From an AI-powered hacking campaign targeting Indian crypto firms to emergency security reviews in Seoul, exchange security and regulatory policy dominated this week's Asia-Pacific crypto headlines. Cointelegraph rounds up the key stories from India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia, Japan, Vietnam and Singapore.

Across the region, regulators and financial institutions are focusing on different parts of the crypto market's infrastructure: custody and access controls, incident reporting, licensing, taxation and tokenized settlement. Several developments also set concrete dates or next steps for market participants, including Thailand's planned Bitget block, Crypto.com's Hong Kong app shutdown and further stablecoin and tokenization trials.

India warns of AI-powered hackers targeting crypto exchanges at 'machine speed'

India's national cybersecurity agency warned that an AI-assisted threat actor has escalated its attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges and other financial businesses, stealing wallet keys and siphoning funds.

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) on Wednesday designated the threat actor as “CRAFTY FALCON” and explicitly identified crypto exchanges among the affected businesses.

“The threat is active and ongoing. CSIRT-Fin continues to receive reports of successful attacks, including from NBFCs and fintech entities that had already received the earlier restricted advisories and had undertaken remediation,” CERT-In said.

The warning adds to evidence of hackers using AI tools against financial institutions. In October, cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike reported that an unidentified attacker used ARTEX, an AI penetration-testing tool also named in CERT-In's advisory, alongside Claude Code and other AI models to breach South Korean financial firms and steal data.

South Korea

South Korea urges exchanges to boost cold storage after Binance hack

South Korea's Financial Services Commission has urged domestic crypto exchanges to increase the proportion of assets held in cold wallets after the $6.3 billion attack on Binance.

The FSC said it held an emergency meeting with other regulators, cybersecurity agencies and crypto service providers to review security measures. The review covered exchanges' IT access controls, wallet withdrawal approval and signing procedures, and administrator privileges, with regulators also urging providers to raise the share of assets kept in offline cold wallets.

South Korean law already requires exchanges to hold at least 80% of users' crypto assets in cold storage. Upbit currently keeps 99.17% of assets in cold wallets, followed by Bithumb at 94.76% and Coinone at 85%.

Bank of Korea probes financial firms' exposure to crypto risks

The Bank of Korea is surveying 31 financial institutions on how a major exchange shutdown, a prolonged crypto downturn or losses at another firm could affect their operations.

One scenario asks how financial firms would be affected if South Korea's largest crypto exchange by market share temporarily suspended operations following a major hack or similar incident. Other questions address a steep fall in cryptocurrency prices followed by a sustained trading slump, and the potential fallout if another financial institution suffered heavy losses from a crypto-related incident.

North Korea denies role in $6.3B Binance hack

Despite years of evidence linking North Korea-affiliated hacking groups to the theft of billions of dollars from crypto exchanges, Pyongyang claims it had no involvement in the $6.3 billion Binance hack, floating the idea that the Americans were actually responsible.

“The FBI is trying to brand the DPRK as a ‘cyber criminal state’, claiming that it obtained information that a hacking organization ‘supported’ by the DPRK was involved in the incident,” Kim Yo Jong said. “But the US assertion is an absurd rhetoric and nothing new.”

South Korea targets 2029 for next crypto tax delay

South Korea's government has backed postponing the tax on cryptocurrency gains by another two years, to 2029 — the latest delay in the measure's troubled history.

Hong Kong

Crypto.com to withdraw Hong Kong consumer app citing regulatory changes

Crypto.com will discontinue its consumer app services in Hong Kong on Feb. 1, 2027, while continuing to pursue regulatory approval for its institutional exchange.

A Crypto.com spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the company would wind down the consumer app in Hong Kong. All affected customers have received advance notice and will be given instructions on closing their accounts and support to withdraw their funds, the spokesperson said.

The move comes nearly three years after the local entity submitted its license application, which remains in a “deemed-to-be-licensed” status — a transitional designation rather than full regulatory approval.

Animoca Brands clears final hurdle for Abu Dhabi fund management

Hong Kong-headquartered Animoca Brands has secured approval to manage investment funds for non-retail clients in Abu Dhabi.

The authorization, granted to subsidiary Animoca Asset Management (AD) Limited by Abu Dhabi Global Market's Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), allows it to oversee funds that pool money from professional investors rather than the general public. It expands the asset management business of a company that began in mobile games before moving into blockchain gaming, riding the metaverse wave and becoming a major venture investor.

Hong Kong takes tokenized settlement to 24/7, plans stablecoin trials

Hong Kong has expanded its Project Ensemble pilot to allow round-the-clock settlement of tokenized transactions, as the city's monetary regulator prepares to bring regulated stablecoins into trials involving tokenized government debt.

Hong Kong opens secondary trading for tokenized funds

Hong Kong has officially introduced secondary market trading for SFC-authorized tokenized funds through licensed exchanges. Two China Asset Management money-market funds can now trade continuously via PantherTrade and the Futubull app.

Thailand

Thailand to block Bitget in December over unlicensed crypto trading

Thailand's securities regulator has filed a criminal complaint against BG Limited, the operator of cryptocurrency exchange Bitget, for allegedly operating without a license. The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission will block access to Bitget's website and app from Dec. 5.

According to the SEC, Bitget offered crypto trading services between 2022 and 2025, charged trading fees and promoted its services in Thai through its websites and social media channels. The regulator said these activities violated Thailand's digital asset business licensing requirements and advised users to take action regarding assets held on the platform before the deadline.

Australia

Australia's central bank lifts rates as energy costs and AI investment fuel inflation

Australia's central bank raised its interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.85% on Tuesday, warning that inflation would stay elevated through much of 2027 as energy costs and AI-related investment added to price pressures. The Reserve Bank of Australia announced the decision after its monetary policy board voted 6–3 for the increase, with three members preferring to hold rates at 4.60%.

The bank pushed back its forecast for inflation returning to the top of its 2% to 3% target range to late 2027 — roughly three quarters later than previously expected.

How Aussie Bitcoiners can avoid 2027's shock CGT hike

The Australian government's decision to scrap the 50% capital gains discount for all investments in the May budget came as a shock for crypto owners. Under the new scheme, the taxable component of a gain effectively doubles, minus a small discount for inflation.

Some Australian crypto holders are taking drastic measures in response. Finder founder Fred Schebesta is relocating to Singapore, which offers 0% capital gains tax, calling the changes a “killer blow.”

Less dramatic options for reducing CGT bills include setting up a self-managed super fund (SMSF), trading crypto through a company taxed at the corporate rate, or hoping the opposition will reverse the changes after the next election.

Japan

JPYC marks first year but undershoots target by three quarters

Japanese yen stablecoin JPYC marked its first anniversary with a circulating supply of around 3 billion yen — one quarter of its internal target.

BlackRock and SBI sign yen-stablecoin tokenized fund MOU

BlackRock, BlackRock Japan, SBI Holdings and Startale have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore connecting tokenized money-market funds with SBI's JPYSC yen stablecoin.

Vietnam

Vietnam requires crypto exchanges to report 'incidents' within 24 hours

New Ministry of Finance rules require cryptocurrency exchanges licensed in Vietnam to report security incidents and their remediation plans within 24 hours.

Singapore

Five banks launch tokenization standards body in Singapore

Five major banks — including HSBC, JPMorgan's Kinexys, MUFG, Société Générale-Forge under BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered — have launched the Global Layer One Organization (GL1) in Singapore. The non-profit aims to promote standards for tokenized financial markets.