assets

The South African Treasury has released the "Draft Regulations on Capital Flow Management for 2026" and is seeking public comments. The draft aims to restructure the current foreign exchange control framework based on the "Currency and Exchange Act," focusing on: aligning with the OECD and FATF recommendations on anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, and curbing illegal capital flows; including crypto-assets in the foreign exchange control scope for enhanced risk management and regulation for the first time; further clarifying exemptions, licenses, and applicable conditions; and introducing an administrative penalty mechanism for violations of the regulations. Comments must be submitted via email to the address designated by the National Treasury within 30 days of the announcement.

According to a research report by cybersecurity company Expel, it is tracking a highly assessed APT organization supported by North Korea (DPRK) called "HexagonalRodent," which primarily targets Web3 developers and specializes in stealing high-value digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs.The organization mainly conducts attacks by forging job postings—posting high-paying positions on LinkedIn and Web3 recruitment platforms to lure job seekers into completing "skills tests" embedded with malicious code, using the tasks.json feature of VSCode to automatically execute malicious programs when victims open project folders. The malware used includes BeaverTail, OtterCookie, and InvisibleFerret, which have capabilities for password theft, remote control, and reverse shell.It is noteworthy that the organization heavily utilizes generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Cursor to develop malware, build fake company websites, and create AI-generated executive teams, even registering shell companies in Mexico to enhance the credibility of their attacks

The ether.fi community has released a proposal to "Utilize treasury funds to restore the collateral assets of rsETH." The proposal includes injecting 5,000 ETH into the rsETH special rescue pool to cover the collateral gap, protect user assets, and prevent bad debts from spreading in the DeFi system.

Alexander Egorov, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Belarus, stated that the country is advancing the construction of a "crypto bank" framework, planning to support about 26 types of crypto assets and 11 core business categories.According to relevant decrees, crypto banks can use mainstream cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Toncoin, and Solana. In terms of business scope, it covers a total of 11 operations, including crypto deposits, crypto loans, staking, staking mining, asset transfers, self-issuing tokens, trading exchanges, and custody.

Lido has released the latest developments regarding the Kelp security incident, stating that its Earn series vaults are working with the management to address the issues, which involve two major risk points: the rsETH exposure and the liquidity tension in the lending market. Lido emphasizes that the core staking protocol has not been affected, and both stETH and wstETH remain safe and stable.Currently, only the EarnETH vault has an approximately 9% TVL exposure to rsETH, and related deposits and withdrawals have been suspended by the management, awaiting a solution. Approximately $70 million in ETH has been recovered from the previous attack, and the subsequent asset recovery and loss distribution are still in progress. In response to liquidity pressure, the management has reduced leverage and optimized the position structure, significantly decreasing the wETH debt exposure. If losses ultimately occur, EarnETH will activate a $3 million "first loss protection mechanism" (funded by the DAO). As for other vaults, DVV and EarnUSD have not been affected and are operating normally; the GGV sub-vault is currently experiencing negative returns due to the combination of circular staking strategies and rising lending rates, but adjustments are ongoing. Withdrawal requests submitted by users will be processed based on valuations prior to the incident.

According to on-chain analyst Ai Yi's monitoring, Sun Yuchen has deposited a total of $1.3 billion in assets to Spark, with USDS Farming rewards reaching as high as $5.38 million.Sun Yuchen's address 0x939...6a1d1 withdrew 300 million USDS from Sky in the past 3 hours and then deposited it into Spark. The current deposits on the platform are as follows:USDS: $436 million, accounting for 18.72% of the deposit pool;USDC: $135 million, accounting for 28.17% of the deposit pool;USDT: $93.39 million, accounting for 9.89% of the deposit pool.

According to South Korean media Newsis, a company finance employee in their 20s was sentenced to 3 years in prison by the Busan District Court for embezzling funds for cryptocurrency investments.The court found that between 2021 and 2025, they transferred company funds to personal accounts approximately 680 times, embezzling a total of about 570 million won, and used the related funds for trading cryptocurrencies, overseas travel, and living expenses; they also forged company deposit trust balance certificates to cover up the crime.

According to Tesla's official financial report, Tesla's total revenue in the first quarter of 2026 reached $22.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 16%; GAAP operating profit was $941 million, a year-on-year increase of 136%; non-GAAP net profit was $1.453 billion, a year-on-year increase of 56%; operating cash flow was $3.9 billion, free cash flow was $1.444 billion, and the cash and short-term investments balance at the end of the quarter reached $44.7 billion.In terms of digital assets, the company did not disclose any Bitcoin trading operations, and the book value of digital assets decreased from approximately $1.008 billion at the end of the previous quarter to $786 million, mainly due to fair value adjustments resulting from the decline in Bitcoin prices.

