Bitcoin rallied past $86,000 on Monday, gaining 6.28% in the day, according to OKX market data. The move came as the broader crypto market traded firmly higher, with ETH also pushing through $2,700. The rally has reignited bullish sentiment across Asian trading desks, with BTC up roughly 29% over the past 35 days.

The 24-hour derivatives flush reached $926 million, with short positions accounting for the bulk at $785 million versus $142 million in longs, per CoinGlass data. BTC liquidations totaled $509 million and ETH hit $198 million. The largest single liquidation, a $11.3 million BTC-USDT position on Binance, underscores the intensity of the squeeze that caught bearish traders by surprise.

Alipay parent Ant Group is merging its payment, digital payment, and Sesame Credit units into a single Alipay business group to accelerate an AI agent-led commercial push, according to an internal letter from CEO Han Xinyi. The restructured group, to be led by Wu Minzhi, has already processed 300 million AI payments and AI-upgraded over 10,000 services in three months through its personal assistant "Abao." The move signals Ant's deepening bet on embedding AI agents into China's dominant digital payment ecosystem.

South Korea's Hana Bank issued a $100 million, five-year digital bond using Euroclear's distributed ledger infrastructure, the country's first to directly tap the European settlement giant's blockchain network. Issuance, registration, and settlement were all completed on-chain the same day, cutting a process that typically takes 3 to 5 business days. The move highlights growing institutional adoption of DLT in Asian fixed-income markets.

The Bank of Korea is rolling out a pilot program to enable around-the-clock settlement in Korean won for foreign investors, with full operations targeted for January 2027. The central bank said the initiative should improve foreign investors' access to won settlement infrastructure and lift the currency's international standing. The project reflects Korea's push to align its financial plumbing with Asia's increasingly non-stop trading culture.

Boyaa Interactive (00434.HK) acquired 152 BTC for approximately HK$90.63 million (about $11.56 million) at an average price of $75,899, bringing its total holdings to 4,468 BTC. The Hong Kong-listed gaming firm said the bitcoin will serve as foundational resources for its public chain staking, cross-chain bridge, and Web3 game projects including Pet Land and MTT Sports. The purchase underscores how listed Chinese gaming companies are treating bitcoin as balance-sheet infrastructure for blockchain pivots.

Hyperliquid hit an all-time high of 283,230 daily active users, surpassing previous peaks from March and July, according to Artemis data. The milestone comes as the on-chain derivatives venue's fully diluted valuation has eclipsed that of Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange Group, with HYPE token trading near $95.77. The platform's growth reflects surging demand for perpetual futures among Asian retail traders seeking leverage without centralized exchange friction.

Monthly ETH withdrawal transactions on Binance surpassed 90,000, the highest level since 2023 and double the start-of-year figure, according to CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost. The surge accompanies ETH's 75%+ rally from about $1,510 to $2,650 over three months, as buyers move coins off-exchange into private custody. The pattern signals accumulation by long-term holders rather than short-term speculative churn.

Alibaba has named senior AI researcher Liu Dayiheng as head of its Qwen large language model unit, according to two employees cited by Zhitong Finance. The appointment follows multiple organizational reshuffles this year and clarifies the management structure of Alibaba's flagship open-source AI initiative. Liu's profile features prominently on Alibaba's upcoming Apsara Conference speaker list, positioned just after Chairman Joe Tsai and CEO Eddie Wu, signaling the strategic importance of the Qwen project to Alibaba's AI ambitions.

Binance Wallet's inaugural Pre-Access offering lets users purchase pPOLY, a token issued by Paimon Finance that provides indirect tokenized exposure to Polymarket-related assets, using $U stablecoin. Priced at approximately $15.50, the offering has a supply of roughly 309,700 tokens worth about $4.8 million. Binance clarified that pPOLY is not an official Polymarket token, nor does it represent direct equity or SPV ownership, a caveat likely aimed at managing regulatory expectations among Asian retail traders.