Hong Kong ruled in favor of two investors in their action against bankrupt Dubai cryptocurrency exchange JPEX and Web 3.0 Technical Support.
The court awarded plaintiffs 1.85 million Hong Kong dollars ($238,000).
“What this newest judgment [shows] is that victims of virtual currency-related cases do have judicial recourse and set a precedent for all those victims who are in similar positions longing to recover their cryptos but may not know what options they have other than waiting for criminal investigation,” says plaintiffs' lawyer Joshua Chu.
Police need a court order to freeze victims' assets, although they may act unilaterally.
Hong Kong digital currency scam victims have trouble retrieving assets owing to limited precedents and legal ineptitude, Chu added.
Criminals may try to survive the six-year civil statute of limitations.
Chu and his clients demand police custody fund enforcement. April saw local officials freeze $29 million for the case.
In September 2023, the SFC warned JPEX was unauthorized.
Hong Kong's FTX collapse was attributed to mismanagement, lack of transparency, significant investor losses, and high-profile endorsements.
The city's administration was considering legislative steps to make Hong Kong a digital asset center, but withdrawal freezes and arrests impeded local enterprises.
The SFC permitted just three swaps out of prudence.
Gemini has been pre-approved for Singapore's Major Payment Institution license for cross-border and digital token transactions.
The Singapore Monetary Authority authorizes 28 "digital payment token" companies.
The license allows business, although Gemini has already created its Singapore APAC center and Indian engineering and operations office.
New crypto exchanges are planned in APAC, including Singapore's competitor Hong Kong.
Hong Kong has three licenses but may issue more.
At Hong Kong FinTech Week on Oct. 28, finance secretary Paul Chan predicted additional licenses “in the next couple of months.”
From JPEX, Hong Kong investors realized registered crypto service providers mean verified trading platforms.
Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das rejected stablecoins but supported CBDCs and their inclusion in the 500 million-transaction-a-day Unified Payments Interface.
“I have actually very strong reservations on these stablecoins and all that,” Das told the G30 39th Annual International Banking Seminar.
Das, Carstens, and Bailey questioned stablecoin stability during a panel.
Central banks must issue sovereign fiat. Stablecoin is private. Are we happy with private or central bank fiat money? Das stated.
Das is “very uncomfortable” with stablecoins and private sector money since they have no advantages.
Local media reported last week that unidentified sources stated India may prohibit Bitcoin and Ethereum. One site claims CBDCs can accomplish more than bitcoins.
The Supreme Court removed the RBI's cryptocurrency restriction on domestic banks.
Das said the central bank in not “great hurry” to grow countrywide.
In India's late 2022 digital rupee project, the RBI tests offline payments and programmability. The site has 5 million users.
China, one of the first major economies to adopt CBDC, has tested its digital currency since April 2020.
Local media said that Thai police arrested an international ring of fraudsters who stole 21 million baht ($620,000) from a local lady and bought a luxurious Bangkok property.
Five suspects detained.
Local investor “Ms. Mallika” visited an equities and cryptos Facebook page.
LINE chat fraudsters got her to pay bitcoin incrementally to build investment capital.
Investigators discovered gang roles. Cambodian “Mr. Moon” and Myanmar “Mr. Ko” helped a Burmese broker move funds.
Myanmar-based “Ms. San” and “Ms. Thuay” received funds. With unlawful money, they bought a lovely apartment in Bangkok's Rama 9 commercial sector.
Authorities think the property was marked for quick sale.
