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HashKey Holdings Limited's latest announcement states that its wholly-owned subsidiary HKDAG SG has entered into a non-binding framework agreement with the major shareholders of the Singapore Derivatives Exchange APEX regarding a potential acquisition of all its equity. The acquisition price and payment arrangements have yet to be determined.According to HashKey, APEX holds a recognized exchange license issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and its member company Asia Pacific Clear holds a recognized clearing house license, possessing comprehensive issuance and clearing capabilities. HashKey indicated that if the acquisition is completed, it will help establish a more scalable regulated presence in Singapore.The announcement also emphasizes that the proposed acquisition is subject to the execution of final documents and obtaining approval from MAS before it can be finalized. As of the announcement date, neither party has executed any final documents, nor has MAS approval been obtained, and the transaction may or may not proceed.

Circle's Senior Director of Strategy and Policy for the EU, Patrick Hansen, pointed out that since the implementation of the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), approximately 35 electronic money tokens (EMT) from 21 institutions have obtained compliance certification, with banks and electronic money institutions entering the market, showing a good momentum for local issuance.However, among the top 50 stablecoins globally, currently only USDC, USDG, and EURC meet MiCA requirements, while the rest remain outside the regulatory framework, leaving EU users facing a dual dilemma of lack of protection or being forced to cut off access. Hansen believes that for MiCA to truly become a global regulatory blueprint, it must achieve two goals simultaneously: first, to promote local EMTs to go global with competitive systems; second, to establish a recognition mechanism for compliant stablecoins from abroad, attracting global issuers into the MiCA regulatory framework, rather than making local issuance the only entry path.

According to Business Insider, Musk reiterated and refined the timeline: within about 5 years, overall AI intelligence may surpass the total human intelligence; within about 10 years, humans are likely to no longer dominate (the intelligence gap is far greater than that between chimpanzees and humans). He stated that AI can do better in almost all aspects except "being human" itself.Musk believes the most likely outcome of AI development is an "era of astonishing abundance," where robots + AI can produce goods and services far exceeding human consumption capacity, allowing anyone to have whatever they want. By around 2036, "money may no longer matter."He believes that the government could directly issue checks to the public (similar to universal basic income), as output surges, and deflation is more likely to occur rather than inflation; the traditional logic of taxation/re-distribution may fail under the new paradigm. He accepts that there is about a 10-20% risk of human extinction from AI, but believes that the momentum of development is unstoppable, having reached a "philosophical conclusion": if it cannot be stopped, then join in and "enjoy the journey."

The Singapore Police Force and the Federal Bureau of Investigation signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen joint actions, intelligence sharing, training, and law enforcement assistance in online scams, cyber fraud, and money laundering cases.The two parties completed a joint operation targeting cross-border cryptocurrency fraud in Singapore and the United States, identifying 54 victims and potential victims through information sharing and blockchain intelligence, and preventing potential losses of approximately 2.7 million USD in the United States and about 388,000 SGD in Singapore.

Coinbase officially opened its office at Raffles Quay No. 1 in Singapore on July 22. Hassan Ahmed, the National Director of Singapore, stated in an interview with The Business Times that the plan is to increase the local workforce from about 150 to around 200 by the end of 2026, with the fastest-growing positions concentrated in engineering, customer service, relationship management, and institutional sales.Ahmed described Singapore as one of the most trusted financial centers in the world and one of Coinbase's fastest-growing international markets. This expansion contrasts with Coinbase's global layoffs of about 14% in May this year. Ahmed explained that the company is optimistic about the adoption prospects of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins in Singapore and the Asian region, citing the local clear regulatory framework, friendly business environment, and strong capital flow as attractive factors.In October 2023, Coinbase obtained a full major payment institution license under Singapore's Payment Services Act and is currently exploring the intersection of AI and digital assets, including equipping AI agents with stablecoin wallets.

