Hong Kong tech giant Meitu made headlines in April last year after it reported nearly $100 million in crypto holdings. However, with the advent of the bear market, the tech firm has lost nearly half of the valuation of its crypto holdings. According to a local media report, Meitu reported an impairment loss of over 300 million yuan, approximately $43.4 million, on their crypto holdings. An impairment loss is a loss in value of an asset when it falls below the carrying value of the investment. The financial filing revealed that the impairment loss has more than doubled from the …

Cryptocurrency exchange CoinFLEX is partially reopening user withdrawals, raising cautious optimism that the company was gradually recovering from liquidity constraints that were triggered by a high-profile client default. Beginning at 5 am UTC on Friday, all CoinFLEX users will be able to withdraw up to 10% of their funds, the company said. All existing withdrawal requests will be canceled and returned to their respective accounts, giving users the ability to initiate new requests in accordance with the 10% limit. The remaining 90% of user balances will be considered “locked funds,” or funds that appear on their balance but cannot be …

Ashley Alder, the CEO of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission, will become the next chair of the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority. In a Friday announcement, the U.K. Treasury said it had appointed Alder to chair the country’s financial watchdog starting in January 2023. He will succeed interim FCA chair Richard Lloyd, who took office following Charles Randell’s departure in May. Alder has led the Hong Kong securities regulator since 2011 and also chaired the International Organization of Securities Commissions, or IOSCO. In a March report from the IOSCO, Adler said decentralized finance was “a novel and fast-growing area …

Last week, the Celsius Network wrote its name in the alarming recent history of the crypto market failures alongside Terra (originally LUNA, now called LUNC). The American platform has unstaked $247 million worth of Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) from the Aave (AAVE) protocol and sent it to crypto exchange FTX while putting the withdrawal option for users on a stop. Immediately after that, United States securities regulators from five states — Alabama, Kentucky, New Jersey, Texas and Washington — opened an investigation into Celsius. This isn’t the first time the platform is facing suspicions from law enforcement. In September 2021, the …

Hong Kong-based crypto lending firm Babel Finance has eased some of its immediate liquidity troubles by reaching debt repayments agreements with some of its counterparties. As previously reported, the firm issued a temporary suspension of redemptions and withdrawals from its products on Friday after citing “unusual liquidity pressures” in the current bear market. The company stated it was taking swift action to protect clients and communicate with “all related parties.” In an update posted on Monday, Babel Finance stated that it has since taken three steps to help ease its current liquidity situation. These include carrying out an emergency assessment …

Hong Kong-based asset manager Babel Finance is the latest cryptocurrency lending firm experiencing some serious issues amid the ongoing market downturn. Babel Finance officially announced Friday a temporary suspension of redemptions and withdrawals from its products, citing “unusual liquidity pressures.” “Recently, the crypto market has seen major fluctuations, and some institutions in the industry have experienced conductive risk events,” the statement on Babel Finance's website reads. The firm said that it’s in close communication with “all related parties” on the matter and is doing its best to best protect its customers. “Babel Finance is taking action to best protect the …

Yahoo has announced a series of Metaverse and nonfungible token- (NFT)-related activities in Hong Kong, a day after Meta Platforms outlined its own metaverse plans for the region. Yahoo, a United States-based internet media company, revealed that it will host a series of virtual events and concerts for Hong Kong residents in the Decentraland metaverse. According to Lorraine Cheung, head of audience of Yahoo Hong Kong, the company sees the Metaverse as an attractive alternative for Hong Kong residents looking to engage in social activities while pandemic restrictions remain in force. On June 9, a nationwide mandate was introduced requiring …

Hong Kong-based Samsung Asset Management (SAMHK), a local subsidiary of Samsung’s investment arm, is moving forward with a blockchain-themed exchange-traded fund (ETF). The firm expects to launch its Samsung Blockchain Technologies ETF on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on June 23, SAMHK announced on Thursday. The ETF seeks to achieve long-term capital growth by investing in stocks of companies actively involved in the development and adoption of blockchain technologies, the fund prospectus reads. The fund will invest in blockchain-related research and development firms, data providers, industry investment firms and others. The ETF’s composition will be managed by SAMHK’s portfolio management …

On Monday, Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) released a statement warning investors about the risks of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, which have soared in popularity in recent years. The regulatory body wrote: "As with other virtual assets, NFTs are exposed to heightened risks, including illiquid secondary markets, volatility, opaque pricing, hacking and fraud. Investors should be mindful of these risks, and if they cannot fully understand them and bear the potential losses, they should not invest in NFTs." However, it appears that the SFC's specific concern lies in the securitization of NFTs. "The majority of NFTs observed by …

Following its initial foray into the nonfungible token (NFT) space with the Adidas for Prada re-source project in partnership with digital artist Zach Lieberman and SuperRare, iconic fashion brand Prada has now announced its first independent NFT collection accompanying the Prada Timecapsule. An online event hosted on the first Thursday of every month, Prada Timecapsule has, since December 2019, opened up exclusive access to clothing items on its website for 24 hours. Drop #30 in this series will be coupled with an NFT. According to Prada, the asset’s design will be “decorated with Cassius Hirst’s signature mask and brain scan …

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has warned that stablecoins could undermine the Hong Kong dollar in a recently released discussion paper about its retail central bank digital currency, e-HKD. The HKMA today issued a discussion paper, outlining the policy and design issues involved in the introduction of e-HKD, and encourages the public and industry to participate in the consultation and share their views. Find out more: https://t.co/GndjuZ2Pay pic.twitter.com/hRz2noD0Ps — HKMA 香港金融管理局 (@hkmagovhk) April 27, 2022 Many in the crypto industry believe that interest in developing central bank digital currencies (CBDC) has been in response to the rise of private-sector …

Global banking giant HSBC Holdings has rolled out its metaverse investment product for wealthy clients in Singapore and Hong Kong, according to multiple media reports. Called Metaverse Discretionary Strategy portfolio, the new product is managed by HSBC’s asset management arm, HSBC Asset Management. The fund aims to provide high net worth professional investors and accredited investor clients with exposure to new investment opportunities in the metaverse industry. According to a Wednesday report by Reuters, HSBC’s metaverse fund will focus on investment within five major segments in the metaverse ecosystem, including infrastructure, computing, virtualization, experience and interface. “We see many exciting …