Asia's weekly TOP10 crypto news (Jan 27 to Feb 2)

Feb 02, 2025

1. Trump Signed an Executive Order to Impose Tariffs on Goods from Canada, Mexico and China link

The Wall Street Journal reporter Nick Timiraos wrote that Trump issued an executive order to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian goods, except for energy products, which will be subject to a 10% tariff, authorized by the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA), and the tariffs will take effect on Tuesday. Meanwhile, on the 1st, US President Trump also signed an executive order to impose additional tariffs of 25% and 10% on goods imported from Mexico and China respectively. Affected by this, the risk market declined and Bitcoin dropped to a minimum of $100,279.

Macro analyst Jiang Jinze pointed out that the biggest macro risk this year, Trump’s large — scale tariff increase, came to fruition this Saturday. It now appears that Trump is very determined about significantly and generally raising tariffs, and this is just the first step, with more tariffs expected to follow soon. Trump doesn’t seem to be afraid of economic and market fluctuations. In his original words, “There may be some temporary, short — term disruptions, and people will understand that.” The economy and the financial market, which is highly dependent on technology stocks, have fallen into great chaos.

2. Hong Kong Legislative Council 2025 Special Bulletin: Stablecoin Bill Under Detailed Deliberation link

Recently, the Secretariat of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, China, released a “Special Express” summarizing the latest progress and policy measures in financial services. The “Express” indicates that Hong Kong has been continuously making headway in areas such as asset management, the connectivity of capital markets, green finance, and fintech. The “Stablecoin Bill” mentioned therein is currently under review. It intends to introduce a licensing system for stablecoin issuers, providing a specific regulatory framework for the virtual asset industry. Additionally, the House Committee of the Legislative Council has established a sub — committee to examine the application and development of Web3 and virtual asset technologies in Hong Kong and to put forward suggestions regarding the implementation of relevant regulations and policies.

3. South Korean Prosecutors’ Office to Officially Establish a Joint Investigation Unit for Cryptocurrency Crimes link

The South Korean Ministry of Justice announced in a notice that the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office will establish a joint investigation unit for virtual asset crimes to respond to virtual asset crimes in an efficient and systematic manner, and adjust the staffing of the prosecution service. In July 2023, the prosecution service, along with the Financial Supervisory Service, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the Korea Exchange, the National Tax Service, the Korea Customs Service, and the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation, formed a joint investigation team for virtual asset crimes. This team filed cases against 41 individuals, detained 18 people, and recovered 141 billion won in ill — gotten gains within one year, achieving remarkable results. Therefore, the prosecution service proposed the formal establishment of this unit. It is understood that the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution service have been discussing this matter since the second half of last year and plan to adjust the legal system to support the establishment of this unit. The Ministry of Justice will collect opinions on the revised enforcement regulations by February 5th. It is expected that this unit will be formally established as early as February or at the latest in March.

4. Indonesia’s Cryptocurrency Transaction Volume Grew by 335.9% in 2024, Exceeding $40 Billion link

In 2024, the cryptocurrency trading activity in Indonesia witnessed a growth of 335.9%, reaching 650.61 trillion Indonesian rupiah ($40.2 billion). The Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti) attributed this growth to the increase in the number of users and trading volumes. As of November 2024, the number of registered cryptocurrency users in Indonesia rose to 22.1 million. Tirta Karma Senjaya, the head of Bappebti, pointed out that the public’s confidence in cryptocurrency trading has increased and optimistically stated that the user base will exceed 25 million in the near future. The most actively traded cryptocurrencies in Indonesia include USDT, BTC, DOGE, PEPE and XRP.

5. Status Quo of Local Cryptocurrency Exchanges in Iran: Tens of Millions of Users, Harsh US Sanctions link

Due to the primary and secondary sanctions imposed by the United States, international centralized exchanges are prohibited from providing services to Iranian users. Stringent Know — Your — Customer (KYC) and Anti — Money — Laundering (AML) regulations have made it nearly impossible for Iranians to access these platforms legally. Consequently, since the middle of 2017, with the Trump administration taking office and intensifying sanctions against Iran, local entrepreneurs have designed centralized exchanges specifically serving the Iranian market, filling the void left by international platforms.