According to the latest report released by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), FATF conducted the seventh special assessment of the implementation of Recommendation 15 (R.15) across global jurisdictions. The report indicates that since the last update in 2025, countries have continued to advance in the regulation of virtual assets (VA) and virtual asset service providers (VASP), including conducting risk assessments, improving licensing and registration frameworks, implementing travel rules, and strengthening law enforcement actions.However, the report also points out that significant gaps still exist, mainly reflected in: the difficulty in effectively translating risk assessment results into mitigation measures, insufficient implementation of licensing and registration frameworks, challenges in identifying VASP activity subjects, and inadequate effectiveness of risk-based supervision and law enforcement. In terms of emerging risks, the report focuses on the following areas: the exacerbation of the "industrialization" trend of organized crime groups using virtual assets to commit fraud, the rising risk of stablecoin abuse, risks associated with non-custodial wallet peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions, offshore VASPs operating outside of regulation, and ongoing challenges in the DeFi sector. FATF calls for the public and private sectors to jointly strengthen the implementation of R.15, enhance risk mitigation capabilities, and deepen domestic, international, and public-private cooperation mechanisms.

Cryptocurrency trading and liquidity service provider Cumberland announced on platform X that its Singapore subsidiary Cumberland SG Pte. Ltd. has obtained the MPI license issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), allowing it to provide Digital Payment Token (DPT) services and cross-border money transfer services.

Cryptocurrency trading and liquidity service provider Cumberland announced on platform X that its Singapore subsidiary Cumberland SG Pte. Ltd. has obtained the MPI license issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), allowing it to conduct Digital Payment Token (DPT) services and cross-border money transfer services.

According to Bitcoin.com, the Singapore Police Force's Anti-Fraud Centre and Cybercrime Investigation Department, in a six-week joint anti-fraud operation from April 16 to May 31, 2026, collaborated with Coinbase, Coinhako, Gemini, Independent Reserve, OKX, StraitsX, and Upbit to identify potential fraud victims using blockchain analysis tools from Chainalysis and TRM Labs. They conducted over 145 targeted interventions through phone calls and on-site visits, preventing potential losses exceeding $4.2 million.Coinbase Singapore posted on X on July 10, stating that it collaborated with the Singapore Police to prevent over 145 individuals from losing a total of more than $4.2 million due to fraud. The Singapore Police stated that they will continue to work with cryptocurrency exchanges and other private sectors to combat cybercrime.

According to Jinshi reports, the recent rise of technology stocks has slowed down, and traders' confidence in the market outlook has shaken. The volatility gap between the Nasdaq 100 index and the S&P 500 index has widened to the highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, mainly due to investors' increased willingness to buy Nasdaq put options, indicating rising concerns about potential pullbacks in technology stocks, especially in the AI sector. On Thursday, the semiconductor ETF (SMH) fell more than 5%, further reflecting the weakening momentum of previously popular technology stocks. Although enthusiasm for market call options has declined, it remains at a high level.

According to Bloomberg, the Singapore International Commercial Court ruled that Terraform Labs and its founder Do Kwon committed fraud in a case related to the 2022 TerraUSD stablecoin collapse, and ordered them to pay over $3 million to 40 claimants.This ruling is part of the second phase of a case involving claims from 275 investors, with the compensation amount calculated based on the number of UST held by the claimants and the duration of their holdings.

According to Bloomberg, AirTrunk, a data center operator under Blackstone Inc., has selected partner banks and plans to conduct a real estate investment trust (REIT) initial public offering (IPO) in Singapore.According to informed sources, the fundraising scale for this IPO is expected to be around $1.5 billion, with the listing work likely to be completed as early as this year. Currently, Citigroup Inc., DBS Group Holdings Ltd., and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. have been chosen to assist in preparing for the listing project.

The cryptocurrency trading platform Bybit stated that it has noted its inclusion in the Investor Alert List of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and is actively communicating with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to further understand the basis for this listing.Bybit claims that the company has maintained open and constructive communication with MAS and continues to take measures to prevent users in Singapore from accessing its platform, including explicitly restricting access in its terms of service and geo-blocking Singapore IPs. It currently does not provide services to users in Singapore and stated that it will continue to cooperate with regulatory authorities globally. Updates will be announced in a timely manner if there are further developments.

