virtu

The Public Security Bureau of Hongkou District, Shanghai, China, recently solved a case involving cross-border illegal settlement and illegal foreign exchange trading using virtual currency, arresting 9 criminal suspects and involving an amount of over 200 million yuan. The suspects, including a person named Li, established a technology company at the beginning of 2024 to seek illegal profits, building two platforms online: "Cross-Border Fund Exchange" and "Virtual Credit Card Issuance and Settlement." They solicited customers both online and offline, illegally conducting exchange and settlement services for virtual currency and cross-border funds, profiting through transaction fees, service fees, card issuance fees, withdrawal fees, and other means.Investigators stated, "The uniqueness of this case lies in the fact that the criminals developed two apps and publicly solicited customers on such a large scale, which has never been seen before. The platforms built in this case are themselves a closed-loop illegal financial service system, with all transactions settled internally on the platform. This mode of crime has a higher degree of scale, a longer chain, and is more deceptive." Reports indicate that on the "Cross-Border Fund Exchange" platform, the criminal gang collected customers' virtual currency overseas and exchanged it for foreign currency, forming a "fund pool," and then realized cross-border settlement through fabricated contracts, achieving the exchange and transfer of virtual currency to RMB. On the "Virtual Credit Card Issuance and Settlement" platform, the criminal gang "cooperated" with several overseas private banks to issue virtual credit cards to customers, who could use the card for consumption, but the repayment process had to be settled in virtual currency; the gang exchanged virtual currency for foreign currency overseas, relying on false cross-border settlements to complete clearing with overseas card merchants.

Virtu Financial, M1X Global, and Tradeweb have completed an on-chain repurchase transaction using the digital sovereign bond USDM1 issued by the Marshall Islands as collateral, with all settlements completed on the Canton Network within 10 minutes. The parties stated that this is the first case combining native-issued sovereign collateral with fully on-chain atomic settlement.USDM1 is a dollar-denominated sovereign bond issued on-chain by the Republic of the Marshall Islands, backed 1:1 by short-term U.S. Treasury securities, which continues to pay interest during the collateral period and is structured as a fully collateralized sovereign debt instrument under New York law. The bond is offered through the Tradeweb platform, with custodial services provided by Anchorage Digital, BitGo, and tZERO.Canton is a blockchain network designed for institutional finance, equipped with privacy and permission management features. Prior to this transaction, Tradeweb facilitated the real-time transfer of tokenized U.S. Treasury securities from Franklin Templeton to Virtu Financial on Canton in July. Since August, FalconX and Interstice have launched a cross-chain exchange engine connecting Canton with Ethereum, Solana, and Robinhood Chain, and World Liberty Financial has also natively issued the USD1 stablecoin on Canton.

The Shanghai Public Security Bureau reported the investigation and resolution of a major underground money laundering case involving cross-border currency exchange using virtual currency, arresting more than 70 criminal suspects, with the amount involved exceeding 20 billion yuan.

Virtuals Protocol has released a complete operational guide for issuing AI Agent tokens on Solana, covering processes such as identity setup, instant or scheduled launch, token economics, and advanced configurations.The guide introduces the Automated Capital Formation (ACF) automatic financing mechanism, which has raised over $6.8 million; it also supports team pre-purchases, anti-sniping taxes, and directly binding tokens to the Economy OS-driven AI Agent. After the token launch, it will be traded through the Meteora DBC pool, with a 1% transaction fee, of which 70% goes to the creators. After accumulating 42,000 VIRTUAL tokens, the token will automatically graduate and migrate liquidity, with LP locked for 10 years.

Factblock CEO and Korea Blockchain Week organizer Andrew Park stated that the South Korean crypto market is shifting from retail-driven trading to institutional digital finance. The focus of global financial institutions and enterprises has shifted from tokens, exchanges, and prices to custody, tokenization, stablecoins, payment settlement infrastructure, and regulatory compliance.The South Korean Financial Services Commission has proposed a framework to open corporate virtual asset accounts to approximately 3,500 listed companies and registered professional investors. The South Korean National Assembly has officially passed amendments to the Electronic Securities Act and the Capital Markets Act, incorporating tokenized real-world assets and security tokens into a unified legal framework.The Bank of Korea has completed the preliminary trial of the Project Hangang real-world deposit token project and plans to conduct the second phase of institutional testing by the end of 2026. Related technical experiments have utilized wholesale deposit tokens to allow AI agents to execute automated conditional trading.

