Welcome to the Asia Pacific Morning Brief—your essential digest of overnight crypto developments shaping regional markets and global sentiment. Grab a green tea and watch this space.
Vietnam’s Da Nang launches Asia’s first FATF-compliant crypto payment sandbox while Korea’s FSS inspects Bithumb for ignoring lending service suspension orders, highlighting regional regulatory divergence.
Vietnam Launches First FATF-Compliant Crypto Payment Pilot Program
Da Nang, Vietnam’s coastal tourism hub and third-largest economic center, has approved the country’s first blockchain payment pilot program. The Basal Pay project will test cryptocurrency-to-fiat conversions for international tourists. This marks Vietnam’s inaugural fintech sandbox initiative using international compliance standards.
Developed by AlphaTrue Solutions, the system converts digital assets within seconds. Compared to traditional methods, the platform reduces transaction costs by approximately 30%. It fully integrates FATF Travel Rule standards for anti-money laundering compliance.
The 36-month trial spans five development phases under city supervision. Vietnam ranks fifth globally in crypto adoption with over 17 million users. This pilot could help remove Vietnam from the FATF’s grey list.
Korea’s FSS Inspects Bithumb Over Ignored Regulatory Guidance
South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service launched an on-site inspection of Bithumb exchange. The cryptocurrency platform ignored regulatory guidance to halt new crypto lending services. While competitor Upbit suspended its “coin borrowing” feature, Bithumb continued operations despite warnings.
BeInCrypto’s Asian Coverage
Asian cities compete for financial hub dominance as stablecoin regulations reshape regional monetary landscape.
Former Binance CEO CZ revealed he advises twelve governments on crypto policy while predicting AI-blockchain integration.
Korean industry leaders urged faster stablecoin regulation while central bank opposes private token issuance.
UAE government accumulated 6,333 Bitcoin worth $700 million through state-controlled mining operations.
Hong Kong pushes RWA tokenization and ETF trading despite high compliance costs exceeding $800,000.
North Korea’s Lazarus Group stole $1.6 billion in crypto during 2025’s first half.
Japanese brokerage Monex considers launching yen-pegged stablecoin backed by government bonds.
Former Bitmain executives launched B Strategy targeting $1 billion BNB treasury with CZ backing.
More Highlights
Donald Trump Jr. invested double-digit millions in Polymarket despite advising competitor Kalshi since January.
Ethereum faces potential drop to $4,000 as investors sold $2.3 billion worth.
Bitcoin eyes $100,000-$107,000 support zone after 94% of traders were liquidated recently.
AI tokens tumbled over 7% after Musk sued Apple and OpenAI for billions.
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