In a constant race towards technological advancement, China is expanding the reach of its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the digital yuan, or e-CNY. President Xi Jinping, in a recent speech at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit, emphasised the importance of sovereign digital currency cooperation. The circulation of the e-CNY is constantly growing and is being pushed as a means of payment in various sectors, despite claims it’s somewhat struggling to gain widespread acceptance. A report revealed plans for a SIM card linked to the e-CNY that will allow consumers to settle bills even if their phone is out of power, further indicating the determination to enhance the digital currency’s usability.
Meanwhile, there’s a palpable shift in the Asian crypto market environment, particularly in Hong Kong where crypto licensing costs have risen significantly. The total cost associated with obtaining a Hong Kong crypto exchange license has now spiked to 100 million Hong Kong dollars ($12.77 million). This uncaps a fascinating development where crypto teams that previously resided in Hong Kong are relocating to Malaysia, positioning the country as a new emerging Asian crypto hub.
In Singapore, crypto regulations are getting tighter. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will soon require Digital Payment Token (DPT) providers to place clients’ assets in a statutory trust. This measure aims to enhance investor protection and market integrity in DPT services. The MAS, however, added a pinch of salt, pointing out that consumers may still face potential delays in asset recovery in the event of service provider insolvency.
Thai cryptocurrency exchange Bitkub managed to sell 9.22% of its equity, netting 600 million Baht ($17.1 million). Despite a drop in total assets in 2022, Bitkub stands as Thailand’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
In a surprising move, a partnership was announced between South Korean nonfungible tokens firm Line Next and Japanese video game conglomerate Sega. The latter aims to remake one of its classic games on Line’s Web3 gaming platform, signifying the rise of blockchain gaming in Asia.
These series of events notably display the flux in the Asian crypto market with the ebb and flow of regulations, technological advancements, strategic partnerships and migration of crypto businesses from one nation to another. One can decipher the dynamic nature of the crypto market landscape and extrapolate that it is in essence, a reflection of the macro global crypto scenario.
Source: Cointelegraph
