Bybit suspends services in India amid regulatory blowback

The Philippines Forging Crypto Reg. Path US Could Learn FromThe Philippines has demonstrated best practice in operating a sensible regulatory framework relative to cryptocurrency while the United States has erred by engaging in regulation via enforcement while responding after the horse has bolted in relation to a string of crypto company collapses. That’s according to Robert De Guzman, Head of Legal Compliance at Philippines-based cryptocurrency exchange Coins.ph.©Unsplash/C BuezaIn an opinion piece published in Forkcast News on Tuesday, De Guzman lays out his view as to what’s required in terms of regulation, while drawing comparisons between the application of regulation relative to crypto in both jurisdictions.The need for “sensible” regulationDe Guzman believes that the crypto industry’s recent failures are a wake-up call for the whole sector. Losses of billions of dollars affected Celsius Network, BlockFi, Voyager Digital, Genesis, and FTX, and led to Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), and Signature banks’ collapse in a week. To maintain consumers’ trust, he believes that sensible regulation is necessary for the crypto exchanges dealing with digital assets.The legal compliance expert cites the FTX collapse. FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried’s empire was among the largest collapses. FTX pretended to support regulation, but its true nature was an offshore exchange for global clients. Nonetheless, some businesses act on their regulation support by acquiring licenses and complying with central bank audits in the countries of operation.State-level and industry-level regulationThe crypto industry being open to self regulation is one element of the solution, he says. Regulators must proactively protect their consumers from scams and business failures, not just clean up the mess after millions of people have been harmed.Regulatory failuresDe Guzman points the finger at reactionary regulatory action. Regulators filed charges against crypto industry founders after their collapse. Previously, they missed the problems of the largest companies. FTX, based in the Bahamas, was mismanaged, and American regulators only responded after customer issues. Regulations by enforcement, preferred in several countries, wait for failure to happen before taking action. Over-regulation through enforcement pushes platforms offshore, where Wild West-type environments thrive, with clear consequences.Regulators in some countries focus on surface-level questions, like which tokens should be considered securities, while others, like in the Philippines, prioritize execution-level details to protect consumers. Anti-money laundering measures and custody are core issues, with the G-7’s Financial Action Task Force’s Travel Rule likely to be more strictly applied. Active regulation and audits are needed to ensure financial platforms act responsibly with customer deposits. Basic rules need to be put in place through a licensing regime, followed by regulation of market practices like commingling of assets, self-dealing, and trading against customers.The Philippines sensible approach to regulationThe Coins.ph legal guru holds out his home country as exemplary in terms of its approach to regulation. The Philippines’ regulatory regime requires a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license to operate a crypto exchange, as well as additional licenses for other services. The country’s central bank, BSP, directly regulates all crypto exchanges and expands its crypto regulations to adapt to market needs. KYC processes in the Philippines require recognition of valid ID documents from across 82 provinces.Additionally, the BSP expects the industry to cooperate in quarterly audits where they share balance sheet information and disclose digital assets in hot and cold wallets. Regulators in the Philippines are proactive and knowledgeable about the crypto space, which sets a sensible framework based on customer protection.

