Chinese banks court crypto firms in Hong Kong after mainland ban link

The Hong Kong arms of Bank of Communications Co., Bank of China Ltd. and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank have either started offering banking services to local crypto firms or have made inquiries to the field. Sales representatives from one Chinese bank even visited the office of a crypto company to pitch its services.

1.2 HK regulators to host meeting to help crypto firms with banking link

Hong Kong regulators are convening a meeting between crypto firms and bankers in a bid to ease financing for the sector as the city seeks to establish itself as a hub for virtual assets. The round-table will take place on April 28 at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority “to facilitate direct dialog” and “share practical experiences and perspectives in opening and maintaining bank accounts”.

1.3 CEO of HK SFC: Cryptocurrency platforms are part of the Web 3.0 ecosystem link

At the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023, the Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission, Ashley Alder, said, “Cryptocurrency platforms are part of the entire Web 3.0 ecosystem, and we strongly support the development of the entire Internet ecosystem. These virtual currency platforms must ensure the safety of all investors from the perspective of investor protection.”

2. Mainland China’s weekly summary

2.1 XCMG Group partners with Conflux and Zen Spark Technology link

On March 27, Chinese listed engineering machinery company XCMG Group announced a partnership with Conflux and Zen Spark Technology. Earlier, XCMG Group announced that its holding of BAYC 3489 is an ambassador for the Metaverse and launched the For Real NFT series on Ethereum.

2.2 China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology releases guidelines for blockchain standards link

On March 28, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the “Guidelines for the Construction of Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology Standards System (2023 version)” (draft for comments), stating that blockchain technology is used to establish a distributed trust mechanism to ensure the public transparency, traceability, and tamper-resistance of data within the system.

2.3 Mirror Lake Capital founder exposed for fabricating resume and investments link

On March 30, according to an investigation by Southern Weekend, Wu You, the founder of Mirror Lake Capital, who was previously rejected after claiming to donate to his alma mater with Bitcoin and then sued for being a debtor, has a history of fabricating his resume, external investments, and fund promotions. His fund is not registered or licensed, and almost none of the investment or cooperative projects mentioned in its publicized propaganda are true.

2.4 Deputy governor of PBC warns of lack of regulation in crypto link

On March 31, Xuan Changneng, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, stated at the Boao Forum that the cryptocurrency field lacks effective regulation and is prone to market manipulation, abusive trading, misappropriation of customer assets, and other illegal activities. Xuan emphasized that the digital finance sector needs more regulatory attention and resources, and that regulators should maintain a cautious approach while grasping the scale of innovation.

2.5 Former governor of PBC warns against monopolizing definition of cryptocurrency link

Zhou Xiaochuan, former governor of the People’s Bank of China, stated at the Boao Forum that there was a period when there was a prominent view that only decentralized digital currencies based on blockchain technology that the central bank could not control and did not require traditional financial infrastructure services were true digital currencies. However, such digital currencies and views “have their own flaws and are no longer fashionable”. He also cautioned against monopolizing the definition of digital currencies or rushing to claim victory, noting that changes in technology and various applications can cause the situation to change every three to five years.

3. Taiwan’s financial regulator outlines plans for managing VASPs link

On March 30, the website of Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission detailed the promotion plan for regulating virtual asset platforms, which includes developing guidance principles for managing virtual asset platform and transaction businesses (VASPs). The supervisory focus includes safeguarding customer assets, ensuring fair and transparent transactions, maintaining market integrity, managing conflicts of interest, and disclosing information.

4. Alibaba Cloud to launch a blockchain laboratory in Shibuya, Japan link

Alibaba Cloud will launch a blockchain laboratory in Shibuya, Japan in April this year to help Japanese game developers explore more business opportunities in the Web 3.0 era. In addition, Alibaba Cloud announced later this year that it will launch blockchain node services in Japan. Previously, Alibaba Cloud experienced a serious downtime of more than 24 hours, which led to a temporary shutdown of a large number of exchanges such as OKX GATE.

5. A&T Capital’s weekly summary

5.1 A&T Capital to investigate sexual misconduct accusations against founding partner link

Background: On March 25, it was reported that Jun YU, founding partner of Ant Group’s cryptocurrency investment fund A&T Capital and former head of investments at OKX, was accused of “rape” and sexual harassment by multiple women, including one of his former subordinates at A&T Capital.

