Regulatory Pressure Sees Binance Cease Card Offering in the Middle East

Metaplanet, a Japanese Bitcoin treasury company listed on the Tokyo stock exchange, is targeting a holding of 10,000 BTC in 2025.2025 targetTaking to the X social media platform on Jan. 5, the company’s CEO, Simon Gerovich, set out a number of objectives which the company will strive to reach in 2025. Among them is the objective to expand the company’s Bitcoin holdings to 10,000 BTC. Gerovich said that the expansion of the firm’s Bitcoin holding would be achieved “by utilizing the most accretive capital market tools available to us.” He followed up on Jan. 6 with an announcement that Metaplanet has completed its 12th series stock acquisition rights. Gerovich claimed that the successful completion of the stock issuance marked “a milestone in Metaplanet’s financing and Bitcoin acquisition strategy.” The 12th series stock issuance was first announced back in November, with a six-month exercise period opening on Dec. 17. Additionally, the company issued 4.5 billion yen ($28,562,451) and 5 billion yen ($31,736,057) in ordinary bonds, with a maturity date of June 2025. Other objectives the company has set out for 2025 include enhancing transparency and shareholder engagement through new initiatives. Furthermore, Metaplanet intends to leverage its partnerships to advance Bitcoin adoption in Japan and further afield. Gerovich said that Metaplanet will explore innovative opportunities to grow the firm’s impact in Japan and within the Bitcoin ecosystem.Photo by Vasilis Chatzopoulos on Unsplash2024 ‘transformational’The Metaplanet CEO claimed that 2024 had been “transformational” for the company. He added: “We broke records, expanded our Bitcoin treasury, and reinforced our position as Asia’s leading Bitcoin Treasury Company.” Shifting its attention to 2025, the firm is focused on its efforts to drive greater value for shareholders. Metaplanet’s fortunes are now heavily dependent upon the performance of Bitcoin. In an interview at a New Year’s Eve party held in Miami by Microstrategy founder Michael Saylor, Gerovich commented on Bitcoin adoption, stating:"I’m slowly but surely seeing Bitcoin becoming a topic of discussion at the highest levels of government. Corporations around the world are beginning to adopt it as a Bitcoin standard." The Metaplanet CEO is optimistic that the U.S. will adopt a strategic Bitcoin reserve once the Trump administration commences. Should that happen, he believes that other countries will follow. He sees Japan as one of those countries where they do look to the U.S. as a guide on such matters. “So I think if President Trump does adopt it as a strategic reserve, then Japan and many countries in Asia will do the same,” he stated. Metaplanet is understood to be pursuing a business model very similar to the one pioneered by Microstrategy in the United States. The company increased the rate at which it acquired Bitcoin in H2 2024. Metaplanet made its first Bitcoin purchase in April 2024. At that time, its stock was trading at $1.90. Just as the Bitcoin unit price surged, so too did Metaplanet stock, closing the year at $22.05 per share.

