Cryptocurrency

Major Chinese tech firms, including Alibaba and Tencent, appear to be pulling back from Hong Kong’s cryptocurrency market, with none applying for recent stablecoin licences. The move comes amid regulatory uncertainty and a reported shift in focus toward digital services for the energy sector.

China is moving to impose strict restrictions on its state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and banks operating in Hong Kong, in a move that could significantly reshape the city’s budding stablecoin sector.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is giving the nation’s banks the green light to broaden their use of cryptocurrencies as a way to bypass the impact of the global sanctions which has cause the nation's economy to decline.

The Trump family’s WLFI and USD1 crypto tokens have launched on major Korean exchanges, drawing strong public interest. WLFI’s price showed high volatility, highlighting market uncertainty and the project’s heavy reliance on the Trump brand.

The Trump family has managed to add another $6 billion to their family wealth after the World Liberty Financial Token started its trading debut on major exchanges this week.

Thailand will exempt all crypto gains from tax until the end of 2029 to attract investors and boost digital trading. The country is also launching the G-Token digital government bond and testing crypto payments, aiming to grow its blockchain and fintech sector.

Raoul Pal predicted that the number of crypto users could reach four billion by 2030, with the market potentially hitting $100 trillion by 2032. He based this on wallet growth compared to early internet adoption, though critics say wallet counts may overstate real usage.

The Trump-backed firm World Liberty Financial has listed its $WLFI token on major exchanges, with trading now live across Ethereum, Solana and Binance blockchains. The company is expanding with plans for a wallet, an exchange, and recently raised $750 million through its Alt5 acquisition, part of which was used to buy $WLFI coins.

Australia’s self-managed super funds are putting more retirement savings into cryptocurrency, with holdings reaching A$1.7 billion by March 2025. Exchanges like Coinbase and OKX have launched new services to meet this demand, while regulators warn about risks.

US banks processed $312 billion in suspicious transactions linked to Chinese money laundering networks between 2020 and 2024. Despite regulatory focus on crypto, most illicit funds still move through traditional banks, not digital platforms.