According to French media reports, on the morning of April 20 local time, a malicious "targeted robbery of crypto assets" occurred in Ploudalmézeau, France: two masked gunmen broke into a residence, controlling and binding a family of five (including two children and two elderly individuals) for several hours, ultimately coercing the victims to transfer approximately 700,000 euros worth of cryptocurrency.The incident took place in a residential community in broad daylight, and the suspects were clearly "well-prepared," having a thorough understanding of the victims' crypto asset holdings. Police initially determined that this case represents a typical new crime model of "offline violence + on-chain transfer," where personal threats are used to forcibly obtain private keys or transfer authorizations.It is noteworthy that the family members of the victims were engaged in work related to the crypto industry, which may have been a significant reason for this targeted crime. The case is still under investigation, and the suspects have not yet been arrested.This incident once again highlights that, against the backdrop of the increasing popularity of crypto assets, "physical world attacks" (such as kidnapping and home invasion) are becoming new security risk points, and personal asset security is no longer limited to on-chain protection.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore has released a consultation document proposing to establish a more friendly regulatory capital guideline for the treatment of crypto assets on permissionless blockchains before implementing the Basel capital requirements for crypto assets.It is reported that the Basel capital requirements for crypto assets categorize them into two groups. The first group involves tokenized traditional assets and stablecoins, which are subject to lower capital requirements.The second group involves crypto assets that do not meet the above conditions. The Monetary Authority of Singapore intends to abandon the practice of categorizing all crypto assets on permissionless blockchains as part of the second group, allowing them to be classified as first group crypto assets with lower risk weights and more lenient prudential requirements, provided they meet a series of principled requirements. Specifically, for banks registered in Singapore, the risk exposure of permissionless blockchain crypto assets classified as first group crypto assets must not exceed 2% of the bank's Tier 1 capital, and if the issuance creates liabilities at the bank level, the issuance scale must not exceed 5% of Tier 1 capital.

According to the official announcement from Volo, a security vulnerability incident occurred with the BTCFi and LST protocols on the Sui network, resulting in approximately $3.5 million in assets (including WBTC, XAUm, and USDC) being stolen from three specific Vaults.After the incident, the team immediately notified the Sui Foundation and ecological partners, and froze all Vaults to prevent further losses. Volo stated that this vulnerability only involved three Vaults, and the remaining Vaults do not have the same attack vector, with approximately $28 million in TVL assets remaining safe. The official emphasized that they will bear the loss themselves and will not pass the loss onto users, and will release a complete post-incident report and remediation plan after the investigation is completed.

Federal Reserve Chair nominee Waller: (Regarding whether to incorporate digital assets into the financial system) Digital assets are already a part of our financial industry.

ChainCatcher reported live that Franklin Bi, partner at Pantera Capital, Mykolas Majauskas, senior policy director at Bybit, and Zeng Yuchao, managing director at Futu Group, jointly attended the HK Web3 Feastival roundtable to share "From the Ground Up to the Entry Point: The Path of Crypto Assets to Mainstream Finance."Zeng Yuchao introduced that Futu is the largest retail brokerage in Hong Kong, with a market share of over 50%. In January this year, it obtained the VATP license, and last month removed all additional conditions to achieve full integration of securities brokerage and crypto trading. Last year, Futu collaborated with Huaxia Fund to issue a tokenized money market fund, allowing T+0 same-day subscriptions and redemptions. In terms of AI, Futu has launched the Agent skill feature, enabling users to set strategies through natural language and execute trades automatically. He believes that in the future, there will be a transformation from graphical interfaces to AI interfaces.Mykolas Majauskas pointed out that companies currently complaining about regulation will miss this honeymoon period in the future, as larger-scale regulation is on the way. He analyzed global regulatory differences: Europe leads with MiCA, the U.S. supports private issuance, China supports government digital currency, and Hong Kong serves as a tokenization gateway. He warned that many native crypto companies claim to disrupt traditional finance but are actually being acquired by traditional institutions. He believes the fundamental change in AI is at the front end: users only need to express their intentions, and AI autonomously decides to execute strategies. Bybit is building a one-stop financial platform that integrates IBAN, cards, payments, and investments. He believes many traditional wealth management companies will be eliminated because they have historically made you feel wealthy rather than truly helping you accumulate wealth.Franklin Bi stated that blockchain is the perfect technology for building financial systems for AI Agents. When Agents choose between traditional accounts and stablecoins, they are opting for stablecoins, marking the beginning of an exponential trend.

