Today's Highlights
🌐 Chinese national extradited to the United States in crypto fraud case involving over US$36.9 million
📋 Latvia plans to issue real-world assets (RWA) tokenization regulatory rules in the first half of 2027, with commercial real estate possibly among the first application areas
📋 US senator says new restrictions on crypto fundraising have been incorporated into the CLARITY Act
🚨 Netanyahu proposes using blockchain to address potential financial sanctions
🔎 South Korea again postpones cryptocurrency taxation policy, originally scheduled to take effect next January
📌 Kraken parent company Payward receives in-principle approval from Kazakhstan's AFSA, plans to provide digital asset trading and custody services in the AIFC
🌐 Chinese national extradited to the United States in crypto fraud case involving over US$36.9 million
Chinese national Zheng Zhao was extradited from the Netherlands to the United States and appeared before the Central District of California court on October 23. The US Department of Justice stated that the fraudulent activity in this case was operated by scam centers in Cambodia, involved 174 US victims, and concerned funds exceeding US$36.9 million. Prosecutors alleged that more than US$36.9 million was transferred through accounts controlled by co-conspirators into an account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas, then converted into the stablecoin USDT and transferred to digital asset wallets in Cambodia. Eight other co-defendants have pleaded guilty; Zheng Zhao faces a charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering and, if convicted, could be sentenced to up to 20 years' imprisonment. The case is currently at the court trial stage.
Business impact
The charging theory in this case shows that US prosecutors treat the entire chain—funds passing through co-conspirator accounts into a Bahamian bank, then being converted into USDT and transferred to Cambodian wallets—as a money laundering conspiracy, which means institutions providing account, conversion or wallet services for cross-border funds may be brought within the same criminal narrative. For institutions holding bank accounts in jurisdictions such as the Bahamas and handling conversions between fiat currency and stablecoins, the criminal risk exposure lies in reviewing the connection between the source of customer funds and the ultimate receiving wallet, rather than being merely a sanctions or licensing issue. At present, eight co-defendants have pleaded guilty and the principal defendant has not yet been sentenced; the alleged facts and the facts already established still need to be distinguished, and relevant institutions should not on this basis prematurely determine the liability of any entity.
Source: ChainCatcher · 2026/10/25 12:39
📋 Latvia plans to introduce real-world assets (RWA) tokenization regulatory rules in the first half of 2027; commercial real estate may be among the first application areas
Latvian Minister of Economics Viktors Valainis stated that the country plans to introduce regulatory rules for the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) in the first half of 2027, with commercial real estate potentially becoming one of the first application areas, and government bonds also included among priority considerations. The Ministry of Economics is working with the central bank, the Ministry of Finance and industry representatives to develop the relevant framework, with the aim of attracting investment and promoting asset tokenization. The legal assessment originally scheduled for completion on October 1 is still ongoing, and the specific implementation timeline has not yet been determined.
Business impact
Once the rules take effect, institutions issuing RWA tokens in Latvia or selling them to local investors will be subject to them. The rights in the underlying assets corresponding to the tokens, the registration method and the transfer arrangements will need to obtain corresponding status under the framework; otherwise, the issuance and sales stages will lack a basis for market access. Commercial real estate and government bonds are listed as priority areas, meaning that tokenization projects for these two types of assets are most likely to enter the regulatory purview first, and relevant parties should incorporate rights registration and investor scope into their considerations at the architecture design stage. At present, the legal assessment has not been completed and the implementation timeline is undetermined, so this does not yet support initiating specific licence applications or adjusting existing offering documents on this basis.
Source: Wu Blockchain · 2026/10/25 23:16
📋 US senator says new restrictions on crypto fundraising have been incorporated into the CLARITY Act
US Senator Cynthia Lummis posted on X that Democrats had previously demanded that the annual fundraising cap under Regulation Crypto be lowered from USD 75 million to USD 50 million and that a USD 200 million lifetime fundraising cap be added; she stated that the relevant parties have agreed to both demands and incorporated them into the CLARITY Act. Lummis also accused Democratic lawmakers of ultimately voting against rules she had previously drafted aimed at protecting retail investors. The available materials do not indicate the current legislative stage of the bill or the arrangements for the above provisions to take effect.
Business impact
If these two caps ultimately become law, the parties subject to them would be issuers conducting crypto asset fundraising under Regulation Crypto: fundraising in a single year may not exceed USD 50 million, and cumulative fundraising may not exceed USD 200 million; exceeding these limits would cross the exemption boundary, directly affecting offering size design and the scope of disclosure. Lummis's statement indicates that the provisions have entered the text of the CLARITY Act, but the bill has not yet completed the legislative process. At this stage, issuers should not adjust fundraising arrangements already initiated according to the new caps, but should verify the method for calculating limits under the existing exemption provisions.
