HTX hacked again for $13.6M, 100K Koreans test CBDC, Binance 2.0: Asia Express
Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments.
HTX exchange hacked… again
In the fourth hack affecting the HTX (formerly Huobi Global) ecosystem in just two months, the exchange lost $13.6 million via a hot wallet hack that occurred on Nov. 22.
In its Nov. 23 announcement, the exchangepromisedto “fully compensate for the losses caused by this attack and 100% guarantee the safety of user funds,” as well as restore services within 24 hours of the attack. The day prior, the HTX Eco Chain (HECO) bridge was exploited for $86.6 million. An investigation is ongoing.
In September, the HTX exchange was hacked for $7.9 million; this was followed by a $100 million hack against the Poloniex exchange, a related entity, in November. Justin Sun, the Chinese blockchain personality and de-facto owner of HTX (not to mention the owner of Poloniex, founder of Tron and CEO of BitTorrent etc),stated after the attack that “HTX Will Fully Compensate for HTX’s hot wallet Losses. Deposits and Withdrawals Temporarily Suspended. All Funds in HTX Are Secure.” Sun previously also madeassurancesthat “all user assets are #SAFU” in the aftermath of the September hack against HTX.
Huobirebranded to HTXduring this year’s Singapore2049 event in September. Although its executives have repeatedly reassured that the exchange is doing well, the exchange ran into a number ofserious incidentsthis year, including analleged employee revolt.
Binance pleads guilty, settles criminal charges for $4.3 billion
Crypto exchange Binance has agreed to plead guilty to violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act, knowingly failing to register as a money-transmitting business, and willfully violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The exchange will pay $4.3 billion in penalties and forfeiture to the U.S. Justice Department.
According to the Nov. 21announcement, Changpeng Zhao, co-founder and CEO of Binance, has also pled guilty to one count of willfully violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act. Zhao has since entered his personal plea in the District Court for the Western District of Washington.
At the time, Zhao was granted a $175 million bond that allowed him to reside in Dubai pending his sentencing hearing on Feb. 24. However, the U.S. Department of Justice has since appealed that decision, asking to confine his residence to the U.S. pending the sentencing hearing due to Zhao allegedly possessing an “unacceptable risk of flight.”
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In its indictment, the Department of Justice noted that, in a few noticeable incidents and despite reassurances, Binance facilitated over $1 billion in illicit transactions for Iranian users, the Russian marketplace Hyrdra and cryptocurrency mixer Bestmixer. and it solicited U.S. users without prior registration. Binance was also accused of deliberately masking such actions as “complying with U.S. law would stifle their efforts to grow Binance’s profits, market share, and trading volume.”
The same day, Zhao stepped down as the CEO of Binance. “I made mistakes, and I must take responsibility. This is best for our community, for Binance, and for myself,” he stated.
“Binance is no longer a baby. It is time for me to let it walk and run. I know Binance will continue to grow and excel with the deep bench it has.”
While Zhao still owns a majority in the exchange, he will be barred from being involved in the exchange’s everyday operations. Richard Teng, Binance’s global head of regional markets, was named the exchange’s new CEO. In his inaugural statement, Teng stated that the exchange’s fundamentals were “VERY strong” and that Binance is still “the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume.”
Blockchain analytics firm Nansen has noted that despite the guilty plea, it did not witness any “mass exodus of funds” after the incident. While the exchange witnessed nearly $965 million worth of withdrawals, its total holdings increased to $65 billion. On November 23, CZ’s X account was temporarily suspended after removing “Binance” from his profile name.
South Korea invites 100,000 people to test CBDC
The Bank of Korea, South Korea, and Central Bank will invite 100,000 Korean citizens to purchase goods with deposit tokens issued by commercial banks as part of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot test. The first of such trials began in October.
According to local news reports on November 23, “participants will be restricted to using the currency solely for its designated purpose of payment. Other uses, including personal remittance, will not be permitted at this time.” Although the Bank of Korea has not yet decided to whether or not to implement a CBDC, further trials are expected, including an integration simulation system for carbon emissions trading on the Korea Exchange. It said:
“Recently, the rapid digitalization of the economy has led to a growing demand for a digital form of public currency. This demand is evident in the private sector, where new payment instruments such as stablecoins have been developed and are already widely used in certain sectors.”
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Crypto tokens are becoming increasingly efficient at capturing value, thanks in part to new regulations and upgrades, which could send prices surging in 2026, according to Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan.
Hougan said in an X post on Saturday that in the chaos of the current market pullback, big news is getting lost, such as the level of value capture in digital assets trending upward.
“Most of today’s tokens were created in a regulatory era where value capture was risky; as a result, they defaulted to vague governance-style design choices,” he said.
“Under the new regulatory climate, that’s being unwound. I think we’ll start to feel this effect in 2026.”
Uniswap rallied after investor-friendly proposal
Uniswap (UNI), the native token behind the crypto protocol of the same name, surged earlier this month after the Uniswap Foundation and Uniswap Labs introduced a proposal to make the token more attractive as an investment.
