Crypto Industry News & Market Trends

South Korean lawmaker warns 22% crypto tax could drive capital overseas

South Korean lawmaker Park Soo-young has called for the government to withdraw its planned 22% tax on virtual asset gains before the levy takes effect on Jan. 1, 2027, arguing that the policy unfairly targets roughly 13 million crypto users while investment taxes on domestic stocks have been scrapped.　　According to Digital Asset, the People Power Party lawmaker criticized the tax plan on his YouTube channel, “Park Soo-youngs Economy TV,” on Aug. 13, describing it as a punitive policy that could push more Korean capital toward overseas cryptocurrency markets.　　“I hope this punitive tax plan that holds 13 million digital asset users hostage will be withdrawn immediately,” Park said.　　The lawmaker compared the treatment of crypto investors with South Koreas decision to abolish the financial investment income tax, which would have applied to investment income from financial products including stocks.　　Park argued that removing the investment tax while retaining a separate levy on virtual assets amounts to telling investors they could face a “tax bomb” if they choose not to invest in the domestic stock market.　　South Korea crypto tax faces renewed opposition　　Under South Koreas current Income Tax Act, profits from the transfer or lending of virtual assets will be classified as other income from

2 days agoIndustry

Upbit to delist STORJ, JASMY and TT in South Korea on Sept. 14

Upbit and Bithumb will end trading support for Storj (STORJ), JasmyCoin (JASMY) and ThunderCore (TT) on Sept. 14 after concluding that the issues behind earlier warning designations remained unresolved.　　Upbits notice covers STORJ/KRW, STORJ/BTC, JASMY/BTC, JASMY/USDT, TT/KRW and TT/BTC, with trading scheduled to stop at 3:00 p.m. KST. Bithumb independently confirmed the three delistings Friday.　　All open orders will be canceled when support ends. Upbit will keep withdrawals available until Oct. 14. Bithumb separately announced the same Sept. 14 trading cutoff and Oct. 14 withdrawal deadline for all three assets, confirming that the action is not limited to one Korean exchange.　　South Koreas Largest Crypto Exchange Upbit to Delist STORJ, JASMY and TT　　Upbit will end trading support for STORJ/KRW, STORJ/BTC, JASMY/BTC, JASMY/USDT, TT/KRW and TT/BTC at 2:00 p.m. UTC+8 on September 14, with all open orders canceled. Upbit said the issues behind the… 　　Upbit says the warning issues were not resolved　　Upbit first placed STORJ under a trading warning on July 28. The exchange said its review considered disclosure of important information, the substance and sustainability of the project and its actual progress. Deposits were suspended when the warning was issued, and Upbit said it would decide during the Aug. 10 to Aug. 14

2 days agoIndustry

HTX and FCA seek settlement in UK crypto marketing lawsuit

HTX and the UK Financial Conduct Authority have entered settlement talks over allegations that the crypto exchange illegally promoted its services to British consumers, with High Court proceedings paused until late August while negotiations continue.　　Reuters reported on Aug. 13, citing court documents, that the FCA and HTX have been given another two months to seek a settlement after the two sides began exchanging emails in March and initially held three months of negotiations.　　The discussions concern a lawsuit filed by the FCA in October against Panama-incorporated Huobi Global and unidentified people alleged to operate and control HTX. In February, the regulator accused the exchange of breaching financial promotion rules that have applied to cryptoassets in the UK since October 2023.　　HTX, formerly known as Huobi, is one of the worlds largest crypto trading platforms and has been linked to Tron founder Justin Sun, who acquired a controlling interest in the exchange in 2022. The company is also dealing with separate sanctions imposed by the UK and European Union while maintaining that its services are not intended for British customers.　　HTX and FCA have extended settlement talks　　Court orders reviewed by Reuters show that discussions between HTX and the FCA began after months of unsuccessful

