Asia's weekly TOP10 crypto news (May 1 to May 7)

Author：Lily

Editor：Colin Wu

1. Russia’s weekly summary

1.1 TheBlock uncovers “airdrop hunters” from Russia link

A pseudonymous Russian crypto user called Auri says they’ve tried to farm between 10–20 projects with potential airdrops. They focus on the larger potential projects, reckoning that smaller ones are more likely to hunt out and remove airdrop farmers. They named Scroll, zkSync, Fuel and StarkNet as projects they’ve targeted. They said they do all of the transactions manually and use centralized exchanges to distribute the funds to wallets without connecting them. That and speaking with other farmers about the best strategies.

1.2 Bybit bans 29 accounts using Russian emails allegedly involved in SUI IEO link

On May 4, according to a blogger’s post, Bybit has banned 29 out of 30 accounts that participated in the SUI IEO using independent IP addresses and Russian emails. Due to the SUI IEO, a large number of “airdrop hunters” have also participated in OK and KuCoin. Earlier, a blogger revealed that he had purchased 300 sets of KYC-registered KuCoin accounts.

1.3 Binance faces US probe of possible russian sanctions violations link

The inquiry by the US Justice Department’s national security division is looking at whether Binance or company officials ran afoul of sanctions related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Justice Department is investigating whether Binance Holdings Ltd. was used illegally to let Russians skirt US sanctions and move money through the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange. Binance has been in discussions with the Justice Department to resolve previous complaints.

2. Bhutan’s weekly summary

2.1 The kingdom of Bhutan has been quietly mining bitcoin for years link

According to Forbes, the investment arm of the Bhutanese government started mining a few years ago as one of the early entrants, when bitcoin was priced around $5,000. BitDeer disclosed that it is negotiating to provide 100 megawatts of power for a bitcoin mining data center in Bhutan, which is scheduled to break ground this quarter.

2.2 Bhutan plans a $500 million fund for crypto mining in the Himalayas link

The investment department of Bhutan, a small South Asian country with population of 770,000, along with Bitdeer, plans to seek investors for a $500m fund, with the aim of utilizing Bhutan’s hydroelectric power to establish carbon-free bitcoin mining.

3. f2pool releases 100 Bitcoin NFTs to commemorate its 10th anniversary link

On May 5, f2pool, a Bitcoin mining pool headquartered in China, announced the release of 100 1⁰² Islands Bitcoin NFTs to commemorate the 10th anniversary and showed support for Ordinals. f2pool and bixin founder both said that it is now in the early stage of the bull market, which is somewhat similar to the early stage of DeFi summer.

4. Alibaba Cloud partners with Avalanche to launch the Cloudverse link

On May 4, Alibaba Cloud announced a partnership with Avalanche to establish the Cloudverse Metaverse Launchpad, which helps enterprise users to customize, launch and maintain their own exclusive metaverse space. Alibaba Cloud will provide infrastructure including cloud computing, storage, databases, networking, and intelligent operating platforms for Cloudverse, while Avalanche and MUA DAO will provide solutions to build metaverse spaces. In December 2022, Alibaba Cloud and Avalanche became strategic partners.

5. Former head of Tencent alliance chain starts crypto wallet business link

On May 7, the former head of the alliance chain of Tencent, China’s largest Internet company, left the company to start a cryptocurrency wallet business called Punk Code, hoping to use Tencent’s game experience to create an entertainment-oriented Web3 wallet.

6. CZ: If Sun uses TUSD to join Sui LaunchPool, action will be taken against it link

On May 1, Justin Sun transferred 59 million TUSD to Binance, saying that the move was only to provide liquidity. CZ responded that If Sun uses TUSD to join Sui LaunchPool, action will be taken against it. Later, Sun tweeted some colleagues did use part of the funds to participate and will refund.

7. Temasek denies Cointelegraph’s report of investing $10m in Array link

Cointelegraph’s report that “Singapore’s Temasek injects $10 million into algorithmic currency system Array” is fake news. People confirmed to Temasek that the news was fake news and told WuBlockchain. Array’s official website is extremely rough, and the team doesn’t even have detailed names. Also, since the founders and some of the victims were located in Singapore when Terra was crashed, it is hard to imagine a Singaporean state-owned foundation investing in algorithmic stablecoins.

8. Terraform Labs’ weekly summary

8.1 Terraform Labs seeks to dismiss class action arguing US laws don’t apply link

On May 3, Terraform Labs requested a California federal judge dismiss an investor suit brought by Nick Patterson that claimed the company sold unregistered securities and misled investors. The firm’s attorneys, Dentons, argued that federal securities laws do not apply since the protocols were developed and used outside of the United States.

8.2 South Korean prosecutor calls for Do Kwon to face charges in home country link

South Korea is vying with U.S. prosecutors to extradite Mr. Kwon from Montenegro. If convicted, Do Kwon would likely face the longest jail term for a financial crime in South Korean history, more than 40 years. South Korea may hold the upper hand in securing the extradition. WSJ reported.

9. OPNX’s weekly summary

9.1 OPNX discloses bond trading process on May 2 link

In collaboration with Heimdall, after verification, all claims will be transferred and held in dedicated trusts (SPVs) for each platform. From a user perspective, this works as follows: — Provide claim details to verify eligibility — Sign an agreement to transfer your claim to the trust — Claims tokens are issued to your OPNX account 1:1 for the value of the claim — Trade/hodl your claim tokens. FLEX will be the fee paying token for bankruptcy claims and all other tokenized real world assets.

9.2 Dubai reprimands Three Arrows founders over OPNX link

According to Bloomberg, Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) issued a written reprimand on April 18 to Su Zhu, Kyle Davies and two other co-founders of OPNX for their work without a local license to operate and promote their new exchange OPNX. VARA said it will continue to investigate OPNX’s activities to assess further corrective actions that may be required.

10. Dubai crypto manager kidnapped in Spain for 1 million euros ransom link

According to Spanish media, a cryptocurrency portfolio manager of a Dubai company was kidnapped this week while on vacation in Malaga, Spain. The kidnappers demanded 1 million euros and log into his crypto program. The kidnappers did not notice that the victim had taken a photo that could reveal the location to a colleague, which led to a quick police dispatch and the arrest of three kidnappers. The victim was not injured.