Alchemy Pay expands on-ramp services via Bitcoin.com

Colt Technology Partners With Singapore’s AsiaNextColt Technology Services, an established player in the digital infrastructure sector, has unveiled a strategic partnership with AsiaNext, an emerging name in the crypto exchange domain.News of the collaboration emerged on Thursday, with the partnership designed to harness the strengths of Colt’s secure and high-performance digital infrastructure solutions to foster high-frequency trading of various digital securities and crypto derivatives on the AsiaNext platform.AsiaNext is a joint venture between Japan’s SBI Digital Asset Holdings and Swiss digital infrastructure firm, SIX Group. The entities behind the venture identified similarities in the regulatory approach taken in Switzerland and Singapore, and for that reason, AsiaNext was developed to grow the business in the city-state.Photo by Julien de Salaberry on UnsplashAccessing Multicast Market DataThe partnership will see AsiaNext leverage Colt’s Multicast Market Data in the Cloud. This service facilitates seamless connectivity between buyers and sellers, bridging the divide between mainstream finance and the secure realm of digital assets trading. The move takes on greater significance against the backdrop of Asia’s rapid ascent in digital asset trading and its central role in shaping global cryptocurrency regulations.AsiaNext has been targeting institutional investors and aims to offer a comprehensive suite of services encompassing listing, trading, and post-trade functions for digital assets. The exchange is attempting to provide institutional investors with a secure platform for trading digital assets, bolstering the crypto derivatives market in the region.Alongside Colt’s Multicast Market Data product, AsiaNext will also benefit from access to Colt’s PrizmNet, which enables low latencies for global delivery of data, software, content, and financial services.Commenting on the deal, Russell Toop, Colt’s Team Lead, Capital Markets Asia, remarked: “Our partnership with AsiaNext demonstrates our firm commitment to capital markets in Asia and across the world, and we’re excited to be part of its journey at the earliest stages as it sets out to bring digital assets to the mainstream.”Yuen Keng Yin, Chief Technology Officer of AsiaNext, echoed the sentiment by highlighting the transformative potential of Colt’s solutions for institutional investors, stating:“Their solutions support our investors in securing their position in this rapidly-growing market, so they can optimize their digital assets trading strategies and open up exciting new opportunities for their clients.”Working towards a full CMS licenseAsiaNext has been making progress within the Singaporean market. In June, the local regulator and central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), granted the institutional grade exchange regulatory approval in principle.That Capital Markets Services (CMS) license is now on the cusp of full license approval from MAS. Furthermore, the firm is also working towards obtaining a Recognised Market Operator license.These regulatory milestones all feed into AsiaNext’s overall goal, which is to offer a service which can bridge the gap between traditional finance and the digital assets space. In building out that offering, Marek Socha, Head of Corporate Development at SIX Group, said in an interview last year that important partnerships would be established by AsiaNext. No doubt accessing Colt’s service offering with this latest partnership is another step for the firm in reaching its objective.

