Thailand Eliminates Crypto Taxes While Bitcoin Red Team Shifts to Chinese AI Models: Asia Express
After OpenAI implements access restrictions, the Bitcoin Red Team turns to open-source Chinese artificial intelligence. Thailand eliminates cryptocurrency taxation as part of strategy to establish itself as regional crypto center.
Thailand implements 0% capital gains taxation on cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency investors operating in Thailand will be exempt from paying capital gains taxes on transactions executed through platforms that hold licenses from Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission for the upcoming several years. This tax exemption spans a five-year period, commencing on January 1 2025, and concluding on December 31 2029.
The initiative seeks to enhance Thailand's appeal as a crypto hub within the region, and the country has already become a destination for an expanding population of crypto-focused digital nomads
Conversely, transactions conducted on unlicensed platforms or foreign exchanges will remain subject to standard personal income tax rates reaching as high as 38%. This tax exemption creates parity between the tax treatment of cryptocurrency and capital gains derived from conventional securities within Thailand.
Thailand had previously eliminated the 7% value added tax on cryptocurrency profits in early 2024.
Bitcoin Red Team creator transitions to Chinese artificial intelligence
Rob Hamilton, the founder of Bitcoin Red Team, has found himself compelled to utilize open-source Chinese artificial intelligence models following restrictions imposed by OpenAI that prevent him from analyzing codebases, underscoring an increasing worry that the most advanced AI tools are being withheld from security defenders.
"It absolutely guts me as a patriotic American to have to do this, but I will be going back to using Chinese open source models to conduct my research to protect Bitcoin infrastructure," he said.
"Black hats will not hit these issues. The white hats will. We've hit a local minima in policy," said Hamilton. "Intelligence is unrestricted for those who don't follow rules, and those who engage in harm reduction are left on the sidelines."
Following this development, the Bitcoin Policy Institute along with an alliance of blockchain firms released a statement calling on "frontier AI labs to establish a clear, trusted pathway for qualified open-source and digital asset defenders to access their strongest capabilities."
China News In Brief
An individual in Shenzen received a conviction for attempted extortion following his theft of confidential research and development data from his employer and his subsequent impersonation of an overseas hacker to demand ransom payment in Bitcoin.
APAC region experiences significant increase in onchain transactions year-on-year
New research published by Hashed Open Research and SCBX revealed that on-chain transaction volume throughout the Asia-Pacific region experienced 68% year-on-year growth, rising from $1.4 trillion to $2.36 trillion. This represented the most rapid growth among all regions worldwide, propelled primarily by nations in South East Asia.
The research discovered that regional consumers had bypassed traditional payment methods like cash, cards and bank transactions, moving directly to mobile-based payment solutions. Digital payment methods now represent 60% of all payments across the region.
CLARITY Act postponement creates opportunity for Asian financial centers: First Digital CEO
According to First Digital founder and CEO Vincent Chok, the US Senate's postponement of voting on cryptocurrency market structure legislation until mid-September may provide Hong Kong and Singapore with additional time to solidify their positions as leading digital asset centers.
Chok, whose firm issues the FDUSD stablecoin, explained that this delay might grant jurisdictions with more transparent regulatory frameworks a competitive edge in attracting both capital and talent while US regulatory uncertainty continues to impact institutional adoption.
"For Asia, this delay gives regional financial hubs like Hong Kong and Singapore additional time to demonstrate that clear regulation can coexist with innovation."
US court supports Bybit's effort to trace funds from $1.5B North Korea hack
A federal judge in the United States approved cryptocurrency exchange Bybit's attempt to trace assets taken in the notorious $1.5 billion North Korea-linked hack that occurred in February 2025.
Based on recently disclosed court documents, Bybit submitted the lawsuit under seal on June 18 against North Korea, its Reconnaissance General Bureau, the Lazarus Group and 20 unidentified defendants. On June 19, the court approved Bybit's request for expedited discovery.
This discovery authority provides Bybit with a practical mechanism to identify purported intermediaries and pursue a small fraction of stolen assets that remains traceable, instead of depending exclusively on a judgment against North Korea.
