South Korean financial giant Mirae Asset Financial Group is planning to build a 150 trillion won (approximately $109 billion) digital asset business centered on its Digital X unit, according to The Korea Times. Digital X will focus on crypto assets, stablecoins, real-world assets, and security tokens, with initial offerings including tokenized gold, silver, and electricity. The move underscores the growing institutional appetite for digital assets in Asia's fourth-largest economy, where regulators have been progressively clarifying crypto frameworks. Mirae Asset, one of Korea's largest financial groups, already holds a significant footprint in traditional securities and asset management, and this initiative marks a major step into the tokenization space.

Speaking at the Bitcoin Asia 2026 conference, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) said that the integration of AI and crypto will likely begin with stablecoins, not payments. He revealed that he is in discussions with multiple top AI companies about token issuance, particularly using data center tokens to finance computing infrastructure. CZ argued that AI agent trading will take precedence over AI payments because the top AI firms are currently focused on making agents smarter and helping users find the best trades, where AI can process information 10 times faster. He also predicted that Bitcoin will eventually become more important than gold, noting the market cap gap is now only about 10x, and suggested Bitcoin reaching $1 million may happen sooner than 25 years if more practical uses like payments and pension reserves emerge.

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb has won the first of four lawsuits seeking to recover funds from users who received bitcoins mistakenly sent during a February rewards glitch. The court ordered a recipient who sold the bitcoins to return approximately 194 million won ($145,000). In February, Bithumb erroneously distributed 620,000 BTC (then worth about $50 billion), triggering a massive recovery effort; the exchange reported 99% of the bitcoins were clawed back by March. This initial victory strengthens Bithumb's position in the remaining three suits, though the defendant may appeal. The case highlights the legal complexities of crypto exchange operational errors in Asia's regulated markets.

Shanghai police have dismantled a major underground banking operation that used virtual currencies for illegal cross-border currency exchange, with a total transaction volume approaching 200 billion yuan ($27.6 billion). Nineteen suspects were arrested. Since August 2024, the group allegedly used a "renminbi-virtual currency-foreign currency" matching scheme to complete illegal exchanges, charging service fees. In a separate case, police also broke up a platform that issued virtual credit cards and facilitated cross-border settlement via crypto, involving over 200 million yuan and nine arrests. This year, Shanghai authorities have cracked multiple crypto-related economic crime cases, arresting over 70 suspects and implicating more than 200 billion yuan, underscoring China's intensified enforcement against illicit crypto activities.

In a closed-door sharing session in Hong Kong, Binance founder CZ said that real-world asset (RWA) tokenization is developing faster than he anticipated. He explained that the high barriers to participation and liquidity bottlenecks in traditional securities markets are exactly where RWA can add value. CZ noted that many people want to buy U.S. or Chinese stocks but cannot open accounts, and companies issuing stocks often only reach domestic investors, while cross-border account opening is extremely difficult. His optimistic view on RWA aligns with the growing trend of tokenized securities in Hong Kong and Singapore, two leading Asian crypto hubs.

Chinese tech giant Baidu announced it will convert its Hong Kong secondary listing to a primary listing effective September 1, 2026, making it dual-primary listed on both the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. The move will make Baidu eligible for inclusion in the Stock Connect program, which allows mainland Chinese investors to trade Hong Kong-listed shares directly. This is expected to boost liquidity and broaden the investor base, reflecting the ongoing shift of Chinese tech companies to strengthen their Hong Kong listings amid geopolitical uncertainties. Baidu is also a key player in China's AI and autonomous driving sectors, with its blockchain and cloud services having indirect relevance to the crypto industry.

The FRIEND token of social finance platform Friend.tech jumped nearly 1,800% in 24 hours to $0.05587 after Taiwanese-American celebrity and investor Machi Big Brother (Huang Licheng) announced a $1 million acquisition offer for the project. Huang said he would restart Friend.tech via a community takeover (CTO) if the acquisition succeeds. However, on-chain data shows Huang himself has lost over $16 million on his FRIEND holdings, having bought 11 million tokens for about 5,200 ETH ($16.7 million) that are now worth only $500,000. The dramatic price spike highlights the speculative dynamics around community-driven token revivals, particularly in Asian crypto circles.

In another session at Bitcoin Asia 2026, Binance founder CZ argued that the diversification of the crypto ecosystem does not weaken Bitcoin; rather, other blockchains like Ethereum and BNB Chain help Bitcoin grow because the industry is not a zero-sum game. He positioned Bitcoin as the most decentralized reserve asset, while acknowledging that other chains innovate more and Bitcoin can adopt those innovations. CZ projected that Bitcoin will become more important than gold, with the market cap gap now only about 10x, and suggested "maybe the next bull market" could close it. His remarks resonate with Asian investors who have been actively diversifying across multiple Layer 1 ecosystems.

FinTax, a provider of cryptocurrency financial and tax solutions and AI infrastructure, announced the completion of a seed funding round led by YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs), with participation from Amber Group, Hash House, Pundi AI, and others. The post-money valuation is $40 million. YZi Labs has been actively investing in stablecoins, RWA, payments, and institutional-grade digital asset infrastructure. The funding signals continued venture interest in crypto compliance and AI-enabled financial tools, particularly relevant for Asian markets where tax reporting requirements are tightening.

Unitree Robotics, billed as the "first humanoid robot stock" on China's A-share market, rose 3.97% to 615.03 yuan, reclaiming the 600 yuan level and lifting its total market capitalization to 248.8 billion yuan ($34.3 billion). The gain came amid broader strength in AI and robotics sectors, as Chinese equities rallied with the Shanghai Composite up over 1%. Unitree's performance reflects the growing investor enthusiasm for embodied AI and robotics in China, a theme that also resonates in the crypto market through AI-related tokens and projects with Asian robotics connections.