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Our weekly roundup of stories from Asia curates the trade’s most vital developments.
Southeast Asia’s energy struggles with Bitcoin miners
Southeast Asia turned a Bitcoin mining hotspot after the good China crackdown of 2021. Now authorities in varied areas are battling an enormous surge in electrical energy theft used to gasoline these mining actions.
This week Malaysian authorities arrested seven people suspected of illegally mining Bitcoin utilizing stolen electrical energy, in keeping with state media outlet Bernama.
The police seized 52 mining rigs, together with digital gadgets and a few autos, valued at roughly 250,000 ringgit, or $57,000.
However that’s simply the tip of the iceberg of the electrical energy theft Bitcoin mining subject throughout tropical Asia.
In July, Malaysia’s deputy vitality ministerreported thatillegal crypto-mining operators had stolen an estimated $723 million value of electrical energy between 2018 and 2023.
And the Malaysian authorities are fairly the showmen with regards to coping with confiscated mining tools.
They not too long ago used a steamroller to crush practically 1,000 Bitcoin mining rigs, valued at $452,000. This stunt echoed the same one in 2021 when $1.25 million value of mining rigs had been destroyed.
Throughout Southeast Asia, related incidents are being reported after miners fleeing China sought refuge in neighboring international locations.
In Thailand, an investigation into electrical energy theft in April led to the confiscation of mining rigs valued at greater than $5.8 million, in keeping with native media. The raids had been performed after authorities seen unusually excessive electrical energy consumption at sure areas.
Indonesia has additionally been grappling with this drawback. In December 2023, Indonesian police shut down 10 mining websites accused of stealing over $1 million value of electrical energy.
Over in Laos, the state vitality distributor suspended electrical energy provide to crypto miners earlier this 12 months. The suspension was attributed to inadequate native vitality technology, exacerbated by a drought within the first half of 2023. Nonetheless, an worker disclosed that another excuse for the suspension was the miners’ incapacity to pay their payments.
MGPerak: Polis Lupus Peralatan Bitcoin Nilai Hampir RM2 juta
PARIT – Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah (IPD) Perak tengah melupuskan 985 peralatan yang digunakan dalam kegiatan perlombongan Bitcoin dianggarkan bernilai RM1.98 juta, pada Isnin.
Ketua Polis Daerah Perak Tengah,… pic.twitter.com/hDSzN8aGNa
— Malaysia Gazette (@MalaysiaGazette) August 19, 2024
NFTs get cultural makeover in China
Beiwen Digital, a state-owned subsidiary of Beijing Cultural Funding Improvement Group and Hong Kong-based JME Capital introduced on Aug. 21 a collaboration it’s calling the “NFT 2.0 period.”
This initiative goals to digitize and globally distribute a few of China’s most acknowledged cultural belongings by way of non-fungible token know-how.
Their portfolio consists of treasured belongings such because the Up the River Throughout Qingming portray, the Twelve Zodiac Heads, Mount Wutai and the Temple of Heaven.
These belongings will likely be reworked into digital collectibles, with plans to launch the NFTs in Hong Kong, a metropolis extensively seen because the financial gateway to China’s markets.
China’s enthusiasm for blockchain know-how has been constant, whilst the federal government maintains a chilly stance on cryptocurrencies.
Regardless of current hypothesis, fueled by a tweet from Tron’s Justin Solar flirting with the concept China might rethink its ban on cryptocurrencies, the nation stays agency in its restrictions.
Lately, cryptocurrency transactions had been formally categorized as mechanisms for cash laundering by China’s Supreme Court docket.
In the meantime, the worldwide NFT market is experiencing a downturn. Costs for a few of the world’s most beneficial NFTs have plummeted, with the ground value of the so-called blue-chip Bored Ape Yacht Membership dropping by over 91%, in keeping with CoinGecko.
Equally, CryptoPunks have seen a 78% decline.
South Korea’s newest trade closure rip-off
South Korea’s Monetary Supervisory Service (FSS) has issued a client alert in response to a surge in scams by which fraudsters impersonate cryptocurrency exchanges which might be on the point of shutting down.
Scammers are sending messages to victims urging them to withdraw cryptocurrency from so-called dormant accounts at exchanges. The messages warn that the belongings will likely be “burned” as a consequence of enterprise closure. Nonetheless, these belongings aren’t even actual.
The victims are then directed to a hyperlink that leads them to a pretend buyer help group chat the place accomplices share tales of profitable withdrawals to construct the sufferer’s confidence.
The scammers additional deceive victims by presenting doctored screenshots that seem to indicate massive crypto balances prepared for withdrawal. They then demand financial institution transfers for charges and taxes and even request further crypto transfers.
This rip-off is especially persuasive given the present regulatory surroundings in South Korea.
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On Aug. 22, the monetary authorities began their on-site inspections of cryptocurrency exchanges as mandated by the nation’s new crypto regulation, which got here into impact on July 19. These inspections are a part of a broader initiative to crack down on suspicious cryptocurrency transactions.
Elsewhere in Asia, cryptocurrency exchanges are additionally going through heightened regulatory scrutiny. Based on a Bloomberg report, 11 crypto exchanges in Hong Kong awaiting full licensing have hit delays after the Securities and Futures Fee uncovered unsatisfactory practices throughout its personal on-site inspections.
Metaplanet continues Bitcoin binge
Japanese funding agency Metaplanet resides as much as its nickname, “Asian MicroStrategy,” because it purchased one other spherical of Bitcoin.
On Aug. 20, the agency bought 57.273 Bitcoin for 500 million yen ($3.42 million), elevating its holdings to 360.368 Bitcoin.
This buy follows Tokyo-based Bitcoinholic’s announcement of a 1 billion yen shareholder mortgage earlier in August.
Metaplanet’s Bitcoin holdings nonetheless pale compared to these of MicroStrategy, the US-based funding agency, which holds 226,331 Bitcoin.
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Yohan Yun
Yohan Yun is a multimedia journalist overlaying blockchain since 2017. He has contributed to crypto media outlet Forkast as an editor and has lined Asian tech tales as an assistant reporter for Bloomberg BNA and Forbes. He spends his free time cooking, and experimenting with new recipes.