A joint alert from the FBI, Japan's National Police Agency, and other international agencies revealed that the North Korea-linked hacking group WaterPlum, also known as Contagious Interview, has been targeting IT developers globally since December 2025. The attackers posed as companies in the AI, crypto, and NFT sectors, luring job seekers with fake technical interviews and coding tests that required downloading malicious files. The campaign infected over 30,000 devices across 100+ countries and stole assets from more than 7,000 crypto wallets, with at least $10.71 million funneled to attacker-controlled addresses. Japan's participation in the joint advisory underscores the threat's relevance to Asian developers and crypto users.

Vietnam is preparing to grant its inaugural crypto asset service provider licenses in 2026 under a pilot legal framework, according to Vu Thi Chan Phuong, chairwoman of the State Securities Commission. The regulatory model draws on FATF recommendations and the European Union's approach, with emphasis on risk management, investor asset protection, and anti-money laundering compliance. The move signals a significant shift for one of Southeast Asia's most active crypto retail markets, which has operated largely without a formal licensing regime. First digital asset platforms are expected to begin operations once licenses are issued.

Lu Lei, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, highlighted emerging risks from artificial intelligence at the China-ASEAN Financial Cooperation and Development Forum. Speaking on deepening AI cooperation in finance between China and ASEAN, Lu warned that large language models and AI agents introduce algorithmic black boxes and model hallucinations that pose novel threats to financial stability. He emphasized the "asymmetric understanding" between humans and AI systems, noting that while AI can learn the underlying logic of human behavior, humans struggle to penetrate AI's internal decision-making. This asymmetry, he argued, demands heightened attention to safety governance in financial applications.

Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT announced the official mass production of its fifth-generation technology platform at the 2026 World Manufacturing Convention. The new process achieves a memory array active area half-pitch of 11.95 nanometers and a storage capacitor aspect ratio of 45:1, delivering over 50% higher wafer output compared to the previous generation. The company's 24GB LPDDR5X product, built on this platform, has entered full production and is now integrated into mainstream Chinese flagship smartphones. The advancement positions CXMT to compete more directly in the high-performance memory segment critical for AI and mobile computing.

Beijing's Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, together with the Development and Reform Commission, issued an action plan to accelerate the token economy from 2026 to 2028. The plan establishes a tiered evaluation standard for token factories in Beijing, covering core technical metrics such as model adaptation count, token throughput speed, first-token latency, cache hit rate, and power usage effectiveness. Authorities will optimize land resources, energy quotas, and communication networks while supporting leading token factories. The initiative also prioritizes breakthroughs in inference-specific chips, model lightweighting, and edge deployment to comprehensively boost token production capacity.

Shanghai-based EVAS Intelligence, a unicorn developing general-purpose AI computing chips, completed a new funding round of nearly RMB 2 billion (approximately $280 million), bringing its post-money valuation close to RMB 15 billion. Over 20 investors participated, including Huatai Innovation, Zhongding Capital, SMIC Poly Capital, and Jiuan Medical. The company provides efficient and scalable AI compute acceleration solutions for broad industry applications. The fundraising highlights continued capital inflows into China's domestic semiconductor sector amid intensifying global AI competition.

Shanghai-based embodied tactile sensing company Qianjue Robotics announced the completion of two consecutive strategic funding rounds totaling hundreds of millions of RMB. Previous investors include Hillhouse Ventures, Yuanhe Origin, and Futeng Capital, along with industry partners Li Auto, Zhiyuan Robotics, and Jide Appliances. The new capital will accelerate high-precision visual-tactile sensor iteration, scale up delivery, and advance tactile embodied models and world model research. The company focuses on real interaction data collection and tactile simulation to support next-generation robotics applications.

Blockchain security firm SlowMist, in collaboration with OKX's security team, issued a risk alert for FomoPeek App versions 1.1-1.2 after multiple users reported asset theft. Analysis confirmed the app was embedded with malicious code, including a professional iOS kernel attack framework with eight exploit schemes that automatically select attack methods based on device model and system version. Affected iOS versions range from 12.0 to 18.7 and 26.0 to 26.1. The bundled modules, unrelated to the app's normal functions, were designed to extract private keys and mnemonic phrases, enabling attackers to drain user wallets.

Taiwanese celebrity and crypto personality Huang Licheng, known as Machi Big Brother, has expanded his on-chain position to $131 million as the market rallied. His holdings include 32,600 ETH worth $85.73 million, 495 BTC valued at $40.26 million, and 55,500 HYPE tokens worth $5.06 million. Liquidation levels stand at $2,517 for ETH, $73,501 for BTC, and $18.7 for HYPE. The expansion reflects growing bullish positioning among prominent Asian traders.

Jiang Zhuoer, founder of Chinese mining pool LTC.TOP, reported achieving 92% profit in USD terms and 34% in BTC terms after several months of trading. He attributed the gains to disciplined position management, trade selection, and coin choice, noting that long-term full exposure to ETH spot positions formed the foundation of his strategy. Jiang described short positions as primarily protective hedges designed to reduce drawdown during pullbacks rather than directional bets. He stressed the importance of being actively engaged in market sentiment during what he identifies as a bull cycle.