Upbit Launches Campaign for Recovery of Mistakenly Transferred Assets

Thaksin Shinawatra, who served as Thailand's 23rd prime minister from 2001 to 2006 and whose daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra currently serves as the Southeast Asian nation’s prime minister, expressed positive views on crypto while speaking at an event in Bangkok on Monday.Photo by Evan Krause on UnsplashIssuing stablecoins According to a report by Reuters, in his speech, Shinawatra called on Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to enable the trading of stablecoins and cryptocurrencies that are otherwise backed by real-world assets (RWAs). Addressing the consideration of systemic risk posed by cryptocurrencies, Shinawatra stated:"There will be no risk, it is just another currency in the world."  Shinawatra also commented on a government plan to make the Thai tourist resort city of Phuket a potential location for a pilot program which would trial crypto payments. Bullish on crypto This is not the first occasion in which the former Thai prime minister expressed a bullish view on crypto. He has been a long-standing advocate for cryptocurrencies. His comments earlier this week mirror similar views he expressed while speaking at an event at the Intercontinental Hotel in Hua Hin in December. On that occasion, he stated: “There are already many cryptocurrencies. Some people say that in the future, we will have more currencies than countries.”  In Hua Hin, he also suggested that his friends believe that Bitcoin could reach a unit price of $850,000. With that potential rise in value, Shinawatra wants Thai citizens to be well-positioned for the crypto wave. He encouraged the Thai government to engage positively with digital assets and to take the time to study the emerging asset class. Back in August, Thailand’s SEC launched the Digital Asset Regulatory Sandbox as part of an initiative to permit interested service providers to trial crypto-related services within a controlled sandbox environment.  Building on that sentiment expressed by Shinawatra in December, in his latest speech, he called on the country’s financial institutions to be more open to cryptocurrency.  Paying attention to U.S. policy on crypto In making that call, he cited developments in the United States. Particularly, he focused on the incoming U.S. administration’s positive embrace of digital assets. This includes positive commentary made by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and the appointment of Paul Atkins by Trump as the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the U.S. Atkins has already outlined plans to collaborate with crypto-friendly SEC Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, with a view towards shaping the agency’s crypto policies.  Beyond crypto, the former prime minister had a number of other suggestions that he feels would be good for Thailand. With regard to the country’s stock market, he called for tighter regulatory oversight, tax incentives for long-term investors and improved corporate governance. He encouraged the opening of a carbon credit trading venue in order to ensure better pricing. Shinawatra believes that Thailand should legalize online gambling on the basis that it is currently losing 100 billion Thai baht ($4 billion) in annual tax revenue from the activity. The Thai government has moved to approve a draft law that would legalize casinos and gambling.

South Korea’s cryptocurrency market experienced notable growth in the second half of 2024, as total trading volume climbed to 1.35 quadrillion won ($968.5 billion). This marks a 24% increase compared to the 1.09 quadrillion won ($782.7 billion) recorded in the first half of the year. The data was released on May 20 by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), which operates under the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).Photo by Daniel Bernard on UnsplashTrading volume and market cap surgeThe average daily trading volume rose by 22%, reaching 7.3 trillion won ($5.26 billion), with a significant surge observed after October. According to the financial authority’s report, this sustained momentum was driven by a broader bullish trend in the global crypto market, led by Bitcoin hitting all-time highs. Growing institutional interest following the launch of multiple spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. and increasingly favorable crypto-related policies have further fueled the rise in asset prices. To evaluate the state of the domestic crypto market, the FIU conducted a survey of 25 virtual asset service providers (VASPs) during the second half of 2024. The survey covered 17 exchanges as well as eight entities providing either custodial or wallet services. By the end of 2024, South Korea’s total crypto market cap had surged to 107.7 trillion won ($77.55 billion), representing a 91% increase from 56.5 trillion won ($40.68 billion) in June. In contrast, the global crypto market grew by 60% over the same period, reaching a total of $3.59 trillion. However, the Korean market experienced a sharp decline in assets held by custodial and wallet service providers, which fell by 89% to 1.5 trillion won ($1.08 billion). This drop was largely attributed to a rise in business closures. Additionally, the number of users on these platforms plummeted by 99%, falling to just 1,300 customers who had completed Know Your Customer (KYC) verification. Performance and token preferencesDespite these setbacks, the 25 VASPs reported combined revenues of 1.22 trillion won ($878.5 million), marking a 15% increase. Operating profit also rose by 27% to 744.6 billion won ($536.2 million). However, capital adequacy weakened, with the capital-to-asset ratio falling by 12 percentage points to 36.5%. Meanwhile, Korean won deposits—cash held on platforms for trading—more than doubled, surging 114% to 10.7 trillion won ($7.7 billion). The number of employees at crypto exchanges increased by 18%, reaching 1,862, while staff dedicated to anti-money laundering (AML) efforts rose by 46% to 207 individuals. On average, fiat-to-crypto exchanges offered trading in 224 different tokens, an increase of 28 compared to the previous half-year. Among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap in Korea, six—Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE) and Cardano (ADA)—also appeared in the global top 10. Collectively, these accounted for 71% of Korea’s total crypto market cap. However, the remaining four differed: Korean investors favored Ethereum Classic (ETC), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Stellar (XLM) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), whereas global investors leaned toward Tether (USDT), Binance Coin (BNB), USD Coin (USDC) and TRON (TRX). User base growth and demographic trendsThe number of KYC-verified users eligible to trade reached 9.7 million in the second half of 2024, representing a 25% increase from the previous period. Individual users accounted for the vast majority, while corporate users made up less than 0.01% of the total. By age group, users in their 30s accounted for the largest share at 29%, followed by those in their 40s (27%), 20s and younger (19%), 50s (18%) and 60s and older (7%). The majority of users—66%, or roughly 6.37 million people—held less than 500,000 won ($360) in digital assets. In contrast, 12% of users held over 10 million won ($7,180), while 2.3% had portfolios exceeding 100 million won ($71,820). 

