Asia

June 7, 2026 @ 6:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has recently indicated that a shadow economy centered on peptides has expanded into a significant financial force, surpassing a $100 million annual transaction volume through cryptocurrency channels. Once limited to dedicated biohackers seeking performance and health optimizations, this market has surged… Read More

June 7, 2026 @ 3:58 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Bangladesh-based AB Bank PLC has launched the pilot phase of a new digital lending platform that uses artificial intelligence to automate loan approvals and disbursements, underscoring the growing adoption of AI-powered financial services across emerging markets. The bank said its new service, called “AB e-Loan,”… Read More

June 7, 2026 @ 12:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

  Stablecoins or digital tokens pegged to dominant fiat currencies such as the US dollar or the Euro have evolved thanks to major improvements to their underlying technology as well as progressive regulations under the Trump Administration. And whenever the United States leads in an… Read More

June 7, 2026 @ 12:53 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Thailand’s KASIKORNBANK (KBank) and Ant International have entered a partnership to create new financial infrastructure. This collab aims to enable seamless, high-speed cross-border transactions, particularly focusing on real-time USD movements. By incorporating JPMorgan’s (NYSE:JPM) Kinexys platform, the initiative aims to effectively address longstanding inefficiencies in… Read More

June 6, 2026 @ 1:16 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Asia-Pacific led global high-net-worth individual wealth growth for the second straight year in 2025, as strong stock market performance and semiconductor demand helped drive gains across the region, according to Capgemini’s World Wealth Report 2026. HNWI wealth in Asia-Pacific rose 10.5%, the fastest among major… Read More

June 5, 2026 @ 1:23 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

On June 2, 2026, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took significant action by designating four prominent Iranian cryptocurrency platforms—Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex—along with key individuals associated with Nobitex. This move underscores ongoing efforts to disrupt financial networks… Read More

June 4, 2026 @ 3:16 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) has recently announced the conclusion of a large-scale collaborative effort targeting scam operations. The initiative, involving major technology firms and U.S. law enforcement, resulted in the freezing of more than $3 million linked to fraudulent networks primarily active in Southeast Asia. This outcome… Read More

June 3, 2026 @ 4:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

Stablecoin issuer Tether will offer a gold-backed card in partnership with Fasset, according to a block post. The company claims this is a “world’s first” gold-backed neobank card. Fasset, based in Dubai, is regulated by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority and holds both a VASP… Read More

June 3, 2026 @ 2:07 am By Omar Faridi  |  

A research report released recently by global Fintech firm Thunes with assistance from Juniper Research has introduced a Cross-Border Payments Interoperability Index which reveals that while domestic payment systems have achieved remarkable speed and efficiency, these advancements often halt abruptly at national boundaries, leaving cross-border… Read More

June 3, 2026 @ 12:19 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based DBS Group (SGX:D05) is set to significantly strengthen its wealth management operations by launching 18 new wealth centres and upgrading 36 existing ones across key Asia-Pacific markets by the end of 2027. This initiative represents the largest physical expansion in the bank’s wealth franchise… Read More

June 2, 2026 @ 5:40 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Hong Kong’s monetary authority said it will develop a Digital Asset Platform later this year to support the issuance and settlement of digital bonds and, in the future, other digital assets. The move comes as the city looks to deepen its role as a “super… Read More

June 2, 2026 @ 9:16 am By JD Alois  |  

Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN)has launched its investing platform in India. India is a massive market of around 1.48 billion individuals. Yet only around 9.5% of the market invests in securities. Regarding crypto, estimates range from 90 to 127 million investors trade. These are mostly a younger demographic. In… Read More

June 1, 2026 @ 7:07 am By Michael Wong  |  

Ascend Bank, the virtual bank backed by Charoen Pokphand Group, is expected to debut in July, CP Group senior vice-chairman Suphachai Chearavanont said. The planned launch comes after rival Clicx Bank announced earlier this week it plans to launch its mobile app on June 19,… Read More

June 1, 2026 @ 2:36 am By Michael Wong  |  

Southeast Asia’s AI infrastructure market is still young, uneven, and heavily concentrated in Singapore. The sector has drawn about $1.2 billion in disclosed equity funding across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand from 2015 to 2026, according to a report by private market data platform Tracxn…. Read More

May 31, 2026 @ 4:26 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The US government has continued to adopt an overly aggressive financial strategy against Tehran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has recently disclosed that American authorities have confiscated roughly $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency linked to Iran. The announcement underscores the effectiveness of ongoing efforts to disrupt… Read More

May 31, 2026 @ 11:55 am By Michael Wong  |  

Hong Kong’s monetary authority said regulated stablecoins in the city are expected to be launched in the next few months, as it moves digital finance initiatives from experimentation to real-value transactions. Howard Lee, deputy chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, said Hong Kong’s… Read More

May 31, 2026 @ 3:05 am By Michael Wong  |  

Singapore’s central bank said it has issued a circular guiding financial institutions to establish a client’s source of wealth in a risk-proportionate way, as part of efforts to make account opening in the wealth management industry more efficient while maintaining sound regulatory standards. The Monetary… Read More

May 31, 2026 @ 12:44 am By Michael Wong  |  

Hong Kong’s banking system recorded a broad increase in deposits in April, with renminbi deposits rising mainly on corporate fund flows even as cross-border trade settlement remittances declined from the previous month. Total deposits with authorized institutions increased by 1.5% in April, according to statistics… Read More

May 30, 2026 @ 8:31 am By Michael Wong  |  

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, and the Insurance Commission highlighted the potential of bundling parametric insurance with credit in enhancing lending to climate-exposed sectors. Parametric insurance provides automatic payouts once predefined weather thresholds are met. When bundled with… Read More

May 29, 2026 @ 4:46 pm By JD Alois  |  

Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) and Kalshi have been approved to offer perpetual crypto futures trading. In a series of updates, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that “certain crypto asset perpetuals” will be allowed via a no-action letter. Coinbase Financial Markets (CFM), a subsidiary of Coinbase,… Read More