2 days agoIndustry

Plume, Shinhan test KRW tokenized fund in offshore PoC

Plume and Shinhan Asset Management signed a memorandum of understanding on Aug. 14 to test a KRW denominated tokenized fund backed by one of Shinhans won ultra short term bond funds.　　The project is a proof of concept only. Shinhan said it will not involve actual issuance or distribution and will run through an isolated structure in a third jurisdiction that blocks Korean residents contractually and technically.　　The companies plan to test the technical and compliance requirements needed to move the fund structure onchain. Those tests will include whitelist based transfer restrictions, know your customer checks, anti money laundering controls and onchain operating processes.　　Shinhan said the goal is to assess whether won denominated investment products could eventually reach offshore markets through tokenized infrastructure. The MOU records the companies intent to cooperate and does not commit them to a commercial issuance.　　Plume and Shinhan Asset Management, Koreas leading asset manager with KRW 133.6 trillion in AUM, have signed an MOU to develop a proof of concept for a KRW-denominated tokenized fund, with Won ultra-short-term bonds as the underlying.　　Plume and Shinhan will benchmark BlackRocks BUIDL model　　Shinhan said the project will benchmark BlackRocks BUIDL tokenized fund model while using its own KRW ultra short term bond

2 days agoIndustry

Wall Street Journal moves to dismiss Binance defamation case

The Wall Street Journal has asked a federal judge to dismiss Binances defamation lawsuit over three reports that accused the crypto exchange of weakening internal compliance efforts and allowing more than $1 billion in transactions linked to sanctioned Iranian entities.　　According to Courthouse News Service reporter Josh Russell, attorneys for the Journal argued Wednesday that Binances March 2026 complaint failed to show the newspaper knowingly published false information or acted with reckless disregard for the truth, the standard needed to establish actual malice.　　The dispute stems from reporting about an internal Binance investigation into transactions that allegedly moved through the exchange to entities connected to Iran-backed groups.　　Binance has denied key parts of the reporting and claims the Journal created a false impression that it fired investigators because of their work and stopped the internal probe.　　U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer did not rule from the bench after hearing arguments and took the Journals motion to dismiss under submission.　　Wall Street Journal says Binance failed to show actual malice　　At the center of the Journal‘s dismissal request is Binance’s claim that the newspaper knew its reporting was wrong because the exchange disputed the allegations before and after publication.　　The Journal argued in its filing that receiving denials

2 days agoIndustry

SEC cancels key crypto regulatory meeting

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has cancelled an open meeting scheduled for Friday that was expected to consider new cryptocurrency rules.　　The SEC said Thursday that the meeting had been cancelled. The commission had been expected to consider whether to propose a “tailored offering regime for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets.”　　The SEC told Reuters that the meeting would be moved due to “an unforeseen scheduling issue.” The agency did not immediately respond to Cointelegraphs request to comment.　　The Senate left for its August recess without voting on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which would provide a comprehensive framework for financial regulators overseeing the crypto industry.　　SEC Chair Paul Atkins told CNBC on July 27 that the agency was “ready, willing, and able to come out with rules” on digital assets if the Senate failed to pass the CLARITY Act.　　Magazine: How the EUs crypto tax rules are expected to work for users and platforms

2 days agoIndustry

Solana Alpenglow upgrade targets 150ms finality in October

Solana is preparing to replace TowerBFT with Alpenglow, a new consensus design that targets roughly 150 millisecond finality, down from about 12.8 seconds today.　　The latest official roadmap, however, does not confirm a September activation. Solana Foundation says Alpenglow is expected to activate with Agave 4.3, which is targeted for October 2026.　　The distinction matters because an Aug. 14 discussion around Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenkos comments revived claims that the upgrade could arrive as soon as September. Yakovenko said finality is “really only important at the cash register,” referring to situations where users or merchants need stronger certainty that a transaction cannot be reversed. His post did not announce a mainnet date.　　Finality is really only important at the cash register. Market makers dont wait for the finality signal before updating their prices. They assume all txs will finalize and deal with rollback when it happens, which is basically never.　　Solana Alpenglow now points to October, not September　　Solana Foundations Agave 4.2 overview says the full Alpenglow code is already included in 4.2 for testing and hardening. It states clearly that Alpenglow will not activate on mainnet in Agave 4.2 and is instead expected in Agave 4.3, “targeted for October 2026.”　　Anza released Agave 4.2.0 as

