Bybit Overhauls Institutional Trading Platform Bybit Institutional

Standard Chartered Bank Hong Kong, a licensed bank and subsidiary of British multinational banking group Standard Chartered, has partnered with local companies to launch a Hong Kong dollar-based stablecoin in the Chinese autonomous territory.Photo by Chapman Chow on UnsplashJoint venture formed In a press release published by Animoca Brands, a blockchain-based gaming and Web3 venture capital firm based in Hong Kong, the company outlined details of the partnership between it and Standard Chartered, alongside Hong Kong Telecom (HKT), Hong Kong’s dominant fixed-line, mobile and broadband telecommunications firm. The partnership has been structured as a joint venture between the three companies, with the objective of launching the Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin. Local regulator and central bank, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has been working towards implementing a regulatory framework specifically dedicated to stablecoins.  Legislative framework incoming As of the end of 2024, proposed legislation that would enable such a framework had advanced to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council. Before the bill can be enacted into law, the legislative process requires three readings of the bill accompanied by a series of debates and the scrutiny of lawmakers.  Once the legislation has been signed into law, it will require stablecoin issuers to obtain a license from the HKMA. In the case of this particular joint venture, the promoters plan to apply for a license in due course. Standard Chartered is already deeply embedded in Hong Kong’s financial system, making this latest development all the more significant. Alongside HSBC and Bank of China (Hong Kong), Standard Chartered issues the local currency, the Hong Kong dollar. That activity is carried out under the oversight of the HKMA.  The HKMA launched a sandbox environment relative to stablecoins in order to provoke an exchange of views between the regulator and market participants. The three parties to this latest joint venture have been sandbox participants since July of last year, alongside JINGDONG Coinlink Technology and RD InnoTech. JINGDONG declared its intention to launch a Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin last year. RD InnoTech plans to launch the HKDR stablecoin in conjunction with HashKey Exchange. Stablecoins ‘starting to eat the world’Earlier this month, Rene Michau, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets, set out the bank’s thoughts on stablecoins in an article published on the company’s website and co-authored by Circle Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jeremy Fox-Green. Within it, Standard Chartered recognized the potential of stablecoins, suggesting that they are key to unlocking a future where blockchain acts as a new “internet of money.” The article went on to state that it is critical for stablecoin issuers “to maintain deep connections with strong banks and for those banks to be building digital asset capability.” The company recognizes that stablecoins are “starting to eat the world,” referring to a global stablecoin circulation that has already surpassed $100 billion.  Evan Auyang, President of Animoca Brands, pointed out that “we are still in the early stages for mass adoption of stablecoins across retail, enterprises and institutions.” He added that Hong Kong has a bright future as a global Web3 hub. Susanna Hui, Managing Director at HKT, believes that “issuing an HKD-linked stablecoin will enhance payment efficiency, streamline transactions, and provide greater security and transparency through advanced Web3 innovations.”

