{"id":17518,"date":"2023-10-15T21:36:25","date_gmt":"2023-10-16T01:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/asia-express-cointelegraph-magazine-5\/"},"modified":"2023-10-15T21:36:25","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T01:36:25","slug":"asia-express-cointelegraph-magazine-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/asia-express-cointelegraph-magazine-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Asia Express \u2013 Cointelegraph Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div style=\"overflow-x: hidden;\">\n<p><em>Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry\u2019s most important developments.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-sbf-s-chinese-bribe-scandal-worsens\">SBF\u2019s Chinese bribe scandal worsens<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/innercitypress\/status\/1712138769795625367\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">According<\/a> to October 11 testimony\u00a0from Caroline Ellison, co-founder of FTX-linked hedge fund Alameda Research, her colleague \u2014 disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried \u2014 allegedly paid $150 million in bribes to Chinese government officials in 2021, higher than the <a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/sam-bankman-fried-charged-with-bribing-chinese-officials-court-docs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">$40 million\u00a0disclosed initially<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ellison said during the FTX trial that two years prior, $1 billion worth of Alameda Research\u2019s digital assets on crypto exchanges OKX and Huobi were frozen by Chinese law enforcement as part of a money-laundering investigation. Senior FTX executives, such as chief operations officer Constance Wang and Alameda trader David Wa, were also involved in the incident. The individuals first tried to contact a Chinese lawyer to unfreeze the funds, which didn\u2019t work.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-24556\" width=\"643\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screenshot-2023-10-13-115909.png 643w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screenshot-2023-10-13-115909-300x294.png 300w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 643px) 100vw, 643px\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screenshot-2023-10-13-115909.png\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screenshot-2023-10-13-115909.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-24556\" width=\"643\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screenshot-2023-10-13-115909.png 643w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screenshot-2023-10-13-115909-300x294.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 643px) 100vw, 643px\"\/><\/noscript><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>The disgraced FTX founder will be on trial throughout October. (Wikipedia)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Then, FTX and Alameda staff allegedly created accounts on OKX and Huobi using the identification of a Thai prostitute to negotiate the return of funds. When that didn\u2019t work out, Ellison accused Bankman-Fried of paying a $150 million bribe to unfreeze the accounts. The bribe was recorded as \u201cthe thing\u201d in future Alameda balance sheets. According to Ellison\u2019s testimony, the funds were immediately unfrozen following the bribe. <\/p>\n<p>Presiding Judge Lewis Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York reminded the jurors that Bankman-Fried\u2019s alleged bribery of Chinese officials is not within the scope of the ongoing FTX trial. Instead, a second trial relating to SBF\u2019s bribery charges has been scheduled for March 11, 2024. The FTX trial will remain ongoing for the month of October.\u00a0<\/p>\n<section class=\"adv-banner adbutler-ad adbutler-ad__desktop\">\n<div class=\"container\"><!-- 1456x180 [img] --><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/go2\/;ID=169476;size=728x90;setID=601214;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fmagazine%2Fsbf-bribe-binance-account-freeze-huobi-hacker%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img src=\"https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/adserve\/;ID=169476;size=728x90;setID=601214;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fmagazine%2Fsbf-bribe-binance-account-freeze-huobi-hacker%2F;type=img\"\/><noscript><img src=\"https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/adserve\/;ID=169476;size=728x90;setID=601214;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fmagazine%2Fsbf-bribe-binance-account-freeze-huobi-hacker%2F;type=img\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"adv-banner adbutler-ad adbutler-ad__mobile\">\n<div class=\"container\"><!-- 600x500 [img] --><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/go2\/;ID=169476;size=300x250;setID=601213;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fmagazine%2Fsbf-bribe-binance-account-freeze-huobi-hacker%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img src=\"https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/adserve\/;ID=169476;size=300x250;setID=601213;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fmagazine%2Fsbf-bribe-binance-account-freeze-huobi-hacker%2F;type=img\"\/><noscript><img src=\"https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/adserve\/;ID=169476;size=300x250;setID=601213;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fmagazine%2Fsbf-bribe-binance-account-freeze-huobi-hacker%2F;type=img\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-binance-clarifies-account-freeze\">Binance clarifies account freeze <\/h2>\n<p>Yi He, a co-founder of Binance, clarified on the Chinese social media app WeChat earlier this week that only accounts of users suspected of violating international sanctions will be frozen on the exchange.