Shares in Moon Inc. surge following 1 BTC purchase

Philippines breaks new ground in first-ever tokenized bonds saleThe Philippines is set to offer the country’s first tokenized treasury bonds, a novel way of issuing debt securities using blockchain technology.Photo by Mara Rivera on Unsplash$179 million tokenized bond issuanceAccording to a report by Bloomberg on Thursday, the Bureau of the Treasury announced that it will issue 10 billion pesos ($179 million) of one-year tokenized bonds next Monday after canceling the conventional auction scheduled for the same day. The bonds will be issued by the Development Bank of the Philippines, a state-owned entity, together with the Land Bank of the Philippines.The tokenized bonds will be sold to institutional investors at a minimum denomination of 10 million pesos, with increments of 1 million pesos. The bonds will have a one-year validity, maturing in November 2024. The treasury bond interest rate has yet to be determined and will be confirmed on the date of issuance.Deputy Treasurer Erwin Sta said that the government is exploring the potential of tokenizing real-world assets and bonds and will “continue to study the technology and test how far we can take it.”Tokenization is the process of converting physical or digital assets into digital tokens that can be stored, transferred and traded on a blockchain network. Tokenization can offer several benefits, such as lower costs, faster transactions, greater transparency and enhanced security.Asian surge in tokenizationThe Philippines is not the only Asian country that is experimenting with tokenized bonds. This latest bond tokenization project follows hot on the heels of a similar move in Singapore. Earlier this week, British banking conglomerate Standard Chartered, through its Singapore-based fintech investment subsidiary SC Ventures, unveiled a new platform called Libeara. Libeara is gearing up to offer the first-ever tokenized Singapore-dollar government bond fund.In February, Hong Kong issued $100 million of tokenized green bonds under its Green Bond Programme, using Goldman Sachs’ tokenization protocol. The tokenized green bonds, a first-of-its-kind issuance, have a one-year validity and aim to support environmental projects in the region.Authorities in Singapore have also launched a series of pilots on tokenizing real-world assets in collaboration with JPMorgan, DBS Bank, BNY Mellon and Apollo, an investment firm. The pilots will test the feasibility and efficiency of tokenizing assets such as equities, bonds and funds. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) partnered with HSBC to conduct the tokenization of bonds as well.The tokenization of real-world assets is not limited to Asia. Israel’s Tel Aviv stock exchange completed a proof-of-concept for tokenizing fiat and government bonds, demonstrating the potential of blockchain technology to transform the capital markets.The tokenization of real-world assets using blockchain technology is a growing trend among governments and financial institutions. According to the Boston Consulting Group, tokenized assets could reach a market capitalization of $16 trillion by 2030. By issuing tokenized bonds, the Philippines is joining the ranks of the pioneers in this field, opening up new possibilities and opportunities for the crypto industry and the economy as a whole.

The blockchain network underpinning Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, requires an energy volume comparable to the annual consumption of Thailand. According to Digiconomist’s Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, the protocol utilized roughly 204.44 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity between Nov. 18, 2024, and Nov. 18, 2025.Photo by Fré Sonneveld on UnsplashFiscal losses drive Malaysian oversightAmid these intense energy demands, Malaysia’s primary electricity utility has recorded substantial financial impairments attributed to illicit activities. Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) reported losses totaling 4.57 billion ringgit ($1.1 billion) from illegal crypto-mining operations over a five-year span. In a Nov. 19 report by The Edge Malaysia, the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (Petra) disclosed these figures to parliament, specifying that the unauthorized mining occurred at 13,827 locations between 2020 and August of this year. To counter these infractions through regulatory channels, Petra has formed a special committee scheduled to convene before year-end. This body aims to recommend enhancements to the Electricity Supply Act, which currently delineates penalties based on the offender's classification. Domestic violators face fines ranging from 1,000 to 50,000 ringgit ($240 to $12,000), imprisonment of up to one year, or both. Penalties escalate for non-domestic entities, involving fines between 20,000 and one million ringgit ($480 to $240,000) and potential prison terms of up to five years. Despite these provisions regarding electricity theft, a specific legal code regulating the act of crypto mining remains absent, creating a jurisdictional void. International bans and grid reallocationStrategies to curtail electricity usage by crypto miners are becoming evident elsewhere in Southeast Asia as well. Laotian Deputy Energy Minister Chanthaboun Soukaloun told Reuters last month that the nation intends to suspend electricity supplies to crypto miners by early 2026. He cited the sector's minimal economic contribution and low job creation as primary factors. Consequently, the state plans to redirect power to high-priority sectors, including AI data centers, metals processing, and electric-vehicle manufacturing. Parallel restrictions are emerging globally. In October, the government of British Columbia enacted a permanent prohibition on new BC Hydro connections for crypto miners to safeguard the Canadian province’s energy reserves. Officials pointed to the industry’s "disproportionate energy consumption and limited economic benefit" as the rationale for the policy. The debate over thermal innovationConversely, some enterprises are exploring methods to capture thermal output from Bitcoin mining to heat residential and commercial properties. If viable, such repurposing could utilize the considerable thermal byproducts of mining. A K33 Research study cited by CNBC indicates the industry generates roughly 100 TWh of heat annually, a figure sufficient to warm the entirety of Finland. However, industry consensus on the feasibility of these applications remains elusive. Proponents suggest that mining infrastructure could be situated in proximity to heat consumers. Skeptics, however, contend that the reliance on application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips makes this impractical, arguing that the technical difficulty of mining a block renders household participation unfeasible. Despite these differing views, the concept continues to attract attention as a potential avenue for innovation in energy distribution. As jurisdictions like Malaysia and British Columbia tighten regulatory oversight, the cryptocurrency sector faces mounting pressure to address its energy footprint. The divergence between government restrictions and industry-led efficiency proposals underscores the complex relationship between digital asset infrastructure and global energy resources. Given the shifting landscape of policy and technology, the outlook for sustainable large-scale crypto mining remains uncertain, as governments weigh energy demands against economic benefits and the industry searches for more efficient ways to operate.

China's authorities have dismantled an underground bank that illicitly utilized cryptocurrency for currency exchange operations between the Chinese yuan and the South Korean won, involving approximately 2.14 billion yuan ($295.8 million). China has a history of imposing strict capital control policies, prompting some individuals and entities to resort to cryptocurrency as a means of bypassing these regulations. According to a report published by local police in Northeast China’s Jilin province, six suspects were apprehended for their alleged involvement in facilitating the illegal operations spanning China and South Korea.Photo by Hyory Liu on UnsplashExploiting cryptocurrency featuresThe suspects purportedly took advantage of cryptocurrency features like transaction anonymity and decentralization to execute foreign currency exchange activities unlawfully. Investigations revealed that the criminal group utilized domestic accounts for fund receipt and transfer, alongside over-the-counter cryptocurrency transactions. Supporting illicit transactionsThe arrested individuals allegedly aided various entities, including South Korean purchasing agents, cross-border e-commerce platforms and import-export trade firms, in circumventing currency exchange regulations between the Chinese yuan and the South Korean won.