Japan's upper house passed a bill recategorizing cryptocurrencies from payment instruments to financial products under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. The law renames exchange operators to crypto trading firms and raises maximum jail time for unregistered sales from three years to 10 years, with fines increasing from ¥3 million to ¥10 million. It introduces insider trading rules for crypto, bans trading on nonpublic information, and mandates annual disclosures for specific token issuers. Tax changes coming in 2028 shift treatment to a 20% separate withholding tax with three-year loss carryforwards, replacing the prior 55% comprehensive income rate.

SBI Global Asset Management partnered with DigiFT to launch JX, a tokenized investment product on Solana offering exposure to Japanese high-dividend stocks for qualified and institutional investors. Managed by SBI, the fund marks Japan's asset management industry's entry into on-chain finance. The tokenized real-world asset market has surged to $21.9 billion from $5.9 billion last year, according to the Solana Foundation.

South Korea's Ministry of Economy and Finance is drafting a comprehensive asset management framework law that will include cryptocurrencies as a distinct asset class for state holdings. The move signals the government's intent to formalize oversight of digital assets within public sector balance sheets, aligning with broader regulatory efforts in the country.

Binance added 10 tokenized stocks as eligible collateral for cross-margin and unified accounts, including Alibaba (BABAB) and TSMC (TSMB). The expansion allows users to leverage positions in major Asian equities, deepening integration between crypto trading and traditional stock markets. The tokens, issued by bStocks, represent fractional shares in the underlying securities.

Alibaba-backed AI lab DeepSeek disclosed annualized revenue between $400 million and $500 million, driven by enterprise and developer API usage. Gross margins on its V4 API exceed 50%, aided by infrastructure optimizations that reduce chip requirements. The company is raising an additional 50 billion yuan at a valuation of about 500 billion yuan ($74 billion), with plans to accept dollar investments from Middle Eastern and other overseas funds.

OKX will offer tokenized US equities trading, allowing users to gain price exposure to stocks and ETFs with tokens prefixed 'X' (e.g., XNVDA, XTSLA). Assets are settled via Solana and X Layer networks, tradeable 24/7 against USDT, and benefit from zero maker fees until September. Dividends are reinvested and reflected as share growth, removing the need for a brokerage account.

South Korea's National Tax Service is setting up a digital asset unit and building an integrated analysis system for a 2027 crypto tax launch. However, a 50,000-person petition to repeal the tax remains off the legislative agenda. Under current law, crypto gains over 2.5 million won face a 22% tax, while stock trading profits are exempt, drawing criticism for unequal treatment.

South Korea's government adopted an economic growth strategy that includes a Digital Asset Basic Law in the second half of 2025, covering stablecoin regulations and cross-border payment systems. A 2027 pilot will tokenize government bonds in tandem with the Bank of Korea's CBDC project. The plan also supports legal amendments to allow virtual asset spot ETFs and blockchain-based carbon credit management under the Paris Agreement.

Japanese credit card issuer JCB signed an MOU with Circle to explore USDC stablecoin use for payments and cross-border treasury operations. The collaboration will test payment flows for merchants and corporate treasury management, aiming to promote regulated stablecoin adoption in Japan's market.

South Korea's KOSPI index surged 7% to 7,338.63 points, driven by a rally in semiconductor stocks like SK hynix, which rose 12%. The index has been buoyed by strong demand for AI-related chips and investor optimism over the global tech sector's resilience.