News: On March 26, A&T Capital, a cryptocurrency investment fund invested by Alipay, said it would set up an independent investigation team to investigate the case of its founding partner being accused of rape and sexual harassment by two women, one of them was a former intern at the company.

5.2 Ant Group: Yu resigned on March 6 for personal reasons link

On March 28, Ant Group responded to allegations that its former executive of A&T Capital, Yu, was accused of rape and sexual harassment. The company stated that Yu resigned on March 6 for personal reasons and completed the formalities on March 21. During the handover period, the family of a female complainant approached the company with their demands on March 17. The company has asked Yu to fully cooperate with the police investigation, and the police are now handling the matter.

6. Do Kwon’s weekly summary

6.1 Do Kwon and Han will be detained for 30 days while being investigated link

A Montenegrin judge ruled on Friday that Do Kwon and Han will be detained for 30 days while they are investigated for attempting to leave the country with allegedly forged passports. dlnews reported. Han Chang-joon requested to give his statement in his native Korean, delaying the proceedings until a translator could be found.

6.2 Crypto fugitive Do Kwon held in Montenegro quarantine link

Do Kwon will remain there to rule out coronavirus infection through April 3, and can be visited only by his lawyer or doctor. US federal prosecutors and South Korea have both said the intend to seek Kwon’s extradition to face criminal charges. Authorities in Montenegro said that have not yet received any extradition request yet.

6.3 The US and South Korea are seeking the extradition of Do Kwon link

Montenegro’s justice minister said a judge would decide how to proceed. “Consideration will be given to the gravity of crimes, location of committed offenses, sequence of requests, as well as citizenship”, he said that if the suspects are convicted in Montenegro, they’ll first have to serve time there. A criminal defense lawyer in Montenegro told Protos that Do Kwon will soon be transferred to a detention area with only 8 square meters, about 10 people and no beds; and it will take at least a year to reach an extradition agreement, and the probability of extradition to South Korea is higher.

7. Binance responds to accusations of NFT tool Bicasso plagiarism link

On March 30, Binance responded to accusations by Korean developers that its AI-generated NFT tool, Bicasso, was copied from Chatcasso. Binance stated that after conducting an internal review, it believes that Bicasso was independently designed and developed two weeks prior to the BNB Hackathon as an experimental project by a small Binance team for testing. Chatcasso, developed by the Korean team, won first prize at the Seoul BNBChain Hackathon and two months later, Binance released Bicasso with a highly similar name and product.

8. Upbit’s weekly summary

8.1 Upbit to add ARB to the KRW and BTC markets link

On March 30, South Korea’s largest exchange, Upbit, announced that it will add ARB to the KRW and BTC markets, only supporting deposits from the Arbitrum network, and trading is expected to open at 16:00 on March 30.

8.2 Upbit to delist Paycoin (PCI) on April 14 link

On March 31, Upbit informed users of the termination of market support for PCI(Paycoin) by Digital Asset eXchange Association(DAXA). Upbit will delist Paycoin (PCI) on April 14th. PayProtocol’s payment service was first launched in South Korea in 2019 and has attracted many chain brands such as 7–11, Domino’s Pizza, and KFC. Users can use PCI to purchase goods and services from PayProtocol’s merchant network.

8.3 XRP trading volume soars on three major South Korean exchanges link

On March 31, the trading volume of XRP on three major South Korean exchanges, Upbit, Bithumb, and Korbit, surged to billions of US dollars. XRP accounted for 37% and 18% of the total trading volume on Bithumb and Upbit, respectively, and 50% of the total trading volume on Korbit. CoinDesk stated that some of the trading volume may be related to wash trading.

9. North Korea hackers likely exploit cloud mining to launder stolen crypto link

North Korean hacker group APT43 probably uses cloud mining services to launder stolen crypto, according to research by Google-owned cybersecurity firm Mandiant. APT43 uses stolen cryptocurrency to pay for these services and receives crypto not associated with the crime to wallets of its choice, according to the report released on Tuesday.

10. Singapore court delays decision on Babel Finance’s creditor protection extension request link

A Singapore court has withheld a decision on embattled crypto lender Babel Finance’s request for an extension of creditor protection, as it seeks more clarity on a proposed restructuring following objections raised by creditor Deribit, Babel’s co-founder and sole director Flex Yang said. Babel owes about $750 million to $800 million to creditors and its ongoing moratorium of protection against creditor action ends on April 5.

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