As concerns rise about a potential wave of hacker attacks aided by artificial intelligence, Asian cryptocurrency exchanges are eager to strengthen their security measures; at the same time, governments in the region are embracing tokenization and stablecoins.

India warns: AI-driven hackers are targeting crypto exchanges at "machine speed"

The National Cybersecurity Agency of India has warned that a AI assisted threat actor has escalated attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges and other financial institutions, stealing wallet keys and transferring funds.

On Wednesday, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team ( CERT-In ) identified the threat actor as “ CRAFTY FALCON ” and explicitly listed cryptocurrency exchanges as one of the affected enterprises.

CERT-In indicates that 'threats are still actively ongoing.' CSIRT-Fin continues to receive reports of successful attacks, including those against non-bank financial companies ( NBFC ) and fintech entities that had previously received early warnings and have already made repairs.

This warning further indicates that hackers are using the AI tool to attack financial institutions. In October, cybersecurity company CrowdStrike reported that an unidentified attacker used ARTEX – a penetration testing tool from AI which also appeared in notifications from CERT-In – and combined it with Claude Code and other AI models to infiltrate Korean financial companies and steal data.

South Korea

South Korea urges exchanges to increase the proportion of cold storage in response to the attack on Binance

After the Financial Services Commission of South Korea suffered an attack worth $6.3 billion on Binance, it urged domestic cryptocurrency exchanges to increase the proportion of assets stored in cold wallets.

FSC indicates that emergency meetings have been held with other regulatory agencies, cybersecurity organizations, and crypto service providers to review security measures.

The meeting reviewed the exchange's IT access control, wallet withdrawal approval and signing processes, as well as administrator permissions. FSC also urged service providers to increase the proportion of assets in offline cold wallets. However, Korean law already requires exchanges to store at least 80% of users' encrypted assets in cold storage; among them, Upbit stores 99.17% of its assets in cold wallets, Bithumb stores 94.76%, and Coinone stores 85%.

South Korean central bank investigates financial institutions' exposure to crypto risks

The South Korean central bank is investigating 31 financial institutions to find out how the closure of a major exchange, a prolonged slump in the crypto market, or losses incurred by another institution would affect their operations.

Other issues also include: the continued sluggish trading after a significant drop in cryptocurrency prices, and what kind of chain reactions might occur if another financial institution suffers major losses due to crypto-related events.

"Absurd remarks": North Korea denies any involvement in the $6.3 billion Binance hacking incident

Despite clear evidence indicating that hacker groups associated with North Korea have been stealing billions of dollars from cryptocurrency exchanges over the years, Pyongyang still claims to be unrelated to the $6.3 billion Binance hacking incident and suggests that the real culprits may be Americans.

Kim and Jeong stated: “FBI attempts to portray the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as a ‘cybercrime nation’, claiming that information obtained by them indicates that a hacker group supported by North Korea was involved in this incident. However, the statements from the United States are purely absurd and lack any novelty.”

South Korea has set 2029 as the deadline for postponing the crypto tax again.

The South Korean government has decided to postpone the taxation of cryptocurrency gains for another two years, until 2029. Given the previous rocky history of this tax policy, it would not be surprising if there is another extension by that time.

Hong Kong

Crypto.com to withdraw from Hong Kong consumer apps due to regulatory changes

Crypto.com will cease providing consumer-oriented application services in Hong Kong starting from February 1, 2027, while continuing to seek regulatory approval for its institutional exchange.

Crypto.com A spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the company will cease its consumer application services in Hong Kong. The spokesperson stated that all affected customers have been notified in advance and will receive guidance on how to close their accounts as well as support for withdrawing their funds.

Nearly three years after the local entity submitted its license application, its status is still "deemed to have obtained a license" – this is a transitional status, not an official regulatory approval.

Animoca Brands clears the last obstacles in Abu Dhabi's fund management business

Animoca Brands, headquartered in Hong Kong, has been approved to manage investment funds for non-retail customers in Abu Dhabi.

This authorization was granted by the Abu Dhabi Global Markets Financial Services Regulatory Authority ( FSRA ) to its subsidiary Animoca Asset Management ( AD ) Limited , enabling it to manage funds funded by professional investors rather than the general public.

This will expand the company's asset management business. The company initially started with mobile games, then shifted to blockchain games, caught the metaverse craze, and became an important participant in the venture capital field.

Hong Kong expands tokenized settlement to 24/7 and plans a stablecoin pilot program

Hong Kong has expanded the pilot of the “Ensemble Project”, allowing tokenized transactions to be settled around the clock; at the same time, the city’s monetary regulatory authority is preparing to include regulated stablecoins in the pilot involving tokenized government debt.

Hong Kong opens secondary market trading for tokenized funds

Recently, Hong Kong officially authorized licensed exchanges to open secondary market trading for tokenized funds authorized by SFC. Money market funds from two Chinese asset management companies can now be continuously traded through PantherTrade and the Futu Niuniu app.

Thailand

Thailand will impose a lockdown on Bitget in December due to unlicensed crypto transactions.

The Thai securities regulatory authority has filed a criminal complaint against BG Limited – the operator of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitget – accusing it of operating without a license. The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission will block access to the website and app starting from December 5th.

Regulatory authorities advise users to take action regarding their assets on the platform before the deadline.

Australia

Australia raises interest rates to a 18-year high; the AI craze and energy costs drive up inflation

The Australian Central Bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.85% on Tuesday, and warned that inflation would remain high for most of 2027 due to pressure on prices driven by energy costs and investments related to AI.

The Reserve Bank of Australia's Monetary Policy Committee voted 6 to 3 in favor of raising interest rates, with three members preferring to keep the rate unchanged at 4.60%.

The projection for bringing inflation back to the upper end of the 2% to 3% target range has been postponed to the end of 2027, which is about three quarters later than previously anticipated.

How Australian Bitcoin Investors Can Avoid the Capital Gains Tax Impact in 2027

The Australian government abolished the 50% capital gains tax discount applicable to all investments in its May budget, a decision that came as a surprise to crypto asset holders. The new scheme will effectively double the taxable income, with only a small portion of inflationary discounts being deducted.

Some Australian crypto holders are taking radical measures – for example, the founder of Finder, crypto entrepreneur Fred Schebesta, is moving to Singapore, where the capital gains tax rate is 0%, and he described this tax change as a “fatal blow.” However, there are also less radical ways to reduce capital gains tax bills, including setting up self-managed pension funds (SMSF), trading cryptocurrencies through companies at corporate tax rates, or hoping that the opposition party will overturn these changes after the next election.

Japan

JPYC marks its first anniversary, but its circulation has only reached a quarter of the target.

The Japanese yen stablecoin JPYC celebrates its first anniversary of issuance, with a circulating supply of about 3 billion yen, which is only one quarter of its internal target.

Blackstone signs a Memorandum of Understanding with SBI for a Yen Stablecoin Tokenization Fund

BlackRock, BlackRock Japan, SBI Holdings, and Startale have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the connection of tokenized money market funds with SBI's Japanese yen stablecoin, JPYSC.

Vietnam

Vietnam requires crypto exchanges to report "incidents" within 24 hours

The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance stipulates that licensed cryptocurrency exchanges must report security incidents and rectification plans within 24 hours.

Singapore

Five banks establish tokenization standard institutions in Singapore

Five major banks, including HSBC, Kinexys under JPMorgan Chase, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Forge under Societe Generale of France, and Standard Chartered Bank, have established a Global Layer One Organization ( GL1 ) in Singapore. This non-profit organization aims to promote the standardization of the tokenized financial market.