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HashKey Gears Up to Offer Trading Service to Retail TradersHashKey is gearing up to launch its services to retail traders in Hong Kong with the intention of offering them Bitcoin and Ether trading products initially.The Hong Kong-based digital asset management platform received full licensing approval from the local regulator, the Securities Futures Commission (SFC), earlier this month. It’s anticipated that the platform will launch to retail on August 28.That’s according to a report from a local media source earlier this week. Financial publication Investing.com stated: “General investors in the period can only trade Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), because these two currencies currently account for most of the trading volume in the market.“It’s worth noting, however, that investors will be subject to a cap, permitted to allocate only up to 30% of their net worth into the realm of cryptocurrencies while utilizing the platform.Photo by Traxer on UnsplashServing retail clientsIt’s a significant milestone for both HashKey and the regulator, given that Hong Kong has been making huge efforts to further the development of digital asset innovation within the Chinese autonomous territory over the course of the past twelve months. Hashkey, alongside brokerage and exchange business OSL (also successful in obtaining a license), has been collaborating with regulators from an early stage in the lead-up to both receiving full licensing.HashKey got to this point by focusing on two pivotal licenses offered by the SFC. The first of these licenses, known as Type 1, paved the way for HashKey to initiate a virtual asset trading platform, aligning seamlessly with the regulatory framework laid out under Hong Kong’s securities laws. The second license, Type 7, empowers the crypto platform to furnish automated trading services to both institutional and retail clientele.Nurturing digital asset innovationHong Kong has maintained a resolute focus on cultivating a crypto-friendly environment within its borders in 2023. Echoing this sentiment, Financial Secretary Paul Chan asserted the government’s and regulatory bodies’ determination to incubate a robust crypto and fintech ecosystem throughout the year.By March, over 80 crypto enterprises signaled their intent to establish a presence in Hong Kong, with several major players in the crypto industry among them. In April, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) issued a call to banks, urging them to extend their services to cryptocurrency companies.Banking remains a difficulty in Hong Kong for crypto businesses despite the HKMA’s efforts. However, in the case of both HashKey and OSL, both are being banked by Hong Kong’s largest virtual bank, ZA Bank.In May, the HKMA unveiled a comprehensive licensing framework tailored for crypto platforms, imposing a deadline of June 1 for compliance. As August rolled in, a select few crypto platforms clinched the green light to offer crypto trading services to an eclectic client base encompassing both retail and institutional participants.This regulatory framework, designed to safeguard the interests of investors, is playing a large part in Hong Kong’s recent success in developing the sector. In this particular instance, it will mean that retail traders will be granted access to Bitcoin and Ethereum exclusively. This curtailed selection provides a good starting point for retail trading, and it’s likely that we will see HashKey’s trading offering being extended to cover additional digital assets as soon as local regulators permit it.

Sun Flags Unjust Token Profits of Huobi Founder’s BrotherJustin Sun, Founder of the Tron blockchain and stakeholder in Seychelles-based global crypto exchange Huobi, has stated that the younger brother of the founder of the exchange, Li Wei, has received millions of Huobi tokens ($HT) when he shouldn’t have.Taking to Twitter, Sun wrote:“Li Lin’s younger brother Li Wei has repeatedly acquired a large amount of zero-cost HT through abnormal means. He has sold it on the Huobi platform many times in history, and has withdrawn huge amounts of cash”.Negotiating a refund and token burnSun went on to outline the action that he is in favor of taking in unison with decisions taken by the Huobi Global Advisory Committee (HGAC). “In order to protect people’s interests, the [HGAC] and the HT DAO community decided to recover and destroy the HT obtained by Li Wei at zero cost,” he wrote. “The HT destruction will be announced in the HT community. Such behavior will not be condoned,” he added.Sun complained that not only were the tokens wrongly allocated to Li Wei, he had been dumping the tokens on the market, selling them off for fiat money. In addition to the tokens being burnt, Sun says that he alongside the HGAC will “negotiate a refund” by engaging directly with Li Wei relative to the fiat money that he has already extracted through selling off the token.The Tron founder added that he doesn’t think it equitable that Wei should benefit from the token allocation as he hasn’t made any contribution to the Huobi community, stating that “fairness and the importance of rewarding those who genuinely contribute to the growth and development of HT DAO” are important.Double standardsSome in the crypto community would call double standards on Sun’s claims of a lack of fairness. At the time of the collapse of the FTX exchange in November of last year, Sun offered to help, collaborating with FTX’s Sam Bankman Fried to allow assets related to Sun’s crypto projects (TRX, BTT, JST, SUN, and HT) held by FTX customers on the exchange to be traded out of the exchange into external wallets.Trading in these assets recommenced for a time, with the price within the exchange being exorbitant relative to the regular market price outside of FTX. Many FTX customers ended up buying these tokens at excessive prices, without being able to extract them from the exchange like Sun had promised. To cap it off, those customers then had the newly installed FTX Debtor under the guidance of John J. Ray III, record their loss at the time the exchange officially went bankrupt at the normal market price for these tokens.Although originally a China-based exchange, Huobi moved out of the Chinese market due to adverse regulation, re-establishing itself in the Seychelles. The firm maintains offices in South Korea, the United States, Japan, and Hong Kong, where it has had a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 2018.The $HT token has proven to be very volatile both in intraday trading on Tuesday and over the course of the past seven days. In both instances, it has hit high points in excess of $3.00 and low points of $2.70. At the time of publication, the token was trading at $2.90.Photo by Ant Rozetsky on Unsplash