Japan Tops Crypto Losses to North Korean HackersHackers affiliated with the North Korean regime have been responsible for the theft of $721 million in digital assets from Japan.That’s the finding of a recent report by UK-based crypto compliance analysis firm Elliptic. Elliptic had produced the report on behalf of Japanese news media group, Nikkei. It leaves Japan at the top of the table when considering the distribution of digital asset losses suffered due to North Korean hackers on a country by country basis.Photo by FLY:D on UnsplashIncreasing lossesElliptic has the wherewithal to track and identify blockchain-based transfers. As part of its analysis, it grouped by region and by country those businesses that it identified as having cryptocurrency holdings that later were transferred to digital wallets held by the Lazarus Group, the most notorious hacker group connected with the North Korean government. It’s the first such analysis to break down crypto-related hacking losses on a country by country basis.The study included a consideration of both hacking and ransomware attacks. The loss associated with Japanese-based entities represents in excess of 30% of the global recorded loss. This latest analysis follows a recent report submitted to the United Nations which found that North Korea stole more digital assets in 2022 than any other year. That report had been submitted to the 15 members of a North Korea sanctions committee, finding that between $630 million and $1 billion worth of digital assets had been stolen.Lax securityElliptic’s analysis and subsequent report point to lax security being employed within Vietnamese and Japanese cryptocurrency marketplaces. Nikkei referred to an unnamed source who asserts that at least three Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges had been compromised by hackers between 2018 and 2021.One of those instances involved Zaif, a company that lost $51.4 million in 2018 and subsequently shut down operations. Overall, Elliptic estimates a global loss of $2.3 billion to hackers between 2017 and 2022 in digital assets, as suffered by crypto firms. It also estimates such losses suffered in the United States at $497 million, while Hong Kong-based losses have been calculated at $281 million.International responseIn April, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) within the Department of the Treasury in the United States stated that it had sanctioned two Chinese nationals and a Hong Kong British national for allegedly having aided the North Korean government in crypto money laundering activities.On Saturday, a joint statement was issued by the Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors, following a meeting in Japan, outlining the “growing threat from illicit activities by state actors.” It’s widely believed that the proceeds of these hacks are contributing towards the funding of North Korea’s missile program and other such activities that threaten stability within the region.The Japan External Trade Organization (JETO) has estimated that the estimated $721 million stolen from Japan amounts to 8.8 times the value of North Korea’s exports in 2021.

Linear Finance Dealing With LUSD ExploitLinear Finance, the Hong Kong-based DeFi protocol, made an announcement by way of a blog post published to the project’s website on Thursday, suggesting that the project’s native stablecoin, LUSD, has come under attack.Photo by Markus Spiske on UnsplashTaking precautionary actionThis security breach has prompted the team to take immediate action to safeguard user accounts and the project’s integrity. The project team is actively investigating the exploit attack on LUSD. It has issued a stern warning to its users, advising them against buying or trading LUSD until the team can confirm the situation’s status.This measure is aimed at preventing further complications and ensuring the community’s interests remain protected. Furthermore, the project has temporarily suspended liquidations to secure users’ accounts. This step has been taken to mitigate immediate concerns and ensure that no user faces undue losses as a result of the exploit.Assets disposed on PancakeSwap & AscendexAmid the ongoing investigation, Linear Finance’s team has pledged to provide timely updates as soon as more information becomes available. In explaining away the nature of the attack, the project team clarified:”The attacker was able to mint an unlimited supply of LAAVE and subsequently traded the liquid asset to LUSD on the Linear Exchange, prior to selling it on PancakeSwap and Ascendex.”Project responseIn its efforts to deal with the issue, the Linear Finance project team has engaged an on-chain data specialist to track down the attackers. The Linear bridge contract has been disabled relative to LUSD. All protocol contracts that allow tokens to be minted, exchanged, or burnt have been paused. Meanwhile, wallets identified as having been involved in the protocol exploit have been shared with the authorities and major cryptocurrency exchanges.Synthetic asset protocolLinear Finance creates synthetic assets with the protocol design enabling unlimited liquidity. The network has been built on top of the Ethereum blockchain. As a consequence of activity surrounding the exploit, trading of LUSD over the course of the past 24 hours has proven to be out of the ordinary. At the time of writing volume over the past 24-hour period had increased by 8412%. The current market price of the stablecoin stands at $0.9874.Protocol and network hacks and exploits have been coming in thick and fast in recent days. Hong Kong crypto exchange CoinEx has been trying to recover from a $70 million hack on the platform over recent days. Meanwhile, Seychelles-headquartered peer-to-peer crypto platform Remitano suffered a $2.7 million hack late last week.On Wednesday, the project team behind DeFi protocol Balancer warned network users that the Balancer front-end user interface was under attack. The Ethereum-based DeFi network fell victim to another exploit last month, resulting in losses in the region of $900,000.In the dynamic crypto sector, unforeseen events like potential exploits can disrupt the market and sow uncertainty. The issue remains a major challenge both for centralized exchange platforms and DeFi protocols.