Editor：Colin Wu
1. Hong Kong’s weekly summary
1.1 Hong Kong Legislator: Welcomes Coinbase and Other Exchanges to Apply for Licenses link
On June 10th, member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, Wu Zhuangjie, expressed his welcome to global cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase, to apply for compliant exchanges and discuss listing plans in Hong Kong. He stated that he is willing to provide assistance in this regard. Previously, both OKX and Huobi were listed entities on the Hong Kong exchange.
1.2 Hong Kong Regulatory Authority Actively Studying Benefits of Tokenization link
On June 7th, according to the South China Morning Post, Elizabeth Wong, Head of the Financial Technology Division at the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), stated that the SFC will continuously revise and develop its policies to enable retail investors to better participate in cryptocurrency investments. The regulatory authority is actively studying the benefits of tokenization while ensuring that investors’ interests are not compromised in cases of tokenization, such as tokenization of public funds. Network security is of utmost concern to the SFC, along with ensuring that tokens themselves are not susceptible to hacking attacks.
1.3 Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan: Blockchain Will Continue to Thrive link
On June 9th, Paul Chan, the Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, stated during the Caixin Summit that indeed, there are some virtual asset service providers operating in an improper manner. For example, they commingle their own funds with customer funds and act as both operators of the platform and market makers. “But the fundamental technology of Internet 3.0 is blockchain, whether you like it or not. Blockchain will definitely continue to develop in the future,” said Paul Chan. He mentioned that blockchain can establish open, secure, and cost-effective platforms. Hong Kong plans to introduce a suitable regulatory framework to facilitate the responsible development of Internet 3.0 and virtual assets in Hong Kong.
2. Uniswap Founder Exposes Scam in ‘UNISWAP First Asia Regional Summit’ link
On June 3rd, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams exposed a scam related to the “UNISWAP First Asia-Pacific Regional Summit” held in Shenzhen, China. The project claimed to be the Uniswap Asia-Pacific community and had utilized various social media accounts to publish content on different platforms. However, their Twitter account has been blocked, and readers are advised to be cautious and avoid falling victim to this scam.
3. Russia’s Weekly Summary
3.1 Russian Investigator Charged with Accepting $28 Million Bitcoin Bribe from Hackers link
On June 4th, according to the Russian newspaper “Businessman”, Marat Tambiev, a Moscow investigator, has been accused of accepting Bitcoin bribes in exchange for not seizing the assets of a hacker organization under investigation. The police discovered that Tambiev possessed a total of 1032.1 bitcoins (approximately $28 million) and have frozen a portion of them. Currently, the implicated hacker has been sentenced to a suspended sentence of 2.5 to 3.5 years for bribery, while Tambiev denies the corruption charges and is seeking to resume his position. The investigation is still ongoing.
3.2 US Department of Justice: Russian Nationals Charged with Hacking Mt. Gox and Operating BTC-e Illegally link
On June 9th, according to an announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice, Russian citizens Alexey Bilyuchenko and Aleksandr Verner have been charged with conspiring to launder approximately 647,000 bitcoins from their hacking of Mt. Gox. Bilyuchenko is also charged with conspiring with Alexander Vinnik to operate the notorious virtual currency exchange BTC-e from 2011 to 2017, laundering billions of dollars for global cybercriminals. Mt. Gox, once the world’s largest bitcoin exchange, went bankrupt and ceased operations in 2014 as a result of this hacking incident.
4. South Korean Financial Regulatory Authority Suspends Review of Gopax’s Submitted Executive Change Report link
On June 7th, the South Korean financial regulatory agency suspended the review of the executive change report submitted by Gopax, which included information about appointing three Binance members as internal directors. The financial regulatory agency stated that the acceptance of the report is under internal review and will depend on the SEC’s actions. This further delays the repayment of funds to users who have funds tied up in GoFi (Gopax’s cryptocurrency deposit service). Only after the completion of the change, Binance will fully pay the acquisition cost of Gopax and return approximately $42.39 million of customer funds tied to GoFi.
5. JPMorgan Chase Partners with Six Indian Banks to Pilot USD Settlement on Blockchain link
JPMorgan (JPM) has partnered with six Indian banks to pilot the settlement of interbank US dollar transactions on its blockchain-based trading platform, Onyx. Starting from June 5th, the platform will support round-the-clock real-time settlement of US dollar transactions. The six participating banks are HDFC, ICICI, Axis, Yes, IndusInd, and JPMorgan’s banking division in GIFT City. GIFT City is an initiative by India to establish an international financial center to compete with locations such as Singapore and Dubai.
6. Binance Collaborates with Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) for One-Day Training Program link
According to a Binance blog post, on June 8th, Binance collaborated with the Taiwan Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) in Taipei to conduct a one-day training program, sharing their expertise in combating crimes related to digital assets with over 200 law enforcement officers in Taiwan. The program is part of Binance’s Global Law Enforcement Training Program, which was officially launched in September 2022. It is the first global coordinated effort of its kind in the industry. To date, Binance has organized more than 50 in-person and online training courses as part of this program.
7. All Nippon Airways (ANA) Announces Launch of NFT Business link
On June 3rd, All Nippon Airways (ANA), a Japanese airline company, announced the launch of its NFT business and introduced the ANA GranWhale NFT marketplace, operated through the virtual platform ANA NEO. The marketplace supports payments via Metamask and credit cards. ANA’s initial collection of NFTs features the photography works of aviation photographer Luke Ozawa. Previously, Argentine low-cost airline Flybondi partnered with TravelX to offer airline tickets as NFTs on the Algorand blockchain.
8. Discord for Gentle Panther NFT Project, Created by Chiang Kai-shek’s Great-Grandson, Jiang Youbo’s Studio, Officially Shut Down and Physical Items Canceled link
On June 9th, according to abmedia, the discord channel for the Gentle Panther NFT project, released by the studio of Jiang Yu Bai, the great-grandson of Chiang Kai-shek, was officially shut down, and the physical exhibition was canceled. Following the closure of the group, holders of the Panther NFT expressed their dissatisfaction and believed that the initial promises were not fulfilled.
9. Circle Singapore Obtains Major Payment Institution (MPI) License from Monetary Authority of Singapore link
Circle Internet Singapore has been granted a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This license allows Circle Singapore to provide digital payment token services, cross-border remittance services, and domestic remittance services through its various products and services, including granting institutional customers access to USDC through Circle accounts.
10. Sequoia Capital is Rebranding its International Investment Division link
On June 6th, according to TechCrunch, Sequoia Capital announced its plans to rebrand its international investment divisions. Sequoia China will be renamed HongShan, while its divisions in India and Southeast Asia will be known as Peak XV Partners. Sequoia’s U.S. and European entities will maintain their affiliation with the original Sequoia Capital brand. This rebranding effort comes in response to the geopolitical tensions between the United States and China. Sequoia China has previously invested in companies such as Bitmain, Huobi, and PayPal Financial.
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