South Korea’s cryptocurrency industry is entering a politically sensitive stretch as investors, exchanges, and regulators confront a mix of tax uncertainty, shrinking trading volumes, and growing scrutiny over crypto-linked money laundering. At the center of the debate is the government’s plan to begin taxing crypto gains in January 2027 after three previous delays. Under the current plan, annual crypto profits exceeding 2.5 million won ($1,650) would be taxed at 22%. The framework was first formalized in 2020, but implementation was postponed several times amid concerns over investor protection, market readiness, and political resistance. According to the Hankyoreh newspaper, opposition has intensified after lawmakers scrapped the country’s financial investment income tax, which would have applied to gains from stocks and funds. Critics argue that taxing crypto while most retail stock investors remain exempt from capital gains tax creates an uneven playing field.Photo by Tara Winstead on PexelsCrypto tax petition advancesA public petition calling for the abolition of crypto taxation has already gathered more than 54,000 signatures, clearing the threshold for review by a National Assembly committee. The petitioner argued that the issue needs a full reconsideration, including the possibility of scrapping the tax altogether. The opposition People Power Party has also proposed legislation to abolish the crypto tax, saying it would be inconsistent to impose a separate income tax on crypto assets after eliminating the broader financial investment tax. The ruling Democratic Party, meanwhile, is expected to take up the issue more seriously after the June 3 local elections. The government says there has been no change to its position and that crypto taxation is still scheduled to begin next January. But it has ruled out, at least for now, any renewed discussion on the financial investment income tax, fueling claims that the tax system is treating crypto investors unfairly. The tax dispute comes as Korean crypto exchanges are already grappling with a steep drop in trading activity. Retail investors have been shifting money into equities, drawn by a strong KOSPI rally and momentum in chip and AI stocks, draining activity from the crypto market. According to CoinMarketCap data cited by ETNews, Upbit’s average daily trading volume in the first quarter stood at about $1.55 billion, down 38.8% from the second half of last year. Bithumb’s first-quarter daily average was roughly $647 million, a 44.4% drop over the same period. The decline continued after the first quarter. From Jan. 1 to May 20, Upbit’s average daily volume fell to about $1.38 billion, down 45.5% from the second half of 2025. Bithumb’s average dropped to about $600 million, widening its decline to 48.5%.That slowdown has hit earnings. Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, reported first-quarter operating revenue of 234.6 billion won and operating profit of 88 billion won ($58 million), down 55% and 78% year-on-year, respectively. Bithumb posted revenue of 82.5 billion won ($55 million) and operating profit of just 2.9 billion won ($2 million), down 57.6% and 95.8%, while swinging to a net loss of 86.9 billion won ($58 million). The structural problem is that Korean exchanges still rely heavily on retail spot-trading fees. Unlike major global exchanges, domestic platforms have limited room to expand into derivatives, institutional custody, stablecoin payments, and other higher-margin businesses. Rising compliance costs, including customer verification and anti-money-laundering (AML) upgrades, are adding to the burden. USDT dominates $77M laundering caseSeparately, Korean police said they apprehended 149 suspects accused of laundering about 117 billion won ($77.5 million) through a network linked to a China-based laundering group in Shenzhen, according to the Seoul Economic Daily. Seven suspects were formally arrested, and police said all suspects identified so far are Korean nationals. USDT accounted for 72% of the funds moved, while bogus gift-card operations made up 19% and ordinary bank transfers 9%. Authorities said the scheme used accounts opened under other people’s names and overseas crypto exchanges to make the funds harder to trace. Meanwhile, sentiment among Korean crypto investors remains mixed but not entirely bearish. A weekly survey by CoinNess and Kratos found that 34.1% of respondents expected Bitcoin to rise or surge this week, while 36.3% expected sideways movement and 29.6% expected a decline. Asked whether the crypto market could recover this year, 38.5% said the current downturn looked like a healthy correction with room for a rebound, while 29.7% said the market would not only recover but also set new highs. Combined, 68.2% of respondents expected some form of recovery this year. Still, pessimism remains. Another 17.7% said the crypto market had peaked and was unlikely to rebound, while 14.1% said they had already left the market and no longer had expectations. At the time of publication, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $76,677.43, up 0.1% over the past week, reflecting a largely range-bound market.