1. Russia to Launch Cryptocurrency Payment and Trading Pilot on September 1 link

Russia is set to begin a pilot program for cryptocurrency payments and trading, scheduled to start on September 1. During the testing phase, the country will utilize the National Payment Card System to facilitate exchanges between the ruble and cryptocurrencies. If the trial proves successful, it may pave the way for the Moscow Exchange and the Saint Petersburg Currency Exchange to establish cryptocurrency platforms, allowing the use of any existing cryptocurrencies in the trial.

2. South Korea’s Bitcoin Premium Persists, Exceeding Global Average by 1.52% link

According to Bitcoin.com, despite the volatility in the cryptocurrency market, the price of Bitcoin in South Korea continues to maintain a premium. Data shows that while the global Bitcoin price is $59,002, it is quoted at $59,900 on the South Korean exchange Upbit, reflecting a premium rate of 1.52%. Since October 30, 2023, Bitcoin prices in South Korea have consistently held a premium for 297 consecutive days, with only a brief dip into negative territory at a 0.36% discount on August 22, 2024. In mid-March of this year, the premium in South Korea for Bitcoin even exceeded 10%.

3. HongKong’s Crypto News This Week

3.1 Hong Kong Police Bust Three Cryptocurrency Money Laundering Syndicates Involving Over HKD 300 Million link

Investigating officers revealed that in March of this year, Hong Kong law enforcement received a request from Singaporean authorities to assist in investigating over 30 fraud cases in Singapore, involving approximately 30 million HKD in fraudulent funds. These funds were funneled into puppet accounts in Hong Kong after multiple transfers. The officers noted that a certain group employed a large number of account transfers and frequent cash withdrawals to evade detection, eventually using the funds to purchase cryptocurrency through local virtual asset trading platforms. Hong Kong police also disclosed that in the first half of this year, law enforcement arrested 5,693 people for crimes related to money laundering, a 40% increase compared to the same period last year. Among those arrested, 4,465 were holders of puppet accounts, accounting for 78% of the total arrests.

3.2 Hong Kong Monetary Authority Officially Launches Project Ensemble Sandbox link

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has officially launched the Ensemble Project sandbox, aimed at promoting the application of tokenization technology in the financial sector. The initial phase of the project will focus on four key areas: fixed income, investment funds, liquidity management, and green finance, as well as supply chain financing. Through the sandbox, participating banks will be able to conduct end-to-end testing of tokenized asset transactions in real-world business scenarios and explore the interoperability between tokenized deposits and central bank digital currencies (wCBDC).

4. Taichung Couple Launders Over TWD 1.6 Billion Using Cryptocurrency link

According to the United Daily News, a couple in Taichung surnamed Li has been accused of laundering over 1.6 billion New Taiwan dollars for multiple gambling syndicates. The couple has recently been indicted on charges of money laundering and other related offenses. Their operation, disguised under the lure of “high pay, easy work, no experience required,” recruited members around the age of 20. These recruits were scattered to various locations and communicated via messaging apps to launder money, aiming to create investigative dead ends. The illicit profits were swiftly transferred using cryptocurrency. The police revealed that the couple, along with their accomplices, have been handed over to the Taichung District Prosecutor’s Office under charges including violations of the Organized Crime Prevention Act and gambling. Authorities have also seized assets, including real estate under the couple’s name, totaling over 73.2 million New Taiwan dollars in illicit gains.

5. Indonesia Considers Banning Bigo Live and Telegram Over Allegations of Pornography and Gambling link

According to the Jakarta Globe, the Indonesian government is considering banning the live-streaming app Bigo Live and the messaging platform Telegram due to accusations of spreading pornographic content and promoting online gambling. Indonesia’s Minister of Communication and Information, Budi Arie Setiadi, stated that although warnings have been issued to both companies, their responses have been insufficient in addressing content management concerns. If these platforms continue to violate regulations, the government may proceed with a ban.

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6. Indian Court Orders Shutdown of 38 Fraudulent Websites Operating Under Mudrex’s Name link

An Indian court has ordered the shutdown of 38 websites that were fraudulently operating under the name of the cryptocurrency exchange Mudrex. The Delhi High Court issued the ruling on August 23, instructing the Ministry of Communications to enforce the order within a week. Edul Patel, the CEO and co-founder of Mudrex, stated that the company took legal action after receiving reports from around 15 customers who had been scammed and contacted their support team. The number of victims is estimated to be as high as 1,000, with losses exceeding $50,000. The scammers impersonated Mudrex employees on Telegram to promote these fraudulent websites.

7. Shanghai Prosecutors Reveal Details of Former Huobi Employee’s Trojan Horse Incident link

According to a report by The Paper, on August 29, the Xuhui District People’s Procuratorate in Shanghai released a briefing on crimes related to virtual currencies, detailing a case involving former Huobi employees who planted malware to steal users’ private keys.

In March 2023, Liu, Zhang, and Dong conspired to illegally obtain others’ digital wallet private keys and seed phrases by embedding a “backdoor” into an app package. This backdoor collected users’ private keys, seed phrases, and IP addresses, which were then uploaded to a pre-established VPS backend server’s database and later downloaded to a local server.

Liu was responsible for writing the code that requested the upload of users’ private keys, seed phrases, IP addresses, and connecting to the VPS server. Zhang was tasked with setting up the VPS server and database to manage and store the uploaded data, linking the domain name to the VPS server’s IP, and downloading the stolen data. Dong handled the purchase of the domain name from the service provider and implemented the RSA encryption logic.

An investigation revealed that the trio illegally obtained 27,622 seed phrases and 10,203 private keys (after deduplication). These seed phrases and private keys were successfully parsed into 19,487 unique digital wallet addresses.

8. Haru Invest CEO Stabbed in Courtroom link

Digital Asset reports that the CEO of the South Korean virtual asset custodian Haru Invest was attacked with a weapon in court. The incident occurred around 2:20 PM local time on August 28 at the 15th Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Court, presided over by Judge Yang Hwan-sung. A man in his forties suddenly stood up from the courtroom spectator seats and repeatedly stabbed Haru Invest’s CEO in the neck with a 5 cm long knife concealed in his clothing. In February this year, South Korean prosecutors arrested and charged three executives of Haru Invest for stealing approximately 1.1 trillion Korean won (about $826 million) in cryptocurrency from around 16,000 users.

According to recent updates, Hugo Lee sustained injuries but is in stable condition and has been taken to the hospital. The police have swiftly apprehended the attacker.

9. Telegram Holds $400 Million in Cryptocurrency on Its 2023 Balance Sheet link

Telegram’s 2023 balance sheet reveals it holds $400 million worth of cryptocurrency. Telegram Group, registered in the British Virgin Islands, operates a key subsidiary in the United Arab Emirates. Last year, the company reported revenues of $342.5 million but incurred an operational loss of $108 million. Digital assets constitute a significant portion of Telegram’s assets, with the value of its tokens nearing $400 million, far surpassing its cash and cash equivalents.

10. Report: Singapore Leads in Global Cryptocurrency Adoption link

According to Cryptoslate, a report released by investment immigration consultancy Henley & Partners indicates that Asia leads the world in cryptocurrency adoption. Singapore stands out as the global leader due to its robust regulatory environment, fintech innovation, and widespread public adoption. Hong Kong ranks second, while the UAE holds the third position, surpassing both Singapore and Hong Kong in terms of tax friendliness. Malaysia and Thailand also make the top ten, ranking eighth and tenth respectively.

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