BitMart account demands founder explain status of funds; Xia calls claims 'fabricated rumors'

BitMart's official Chinese-language X account has publicly demanded that founder Sheldon Xia explain the whereabouts of user funds and produce a repayment plan. The account said some users have been unable to withdraw funds and some employees have not received their final salary or compensation. It warned Xia that if he does not provide a verifiable asset disclosure and repayment plan by the deadline, it would continue to submit evidence to regulators, law enforcement, lawyers and the media. The confrontation is the latest turmoil for the exchange, which suffered a hot-wallet hack in December 2021 that blockchain security firms estimated at roughly $196 million in stolen assets.

Xia dismissed the claims in the post as "fabricated rumors" and promised a counter-attack. "We have collected full evidence of the content on X, all of which is fabricated rumors. During daytime US time, we will file a police report and send a lawyer's letter to X, demanding technical and data forensics," Xia said.

Binance bStocks passes xStocks as second-largest tokenized stock issuer

Binance bStocks have overtaken xStocks to become the second-largest tokenized stock issuer by value less than two months after launch. BStocks reached about $624 million on Aug. 3, surpassing xStocks at roughly $579 million but still trailing Ondo Finance at about $927 million, according to Token Terminal data. Tokenized stocks are blockchain tokens that track the price of listed companies' shares, and the launch is Binance's second run at the product after the exchange discontinued an earlier stock-token offering in 2021 amid regulatory pressure in several markets.

The issuer landscape has shifted sharply as the tokenized stock market has grown. A year earlier, xStocks led with $40.7 million, followed by Robinhood at $37.2 million, while Ondo held about $65,000. The total value tracked by Token Terminal has since surged from roughly $80 million to about $2.7 billion. xStocks, issued by Swiss tokenization firm Backed Finance, launched only in mid-2025, while Ondo Finance built its business on tokenized US Treasuries before expanding into equities — underscoring how quickly the leaderboard has turned over.

North Korea: Inside the fake crypto startup that fooled North Korean IT workers

Suspected North Korean IT workers joined a fake crypto startup — without realizing their every move was being tracked to extract valuable intel. Cointelegraph came along for the ride. The suspected DPRK IT workers pitched for venture capital backing from the fictitious Definitive Communications, a company played by Cointelegraph, according to ANY.RUN. US authorities and a UN expert panel have warned for years that North Korea dispatches thousands of IT workers to win remote jobs at tech and crypto firms while groups such as the Lazarus Group steal cryptocurrency, with the UN estimating that Pyongyang-linked actors took billions of dollars in crypto in recent years to fund weapons programs.

Israel: Largest bank taps Galaxy to offer Bitcoin, Ether and Solana trading

Israel's Bank Leumi will become the first local bank to offer crypto trading after partnering with Galaxy Digital to let customers trade Bitcoin, Ether and Solana through the bank's investment platform from early 2027. The companies said Friday that customers of Leumi and Pepper, its mobile banking arm, will be able to buy, hold and sell the three cryptocurrencies through a dedicated section of the Leumi Trade app. Galaxy Digital is a Nasdaq-listed crypto financial services firm led by Mike Novogratz.

Japan: Metaplanet CEO shuts down Bitcoin sale speculation after $322M transfer

Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich has shut down speculation that the Japanese Bitcoin treasury company is selling its holdings after the firm transferred 5,014 BTC ($322 million) over a 24-hour span last week. "This was a routine custody operation. No Bitcoin was sold, and our holdings remain 43,000 BTC," Gerovich said.

Metaplanet is the third-largest publicly traded Bitcoin treasury company and the largest in Asia. The Tokyo-listed company, previously a hotel and real estate operator, adopted a Bitcoin-first treasury strategy in 2024, following the playbook popularized by US-based Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy. According to Arkham data, it is sitting on an unrealized loss of about $1.4 billion.

Japan: MUFG PoC to bring Japanese government bond repo transactions onchain

Four MUFG companies plan to bring Japanese government bond repo transactions onchain using the Canton Network as part of a new proof of concept (PoC). The companies said they seek to improve operational efficiency through automation of the transaction lifecycle, enable real-time intraday settlement on a 24/7 basis, and enhance funding and capital efficiency. MUFG is Japan's largest bank by assets, and Canton Network is a privacy-enabled institutional blockchain developed by Digital Asset that is already used by major financial institutions in other tokenization trials.

Singapore: Mandatory tax reporting introduced

Singapore has finalized regulations that require crypto firms to report user transactions to the tax department. The rules implement the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework into Singapore domestic law and take effect from January 1, 2027 for new users, while existing users have until December 31, 2027 to comply. The framework extends the OECD's automatic information-exchange model, long applied to offshore bank accounts, to crypto assets, and Singapore is among the dozens of jurisdictions that have committed to starting CARF data exchanges by 2027.

Singapore: Binance and RedotPay dispute heats up

Binance and RedotPay are disputing whether a Singapore case related to their nearly $473 million Hong Kong legal battle is coming to an end. The Hong Kong-based stablecoin payments card issuer told Cointelegraph it expects Binance to discontinue the Singapore proceedings and will seek legal costs. Binance said that will not happen and that it "is not abandoning its claims and has informed both the court and RedotPay accordingly."

The plaintiffs previously alleged in a Hong Kong court that RedotPay diverted more than 470,000 Binance Card users by allowing Binance Pay funds to be used for stablecoin card top-ups outside the terms of a commercial agreement. Meanwhile, RedotPay's US IPO has reportedly been delayed as the company seeks regulatory approvals.

Korea: Shinhan Asset Management partners with Plume on tokenized fund pilot

South Korea's Shinhan Asset Management has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with tokenization-focused blockchain network Plume to develop a proof of concept for a Korean won-denominated tokenized fund. Shinhan Asset Management is the fund arm of Shinhan Financial Group, one of South Korea's largest banking groups. The pilot is intended to test the overseas use of won-denominated financial products in onchain markets that have largely developed around dollar-denominated assets.

Hong Kong: HashKey begins beta distribution of Hong Kong-regulated HKDAP stablecoin

The Standard Chartered-led Anchorpoint Financial has started to roll out HKDAP, the first regulated Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin. The rollout follows Hong Kong's Stablecoins Ordinance, which took effect on August 1, 2025 and established a licensing regime for fiat-referenced stablecoin issuers under the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. HashKey Exchange will be an authorized distributor, potentially expanding access to the fiat-backed asset as the territory's stablecoin market takes shape. Retail access will be limited initially, with the focus on institutions.

Meanwhile, the Securities and Futures Commission has reportedly identified 65 fraudulent websites impersonating HashKey.