According to Cointelegraph, the affiliated company of the trading platform Capital.com, Capital Vault, has obtained a virtual asset license issued by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of the UAE, allowing it to handle virtual assets as an agent or matching party and provide custody services.Capital Vault will operate as an independent regulated entity, having established an office in Abu Dhabi and formed a local virtual asset team. After the service goes live, UAE users will be able to directly purchase and hold crypto assets through the Capital.com app, unlike the previous offering which only provided price exposure through contracts for difference (CFD).

According to Digital Asset, the South Korean government stated that digital assets held by residents through personal wallets or overseas exchanges, as long as they generate income from transfers or lending, are generally subject to taxation.The digital asset tax will be implemented starting January 1, 2027, taxed as other income, with a deduction of 2.5 million won and a tax rate of 20%, including local taxes up to a maximum of 22%.

According to a report by the Korea United News Agency, the Gwangju Police Agency's Cyber Crime Investigation Team will arrest and transfer three suspects led by A (in their 60s), who are suspected of establishing offices in Seoul, Gwangju in South Jeolla Province, and Gunsan in North Jeolla Province since November 2024. They allegedly deceived over 100 elderly individuals aged 70 to 80 into investing in virtual assets with false promises such as "guaranteed principal" and "potential profits of hundreds of billions of Korean won," accumulating approximately 500 million Korean won in fraud.The police stated that there are likely still unreported victims and are continuing to expand the investigation, reminding the public to remain vigilant against investment offers that promise guaranteed principal and high returns.

The Shanghai Intermediate People's Court has published typical cases, analyzing whether "traffic personnel" involved in telecommunications network fraud related to virtual currencies constitute accomplices in fraud. From February 2022 to April 2023, the defendants, for the purpose of profit, assisted upstream fraudulent activities by "draining traffic," using online virtual phone software to lure victims into related scam groups, ultimately causing 30 victims to be defrauded of more than 2.34 million yuan (the same currency hereafter) by an overseas fraudulent organization. The overseas fraudulent organization transferred funds into the suspects' trading accounts via virtual currency.The Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court pointed out that in telecommunications network fraud cases, "traffic personnel" may constitute accomplices in fraud or illegal use of information networks depending on specific circumstances. The key lies in determining whether they have formed a clear criminal intent connection with the upstream fraudulent organization and whether there is stable cooperation and division of labor. In judicial practice, when assessing the criminal responsibility of "traffic personnel," factors such as their role in the criminal chain, the degree of organizational management, connections with upstream criminals, methods of profit, and abnormal behavior should be comprehensively considered. Actions that only provide general online services and do not form a conspiracy to commit fraud should be distinguished from "draining" actions that knowingly participate in the implementation of fraud.

According to Digital Asset, Park Soo-young, a member of the Korean National Power Party, criticized the government's plan to tax virtual asset gains, stating that it is "a threat of a tax bomb if one does not invest in the domestic stock market," and demanded an immediate withdrawal.Member Park Soo-young stated on her YouTube channel: "I hope this punitive tax plan that puts 13 million digital asset users in danger can be withdrawn immediately." She added, "This does not mean that people will invest in domestic stocks; on the contrary, it will only accelerate the outflow of national wealth." She cited that approximately 124 trillion won flowed into overseas digital asset exchanges from January to September last year.

A man in Anshun, Guizhou, used the name of a virtual currency airdrop project as a pretext to lure friends into investing with the bait of guaranteed high returns, ultimately crossing the legal red line. The People's Procuratorate of Pingba District, Anshun City, Guizhou Province, filed a public prosecution, and the court sentenced Zhao to seven months in prison for fraud, along with a fine of 5,000 yuan.Zhao had been paying attention to the field of virtual currency investment for many years and had long been posting investment insights and financial management tips on social media platforms. Zhang was also a virtual currency enthusiast, and the two met on a social platform due to their common interests, gradually becoming friends and frequently discussing investment strategies online. Through long-term communication, Zhao gained Zhang's trust with seemingly professional investment analysis. Subsequently, Zhao proposed a joint investment, to which Zhang agreed. However, after a period of investment, Zhang experienced significant losses and expressed his intention to stop further investments.On August 23, 2025, Zhao claimed that a certain app had launched an airdrop project (to promote a new project, encourage user participation, or reward loyal users, distributing native tokens of the project for free to eligible users), persuading Zhang to invest the remaining funds in his account into this project, promising a return of 100 to 200 U coins (virtual currency) within two days. Zhao also guaranteed that if there were any losses during this period, he would bear the responsibility. To further alleviate Zhang's concerns, Zhao claimed that all investment funds would be transferred to a public chain (the public address of the virtual currency). Believing Zhao, Zhang exchanged 1,757 dollars in his account for Ethereum and completed the transfer according to the wallet link provided by Zhao. In reality, the wallet corresponding to that link was a personal account registered using his girlfriend's identity information, not a public chain. The agreed time for the return of funds had passed, but Zhao had not fulfilled his promise. Zhang urged for repayment multiple times, but Zhao evaded responsibility with excuses such as sending the wrong link and needing time to track it down. On September 7 of the same year, Zhang reported the situation to the police after noticing something was wrong.On April 2 of this year, the Pingba District Procuratorate filed a public prosecution against Zhao for suspected fraud. The procuratorial agency believed that Zhao deceived others out of property by concealing the truth, with a significant amount involved, constituting the crime of fraud. Given that Zhao truthfully confessed to the criminal facts after being apprehended, showed signs of remorse, and had fully compensated the victim for their losses while voluntarily admitting guilt, he could be punished leniently according to the law.

