Asia-Pacific

News ASIA-PACIFIC

Hong Kong Stablecoin Clears Real-Money Insurance Test as Security Flaws Surface

HashKey Exchange and YF Life Insurance International have completed a live transaction using real funds to test HKDAP, Hong Kong's regulated Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, for paying insurance premiums, in what the two companies call Hong Kong's first batch of institutional verification for the token.

17 AUG 2026

Interview ASIA-PACIFIC

Five Minutes With…. James Pierog CEO of Glimpse

James Pierog is the Co-Founder and CEO of Glimpse, a Bitcoin-native forecasting market where users earn Bitcoin by making accurate forecasts on financial assets. Can you tell us about yourself and what brought you to this point in your career?

17 AUG 2026

Analysis ASIA-PACIFIC

Thailand’s Virtual Banks Enter a Market Where Profits Remain Elusive Across Asia

Thailand's virtual banking market opened on 19 June 2026, when Clicx Bank launched its app to become the country's first operating digital bank.

14 AUG 2026

Analysis ASIA-PACIFIC

Asia Is Actively Building Agentic Finance While London Writes Its Roadmap

The most consequential regulatory document on AI in finance this year was written in London, and its subtext points east.

12 AUG 2026

Analysis ASIA-PACIFIC

Revolut Wins Full Australian Bank Licence With AUD$400M Pledge as Local Fintechs Regroup

Revolut has been granted an unrestricted Authorised Deposit-taking Institution (ADI) licence by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, launching Revolut Bank Australia on 21 July 2026 as the first global fintech to hold a full ADI licence and the company's first licensed bank in APAC.

12 AUG 2026

Analysis ASIA-PACIFIC

The AI Cart Before the Horse: Asia-Pacific Banks Trade Headcount for Software

In his final weeks as chief executive of DBS, Piyush Gupta had delivered the best year in the bank's history. Record profit of S$11.4 billion, a share price at all-time highs, a S$1,000 bonus for nearly every employee.

11 AUG 2026

Analysis ASIA-PACIFIC

China Redefines e-CNY as Interest-Bearing Deposit Money to Break Adoption Deadlock

China has abandoned the defining premise of its digital currency. After a decade of positioning the e-CNY as digital cash, the People's Bank of China reclassified it on 1 January 2026 as "digital deposit money": an interest-bearing, account-based instrument that sits on the balance sheets of commercial banks rather than the central bank.

11 AUG 2026

Analysis ASIA-PACIFIC

APAC Payment Trends Show That Its Rails Are Finally Converging. The Next Contest Is the Interface

Asia Pacific's payments infrastructure problem is close to being solved, yet its interface problem is just getting started.

11 AUG 2026

ASIA-PACIFIC

Malaysia Gives Banks and E-Wallets Two Years to Retire Their Own QR Codes

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) will phase out proprietary QR payment networks by 30 June 2028. The requirement sits within the central bank's newly issued Interoperable Fund Transfer Framework (IFTF), published on 30 June 2026.

14 JUL 2026

ASIA-PACIFIC

10 Ways AI-First Banks Are Pulling Ahead in Retail Banking

A new BCG report maps 10 capabilities separating AI-first retail banks, from agentic underwriting to voice-bot collections, from rivals still stuck in pilots.

14 JUL 2026

ASIA-PACIFIC

FATF Names Stablecoins the Top Illicit Asset and Unhosted Wallets the Weak Link

FATF warns stablecoins are now the leading virtual asset for illicit transactions, with unhosted wallets exposing gaps in global AML oversight.

14 JUL 2026

ASIA-PACIFIC

Pig Butchering Scams Move Billions, Southeast Asia Remains as Global Hub

Crypto scams topped $14billion in 2025, as pig butchering networks became more industrialised, AI-enabled and harder to disrupt.

5 JUL 2026