Asia Market Daily: South Korea deploys AI to crack down on crypto price manipulation (2026/8/22)

South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service launched a real-time artificial intelligence platform designed to identify cryptocurrency price manipulation. The system cross-references known market abuse patterns from a historical database to flag short-term manipulation. The regulator plans to expand the tool to track cross-exchange fund flows and on-chain blockchain activity. This move underscores South Korea's tightening oversight of digital asset markets, where retail participation remains high.

Laser Digital, the digital asset arm of Nomura, received registration as a crypto asset exchange service provider in Japan, becoming the first newly licensed entity in the country in four years. The firm will initially provide liquidity to domestic virtual asset service providers, with plans to later offer institutional digital asset trading. Japan recently reclassified cryptocurrencies as financial products, paving the way for potential crypto ETFs and a separate tax regime from 2027. A 2026 survey by Nomura and Laser Digital found 79% of institutional respondents plan to allocate to crypto within three years.

The Sandbox disclosed that it identified and fully controlled a vulnerability in its SAND cross-chain bridge on Base and BSC. The attacker minted unlocked SAND on those networks, but the impact was limited to less than 0.01% of total SAND supply . Ethereum and Polygon SAND tokens were unaffected, and no user wallets were compromised. All bridged SAND is backed by locked SAND on Ethereum, which remains secure. Korean exchanges Bithumb and Upbit temporarily suspended SAND deposits and withdrawals as a precaution.

Nasdaq-listed bitcoin miner Bitdeer reported that for the week ending August 21, it mined 265.6 BTC and sold the same amount, leaving its treasury with zero bitcoin. The Singapore-headquartered company has consistently sold all mined bitcoin to fund operations and expansion. Bitdeer operates mining data centers in the US, Norway, and Bhutan, and is expanding into AI/HPC infrastructure.

Gate TR, the Turkish arm of crypto exchange Gate.io, completed a long-term corporate social responsibility project with TEMA (Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion) and Turkey's Forestry Ministry. The initiative expanded from an initial plan of 3 forests and 15,000 saplings to 4 forests and 17,000 saplings across four Turkish provinces. The project responded to severe forest fires in Turkey in 2025, demonstrating Gate's commitment to local communities and environmental restoration.

Cambodian anti-drug police, in cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration, broke up a cryptocurrency money laundering network used by Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. The operation seized approximately $7 million in cryptocurrency linked to the cartel, along with arrests, assets, drug labs, and storage facilities. The joint action highlights growing international cooperation against crypto-enabled drug trafficking in Southeast Asia, a region increasingly scrutinized for cyber-enabled crime.

Jiang Zhuoer, founder of Chinese mining pool Lebit, reversed his earlier bearish stance, stating he is 90% certain the bear market has ended . He expects ETH to potentially outperform BTC this cycle. Jiang disclosed he stopped out of short positions and re-entered, selling 50% of spot ETH at $2,525 with a stop at $2,550. For sidelined funds, he plans to buy if BTC dips to $67,000–$72,000, or otherwise by end of October.

As bitcoin broke above $79,000 after three months of rangebound trading, Hong Kong-listed New Huo Group (01611.HK) reported its app trading volume for the third week of August surged 280% week-over-week . Order volume and active customers also rose significantly. New Huo Research attributed the breakout to record short liquidations (highest since June 2021) and improved market sentiment driven by US Treasury buyback announcements.

Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio highlighted three recent events in his "How Countries Go Broke" framework: Japan selling some US Treasuries, US long-term yields hitting new highs with a weaker dollar, and the US Treasury announcing bond purchases. He sees these as consistent with a classic debt restructuring template. Dalio recommends reducing bond holdings and increasing allocations to gold and a small amount of bitcoin, noting that when government debt growth outpaces income, central banks may be forced to monetize debt, weakening currency value.

Capital Vault, an affiliate of trading platform Capital.com, obtained a virtual asset license from the UAE's Capital Markets Authority. The license allows Capital Vault to act as an agent or market maker for virtual assets and provide custody services. UAE users will be able to buy and hold crypto directly through the Capital.com app, moving beyond the platform's previous CFD-only offering. Capital Vault operates as an independent regulated entity with offices in Abu Dhabi.

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Asia Market Daily

Asia Market Daily

Asia Market Daily

Asia Market Daily

Asia Market Daily

Asia Market Daily