China’s Crypto Crackdown Reveals Capital Control LoopholesChinese authorities have been stepping up their efforts to crack down on cryptocurrency-related crimes, and with that, uncovering how digital currencies are being used to bypass strict capital controls imposed by Beijing.China may be a few years into a crackdown against the use of cryptocurrencies but despite that, their use and particularly their use for illicit purposes continue. That’s according to a report on Wednesday by the South China Morning Post (SCMP).Photo by Christian Lue on UnsplashCombating capital outflowsThe rising trend of capital outflows has prompted Chinese authorities to take action. Two prominent cases illustrate the extent of these illegal activities and the value of assets seized.In Jingmen, a city in Hubei province, police disclosed details of an online gambling case involving digital currencies used to evade regulation. The case has implicated over 50,000 individuals and a turnover of billions of dollars. Although the specific virtual currency was not mentioned, authorities revealed that they had frozen multiple accounts with a combined value of $160 million.Meanwhile, in Shanxi province, police solved a money laundering case linked to 380 million yuan worth of USDT, the US dollar stablecoin issued by Tether. China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange is responsible for monitoring cross-border capital flows. Accordingly, it has taken steps to curb these illicit activities. Late last month, it fined ten firms in order to maintain order in the forex market.Digital yuan developmentThese recent cryptocurrency cases have exposed loopholes in China’s capital control system. Crypto mining and trading have long been banned by Chinese regulators. As an alternative, China has been actively developing its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), known as the digital yuan or e-CNY. 2023 has seen a raft of measures taken by various regional administrators throughout China to bring about further e-CNY adoption.However, the ban on cryptocurrencies and the launch of the e-CNY have driven many miners and traders underground or to overseas locations such as Hong Kong, which ironically, is vying to become a cryptocurrency hub. The continued depreciation of the yuan against the US dollar has intensified capital outflow pressures.Chinese bonds sell-offInternationally, fund managers have been selling significant amounts of Chinese securities since 2021. That goes against the current regional trend which sees emerging Asian markets experiencing substantial inflows of funds during the same period, according to the Institute of International Finance.That market activity has been in response to Chinese policies and escalating US-China tensions. An Atlantic Council report highlights that international institutional investors have been net sellers of approximately 1 trillion yuan in Chinese bonds since early 2022.China’s efforts to control capital outflows and stabilize the yuan’s value face ongoing challenges, as cryptocurrency-related crimes persist. While the crackdown exposes weaknesses in the country’s capital control system, it also underscores the difficulty authorities will have globally in trying to control digital currency use.

Industry leaders are turning their attention to Hong Kong as a notable location for spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). That speculation arises in anticipation of the United States granting approval for such ETFs, with Hong Kong emerging as a likely frontrunner in Asia. In a recent report, The Block spoke with a couple of prominent industry stakeholders, who appear to acknowledge the significance of moves towards seemingly expanding crypto ETF product offerings in Hong Kong, even though the bulk of the industry’s attention has been on U.S. spot bitcoin ETF approval.Photo by Simon Zhu on UnsplashU.S. ETF expectationsOn Monday, the research arm of crypto derivatives platform BitMEX calculated that the arrival of such a product in the United States could dwarf the total value locked within existing crypto-related exchange traded products (ETPs). Earlier this month, a researcher at crypto asset manager Bitwise suggested that U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs would be the most successful ETF products ever launched. Acknowledging Hong Kong’s positionWith all the focus on the U.S., could it be that Hong Kong will play a far greater role in the global crypto ETF business? Yat Siu, the chairman of Web3 investor Animoca Brands, highlighted the encouraging position of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) toward digital assets, laying a foundation for potential spot bitcoin ETFs. Referring to the SFC’s recent statement expressing openness to expanding access to digital assets, Siu emphasized the relatively uncontroversial nature of a spot Bitcoin ETF. He noted: “If you look at what the SFC had said about I think a month ago, it says that it was open to widen access to digital assets. And frankly, Bitcoin spot ETF is, I would say, relatively uncontroversial at the end of the day.” Poised to usher in spot ETFsAs the U.S. inches closer to approving its first spot bitcoin ETF, Hong Kong could likely follow suit, benefiting from the groundwork already laid by U.S. regulators. In fact, just last week both local regulators, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), signaled that they are happy to start to accept applications for the provision of crypto-related spot ETFs. Siu pointed out the abundance of public filings and applications that Hong Kong authorities can reference in shaping their regulatory framework. Julia Leung, SFC CEO, stated in November that the regulator was evaluating spot crypto ETFs while expressing openness to proposals leveraging innovative technology for efficiency and enhanced customer experience. Presently, Hong Kong has listed several futures-based crypto ETFs, including the Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF, CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF and CSOP Ether Futures ETF. Glenn Woo, Head of Sales of APAC at Web3 infrastructure company Blockdaemon, echoed the positive sentiment, noting that while traditional asset managers may have lingering concerns, there is a prevailing appetite for such financial instruments in Hong Kong. Woo, drawing on over a decade of experience in the traditional financial industry in Hong Kong, emphasized the growing interest, anticipating that the appetite will expand further once the U.S. approves its first bitcoin ETF. Hong Kong’s long-standing reputation as a global financial center, combined with the potential of crypto ETF products, will likely boost crypto adoption in the region and the significance of Hong Kong’s role in the sector with it.