Hana Financial Group, one of South Korea’s largest financial institutions, plans to establish a new task force focused on digital assets, according to a report by News1. The move comes as the cryptocurrency market continues to expand and institutional adoption grows worldwide.Photo by POURIA 🦋 on UnsplashGroupwide crypto task forceThe company intends to use the task force to develop a coordinated response system linking its banking, card, and securities subsidiaries. It also plans to introduce crypto-related products, services, and infrastructure in line with forthcoming legislation on digital assets. As its first initiative, the task force will focus on stablecoin-related projects, including issuance and reserve management. Another key objective is to build a merchant network that enables customers to make payments using stablecoins. Beyond its crypto initiatives, Hana Financial Group also aims to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to advance its digital finance capabilities. Ongoing AI research at the Hana Institute of Technology will serve as the foundation for integrating AI across the group’s subsidiaries, with a particular focus on enhancing sales divisions. Commenting on the initiative, Chairman Ham Young-joo said the group will strengthen its capabilities in both crypto and AI, underlining the transformative potential of digital assets in capital markets and payment networks. Paycoin expands retail acceptanceThe rising adoption of cryptocurrencies in South Korea is reflected in Paycoin’s (PCI) recent expansion into the convenience store chain Emart24. Operated by Danal Fintech, the blockchain affiliate of Danal, Paycoin now allows customers to make purchases with its PCI tokens at Emart24 locations, according to a report by Etoday. With 7-Eleven scheduled to start accepting PCI later this month, the digital asset will soon be usable across all four major convenience store chains in the country, joining CU and GS25, which already support it. Building on this momentum, Paycoin aims to expand its utility across a wider range of sectors, including restaurants, sports facilities, shopping malls, and accommodations. The platform has already established a presence at well-known eateries such as Domino’s and Pizza Hut, as well as at Dal.Komm, Danal’s coffee chain. Market manipulation probesHowever, the growing acceptance of digital assets has also brought side effects—specifically, a rise in crypto-related crimes. Amid stricter oversight, South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has voted to refer alleged cryptocurrency market manipulators to law enforcement. The decision concerns two separate cases, Edaily reported. In the first case, a suspect is accused of generating illicit profits by artificially inflating the price of a particular cryptocurrency. The individual reportedly accumulated tokens worth billions of Korean won before placing a series of sell orders at higher prices. Using an application programming interface (API), the suspect repeatedly executed these orders, prompting ordinary investors to buy in and drive prices even higher—ultimately securing profits for the manipulator. The second case involves multiple individuals accused of employing similar methods across various tokens. They allegedly used APIs to automate trades, creating false impressions of high trading volumes and inflated prices to reap unlawful gains. These developments offer a broader view of how South Korea’s nascent digital asset industry is taking shape. The growing presence of cryptocurrencies in everyday life reflects Seoul’s push to align with the global trend of embracing crypto as both a new payment method and an emerging asset class. While crime prevention and investor protection remain key concerns, forthcoming legislation is expected to give regulators clearer guidelines. Ranked 15th worldwide in crypto adoption in this year’s Chainalysis study, South Korea continues to stand out as a market that merits close attention from investors and industry observers alike. 

MHC Digital Group, an Australian digital assets management platform, has entered into a partnership with USDC stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Financial, with a view towards increasing the circulation of USDC within Australia and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. MHC was founded by well-known venture investor Mark Carnegie, with the company having offices in Sydney and Singapore. The firm will work with Circle to distribute USDC in Australia and within the APAC region. MHC has been marketing its services towards institutional investors and it’s that same client group that the two firms want to target in order to increase USDC circulation. The firm will provide “cost-effective and efficient USDC access” where institutional clients are concerned.Photo by Catarina Sousa on PexelsCrypto ‘a better mousetrap’ In a media release published on behalf of the two companies, Carnegie claimed that while many people still claim that there is no use case for crypto, hundreds of billions move globally at a fraction of the cost experienced via the traditional financial system. “Crypto is simply a better mouse trap for the vast majority of international payments,” he added. Commenting on the development in an interview with the Australian Financial Review, Carnegie stated:“I’m hoping we can show there are hundreds of millions of dollars of forex [foreign exchange] trading fees, where super funds are getting their faces ripped off by Macquarie Bank and the other incumbent banks.” Appealing to pension funds Carnegie wants to get large pension funds on board in using USDC. He pointed to the fact that global banks make $170 billion from corporations and individual investors through the movement of funds over the SWIFT network. He can see that major savings can be made if USDC is used relative to these fees. Despite all this, Carnegie acknowledges that it will be a hard sell to get them on board. As part of these plans, MHC Digital will be launching an over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk, which will be targeted towards hedge funds, crypto enterprises and high-net-worth individuals. APAC opportunity Kash Razzaghi, Circle’s chief business officer (CBO), identified APAC as presenting with an adoption opportunity beyond institutional clients. Razzaghi stated: “With its young, mobile-first and digital wallet-ready population, the Asia Pacific region is ahead of the curve when it comes to digital asset adoption." Carnegie appears to be similarly enthusiastic when it comes to the APAC region. In an interview with CNBC back in January, he suggested that the crypto bull run was “an Asian story this time round.” It’s understood that the two companies are also considering collaborating on the issuance and distribution of an Australian dollar (AUD) denominated stablecoin. This development is the latest in a string of initiatives taken by Circle to bring about USDC adoption in the APAC region. In 2023 the company partnered with SBI Holdings with the objective of enhancing the circulation of USDC within the Japanese market. The very same rationale resulted in it partnering with Tokyo-based crypto trading platform Coincheck in February 2024. The company has also tried to trigger adoption at a retail level, through collaborations with FamilyMart convenience stores in Taiwan and Southeast Asian super app Grab.