We have specially compiled noteworthy events in the cryptocurrency field in Hong Kong for January, which will open a window to the future of Web3 for you.

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Thunderfire Sues Former CEO Chen Lei and Others for 200 Million, Accusing Them of Misappropriating Funds for "Illegal Cryptocurrency Trading"

Thunderfire has filed a lawsuit against former CEO Chen Lei and his core team, accusing them of harming the company's interests and seeking 200 million in damages. The case has been accepted by a Shenzhen court. Reports indicate that Chen Lei and others are accused of misappropriating company funds through fictitious transactions and creating false contracts, involving a significant amount. The new management of Thunderfire has already made adjustments to related businesses and personnel. "The Paper" also mentioned that Chen Lei is additionally accused of misappropriating tens of millions of company funds for state-prohibited "illegal cryptocurrency trading," and public security authorities have previously initiated investigations against him and others for suspected embezzlement.

South Korean National Assembly Votes to Pass STO Legislative Amendment

The South Korean National Assembly has passed amendments to the Capital Markets Act and the Electronic Securities Act, establishing a legal framework for the issuance and circulation of security tokens (STOs). The amendments introduce the concept of "distributed ledger," allowing eligible issuers to directly issue and manage tokenized securities via electronic registration on a distributed ledger. A new "issuer account management organization" has also been established, and a new over-the-counter trading intermediary mechanism has been introduced to allow investment contract securities and other atypical securities to circulate in the over-the-counter market. Relevant provisions will take effect in phases: the amendments to the Capital Markets Act will take effect from the date of publication, but the investment solicitation guidelines will take effect six months after publication, and the over-the-counter trading provisions will take effect one year after publication; the amendments to the Electronic Securities Act will take effect one year after publication.

Bank of England Deputy Governor: If Stablecoins Are Systemically Important, Similar Deposit Insurance and Bankruptcy Priority Mechanisms May Be Needed

Bank of England Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden stated that if stablecoins develop to be systemically important, the UK may need to establish a deposit insurance-like protection mechanism for stablecoin "deposits" and ensure that stablecoin holders have priority in bankruptcy proceedings within statutory liquidation arrangements to maintain public trust in currency in the event of a stablecoin collapse.

Manhattan District Attorney Bragg: Unlicensed Cryptocurrency Businesses Should Be Criminalized

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has called for New York State legislation to classify unlicensed cryptocurrency businesses as criminal offenses and to impose mandatory licensing and Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements on cryptocurrency companies to address risks of money laundering and organized crime. Bragg specifically mentioned unlicensed cryptocurrency ATMs and other channels, stating that they may provide a more convenient "anonymous currency exchange" path for criminal funds, and noted that there are still gaps in the current legal framework regarding prosecutorial enforcement authority and tools.

US Senate Banking Committee Cancels Scheduled Market Structure Bill Revision Meeting

The US Senate Banking Committee has decided to cancel the market structure bill revision meeting originally scheduled for tomorrow, due to controversies surrounding Coinbase today. Terrett also stated that it is unclear whether a new meeting date has been set. Previously, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong publicly stated that the company "cannot support" the current version of the bill, and there remains uncertainty regarding the bill's future progress.

Rhode Island Proposes Bitcoin Tax Exemption Bill

Rhode Island has proposed a Bitcoin tax exemption bill that would eliminate income tax and capital gains tax on small Bitcoin transactions with an annual trading volume not exceeding $20,000.

Project/Company Updates

London Stock Exchange Group Launches Digital Settlement Hub DiSH

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has launched the Digital Settlement Hub (LSEG DiSH) as an open-access platform that supports programmatic instant settlement between on-chain and off-chain independent payment networks. This service is based on commercial bank deposits (DiSH Cash) on the DiSH ledger, allowing commercial bank funds to achieve 24/7 instant liquidity across multiple currencies and jurisdictions, and supports settlement scenarios such as PVP and DVP. LSEG stated that this release is built on a proof of concept completed in collaboration with Digital Asset and financial institutions, with relevant transactions having been completed on the Canton network, where commercial bank deposits have been tokenized and used as transaction cash.

