Shinhan Bank and SCB TechX Succeed in Stablecoin Remittance Pilot

With Bitcoin prices hitting an all-time high, the daily crypto trading volume in South Korea has surpassed that of the stock market, local media outlet The Financial News reported.  As of yesterday at noon (KST), the local daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies over the past 24 hours stood at over KRW 11.8 trillion, or nearly $9 billion, according to data from crypto platform CoinMarketCap. Meanwhile, the daily trading volume on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or KOSPI, was KRW 11.4 trillion on Friday.  The total daily crypto trading volume was tallied by adding trading volume across Korea’s five major crypto exchanges – Bithumb posted KRW 8.8 trillion, Upbit KRW 2.7 trillion, Coinone KRW 176.4 billion, Gopax KRW 55.2 billion and Korbit KRW 32 billion. Photo by Alexander Mils on UnsplashUnlike stock markets which have a closing time, crypto assets are traded 24/7, which makes it difficult to do an apple-to-apple comparison. Still, the numbers clearly demonstrate retail investors’ bullish sentiment toward the crypto market.  According to the U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase, the Bitcoin price touched $70,199 on Friday (UST), just three days after the flagship coin surpassed $69,000 on March 5, an already record-breaking price in 28 months since November 2021.  Inflation and recession drive retail investors to crypto Financial experts say that Korea’s persistently high inflation and slowing economic growth are driving local retail investors to seek relatively riskier yet high-yielding assets such as cryptocurrencies. Young investors in their 20s and 30s are particularly leaning towards investing in crypto, as they fear not being able to buy houses solely with their wages. Moreover, Koreans’ average monthly real wage declined by 1.1% year-on-year, which marks a continuous decline for two consecutive years since 2022.  Despite the country’s economic slowdown, the KOSPI has actually risen, fueled by capital influx from foreign investors who are expecting a valuation increase in local firms. In contrast, local retail investors are rushing out from the stock market as they see a lack of outperforming companies.  Data from the Korea Exchange (KRX), the sole securities exchange operator in the country, showed that foreign investors purchased KRW 4.4 trillion in stocks over the past month on the KOSPI market, while local retail investors sold KRW 3.3 trillion worth of stocks during the same period.  Local crypto boom prompts ‘Kimchi Premium’ effectThe recent bullish sentiment in the Korean crypto market can largely be attributed to local retail investors, because current laws prohibit foreign investors from trading crypto assets in the country and regulations limit enterprises from making direct investments in crypto.  While the KOSPI market grapples with the so-called Korea Discount effect, which refers to the undervaluation of the Korean stock market, the local crypto market is experiencing the exact opposite trend – crypto investors are benefitting from something called the Kimchi Premium effect, a newly coined term referring to the overvaluation of crypto assets in Korean crypto markets compared to those in their foreign counterparts. As of yesterday at 14:00 (KST), Bitcoin changed hands at KRW 917.4 million on foreign exchanges while at KRW 971.8 million on Korean exchanges, per data from local crypto exchange Upbit.  Cho Dong-keun, a professor at the Economics Department at Myongji University, described the current Korean economic situation as “a competition for the country’s limited wealth”. He said that the stagnant national growth has pushed people to fight for more wealth, urging them to invest in crypto assets, adding that Kimchi Premium could substantially appeal to many retail investors.   

Japan’s FSA Joins Project Guardian of Singapore’s MAS to Explore Digital Asset ApplicationsThe Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Japan has announced its participation in “Project Guardian,” an initiative led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), as part of their ongoing cooperation framework established in 2017 to boost fintech linkages. The FSA will be an observer in the project, which aims to explore the potential of digital assets.Photo by Joshua Miranda on PexelsExploring fintechProject Guardian, initiated by MAS in May 2022, aims to engage the financial industry in exploring the feasibility of incorporating asset tokenization, decentralized finance (DeFi), and other financial technologies. Together, the MAS and the participants of this endeavor aim to execute pilot projects, shape pertinent policies, and establish technical standards.For pilot projects, the MAS works with traditional financial institutions and fintech firms in Singapore and other jurisdictions to understand potential benefits and risks associated with digital assets. For policy development, the project participants strive to develop rulebooks and governance models, as well as to review the legal and regulatory frameworks that govern tokenized assets. These collaborations also seek to establish technical standards concerning trust anchors, which are qualified third-party authentication service providers; open networks; and institutional-grade DeFi protocols.Comments from officialsExpressing enthusiasm about the collaboration, Leong Sing Chiong, Deputy Managing Director of the MAS, stated, “We welcome FSA’s participation in Project Guardian. We look forward to greater public-private collaboration with FSA to support global efforts in developing a responsible and innovative digital asset ecosystem.”Mamoru Yanase, Deputy Director-General of the Strategy Development and Management Bureau at the FSA, also expressed delight at joining Project Guardian. He said, “We are delighted to join the Project Guardian. Decentralized financial ecosystem continues to develop in complexity, and it is important to address emerging risks. Blockchain technology including web3 has a potential to become a strong driver of innovation. We look forward to working with MAS, traditional financial institutions and FinTech firms to further enhance our knowledge in this area.”By participating in Project Guardian, the FSA and MAS are reinforcing their commitment to exploring the potential of digital assets while addressing regulatory considerations. This collaborative effort is poised to contribute to the responsible and innovative development of the global digital asset ecosystem.

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.