Asia

June 29, 2026 @ 10:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

A recent development within India’s cryptocurrency sector has highlighted how the country is not yet full prepared to enable responsible digital assets adoption. The local premium on Tether‘s USDT stablecoin has climbed above 8.5 percent. This marks a sharp increase from the typical range of… Read More

June 29, 2026 @ 8:34 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Philippines is accelerating its shift toward digital financial inclusion by integrating fintech platforms into government assistance programs. A key example is the recent collaboration between the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and Maya, which enables the electronic delivery of fuel subsidies to… Read More

June 29, 2026 @ 3:35 am By Omar Faridi  |  

SBI Holdings has agreed to acquire bitbank, one of Japan’s cryptocurrency exchanges, in a deal valued at approximately ¥46.7 billion (around $289 million). The transaction, announced on June 25, 2026, positions the financial services giant to significantly expand its footprint in the domestic digital asset… Read More

June 29, 2026 @ 1:22 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore have jointly published the Phase 1 report of the PayNow Generation 2 initiative, charting a clear path to evolve the nation’s flagship instant payments platform. Released on 25 June 2026, the document… Read More

June 28, 2026 @ 2:53 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Lion Group Holding Ltd. is investing up to $12 million in an Indonesian financial technology company developing a rupiah-backed stablecoin, expanding the Nasdaq-listed firm’s digital asset strategy as Southeast Asia’s largest economy moves toward regulated blockchain-based payments. The investment in PT Nusantara Bumi Sangkara will… Read More

June 28, 2026 @ 1:05 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Philippine private equity firm Navegar has secured a $15 million commitment from Sweden’s development finance institution Swedfund for its third private equity fund, adding fresh capital to back mid-sized companies as investors continue to see opportunities in one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economies. The investment… Read More

June 28, 2026 @ 10:07 am By Michael Wong  |  

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, is moving to make digital transaction fees fairer and more transparent by requiring banks, e-wallet operators and other payment service providers to justify how they price electronic payment services. Under Circular No. 1238,… Read More

June 27, 2026 @ 4:55 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Private equity and venture capital firms across Asia-Pacific are finding it increasingly difficult to raise new funds as institutional investors become more selective, with fundraising overtaking exits as the industry’s biggest challenge, according to a new survey. The survey, released by DealStreetAsia and Vistra Fund… Read More

June 27, 2026 @ 12:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

TRM Labs has pointed out that wildlife trafficking stands as one of the planet’s most destructive and profitable criminal enterprises. TRM Labs also explained in a blog post that it now generates between $23 billion and as much as $281 billion annually when linked crimes… Read More

June 27, 2026 @ 12:13 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Airwallex’s jump in valuation to $11 billion was driven by both growth in its core payments business and investor confidence in its artificial intelligence strategy, Arnold Chan, the company’s general manager for Asia-Pacific, told Crowdfund Insider. The global payments and financial platform raised $320 million… Read More

June 27, 2026 @ 8:42 am By Omar Faridi  |  

In its recently released APAC Private Capital Outlook / Midyear Update, PitchBook’s research team provides a comprehensive assessment of how private equity and venture capital markets in the Asia-Pacific region have performed during the first half of the year. The research report from PitchBook highlights… Read More

June 27, 2026 @ 8:24 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Shares of SoftBank Group Corp. dropped sharply on June 26, 2026, falling more than 12 percent in Tokyo trading. The decline marked the steepest single-session loss for the Japanese investment firm since August 2024 and reflected growing investor unease following reports that OpenAI may postpone… Read More

June 26, 2026 @ 2:44 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Elliptic believes that Hong Kong has emerged as one of the most attractive destinations for institutional players seeking to engage with digital assets. Its carefully constructed regulatory environment is providing the clarity and infrastructure that traditional financial institutions need to participate at scale. The company… Read More

June 25, 2026 @ 8:39 am By JD Alois  |  

Ripple shares that its dollar-based stablecoin $RLUSD is now available in Japan. The company said that the Japanese Financial Services Agency has approved the stablecoin. Ripple partnered with SBI Group and VCTRADE to gain approval. Ripple has worked with SBI Group since 2016. SBI Group… Read More

June 25, 2026 @ 12:37 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Elliptic has pointed out that US authorities have dealt another major blow to one of the largest criminal networks exploiting cryptocurrency, seizing cloud computing resources used by subsidiaries of Cambodia’s Huione Group. The action relied on detailed blockchain intelligence supplied by Elliptic, a leading firm… Read More

June 24, 2026 @ 8:23 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Chainlink has joined forces with banking consortia from Europe and South Korea to launch Project Pangea. The initiative seeks to enable near-instantaneous settlement of euro-to-South Korean won foreign exchange transactions using regulated stablecoins, replacing the traditional multi-day delays that currently characterize much of the global… Read More

June 22, 2026 @ 7:53 am By Omar Faridi  |  

China has reportedly taken a significant step toward further expanding the international reach of its central bank digital currency by signing direct participation agreements with 26 financial institutions for cross-border digital yuan transactions. The latest agreements, finalized in Shanghai, grant the institutions access to the… Read More

June 22, 2026 @ 4:55 am By Michael Wong  |  

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, has increased the maximum repayment period for salary-based consumer loans to seven years, a move aimed at making credit more affordable for borrowers while reinforcing responsible lending standards among banks and other regulated… Read More

June 22, 2026 @ 2:02 am By Michael Wong  |  

Hong Kong companies are investing an average of $214 million in AI, about 17% above the global average, as financial institutions and multinational corporations step up spending on the technology, a DLA Piper spokesperson told Crowdfund Insider. The average AI investment in Hong Kong stands… Read More

June 22, 2026 @ 12:06 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) have jointly announced the launch of a pilot project on 18 June 2026. This initiative explores an innovative digital payment option designed to support margin requirements during the after-hours trading (AHT)… Read More