Among the ideas being floated were a protocol-level fee mechanism to burn the tokens and building a Protocol Fee Discount Auctions system to increase liquidity provider returns.
Hougan said this is one of the most obvious examples of a token trying to capture value, and predicts that if the proposal passes, it could send UNI into the top ten by market cap in the future.
“The big knock on UNI has always been that it is a governance token. Uniswap is great, but activity on Uniswap didn’t benefit UNI tokenholders,” he said.
“Except now, UNI is considering flipping the fee switch. If the vote goes through, ~16% of trading fees will be used to burn UNI. I suspect this will push UNI toward being a top 10 token by market cap over time.”
Fusaka upgrade could see Ether lead rebound
Hougan also pointed to Ethereum’s Fusako upgrade as a catalyst that could “significantly increase token value capture.”
The Fusako upgrade mainnet launch is expected in December and will roll out upgrades to Ethereum’s execution layer and improvements to staking economics, among other upgrades.
“I suspect the market will start to orient around the positive impacts of Fusaka soon, particularly if it’s delivered Dec. 3 as expected. It’s an under-appreciated catalyst and one reason ETH could lead the crypto rebound,” Hougan said.
Related: Bitwise exec says a bet on Solana gives ‘two ways to win’
XRP staking rewards also a boon
Hougan said Ripples XRP (XRP) token is also on the road to increasing its value capture with a possible staking addition.
“You see a growing focus on value capture in XRP as well. The community is starting to consider ideas like staking, which would change the economics for tokenholders,” he said.
“The connecting thread: The level of value capture in digital assets is up only from here. I think people look at token value capture as static. It’s not.”
Magazine: Bitcoin vs stablecoins showdown looms as GENIUS Act nears
Sir Keir Starmer has said he “absolutely” wants Angela Rayner back in his cabinet after she resigned for failing to pay the correct amount of stamp duty.
Speaking from the G20 Summit in South Africa, the prime minister told broadcasters his former deputy is “the best example ever” of social mobility and he is still in touch with her.
Asked if she could make a comeback this side of a general election, Sir Keir said: “I’ve always said I want Angela back. Even back in September at the time I said she is going to be a big voice in the Labour movement.
“Do I want Angela back at some stage? Yes absolutely.
“I think she is the best example ever in the United Kingdom of social mobility – going from a pretty challenging childhood to being deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom. She is the story of social mobility above all other stories.”
Asked if he missed having her around, Sir Keir said: “I’m friends with Angie and I like Angie a lot and we talk a lot. We still do.
“It’s always good to have Angela.”
Ms Rayner’s meteoric rise to the top of Labour came after she left school aged 16, pregnant and with no qualifications.
She was elected deputy Labour leader by the membership in 2020, and was made deputy prime minister then housing secretary by Sir Keir.
She resigned from all of those positions in September, after it emerged she had not paid the higher rate of stamp duty on a second home she bought in Hove, East Sussex, saving her about £40k.
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Rayner admits she didn’t pay enough tax
It followed a tearful interview with Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby about the “complex living arrangement” regarding her first home, which was sold to a trust following her divorce to provide stability for her teenage son, who has lifelong disabilities and is the sole beneficiary of the trust.
An investigation by the prime minister ethic’s watchdog found she breached the ministerial code by failing to get correct tax advice, but that she acted “with integrity”.
Ms Rayner is still a backbench MP and recently did not rule out a return to the front bench herself – telling the Daily Mirror during a visit to a care centre in her constituency that she had “not gone away”.
Other cabinet ministers have also supported her return.
During the Labour Party Conference a few weeks after she resigned, Health Secretary Wes Streeting paid tribute to her work on the Employment Rights Bill and said Labour “wants her back and needs her back”.
Politics
Rachel Reeves vows to ‘grip the cost of living’ – despite expectation of tax rises in budget
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has promised to “grip the cost of living” in the budget next week.
Writing in The Mirror newspaper, she acknowledged that high prices “hit ordinary families most” and that the economy “feels stuck” for too many.
But at the same time, she is expected to raise taxes when she sets out economic policies on 26 November as she seeks to bridge a multibillion-pound gap in her spending plans.
“Delivering on our promise to make people better off is not possible if we don’t get a grip on inflation,” Ms Reeves wrote in The Sunday Times.
“It is a fundamental precursor to economic growth. It is essential to make families better off and for businesses to thrive.
“There is an urgent need to ease the pressure on households now. It will require direct action by this government to get inflation under control.”
She said reforms would change the welfare system from “trapping millions of people on benefits” to one “designed to help people succeed”.
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Will PM keep his word on taxes?
It comes as the government announced that rail fares will be frozen for the first time in 30 years.
The fare freeze applies to England and services run by English train operators.
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Budget jargon explained
And it will save commuters on more expensive routes more than £300 a year.
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PM refuses to rule out manifesto-breaking tax rises
Will government lower energy bills in the budget?
Among the rumoured measures in the budget is an extension of the freeze on income tax thresholds, which would see more people dragged into paying tax for the first time or shifted into a higher rate as their wages go up.
However, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Ms Reeves should “have the balls” to admit that such a move would breach Labour’s manifesto promise not to raise taxes on working people.
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