Korean Pharma and Running App Employ NFTs to Promote Fatigue Relief

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.

While the crypto markets have not been immune to geopolitical developments, the sector in Iran experienced a more direct effect last week with a politically motivated $90 million exchange hack, prompting the authorities to introduce an exchange curfew. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis outlined on X on June 18 that Nobitex, Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, had been hacked, with crypto assets to the value of $90 million having been drained from exchange-controlled wallets.Photo by Engin Akyurt on PexelsWeaponizing blockchain technologyThe hack had the hallmark of a politically-motivated attack given that rather than the digital assets being stolen, they were sent to vanity addresses, customized blockchain addresses involving user-defined sequences of characters. The vanity addresses contained “politically charged messages” and in sending the funds to them, the funds were effectively burned as they’re now permanently inaccessible.  The firm stated:”This incident highlights how crypto exploits aren’t always financially motivated. Bad actors can weaponize blockchain technology for geopolitical messaging, turning hacks into ideological statements rather than profit-driven crimes.” Pro-Israel hacker group Gonjeshke Darande, also known as “Predatory Sparrow,” appears to have carried out the hack, given that on June 18, it outlined on X that it would release Nobitex’s source code together with other internal information related to the firm’s internal network, while confirming that it had conducted cyberattacks against the company. The group made the following assertion:”The Nobitex exchange is at the heart of the [Iranian] regime’s efforts to finance terror worldwide, as well as being the regime’s favorite sanctions violation tool.” Rafe Pilling, director of threat intelligence at Sophos, a British cybersecurity company, told The Guardian that Predatory Sparrow “bears all the hallmarks of a false persona used by a government-sponsored threat group to conduct disruptive operations against targets” linked to the Iranian government. While Nobitex is estimated to have seven million users, an Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)-based investigation carried out in 2024 linked relatives of Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, and other Iranian establishment figures to the crypto exchange. Minimizing systemic riskThe cyber attack has prompted a response from the Iranian government. In a blog post, Chainalysis outlined that the Central Bank of Iran has instructed all domestic crypto exchange platforms to curtail their service hours to between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. The company speculated that this measure could be motivated by a desire to impose a higher level of oversight and control over the local crypto sector. However, it also suggested that it may be part of an attempt by the Iranian authorities to manage and minimize systemic risk. In recent years, Iran has been subject to extensive international sanctions applied by various entities including the United States, the European Union and the United Nations. Those sanctions have had a significant impact upon the country’s economy, triggering high inflation and currency devaluation.  With that, crypto has been increasingly viewed by the authorities as a means to circumvent sanctions. Last December, the Iranian authorities appeared to be working towards regulating crypto, embracing the asset class in acknowledgement of its growing importance to the Iranian economy. In February, Chainalysis reported that sanctioned entities worldwide had received $15.8 billion in crypto transactions in 2024.

Strengthened KYC Spurs More Suspicious Transaction Reports from Korean Crypto ExchangesIn South Korea this year, there has been a significant surge in the number of suspicious transaction reports (STRs) related to cryptocurrencies, according to local news agency Yonhap.This increase is primarily attributed to cryptocurrency exchanges fortifying their Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures. This proactive response follows the controversy surrounding lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk’s significant virtual asset holdings, which were unveiled in May. His scandal came to light when a substantial amount of WEMIX tokens, valued in billions of Korean won, were transferred from the Bithumb exchange to the Upbit exchange. Upbit, deeming it a suspicious transaction, promptly reported the matter to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Financial Services Commission (FSC).Photo by ron dyar on UnsplashGrowing number of suspicious transaction reportsAs the scandal continued to gain traction, the political realm reached a consensus to conduct investigations into the cryptocurrency holdings of all lawmakers. Additionally, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea initiated the tracking of all lawmakers’ cryptocurrency holdings last month, a process set to span 90 days.Data received by lawmaker Yoon Young-deok on October 30 from the FIU reveals that the number of STRs originating from virtual asset service providers (VASPs) has reached 11,646 in the first nine months of this year. This figure has already exceeded last year’s total of 10,797 STRs.Under the current Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, commonly referred to as the Financial Transaction Reporting Act, VASPs are mandated to report to the FIU if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that a customer’s financial transactions are connected to illicit property, money laundering, or terrorist financing. The Act has been in full effect since October 2021.In 2021, a total of 199 reports were submitted under this Act. The number of reports surged to over 10,000 the following year, and in the current year, it continues to grow at an even faster rate. The FIU reviews and analyzes these STRs in accordance with Article 10 of the Financial Transaction Reporting Act. It forwards the relevant information to law enforcement agencies only when it is deemed necessary for the investigation of a specific criminal case.Enhanced but varied approaches by exchangesCrypto exchanges have bolstered their customer verification requirements, especially for customers deemed to have a high risk of involvement in money laundering, in accordance with the Financial Transaction Reporting Act. This entails the need for additional scrutiny of the source of funds and the purpose behind transactions. Notably, if customer verification appears suspicious, exchanges are mandated to confirm the authenticity of the information using reliable documents.However, it’s important to note that the enforcement decree accompanying this Act grants exchanges the flexibility to verify documents based on their own business guidelines. This autonomy has been provided to assist exchanges in effectively mitigating money laundering risks by taking into account their individual business rights and characteristics.For instance, Upbit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has implemented a fraud detection system (FDS) powered by artificial intelligence to continuously monitor and identify fraudulent transactions. This initiative has earned Upbit recognition from the FIU as an outstanding organization for reporting suspicious transactions during the first half of this year.On the contrary, Bithumb has devised and applies internal guidelines dedicated to anti-money laundering (AML) measures. The exchange has instituted a streamlined customer verification process for customers who are assessed as having a low likelihood of being engaged in money laundering activities. However, this simplified process is not extended to individuals from countries that have not adopted the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).Korbit monitors information related to customer verification through a dedicated department. It declines transactions for customers who have not undergone sufficient verification and validation procedures.Coinone’s AML department examines customer transactions comprehensively. It maintains ongoing reviews of customer information, business operations, risk assessments, and the source of funds. If any of these aspects are found to be suspicious or inadequate, the AML department proceeds with additional customer verification, including the disclosure of the source of funds.Some raise concerns about the inconsistency in customer verification standards for AML and STRs across different exchanges. When one exchange flags a transaction as suspicious, another might see it as routine. Such discrepancies highlight the need for uniform guidelines. Addressing this, the Digital Asset eXchange Association (DAXA), consisting of Korea’s five leading currency exchanges — Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax — has set up an AML division to devise standardized rules for STRs.