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The statement came after a wave of inquiries in response to local news reports that the exchange froze accounts of suspected Hamas militants per Israeli law enforcement\u2019s request. Yi He explained:\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\u201cHamas is a designated terrorist organization by the United Nations. Therefore, any organization, including banks and trading platforms, will need to cooperate on the receipt of freeze requests. This is not something Binance can decide on its own.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Binance executive commented: \u201cI have no political biases, yet no trading platform can refuse such law enforcement requests. Palestine has an organized government. Hamas is a local militant group. They kill civilians; that\u2019s the problem. Hamas is not Palestine; the freeze is targeted towards Hamas, not Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"743\" height=\"577\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-24555\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screenshot-2023-10-10-175945.png 743w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screenshot-2023-10-10-175945-300x233.png 300w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 743px) 100vw, 743px\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screenshot-2023-10-10-175945.png\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"743\" height=\"577\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screenshot-2023-10-10-175945.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-24555\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screenshot-2023-10-10-175945.png 743w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screenshot-2023-10-10-175945-300x233.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 743px) 100vw, 743px\"\/><\/noscript><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Binance co-founder Yi He\u2019s statement on Hamas account freezes. (WeChat)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In a follow-up post on October 11, Yi He further clarified that \u201cBinance would not confiscate nor freeze assets of ordinary users. Rules are created by the strong; in the face of international regulations, Binance is a nobody.\u201d She also pointed to the fact that, despite the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the exchange has not frozen the accounts of ordinary Russians.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-suggest\">\n<p>Read also<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-suggest__items\">\n<div class=\"article-suggest__item\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/banking-unbanked-kenya-bitcoin\/\" class=\"article-suggest__subtitle display4\"><br \/>\n                            <span>Features<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Banking The Unbanked? How I Taught A Total Stranger In Kenya About Bitcoin<\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"article-suggest__item\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/metaverse-really-turning-out-snow-crash\/\" class=\"article-suggest__subtitle display4\"><br \/>\n                            <span>Features<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Is the Metaverse really turning out like \u2018Snow Crash\u2019?<\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-crypto-lending-invalidated-by-second-chinese-court\">Crypto lending invalidated by second Chinese court<\/h2>\n<p>Crypto lending contracts in China are not protected by law because the underlying asset is illegal, a second Chinese court has ruled.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepaper.cn\/newsDetail_forward_24875291\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">narrated<\/a>\u00a0by the Nanchang People\u2019s Court on October 10, plaintiff Mr. Ming lent 80,000 USDT to defendant Mr. Gang in April 2021 for the purpose of stablecoin trading. The loan was to be repaid within six months. Mr. Gang subsequently defaulted on the loan, leading to a civil lawsuit by Mr. Ming. Both the lawsuit and its appeal were dismissed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In their decision, the presiding judge wrote:\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\u201cThere are legal risks involved in participating in virtual currency investment and trading activities. If any legal person, unincorporated organization, or natural person invests in virtual currencies and related derivatives that violates public order and good customs, the relevant civil legal actions will be invalid, and the resulting losses shall be borne by them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The judge further explained that according to various legislation forming China\u2019s crypto ban, \u201cvirtual currencies only exist in digital form, are not legal tender, and do not have legal compensation, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, etc., and cannot be used as currency in the market. Virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial activities that harm national financial order, financial security and social public interests, and are strictly prohibited.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The ruling does not extend to the digital yuan central bank digital currency, which the presiding judge said \u201cis a legal currency in digital form issued by the People\u2019s Bank of China. It is operated by designated operating agencies and redeemed by the public. It is equivalent to banknotes and coins.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Previously in August, a Chinese man\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/chinas-risky-bitcoin-court-decision-is-huobi-in-trouble-or-not-asia-express\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">lost $10 million worth of Bitcoin<\/a>\u00a0after the borrower defaulted on his Bitcoin lending agreement and a court ruled that the contract was invalid, citing similar reasons as the Nanchang People\u2019s Court.