At the 2026 Lujiazui Forum, Ding Xiangqun, Director of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, stated that efforts should be made to strengthen regulation, eliminate regulatory gaps and blind spots, and ensure full coverage without exceptions. Ding Xiangqun emphasized the need to focus on preventing and resolving risks, firmly maintaining the bottom line of preventing systemic financial risks. Efforts should be made to "reduce existing amounts and control new amounts." Effectively and orderly handle risks of small and medium-sized financial institutions, and support the resolution of real estate and local government debt risks. Adhere to the principle of "preventing problems before they occur" and focus on the front end, improving the early correction mechanism for financial risks with hard constraints to achieve early identification, early warning, early exposure, and early handling. Focus on "regulating the legal and more on regulating the illegal." Strengthen central-local collaboration and inter-departmental coordination, striving to eliminate regulatory gaps and blind spots, ensuring full coverage without exceptions. Taking the overall battle against illegal financial activities as a starting point, maintain a high-pressure crackdown, strengthen systematic governance across the entire chain, and strive to protect the "purses" of the people.

According to CoinDesk, VanEck released a report stating that Bitcoin mining companies face a short-term funding gap of about $50 billion as they transition to AI infrastructure, with long-term capital needs of approximately $221 billion. Analysts indicate that the market focus is shifting from contract signing to execution risk, as the industry has only delivered about 25% of the leased AI and high-performance computing capacity, and companies that miss construction milestones face "structural downgrades" from investors.Bitcoin mining companies are turning to AI infrastructure due to declining mining profitability, with Core Scientific signing multi-billion dollar hosting agreements with CoreWeave, and companies like TeraWulf, Hut 8, Iren, and Cipher also announcing AI and high-performance computing plans. VanEck points out that the clearest valuation metric currently is the available operational power infrastructure, with companies that have signed AI leases valued at more than 10 times their operational power. The report suggests that HIV E, Bitdeer, Keel, and IREN have potential upside, while MARA, CLSK, and RIOT remain more closely tied to Bitcoin prices.

According to CoinDesk, Singapore's DBS Bank plans to offer tokenized gold trading to retail customers in the second half of 2026. DBS Bank will launch a product called "DBS Physical Gold Token" on its digital banking platform and is considering listing it on the DBS Digital Exchange (DDEx), which is tailored for qualified investors and institutions.Each token is backed by 1 gram of physical gold held in a dedicated vault by DBS Bank in Singapore. DBS Bank stated that the token will be self-issued and managed. James Tan, head of investment products at DBS Bank, mentioned that previously retail customers could only purchase gold funds, while physical gold was primarily available to institutions and qualified investors; this tokenization will expand access.

According to Bloomberg, the U.S. government is betting that stablecoins issued by private entities like Tether, pegged to the U.S. dollar, will expand to about $3 trillion in the coming years to support the international dominance of the dollar and absorb more demand for U.S. Treasury bonds.However, the article points out that the current mainstream stablecoin issuers are concentrated in Tether, which has questionable compliance and anti-money laundering practices in its registered location. In the event of a run or smart contract failure, this could impact the large amount of U.S. Treasury assets it holds and disrupt global payments and settlements. The European Central Bank is promoting the use of central bank digital currencies and "tokenized euros" to support atomic settlements, in order to avoid being locked into U.S. private dollar tokens on critical financial infrastructure.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore is collaborating with private banks to adopt a "risk-based" approach to shorten the account opening time. The head of the Monetary Authority of Singapore stated that the authority aims to reduce the account opening time to within one month, while the current median account opening time for complex cases is about six weeks or longer.He stated that this move is intended to ensure that banks maintain high standards while avoiding unnecessary and excessive scrutiny of the sources of clients' wealth.

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis from Wyoming stated, "No rules do not mean no harm, but rather mean no recourse," and reiterated her push for the Clarity Act legislation over the years, emphasizing that the bill aims to provide a clear regulatory framework for the development of digital assets within the United States.