Sony Bank, a Japanese neobank headquartered in Tokyo, has applied to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a new trust bank, Connectia Trust, as part of a broader expansion into digital assets. According to Sony Bank’s application, if approved, Connectia Trust would issue U.S. dollar–pegged stablecoins and manage the corresponding reserves. The entity would also offer non-fiduciary custody of digital assets and provide fiduciary asset-management services for certain affiliates.Photo by P. L. on UnsplashSony among 11 crypto applicants to the OCCSony Bank’s filing is among 11 crypto-related applications before the OCC, alongside efforts by Coinbase, Nubank, Paxos, BitGo, Ripple, and others. To date, only two banks have advanced through the agency’s charter approval process. In 2021, the OCC conditionally approved the conversion of Anchorage Trust Company into Anchorage Digital Bank, granting it a national trust bank charter. More recently, last week, Erebor Bank, backed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, received preliminary conditional approval for its de novo charter. The initiative reflects Japan’s growing openness to cryptocurrencies, underscored by the government’s recent regulatory approval of the country’s first yen-denominated stablecoin. Fintech firm JPYC Inc. plans to launch “JPYC” this fall, pegged at 1 yen per token and designed for person-to-person transfers and retail payments, with plans for point-of-sale integration. The issuer targets up to 10 trillion yen ($66.7 billion) in circulation within three years. There are no limits on holdings or wallet transfers, while redemptions are capped at 1 million yen ($6,700) per user per day. Sony Bank has been building its Web3 capabilities this year. Its board approved a new subsidiary for blockchain initiatives in May, later renamed BlockBloom in August. Now operational, BlockBloom aims to connect fans and artists and bridge digital and physical experiences, as well as fiat and digital assets. Its ultimate parent, Sony Group, launched a blockchain mainnet called Soneium in January through Sony Block Solutions Labs, S.BLOX, and SNFT. Built as an Ethereum layer-2 network powered by Optimism’s Superchain technology, Soneium recently announced support for meco.fun, a SocialFi platform that enables creators to earn through memes, content, and NFTs. MUFG’s blockchain initiatives at home and abroadJapan’s top traditional banks are also expanding their involvement in digital assets, with a growing focus on stablecoins. An Oct. 17 Nikkei report, cited by CoinDesk, said Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, and Mizuho Financial Group aim to develop a unified system to issue and transfer stablecoins among corporate clients. Their first rollout will focus on yen-pegged tokens, followed by a potential dollar-based offering. According to an earlier report from Reuters, MUFG and nine other major international banks, including Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and UBS, are collaborating on stablecoins tied to G7 currencies. MUFG has additionally rolled out a blockchain-based business with Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities (MUMSS), which is offering bond security tokens and operating ASTOMO, a trading venue for retail investors that has debuted with tokens backed by real estate. The platform lets users invest from 100,000 yen (about $667) on their phones. In summer, MUFG’s trust unit, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, acquired a high-rise building in Osaka for more than 100 billion yen ($667 million), with plans to issue digital securities tied to the asset. The tokenization strategy would offer fractional ownership to retail investors long excluded from major real estate opportunities. Taken together, Sony Bank’s OCC application and Japan’s accelerating tokenization efforts signal a race among major financial and technology players to build compliant, scalable infrastructure for digital assets—both at home and abroad. 

Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance has signed off on the establishment of the Pakistan Digital Assets Authority (PDAA), a body which will be responsible for the implementation of regulations governing blockchain and the digital assets sector. In a report published by Pakistani English-language newspaper Dawn, the media outlet outlined that the Ministry of Finance has taken this step in an effort to embrace future innovation in the finance sector.  The new agency will be responsible for monitoring the operations of digital wallet service providers, stablecoin issuers, the development firms behind decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, crypto custodians and crypto exchange platforms. Photo by Hamid Roshaan on UnsplashFrom crypto ban to crypto regulationIn October 2022, Pakistan was removed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, from its grey list. The following year, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Finance and Revenue, Aisha Ghaus Pasha outlined that banning cryptocurrency was a condition of the country’s removal from the FATF grey list. Accordingly, the South Asian country proceeded to ban digital assets, with Ghaus Pasha declaring that crypto would “never be legalized in Pakistan.”Despite the adverse position taken previously by the authorities in Pakistan where digital assets were concerned, in 2024 a survey carried out by Chainalysis revealed that Pakistan featured strongly in terms of retail-level crypto adoption. With this latest development, Pakistan is moving forward progressively with digital assets, albeit that it is doing so while being cognizant of the current requirements demanded by FATF related to crypto. The newly-formed PDAA will act to ensure FATF-compliant innovation, while striving for economic inclusion and the adoption of digital assets in a responsible manner. Regulating to lead crypto innovation rather than catching upPakistan’s current Minister for Finance and Revenue, Muhammad Aurangzeb, said that “Pakistan must regulate not just to catch up — but to lead.” He added that through the establishment of the PDAA, a digital assets regulatory framework that protects consumers will be created. Furthermore, he claimed that such an approach would attract global investment, putting Pakistan “at the forefront of financial innovation.”Another area of focus for the PDAA will be the facilitation of the tokenization of government debt and national assets. Pakistan runs an annual average electricity surplus of 4,000 megawatts. In 2024, total electricity generation was recorded at 92,091 GWh while demand weighed in at 68,559 GWh. With that, the Pakistani authorities want the PDAA to create the correct conditions that will lead to regulated Bitcoin mining operators utilizing this energy resource. Other objectives which have been set out for the new agency include encouraging the growth of startups aimed at building blockchain-based solutions at scale, the regulation of what is estimated to be a $25 billion informal crypto market and the provision of legal clarity within the crypto sector in Pakistan for both local and international investors. This latest positive development follows the formation of the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) back in February. That event signaled a policy shift in Pakistan with regard to digital assets. In March PCC CEO Bilal bin Saqib said that Pakistan was done sitting on the sidelines and that the authorities now want to see Pakistan develop as a “leader in blockchain-powered finance.”