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South Korea’s National Police Agency will assign all 41 narcotics investigators recruited during the second half of the year to cryptocurrency-related duties, according to News1. The move follows the creation of a dedicated “Virtual Asset Analysis and Investigation Team” aimed at tackling drug offenses that use digital assets. To bolster skills, the agency plans specialist training for investigators from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2. Of the 41 recruits, 11 will staff an analysis unit and 30 will join field investigations. The analysis team, based at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, will handle crypto-related drug cases nationwide, generate intelligence, and support phishing probes involving digital assets. The investigation group will be deployed to five regional headquarters (Seoul, Busan, Incheon, southern Gyeonggi, and southern Gyeongsang) to target illicit crypto payment processors and the money launderers behind them.Photo by Scott Rodgerson on UnsplashLatest crypto seizure in UK drug caseThe push mirrors trends overseas. In the U.K., Devon and Cornwall Police said detectives seized £1.3 million (about $1.76 million) in cryptocurrency from Ryan Coleman, 36, who received a 15-year sentence after admitting to supplying cocaine, ecstasy, cannabis, and ketamine via the dark web. Police indicated the seized assets are expected to fund proactive operations and community initiatives, with half allocated to HM Treasury. Cartels turn to crypto in North AmericaNorth American authorities report similar challenges. In a January 2025 post, blockchain intelligence platform TRM Labs pointed to the growing use of cryptocurrencies by Mexican drug cartels and other transnational groups. It noted that an executive order signed by President Trump earlier this year allows U.S. law enforcement to freeze crypto wallets linked to these organizations. The post also outlined laundering pipelines that rely on Chinese money brokers, who convert U.S. cash into crypto for global transfers or for buying precursor chemicals. The scale of these flows is underscored by TRM’s September 2024 research, which estimated that Chinese drug-precursor manufacturers took in over $26 million in crypto in 2023, a 600% jump from the year before. In the first four months of 2024, receipts nearly doubled year-over-year. Roughly 60% of these payments were made in Bitcoin, 30% in TRON, and 6% in Ethereum. The analysis also noted that U.S. cryptocurrency ATMs transferred more than $170,000 directly to Chinese precursor vendors in 2023, modest in scale but valuable for investigators. Freezing stablecoins and tracing Chinese linksWhile targeted sanctions and blockchain tracing have disrupted parts of the network, traffickers remain agile, TRM noted. It underscored the need for continued vigilance, technological adaptation, and cross-border coordination. Suggested steps include freezing cartel-linked stablecoins, tightening U.S. cash-to-bank laundering controls, and using legal tools like the Patriot Act to trace Chinese firms and accounts involved in laundering. South Korea’s redeployment of personnel reflects this push to align national enforcement with evolving enforcement dynamics. 

Crypto Features in India-UK Markets DialogueAccording to a press release published by HM Treasury, the 2nd India-UK Financial Markets Dialogue meeting held on Wednesday featured six key themes with crypto featuring among them.©Pexels/SkitterphotoThe event brought officials from both nations together in the first in-person financial dialogue since 2017. While the meeting considered banking, insurance and reinsurance, capital markets, asset management and sustainable finance, it also allotted time to discuss payments and crypto-assets.CBDC knowledge sharingBoth sets of officials discussed the scope for augmenting knowledge on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) by way of mutual learning. The officials agreed on the importance of robust global approaches relative to the emergence and development of crypto-assets internationally. The joint statement issued following the meeting revealed that progress relative to the G20 roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments was a matter which was discussed. It’s an item that could have major implications for the use of cryptocurrency in cross border transactions.Global collaborationThe meeting marks another move towards greater global collaboration on policy and regulation relative to digital payment systems and crypto assets. Earlier this month, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the introduction of any new regulations on digital assets needs to be coordinated on a global basis. “The G20 and its members agree that it’s not going to be possible to have an independent, standalone country dealing with crypto assets”, Sitharaman stated at a news conference following a meeting of central bank governors and G20 finance ministers.There’s a growing recognition among politicians, government and central bank officials that decentralized money doesn’t end at a territory’s borders due to its inherently decentralized properties.Taking steps to regulate cryptoWhile on the one hand strategizing as to how digital assets can be best controlled