Crypto Titans Clash on Elon Musk’s XA subtle panel discussion photo posted by Andrei Grachev of Singapore’s DWF Labs turned into a war of words among crypto trading titans on Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter).Photo by Marek Piwnicki on UnsplashDWF vs GSRGrachev, who is a Managing Partner at the market maker and Web3 investment firm, thanked his fellow panelists in the post. However, the tone quickly soured as Cristian Gil, Co-Founder of rival market-making giant GSR, took offense to Grachev’s presence on the panel and voiced his disapproval on the platform.Gil didn’t mince his words, stating: “[Andrei Grachev] had absolutely no business to be on that panel. It’s insulting to [GSR] , [OKX] and [Wintermute] to be in the same room as [DWF Labs].”DWF vs WintermuteHis remarks received a “Like” from Evgeny Gaevoy, the CEO of market maker Wintermute. In response, Grachev defended his presence, asserting that DWF was superior in technology, trading, and business development compared to its rivals, going so far as to suggest to Gil: “Yeah, if I were you — I would be also crying all the time.”The exchange continued with Grachev claiming that DWF was capturing market share from Wintermute, and Gaevoy responded with a nonchalant “lol,” challenging Grachev to invest more if he believed DWF posed a threat.DWF Labs’ rapid growthWhile the exchange consisted of mere words, it shed light on DWF Labs’ sudden rise to prominence earlier over recent months. The company has featured prominently in an array of investments in Web3 startups and blockchain networks over the course of 2023. Prominent among them have been investments in EOS, the Algorand ecosystem, and the TRON ecosystem.Recently appearing on the BlockBeats podcast, Grachev defended the company, outlining that it was not involved in market manipulation in response to recent assertions to the contrary.“We do not engage in any manipulative behavior,” Grachev stated. “Of course, we have the futures market, which is a tool for hedging positions and trading clubs. We are completely different from directional traders,” he added.Gaevoy added some humor to the mix by sharing a meme, raising questions about the maturity level of these prominent figures in the crypto industry. The spat provoked a broad array of commentary from the crypto community.Crypto immaturityThe very public clash raises concerns about how traditional Wall Street firms, currently making bold moves into the crypto space, might perceive such behavior. Notably, firms like BlackRock have been involved in Bitcoin ETF applications, signaling a growing interest in cryptocurrency among mainstream financial institutions. In response to Gaevoy and Grachev, one commentator wrote: “The institutions are never coming back.”While it would appear that there’s no love lost between DWF, GSR, and Wintermute, it also seems evident that both market makers can agree on Singapore as being an appropriate location from where to operate a crypto business. While Wintermute is London-based, it revealed recently that it was expanding its operations in Singapore. Like Wintermute, GSR is primarily based in London although it too maintains a presence in Singapore to service Asia-centric business.