China's central bank and public security authorities have dismantled a new type of underground bank that used virtual currencies to launder money, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The criminal gang lured victims with offers to repay credit card debts for free, then collected their ID and card information to run "paofen" (money muling) operations for overseas gambling and telecom fraud groups. Funds were converted to crypto by OTC traders and transferred to designated addresses abroad. Using large language models and on-chain analytics, the PBOC's Digital Currency Research Institute identified nearly 1,000 related accounts, leading to raids across multiple provinces. Authorities seized about 130 million yuan ($18 million) in illicit proceeds and convicted several gang members for illegal business operations.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has received authorization from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission under Regulation 48.10, allowing U.S. institutional investors to directly trade its bitcoin and ether perpetual futures. KC Lam, head of crypto derivatives at SGX Group, said the move connects U.S. traditional finance institutions with Asian liquidity pools. SGX's BTC and ETH perpetual futures, launched in late November 2025, have already accumulated $5.8 billion in trading volume, or about 400,000 contracts.

Threat groups linked to North Korea have used the recently sanctioned cybercrime market Xinbi Guarantee to move and launder tens of millions of dollars in stolen crypto assets, according to Chainalysis. The hackers employed a money laundering service called "Black U" on the platform to swap traceable stolen assets for stablecoins derived from pig butchering and romance scams, then converted those to fiat through unlicensed OTC desks. Chainalysis's fund flow diagram shows the pattern involved funds from the Bybit and WazirX hacks, underscoring how North Korean actors exploit Asian platforms to cash out.

The South Korean government is poised to announce a massive energy investment project in the United States to support American AI infrastructure, according to the Wall Street Journal. The deal, potentially worth over $100 billion, involves Korea funding up to eight nuclear power plants and a natural gas project. This fulfills part of a trade agreement reached last October between President Trump and Lee Jae-myung, under which Korea pledged to invest $350 billion in the U.S. and buy an additional $100 billion in American energy. The announcement could come as early as next week, easing tensions after Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Korea earlier this year.

At the 26th China International Fair for Investment and Trade in Xiamen, Bank of Communications unveiled a cross-border trade service solution built on the CBETS (Digital Currency Bridge) blockchain infrastructure. Guided by the People's Bank of China, the service focuses on settlement and compliance needs, using on-chain verification and smart contracts to improve coordination of capital, information, and document flows. It targets import/export enterprises, financial institutions, and regulators, aiming to cut compliance costs and shorten settlement cycles. The solution also reserves space for future integration with the digital yuan and cross-border financial infrastructure.

Blockchain analytics firm Bitrace reports that the escrow platform Xinbi Guarantee has started delisting all money laundering merchants, including entities known as "card-to-USDT exchangers" and "cash cars." The platform's associated wallet is seeing rapid outflows; since OFAC sanctioned Xinbi Guarantee, 9.3 million USDT has left the wallet. Bitrace noted that the platform's secretly deployed sub-escrow platforms are also experiencing abnormal capital flight, with many merchants rapidly exiting the market. This comes as the U.S. Treasury steps up enforcement against Asian crypto money laundering networks.

Ant International, the cross-border arm of Alibaba's fintech affiliate, has launched a collaboration with Visa and Mastercard to build a "Know Your Agent" (KYA) interoperability framework. The initiative aims to set common standards for AI agent identity verification, validation, and transaction monitoring, enabling an agent verified on one network to operate across ecosystems. McKinsey estimates that AI agents could participate in $3 trillion to $5 trillion of global consumer transactions by 2030. This move positions Ant International at the forefront of standardizing agentic commerce in Asia and beyond.

At a State Council Information Office press conference, People's Bank of China Deputy Governor Lu Lei said that foreign entities now hold more than 11 trillion yuan ($1.5 trillion) in onshore RMB financial assets. Over 80 central banks and monetary authorities have included the yuan in their foreign exchange reserves. Panda bond issuance has exceeded 1.3 trillion yuan, with issuers from 26 countries and regions across five continents. The remarks highlight China's push to internationalize the RMB, which could have long-term implications for global payments and digital currency competition.

The Bank of Korea has called for stronger monitoring of overseas derivatives tied to Korean semiconductor manufacturers, warning that their rapid growth could amplify domestic market volatility. The central bank cited leveraged bets by the hedge fund Situational Awareness as a recent example. In its semiannual monetary policy report, the BOK said concentration in semiconductor stocks, foreign investor portfolio rebalancing, and the buildup and unwinding of domestic leverage drove unprecedented KOSPI swings from January to July. Global banks and ETF managers hedging total return swaps traded Korean spot stocks, futures, and options, clearly magnifying domestic price volatility.

Chinese robotics firm Unitree has fully open-sourced its UnifoLM-WLA-1.0 embodied foundation model. The company says a single model now coordinates desktop and whole-body mobile manipulation, supporting generalization across tasks and end-effectors. This move could accelerate development in the competitive humanoid robotics space, where Unitree has gained global attention, though its stock recently fell below 500 yuan per share, with market value down more than 240 billion yuan from its post-IPO peak.