on a global level, India is also taking its own individual steps towards national regulatory action. Recently, it expanded its Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to include consideration of digital assets. The newly amended PMLA will now deal with the exchange of digital assets for fiat money and vice versa. It also considers safekeeping, transfer and administration relative to cryptocurrency. Furthermore, its broadened scope deals with financial services offered related to virtual or digital assets.Rajagopal Menon, the VP of India’s leading cryptocurrency exchange WazirX, has said that “regulations levied by India have been baby steps toward institutional participation in the crypto exchange.” While market participants in the digital assets space are apprehensive about the regulatory measures that governments and state regulators choose to adopt, so long as the objective isn’t to regulate the innovation out of existence, such developments can have a profoundly positive effect on the digital assets market.There’s no doubt that in line with Menon’s point relative to the Indian context, the same scenario can play out in all digital markets given the application of the right regulatory approach. Institutional investment for the most part has eluded crypto despite many already heralding its arrival in recent years. Institutions move slowly and the only way in which they will be comfortable in working with digital assets is with complete regulatory clarity having been set out.So while some in crypto may be concerned at the mention of global regulatory coordination in respect of digital assets, so long as it doesn’t go too far, greater work towards improved regulatory clarity in the digital assets market can be a catalyst for further adoption and growth in India, the UK and further afield.

The Department of Science and Technology-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) in the Philippines has launched an initiative to educate the Southeast Asian country’s young people in relation to blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The DOST published a blog article on its website on September 23 titled “Opening opportunities for the youth: DOST-ASTI highlights blockchain applications across various sectors.” It highlighted that technologies such as blockchain are “key forces reshaping how public and private institutions operate.” It’s on that basis that the government agency believes that there is a need to familiarize the country’s youth with blockchain technology, digital assets and NFTs. Photo by Choong Deng Xiang on UnsplashTech forum With that objective in mind, DOST-ASTI held a tech forum titled  “ASTIg Tech Talks Season 2: Blockchain for Young Innovators” on September 20 in Pasay City to fulfill that objective of aiding Filipino youngsters in becoming better acquainted with blockchain technology. The event formed part of the second National Youth Science, Technology and Innovation Festival (NYSTIF). In that effort, the agency is placing a focus on the real-world applications associated with blockchain technology, and with that, an emphasis on the fostering of this innovation going forward. DOST-ASTI placed blockchain in the same category as other emerging innovations such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), pointing out that these are tangible innovations rather than hyped buzzwords. Job opportunities DOST-ASTI Senior Science Research Specialist Roxanne Aviñante spoke at the event, introducing the concept of blockchain to those participating students in attendance. Aviñante outlined that the emerging technology is building momentum and with that, increasingly there are job opportunities opening up within the sector. While acknowledging that blockchain’s first application was cryptocurrency, Aviñante pointed out that other use cases are being found. With that, she referred to “Self-Sovereign Identity Empowerment: Reinventing Rights and Attributes” (SIERRA), a blockchain-based system for managing intellectual property that is being developed by DOST-ASTI. Marc Jerome Tulali, a science research specialist at DOST, discussed the use of blockchain in voting systems and how it addresses deficiencies in traditional voting systems. Tulali claimed that blockchain can enhance traceability and transparency, as it provides a clear flow and record of product movement. Additionally, its characteristics make it ideal in addressing fraud and counterfeiting risks. Tulali recommended participating students to enroll in online educational courses in order to learn more about the field. He also provided details of four sample careers in blockchain, including blockchain developer, blockchain architect, NFT artist and blockchain researcher, as potential job opportunities for the students in the future. The Philippines has featured consistently within the top twenty of nations on Chainalysis’ Global Crypto Adoption Index in recent years. It has long been considered an ideal market for furthering crypto-based payments, given the large Filipino diaspora sending millions of dollars back home from overseas each year. With that remittance market in mind, Australian startup Stables Money recently partnered with Philippines-based digital assets platform Coins.ph to use a Philippine peso-based stablecoin for remittances.