Regrettably, Bybit informed the court that 90.2% of the stolen funds had become impossible to trace following their passage through mixers, cross-chain bridges and over-the-counter dealers. The remaining 9.8% had been tracked to identifiable wallets, which includes 5.3% of the total, approximately $75.5 million, that had been frozen or recovered.
Bybit is pursuing the return of the stolen funds and approximately $1.5 billion in damages.
South Korea News In Brief
The National Police Agency has selected Dunamu, which operates Upbit, to custody seized cryptocurrency assets for the next year following its achievement of the highest technical evaluation score of 94.14 points.
Japan FSA requests crypto exchanges implement withdrawal delays to combat scams
Japan's financial regulatory authority has requested cryptocurrency exchanges to implement withdrawal delays along with other protective measures as authorities address increasingly sophisticated scams involving digital assets.
The Financial Services Agency (FSA) announced it had jointly issued the request with the National Police Agency in response to growing losses among cryptocurrency exchange users and incidents where funds acquired through fraudulent schemes are being moved to exchange accounts.
The request urges exchanges to limit cryptocurrency withdrawals for a designated period following customers' deposit of fiat currency or purchase of digital assets. Platforms were additionally requested to require users to pre-register cryptocurrency withdrawal addresses and enforce a waiting period before recently added addresses become usable.
Japan News In Brief
The Tokyo Stock Exchange intends to introduce a re‑examination regime for companies that experience a major business pivot. While the TSE didn't specifically mention digital asset treasuries, logic suggests they may well fall within the scope of the new rules.
Taiwan prepares Travel Rule for domestic crypto transfers from October
Starting in October, Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission will mandate that crypto platforms transmit customer information on all domestic platform-to-platform transfers.
These rules would apply irrespective of value, though transfers exceeding 30,000 New Taiwan dollars (approximately $930) would activate additional data requirements, encompassing an individual sender's date of birth and residential address, or a corporate sender's official identification number and registered address.
Receiving VASPs would additionally be obligated to compare beneficiary information provided by the originating platform with their own records.
The FSC intends to expand the framework to transfers between domestic and overseas VASPs by the end of 2027.
Bitdeer boosted Bitcoin mining output by nearly fivefold in Q2
Singapore-based Bitcoin miner Bitdeer produced 2,694 Bitcoin throughout the second quarter of 2026, representing a nearly fivefold increase from 565 BTC a year earlier.
The mining operation concluded the quarter holding 150 BTC on its balance sheet, representing a 90% decline from 1,502 BTC a year earlier, based on the company's Q2 report released Monday.
Bitdeer sold its entire 943 BTC treasury in February, attributing the decision to liquidity considerations rather than a departure from its core Bitcoin mining business.
Singapore News In Brief
UBS is intensifying its focus on affluent Singapore residents. Throughout the past 25 years the number of Singapore residents who possess between $5 million to $10 million compounded at an annual growth rate of 8 percent. In total there are 27,000 residents with between $5 million and $100 million.
Binance initiates lawsuit against RedotPay over alleged $473 million user losses: Report
Companies affiliated with Binance have initiated legal action against the founders of Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency payments company RedotPay, claiming it diverted more than 470,000 users from Binance Card in violation of their commercial agreement.
The plaintiffs are seeking nearly $473 million in damages, claiming the conduct contributed to RedotPay's valuation as the company considers a potential initial public offering.
RedotPay stated it is defending the legal proceedings and rejected what it characterized as "unfounded allegations" against the company and its co-founders. "RedotPay is strenuously defending the proceedings," a RedotPay spokesperson told Cointelegraph, further stating that it will respond through the appropriate legal process.
Hong Kong News In Brief
A 67-year-old woman has been arrested by Hong Kong police on allegations of posing as a prospective tenant to defraud property owners out of $510,000. She offered to pay rent in advance, then provided them with a mobile phone with a genuine crypto app on it. However, the app contained malware giving control over the wallet to the scammers, enabling them to steal funds once it had been funded.
Vietnam News In Brief
Attendees of the Vietnam RWA Summit learned about how the country is developing groundwork for tokenizing RWAs from the securities regulator and Vietnam Blockchain Association.
The governor of Vietnam's central bank presented a draft law to the National Assembly to designate crypto asset services as reporting entities under the country's anti money laundering regulations. It also highlights suspicious transaction indicators specifically tailored to crypto asset activities.