Singapore police have warned consumers about tampered Ledger hardware wallets, disclosing that at least two cases reported since September 10 resulted in combined losses of about 3.5 million Singapore dollars, or roughly $2.7 million. The figures were released in a consumer alert published on October 28.

The cases surfaced almost a month before the wider problem became public. The alert does not specify whether the September 10 case was reported at the time or at a later date, and police said their investigation remains in its early stages.

Hardware wallets are designed to keep the private keys that control crypto holdings offline — a security model that supply-chain tampering directly undermines. Ledger issued its own public alert on October 9, saying that tampered devices had been found in the CryptoBilis supply chain. According to the company, almost $100 million was drained from wallets containing spyware components. On October 13, Ledger asked retailers in seven places to pause sales of its devices: Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Hong Kong — a sales pause covering much of Southeast Asia.

South Korea Weighs Another Crypto Tax Delay

South Korean officials are reportedly considering a fourth delay of the country's crypto tax, which is currently set to take effect in January 2027. According to South Korean news outlet Newsis, the levy could be pushed back to 2029 — the earliest year officials could share crypto exchange tax data with the United States. The reported plan would effectively tie the tax's start to that data-sharing timeline.

Under the plan, a 22% tax would apply to crypto gains for investors who earn more than 2.5 million won, about $1,883, each year.

South Korea also plans to regulate stablecoins used for payments. Starting December 2, the Bank of Korea will require crypto transfer firms to submit monthly reports covering activity back to mid-2024.

In a separate disclosure, Bithumb, one of South Korea's largest crypto exchanges, said its mobile system was hacked and personal data was leaked. Daishin Securities reported that about 38,000 customer records were exposed.

Stablecoin and Tokenization Moves Across Asia

Bank Negara Malaysia and the Bank of Thailand joined Singapore's BLOOM project on Friday, expanding the program beyond Singapore. The program helps banks use stablecoins and tokenized deposits for payments across borders. A survey by DBS, Singapore's largest bank, of 422 global businesses found that almost 90% are using or interested in using tokenized cash.

In Hong Kong, the Nasdaq-listed Solana Company was named a strategic enterprise, making it the only blockchain infrastructure firm added to the government program in 2026.

Crypto payments firm RedotPay plans a US IPO before the end of the year. A pre-IPO funding round values the company at $4 billion.

China, meanwhile, has set a 2030 target to largely finish a national blockchain network, even as the country continues to ban crypto business activity.

Thailand Ruling and Tourist Wallet

Thailand's Supreme Court ruled that Bitcoin counts as property under criminal law, a designation that brings digital assets under the criminal-law protections covering property. The ruling upheld a 10-year prison sentence in a robbery case involving about $50,000 in Bitcoin.

The country also launched a wallet that lets tourists convert USDT or USDC into Thai baht for spending through PromptPay, Thailand's widely used QR payment network.

US Sanctions Tied to North Korean IT Worker Schemes

On Wednesday, the US Treasury sanctioned 10 people and one entity for supporting North Korean IT worker schemes, according to the Treasury's announcement. Chainalysis traced how Russian middlemen helped those workers cash out millions in crypto through Garantex, a Russia-based exchange the US sanctioned in 2022.

This article originally appeared on Blockonomi.