According to CoinDesk, citing informed sources, Coinbase is collaborating with the cryptocurrency exchange platform Bybit to explore methods for tokenization, custody, and distribution of assets such as U.S. public and pre-IPO stocks.The informed source added that the ongoing discussions do not involve any form of equity acquisition or similar transactions. Bybit's plans to enter the U.S. market involve a new entity led by former co-CEO Helen Liu, working with a local partner providing licensing and compliance services whose identity has not been disclosed, rather than Coinbase.CoinDesk reported that both Bybit and Coinbase declined to comment.

In response to the security incident and supply chain security risks of the front-end platform Vercel, the Binance security team has promptly initiated an emergency response, completed a comprehensive risk assessment of the front-end of products within the Binance system, and directly contacted Vercel to verify and confirm each issue.Binance stated that its platform and user assets are not affected by this incident.

ChainCatcher reported live that the Deputy Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of Hong Kong, Chan Ho Lam, delivered a keynote speech at the 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival. He pointed out that Hong Kong has developed into the third global financial center index and the first international financial center in Asia, providing a solid foundation for Web3 innovation.He stated that the digital asset development policy declaration 2.0 released last year proposed the LEAP framework, which covers four pillars: optimizing legal regulation (L), expanding the variety of tokenized products (E), promoting application scenarios and cross-border cooperation (A), and developing talent and partnerships (P).He revealed that there are currently over 10 licensed trading platforms in Hong Kong, and the Monetary Authority has issued the first two stablecoin issuer licenses this month. The SAR government issued the third batch of tokenized green bonds last year, which is the largest scale globally, and is actively formulating regulatory systems for digital asset trading service providers and custodial service providers.

According to Caixin, the one-month public consultation for the "Financial Law of the People's Republic of China (Draft)" ended today (April 19). This is the first overarching law in China and the world with "finance" in its name. The expansion of "quasi-judicial powers" for financial regulation is a topic of great concern in the market.According to Article 55 and related provisions, financial regulatory authorities have the right to access and copy property rights information, communication records, and transaction records of relevant entities and individuals when investigating financial violations. They can directly freeze or seal assets if there is evidence suggesting the transfer or concealment of illegal funds and securities. They can even decide that individuals suspected of violations cannot leave the country during the investigation.In addition, Zeng Gang, chief expert and director of the Shanghai Financial and Development Laboratory, believes that the "Financial Law" should also strengthen its focus and coverage on emerging financial formats. Topics such as AI-driven financial decision-making, the legal status of digital currencies, and the regulatory boundaries of crypto assets have sparked widespread controversy globally, but the draft addresses them very little. How to maintain a dynamic balance between lawful regulation and inclusive innovation is a problem left to be solved by legislation.

At the "Crypto 2026: From Cryptocurrency to Smart Economy" themed forum held in Hong Kong, Dr. Daxue Wang, CFO of Lotus Technology Inc., delivered a keynote speech titled "Crypto Links to the Physical Industry, Smart Mobility Running on the Chain."Dr. Daxue Wang stated that smart mobility is the pioneering carrier of the smart economy. Lotus, a luxury electric vehicle brand with a 78-year history, has been listed on NASDAQ and is actively exploring the deep integration of crypto technology with the physical industry. He proposed three major integration directions:First, safeguarding data value by utilizing the immutable nature of blockchain and privacy computing, allowing users to have absolute control over their personal data, achieving credible data circulation and value flow. Second, releasing asset value by exploring efficient circulation and fair trading of assets such as vehicle sales, brand value, autonomous driving technology patents, and global sales networks through RWA, while promoting credible traceability of carbon assets in green mobility. Third, co-creating ecological value by recording data on driving, charging, and maintenance through on-chain smart nodes, allowing users to upgrade from "car owners" to "participants in the brand ecosystem" through on-chain rights confirmation.Dr. Daxue Wang pointed out that the current challenges include compliance implementation, technology adaptation, and ecological co-construction, but the opportunities lie in open cooperation, promoting smart mobility as a practical landing scenario of the smart economy. Lotus hopes to work hand in hand with the crypto ecosystem to realize the vision of "from buying a Lotus car to sharing the growth value of Lotus technology."