HTX DAO Completes Q4 2025 HTX Burn, Total Burn Approaching 10% of Issuance

The Q4 2025 HTX burn was completed on January 14, with a total of 13,616,371,495,327.31 HTX burned, valued at over $23.31 million. To date, HTX DAO has burned approximately 99.49 trillion HTX, close to 10% of the total issuance, with a cumulative value of about $186 million.

Blockchain Infrastructure Company GSX Partners with Local Indonesian Fund to Pilot Water Asset Tokenization in Jakarta, Aiming to Raise Up to $35 Million

Blockchain infrastructure company Global Settlement Network (GSX) has partnered with the local Indonesian Globalasia Infrastructure Fund to launch a pilot project in Jakarta, tokenizing assets from eight government-contracted water treatment plants, aiming to raise up to $35 million for facility upgrades and water supply network expansion. These facilities currently serve over 36,000 residents, supplying approximately 2,300 liters of clean water per second, and are expected to generate over $15 million in revenue by the end of 2026. GSX also plans to expand this model to Southeast Asia within the next 12 months, targeting a scale of $200 million in tokenized water assets.

Sonic: Approximately 5.82 Million S Recovered and Proportional Compensation Distributed to Affected Users

Sonic tweeted that the Sonic team has successfully recovered 5,829,196 S and has proportionally distributed it to all affected users. Sonic also mentioned that the previous Balancer hacking incident involved the Sonic ecosystem project Beets, and two wallets of the related hacker have been frozen, with further investigation progress pending.

Bitwise Lists 7 Cryptocurrency ETPs on Nasdaq Stockholm

Bitwise has listed 7 cryptocurrency ETPs on Nasdaq Stockholm, all priced in Swedish Krona (SEK), marking its further expansion into the Nordic market. The related products cover single asset ETPs for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and more, as well as diversified cryptocurrency asset portfolios, aiming to provide Swedish investors with a compliant channel to allocate cryptocurrency assets through ISK accounts.

Bitnomial Launches the First Regulated APT Futures in the U.S., Plans to Launch to Retail in a Few Weeks

Chicago-based derivatives exchange Bitnomial has announced the launch of the first regulated Aptos (APT) futures product in the U.S., which will initially be open to institutional traders. Bitnomial stated that the product is expected to be available to retail investors through its Botanical retail trading platform "in the coming weeks."

Project Eleven Completes $20 Million Financing, Post-Money Valuation Approximately $120 Million

Project Eleven has completed a $20 million financing round, with a post-money valuation of approximately $120 million, aimed at protecting cryptocurrencies from future quantum computing attacks. The company is developing cryptographic solutions that can withstand quantum computing decryption, with the goal of providing an upgrade path for existing public chains and crypto assets to address the risks posed by quantum computing potentially breaking the security of current cryptographic algorithms.

In-Depth & Outlook

Cryptocurrency Market Structure Bill Set for Review Tomorrow Night, In-Depth Analysis of Four Core Controversies

This article will deeply analyze the core controversies of the current bill: from the banking sector's "deposit defense war" against the high yields of stablecoins, to whether DeFi developers should bear criminal responsibility for "code," and the political tug-of-war over the Trump family's "moral clause." It can be said that this is not just a legislative vote, but a direct confrontation between traditional financial power and decentralized mechanisms, the outcome of which may determine the direction of the global cryptocurrency market for the next decade.

The Visa Effect

Then came Visa. While the technology it introduced undoubtedly played a significant role in the revolution of card payments, its more important success lies in its global universality and its ability to successfully integrate banks worldwide into its network. Today, almost all banks globally have become part of the Visa network.

Opinions

Is the Cryptocurrency Market Bullish Again? What Is Driving the Surge in Various Investment Products?

From an objective perspective, the significance of the Yao Qian case lies in its breaking of the superstition that "technical means can override judicial sovereignty." From a legal practice standpoint, any attempt to use algorithms to obscure the flow of funds is difficult to justify under the principle of "penetrative judgment."

South Korea Plans to Lift Ban on Listed Companies Investing in Cryptocurrencies, Could Thousands of "Big Players" Drive "Kimchi Premium" Again?

The cryptocurrency market, dominated by retail investors with the absence of institutions, sharply contrasts with the significant institutional presence in mature markets. Therefore, while the strict ban in 2017 initially effectively curbed local speculation, it also led to a disconnection between the South Korean market and the global institutionalization wave to some extent.

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