Source: ChainCatcher · 2026/10/25 23:08
🚨 Netanyahu proposes using blockchain to address potential financial sanctions
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated before the election that Israel could turn to blockchain and cryptocurrency to circumvent potential international sanctions, remarks that drew dissatisfaction from his political opponents and the Governor of the Bank of Israel. The available material is an excerpt and does not specify the occasion or date on which Netanyahu made the remarks, nor does it disclose whether he proposed any specific plan, legislative arrangement or initiated any procedure.
Business impact
This statement is currently only the Prime Minister's pre-election policy concept and has not formed any binding rules or regulatory arrangements; therefore, it will not immediately change the existing obligations of Israeli licensed institutions or crypto service providers. If Israel in the future actually processes cross-border funds through blockchain or crypto asset channels to evade sanctions, the relevant transactions will fall directly within the scope of sanctions compliance and anti-money laundering review, and institutions involved in fund channels, wallet custody and cross-border settlement will need to determine whether transactions may be conducted based on sanctions lists and the source of funds. Before specific rules are issued, enterprises should not adjust their business structures on this basis.
Source: Cointelegraph · 2026/10/25 19:42
🔎 South Korea's cryptocurrency taxation policy is postponed again; it was originally scheduled to take effect in January next year
The Office of the President of South Korea has decided to postpone the cryptocurrency income taxation policy originally scheduled to take effect on January 1 next year. When the South Korean government amended the Income Tax Act in 2020, it determined that virtual asset gains would be taxed, and the policy has previously been postponed three times. Under the amended Income Tax Act, annual gains arising from the transfer or lending of virtual assets, after deducting the basic exemption of KRW 2.5 million, are subject to a combined tax rate of 22%, including other income tax and local income tax. The available materials do not state the new effective date after this postponement or the specific form of the decision.
Business impact
Once the virtual asset gains tax under South Korea's Income Tax Act takes effect, taxpayers with gains from the transfer or lending of virtual assets in South Korea must file and pay tax at the combined rate of 22% on annual income after deducting the KRW 2.5 million exemption; failure to file or underreporting will directly result in additional tax and late payment penalties. This decision by the Office of the President to postpone means that the filing and withholding arrangements originally scheduled for January 1 next year will not commence for the time being, and the point at which mandatory application begins for the user gains records and information reporting processes that trading platforms and custodians had established to cooperate with taxation will be deferred accordingly. The postponement itself does not change the tax base, exemption amount or tax rate set by the provisions of the tax law, and relevant entities should not adjust their gains aggregation approach on this basis.
Source: ME News · 2026/10/25 13:00
📌 Kraken parent company Payward obtains in-principle approval from Kazakhstan's AFSA and plans to provide digital asset trading and custody services in the AIFC
Kraken parent company Payward announced that it has obtained in-principle approval from the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) of Kazakhstan and plans, through Payward Kazakhstan, to operate a digital asset trading facility in the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), conduct investment trading as principal and agent, and provide digital asset custody services. Payward stated that after obtaining the final licence, users in Kazakhstan will be able to access Kraken's global order book and obtain trading liquidity covering major markets in Europe, the United States and Asia. Payward and Kraken co-CEO Dave Ripley said that the company plans to gradually expand the scope of services for Kazakhstan clients. The approval is currently still at the in-principle stage, and the final licence has not yet been obtained.
Business impact
In-principle approval is only an intermediate step in the access process, and Payward Kazakhstan may not provide digital asset trading or custody services to the public on this basis before obtaining the final licence; the licensed entities, business boundaries and client asset segregation requirements corresponding to its three proposed business lines—principal and agency investment trading, trading facility operation and custody—under the AIFC framework must be governed by the terms of the final licence. Access to the global order book means that orders from Kazakhstan clients will enter an offshore liquidity pool, and the allocation of execution, clearing and custody responsibilities depends on the arrangements among Payward Kazakhstan and the various Kraken entities. Before the final licence is obtained, counterparties that sign contracts with or channel business to Payward Kazakhstan face performance uncertainty as to whether services can be launched on schedule.
Source: Wu Blockchain · 2026/10/25 08:19
*This daily report was compiled with AI assistance based on publicly available information and is provided for reference only. It does not constitute legal advice or recommendations.