According to Qilu Evening News, a new type of virtual currency "staking mining" scam has recently emerged. Scammers create a perfect persona through long-term friendships on social platforms, chatting with victims for one to two months to build trust. They then guide victims to switch to overseas private communication software such as WhatsApp and Discord, inducing them to download fake mining platforms and sign contracts for authorization. Using the asset transfer permissions from the contracts, they quietly transfer funds from the victims' accounts in the background.The scammers never mention sensitive words like "investment" or "financial management," packaging the scam as "idle computing power staking mining," claiming zero risk and stable returns, and using small rebates to entice victims to increase their investments. Currently, most victims are young people with side job needs, with known losses exceeding 3 million yuan, and the highest individual loss exceeding 300,000 yuan. Victims are spread across many regions of the country. Lawyers remind that virtual currency transactions are not protected by law, and any strangers on social platforms inducing a switch to overseas software or requesting wallet authorization for unfamiliar contracts should be regarded as scams. Do not make secondary transfers.

According to SBS, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) of South Korea has begun a comprehensive reform of its system to address compensation issues related to financial fraud, including voice phishing involving virtual assets. The FSS launched the "Financial Fraud Loss Compensation System Improvement Project" on August 6. This project aims to reform the existing compensation calculation system centered on the Korean won, in preparation for including virtual asset losses in the compensation scope starting in October this year.The current system primarily calculates compensation amounts based on losses valued in Korean won, but after the reform, a compensation ratio will be adopted, taking into account the type and quantity of virtual assets involved. Additionally, during payment suspensions, the Korean won exchange value of virtual assets will also be included in the calculations.

According to a report by CNBC, the latest research published in the academic journal "Review of Accounting Studies" shows that among U.S. taxpayers holding virtual currencies, the actual proportion of those reporting transactions to the federal government is only 32% to 56%.As the IRS will require intermediaries to submit virtual currency tax forms "Form 1099-DA" starting in 2025, discrepancies between reports from businesses and taxpayer filings will be more easily identified by authorities. In the first year, the form only needs to report total earnings, while the obligation to report cost basis will officially be included starting in 2026.

According to MBN, South Korea's People Power Party member Jeong Seong-guk plans to propose a bill to postpone the implementation date for taxing virtual asset income by three years, from January 1, 2027, to January 1, 2030. The member pointed out that by delaying the implementation date until a comprehensive review of related systems, including the taxation of virtual assets, is completed, a safeguard can be established to enhance taxpayer expectations and prevent system chaos.According to current regulations, starting from January 1 of next year, income generated from the transfer or lending of virtual assets will be classified as "other income" and will be subject to income tax. Therefore, the portion of annual profits exceeding 2.5 million won will be taxed at a rate of 22%, which includes 20% for other income tax and 2% for local income tax. Amid recent stock market turmoil and soaring real estate prices triggering public attacks on the government and ruling party, the People Power Party seems to be trying to gain public support by actively proposing legislation aimed at protecting the interests of virtual asset market investors. The People Power Party has consistently opposed the government, advocating for the abolition of this tax.

According to the Dongguan Release public account, the Dongguan Hengli police successfully intercepted a virtual currency investment fraud case, preserving 1.1 million yuan in cash just 5 minutes before the victim's offline transaction with the fraudster, thus avoiding significant economic losses.It is understood that the victim, Ms. Li (pseudonym), previously met an unfamiliar online acquaintance who lured her with "internal investment channels for virtual currency," promising low thresholds and high returns, and created a false impression of investment profits through forged profit screenshots. Subsequently, the fraudster induced Ms. Li to withdraw 1.1 million yuan in cash under the pretext of "needing to exchange cash for USD recharge" for payment. After discovering risk clues, the Dongguan police quickly activated the early warning interception mechanism, organized police forces to rush to the bank to dissuade her, and ultimately successfully prevented the fund transfer before the transaction.