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Chinese judge explains why the Bitcoin lending contract was invalid and therefore denied relief for breach of contract.\" class=\"wp-image-22658\" width=\"-134\" height=\"-75\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-07-235600-1024x575.png 1024w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-07-235600-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-07-235600-770x432.png 770w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-07-235600.png 1339w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-07-235600-1024x575.png\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-07-235600-1024x575.png\" alt=\"Chinese judge explains why the Bitcoin lending contract was invalid and therefore denied relief for breach of contract.\" class=\"wp-image-22658\" width=\"-134\" height=\"-75\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-07-235600-1024x575.png 1024w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-07-235600-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-07-235600-770x432.png 770w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-07-235600.png 1339w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><\/noscript><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Chinese judge explains why the Bitcoin lending contract was invalid and therefore denied relief for breach of contract. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-huobi-hacker-returns-all-assets\">Huobi hacker returns all assets<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/justinsuntron\/status\/1710687727686160676\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">According<\/a> to a\u00a0statement\u00a0by Justin Sun, de-facto <a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/token2049-singapore-huobi-asia-express\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">owner of cryptocurrency exchange HTX<\/a>, formerly known as Huobi, a hacker has returned all of the 5,000 Ether ($8 million) stolen during a security incident last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have confirmed that the hacker has fully returned all funds, as promised, and we have also paid the hacker a white hat bonus of 250 ETH. The hacker made the right choice. We would like to express our gratitude to everyone in the industry for their help,\u201d Sun wrote. On September 25, Huobi\u2019s hot wallet was hacked for 5,000 ETH in an incident first\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CyversAlerts\/status\/1706301345223897506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1706301345223897506%7Ctwgr%5E4d11345e29cf03dfb741765bf50e4c1c64fe5916%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fnews%2Fhuobi-global-crypto-exchange-hacked-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">detected<\/a>\u00a0by blockchain analytics firm Cyvers Alerts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sun subsequently offered a bounty and threatened legal action if the funds were not returned. During the incident, the blockchain personality also claimed that the exchange held around $3 billion in users\u2019 assets. Last month, <a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/huobi-new-name-htx-stands-for-exchange-tron-and-10th-anniversary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Huobi\u00a0rebranded\u00a0as HTX<\/a>, raising community eyebrows due to the similarity of the name to the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"subscribe subscribe--inner\">\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"subscribe__inner\">\n<div class=\"subscribe__content\">\n<p>Subscribe<\/p>\n<p>The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a<br \/>\n        week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscribe__img\">\n    <img alt=\"Subscribe to Magazine by Cointelegraph Newsletter.\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/reading-copy.png\"\/><noscript><img src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/reading-copy.png\" alt=\"Subscribe to Magazine by Cointelegraph Newsletter.\"\/><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"author category_page\">\n<div class=\"author__img\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" height=\"300\" width=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/portrait_about_us_zhiyuan_sun_720.jpg\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/portrait_about_us_zhiyuan_sun_720.jpg\" alt=\"\" height=\"300\" width=\"300\"\/><\/noscript>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"author__content\">\n<h2 class=\"author__name\">Zhiyuan Sun<\/h2>\n<p>Zhiyuan Sun is a journalist at Cointelegraph focusing on technology-related news. He has several years of experience writing for major financial media outlets such as The Motley Fool, Nasdaq.com and Seeking Alpha.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<section class=\"news\">\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/sbf-bribe-binance-account-freeze-huobi-hacker\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry\u2019s most important developments. SBF\u2019s Chinese bribe scandal worsens According to October 11 testimony\u00a0from Caroline Ellison, co-founder of FTX-linked hedge fund Alameda Research, her colleague \u2014 disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried \u2014 allegedly paid $150 million in bribes to Chinese government officials in 2021, higher than the $40 million\u00a0disclosed initially.\u00a0\u00a0 Ellison said during the FTX trial that two years prior, $1 billion worth of Alameda Research\u2019s digital assets on crypto exchanges OKX and Huobi were frozen by Chinese law enforcement&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[40],"tags":[89,148,2621,130],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17518"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}