2 days agoIndustry

SEC delays Regulation Crypto meeting with no new date

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission cancelled its Aug. 14 open meeting on Regulation Crypto late Thursday, delaying a vote on whether to publish proposed rules for certain crypto asset offerings.　　The meeting had been scheduled for 10:00 a.m. ET and contained one agenda item: a tailored offering regime for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets. The SECs official notice confirms the meeting was cancelled.　　The cancellation should not be read as the SEC withdrawing Regulation Crypto. The formal notice gave no reason or replacement date. An agency spokesperson separately told Reuters that the meeting would be moved “due to an unforeseen scheduling issue.” No new meeting date has been announced.　　SEC Regulation Crypto remains in the rulemaking pipeline　　The strongest evidence that the proposal remains active comes from the federal regulatory review system. Reginfo.gov currently lists the SECs “Crypto Assets” proposal, RIN 3235-AN38, as pending review. The proposed rule was received on Aug. 12, two days before the planned Commission meeting, and has no legal deadline.　　The SECs Aug. 10 agenda described the planned action more narrowly than some reports. Commissioners were to decide whether to issue a proposal creating a tailored offering regime for certain crypto investment contracts. As crypto.news reported when the

2 days agoIndustry

Bitwise taps Superstate to tokenize shares of select crypto funds

Bitwise Asset Management has partnered with Superstate to develop a system that could let investors hold shares of certain Bitwise funds as blockchain-based tokens, with its Solana staking ETF expected to be the first product considered for the structure.　　SummaryBitwise has partnered with Superstate to develop blockchain based ownership records for shares of certain funds.The Bitwise Solana Staking ETF is expected to be the first fund considered for tokenization, although its launch is not guaranteed.Investors could choose between traditional book entry shares and tokenized shares while retaining the same shareholder rights.The partnership follows Bitwise cutting 14% of its staff, reducing its global headcount to about 155.　　Bitwise said Thursday that the planned framework would change how ownership of fund shares is recorded without changing the rights attached to the shares or the channels investors use to purchase them.　　Under the proposed setup, shareholders could choose between holding their shares through the Depository Trust Company in traditional book-entry form or having their ownership recorded on a blockchain using Superstates transfer agency infrastructure.　　“Shareholders could then elect to hold those shares either in traditional book-entry form through The Depository Trust Company or in tokenized form recorded on a blockchain and maintained through Superstates transfer agency infrastructure,”

2 days agoIndustry

CFTC to join SEC in exploring crypto regulations without CLARITY bill

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a committee meeting to advise the agency on policy issues, including a potential exploration of how to address cryptocurrency regulation in the absence of congressional action.　　In a notice issued Thursday, the CFTC said it would hold a meeting for its Innovation Advisory Committee on Aug. 20 to address regulation related to crypto assets, AI and prediction markets. Among the potential topics to be discussed on crypto were “areas where regulatory action can complement future congressional legislation,” likely referring to the US Senate failing to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act before breaking for an August recess last week.　　The CFTC announcement followed a similar notice of a meeting to be held by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday. The agenda said that it intended to discuss “new rules to create a tailored offering regime for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets.” A spokesperson added that it would support Congress effort to pass a market structure bill, but until such a law was passed, the SEC would work “within [its] authority” to advance crypto regulation.　　Michael Selig remains the only Senate-confirmed CFTC commissioner and chair, with no indication that US

2 days agoIndustry

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