Research indicates that there are 90 cryptocurrency exchanges operating in Iran, with over 10 of them functioning as centralized exchanges, offering websites and applications for users. Data shows that approximately 15 to 19 million Iranians are active in the cryptocurrency market, accounting for about one — fifth of Iran’s total population.

Nobitex, the largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange in Iran, has 6 million active users and has drawn international attention due to its large scale. In May 2024, two US senators sent letters to the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the National Security Advisor, expressing concerns about Nobitex’s alleged involvement in activities that could facilitate money — laundering and terrorist financing for the Iranian government.

Investigations from Iranian sources, industry insiders, and Open — Source Intelligence (OSINT) suggest that Nobitex may have connections with the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and may be collaborating with the government in violating international and US sanctions related to money — laundering and terrorist financing. This might explain the extensive support the platform receives from certain government departments.

The Iranian economy is under significant pressure due to sanctions, high inflation, and increasing taxes. These conditions have prompted many citizens to turn to cryptocurrencies to preserve wealth and conduct transactions. While local centralized exchanges provide users with convenient channels under international restrictions, they come with significant risks, including potential government surveillance and asset freezes due to sanctions. Users are advised to stay informed, conduct due diligence, and consider alternative methods of managing cryptocurrency assets. Exploring decentralized platforms or adopting strict personal security measures may offer safer ways to participate in the cryptocurrency market.

6. Metaplanet Announced Plans to Raise 116 Billion Yen through New Shares to Buy Bitcoin link

The Japanese publicly traded company Metaplanet has announced that it will issue 21 million new share subscription rights at a 0% discount rate to raise approximately 116 billion yen (about $745 million) for the further purchase of Bitcoin. This will be one of the largest financing plans for Bitcoin purchases in the history of Asian stock markets.

7. Rosseti, Russia’s Largest Power Grid Company, Plans to Develop Cryptocurrency Mining Business Using Power Supply Centers with Low Load Prospects link

Rosseti, Russia’s largest power grid company, plans to develop cryptocurrency mining operations at power supply centers with a low load outlook and intends to become a coordinating operator for the deployment of mining infrastructure. Rosseti stated that by introducing mining operations, it can improve the utilization rate of idle power resources, increase the load of power supply centers, and at the same time boost the company’s electricity revenue as well as the local economy and tax revenues. Currently, Rosseti is discussing measures related to participating in mining development and stimulating the demand of low — load power supply centers, including the possible introduction of a separate electricity tariff category as a demand management tool. Previously, Andrey Rumin, the president of Rosseti, had sent a letter to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, hoping to obtain the authority to coordinate the deployment of mining farms in various regions of Russia.

8. SoftBank Announced Plans to Buy 10.4 Million Shares of Cipher Mining, Worth about $50 Million link

Bitcoin mining company Cipher Mining (CIFR) has announced that it has secured an investment of $50 million from SoftBank. SoftBank will acquire 10.4 million shares of the company. Cipher Mining stated that it will utilize this capital to bolster the development of its High — Performance Computing (HPC) data centers.

9. OKX Released the 27th Proof of Asset Reserve (Snapshot Date: January 1–10) link

OKX has released its twenty — seventh Proof of Reserves (with a snapshot date of January 10th). The amount of users’ BTC assets stands at 126,000, a 3.71% decrease compared to the previous time (December 13th), with a reduction of 4,854 BTC. The amount of users’ ETH assets is 1,783,000, registering a 1.01% increase over the previous period, with an addition of 17,000 ETH. The amount of users’ USDT assets is 7.77 billion, showing a 9.19% decline compared to the previous time, with a decrease of 787 million USDT. Data from Defillama indicates that OKX’s current reserve assets amount to $28.69 billion.

10. He Yi: Binance’s Maximum Year-End Bonus is 10.2 Million RMB link

He Yi, the co — founder of Binance, stated in a WeChat group that this year, 172 employees at Binance received year — end bonuses exceeding 1 million yuan, and 3,271 employees received bonuses exceeding 100,000 yuan. The highest bonus amount was 10.2 million yuan.

The total number of employees evaluated for the year — end assessment at Binance is 5,049. This means that 3,271 employees, accounting for 64.8% of the total workforce, received year — end bonuses exceeding $14,000. Binance still has over a thousand vacant positions.

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