Another $18.9M Hong Kong exchange scandal, HTX ‘sorry’ airdrop: Asia Express

Our play roundup of quality from East Asia curates the industry’s astir important developments.

Yet different crypto ungraded successful Hong Kong 

Scammers posing arsenic concern experts allegedly enticed 145 victims to extremity $18.9 cardinal into the unlicensed Hong Kong crypto speech Hounax.

According to reports earlier this week, the constabulary said investors were allegedly promised up to 40% instrumentality per annum with “no risk” successful its advertisements. After users deposited their funds, they were incapable to retreat them. On November 1, the Securities & Futures Exchange (SFC) of Hong Kong listed Hounax connected its billboard of suspicious crypto exchanges but clarified that due to the fact that Hounax was unlicensed astatine the clip of incident, it was not subjected to the regulatory’s enforcement actions.

This was the 2nd ungraded involving a crypto speech successful Hong Kong successful caller months. In September, different unlicensed speech JPEX collapsed aft allegations of a Ponzi scheme unsurfaced, starring to 66 arrests and an estimated $205 cardinal successful investors’ losses.

Despite the scandals, Hong Kong regulators look to stay steadfast successful their committedness to transforming the metropolis into a large Web3 hub. On November 27, SFC CEO Julia Leung, explained that “even if the grace play ends tomorrow, fraud volition inactive occur, truthful determination is nary volition to modify the grace play and different measures for the clip being.”

Under existent regulations, a grace play for crypto exchanges to run without registration volition extremity successful June 2024. On November 30, the SFC stated that it seeks to legitimize initial coin offerings successful the metropolis to make much gross for the nationalist budget.

A erstwhile advertisement from the defunct Hounax exchange. (Medium)

In different Hong Kong crypto news, the fiscal institutions, Interactive Brokers and Victory Securities, this week announced they had secured crypto licenses, with the erstwhile partnering with licensed crypto speech OSL to immediately supply Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) trading services to its Hong Kong clients.

And connected November 29, Darryl Chan, lawman main enforcement of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, announced a multinational effort to make a cross-chain span for China’s integer yuan cardinal slope integer currency (e-CNY CBDC). Dubbed “mBridge,” the protocol seeks to trim transaction fees and amended speeds for cross-border uses of the e-CNY CBDC. The archetypal aviator tests volition statesman successful Mainland China and Hong Kong.

Foreign banks articulation e-CNY aviator testing

Standard Chartered, HSBC, Hang Seng Bank, and Taiwan-based Fubon Bank person begun investigating of the integer yuan successful cross-border transactions.

According to section quality reports connected November 28, the 4 overseas banks volition besides integrate e-CNY transportation services for their clients and alteration them to deposit and retreat e-CNY. Personal banking accounts volition besides enactment the authoritative e-CNY app and self-custody wallet. Yuesheng Song, president and vice-chairman of Hang Seng China, commented:

“The cardinal bank’s motorboat of the integer RMB, a ineligible currency successful integer form, is an important measurement for China to research the improvement of integer currency and beforehand the internationalization of the RMB. Hang Seng China follows the nationalist fiscal improvement argumentation advocacy and actively supports the exertion and improvement of the cardinal bank’s integer currency.”

In the archetypal 3 quarters of 2023, the usage of the integer yuan successful transactions was up 35% year-on-year, reaching $1.39 trillion, China Daily reported. On November 29, the first-ever e-CNY pupil loans were issued successful the state of Suzhou with $26,230 worthy of loans being issued straight into the integer wallets of 13 recipients. 

List of banks supported by the e-CNY app, including Standard Chartered, HSBC, Hang Seng Bank, and Fubon Bank. (Baidu)

HTX backmost to normal

HTX speech (formerly Huobi Global) has reopened deposits and withdrawals aft a devastating blistery wallet hack that drained the speech of $30 million connected November 22.

The steadfast has besides announced that a peculiar airdrop volition instrumentality spot successful December designed to reward its “loyal users.” Airdrop tokens volition reportedly travel from an “upcoming high-quality projects,” and the magnitude to beryllium received volition beryllium determined by a users’ mean nett assets connected the HTX speech denominated successful Tether (USDT). 

Justin Sun, de-facto proprietor of the HTX exchange. Incredibly, Warren Buffett did not person to crypto pursuing the meeting. (Twitter)

Immediately aft the incident, Justin Sun, laminitis of the Tron ecosystem and de-facto proprietor of the HTX exchange, commented “we volition screen the nonaccomplishment and each assets are SAFE.” Despite assurances, however, this was the 4th exploit involving the HTX ecosystem wrong the past 2 months. Around the aforesaid clip arsenic the HTX exploit, the HTX Ecosystem Chain (HECO) span was hacked for $87 million.

On November 10, Poloniex, an speech acquired by Sun successful 2018, was hacked for $100 million owed to allegedly compromised backstage keys. The speech resumed withdrawals connected November 30. On September 25, HTX was drained of $8 million successful a information incident. The speech has since clawed backmost $8 million successful stolen funds and issued a 250 Ether bounty to the hacker.