Doohyun Hwang

US Central Command Says 33 Ships Diverted Since Hormuz Blockade

US Central Command said it has diverted more than 30 vessels so far as Washington moves to halt Iran's rerouted crude exports. CENTCOM said on April 24 that the US military has diverted 33 ships since the White House imposed a maritime blockade on Ap

Aurelion to Deploy $48 Million of Tether Gold on XAUE Yield Protocol

Aurelion, the first Nasdaq-listed company centered on Tether Gold (XAU₮), is launching a new asset-management strategy aimed at generating additional returns from tokenized gold. Aurelion announced on April 24 that it will deposit 10,000 Tether Gold,

Nasdaq-Listed Nakamoto Details Bitcoin Derivatives Program

Nakamoto, a Nasdaq-listed US company, said on April 24 it is using its Bitcoin holdings in a derivatives strategy aimed at generating additional income and hedging downside price risk. The company disclosed details of its Bitcoin derivatives program,

Aave to Deploy 25,000 ETH to Tackle Bad Debt From Kelp DAO Hack

Aave, the decentralized-finance lending platform hit by fallout from Kelp DAO’s major hack, is moving to deploy 25,000 Ether to help clean up bad debt. Aave said on April 24 in a post on X that Aave DAO service providers had submitted a governance pr

US Treasury Sanctions $344 Million in Crypto Wallets Tied to Iran Funding Network

The US government has frozen $344 million in cryptocurrency as it moves to cut off Iran’s funding channels. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote on X on April 24 that the Office of Foreign Assets Control had sanctioned cryptocurrency wallets linked

Warsh’s Hawkish Remarks Fuel Bets Fed Will Hold Rates Through September 2027

Markets are betting the Federal Reserve will keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged through at least September 2027. The view gained traction after Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Fed chair, stressed monetary-policy independence

Israel, Hezbollah Continue Strikes Despite Extension of Three-Week Ceasefire

Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah traded attacks again, blunting the effect of an agreement to extend their three-week ceasefire. CNN reported on April 24 that the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah kept up strikes against each other even after the ext

CFTC Sues New York, Says States Can’t Regulate Prediction Markets

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has sued New York over jurisdiction of prediction markets, seeking to block the state’s effort to classify the products as gambling and punish exchanges offering them. CoinDesk reported on April 24 that the

Hyperion Taps Hyperliquid to Turn Token Holdings Into Revenue

Interview with Hyperion DeFi CEO Hyunsoo Jung Expanding business lines on Hyperliquid Building diversified revenue streams from token utility "We have no plan to sell any HYPE" "South Korea has deep understanding of digital assets...we will broaden e

Busan Digital Asset Exchange’s Bdan Wins Trade Minister Award

Busan Digital Asset Exchange said April 23 that its digital-asset trading platform, Bdan, received the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Award in the innovation brand category at the 18th Creative Management 2026 awards ceremony. The Creative Ma

Kakao Pay Warns of Surge in Malicious Apps Linked to Crypto Scams

Kakao Pay Corp. warned users to check their mobile security after malicious applications linked to virtual-asset scams, including Ponzi schemes and phishing, surged recently. On April 23, Kakao Pay said data from its "Kakao Pay Vaccine" security serv

South Korea Must Move Past Crypto Trauma, Sharlink CEO Says

Interview with SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom Company Holds More Than 860,000 Ether Former BlackRock Executive Helped Lead Crypto ETF Launches Sees South Korea as Key Market, Says It Can Lead Asia Industry Should Persuade, Not Clash With, Government Reg

US Spot Bitcoin ETFs Extend Inflow Streak to Three Days as Assets Near $100 Billion

US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds posted net inflows for a third straight trading day, with total assets edging closer to $100 billion. Data from SoSoValue showed the 13 US spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted a combined $26.05 million in net inflows as o

Sui Unveils Infrastructure for AI-Driven ‘Agentic Finance’

Layer-1 blockchain Sui outlined a vision for an “agentic finance” era in which artificial intelligence independently holds and manages assets. The company said it aims to remove intermediaries from traditional finance and make the movement of money a

Korea Insurance Institute Denies Report It Will Invest 15% of Reserves in Bitcoin

Ha Tae-kyung, head of the Korea Insurance Institute, denied recent claims that the organization plans to invest 15% of its reserves in Bitcoin. The institute is a non-profit private corporation with no government capital, not a public institution fun

Wall Street Sees Blockchain as Trust Infrastructure for Agentic AI Finance

As the era of agentic AI — systems that can make decisions and act without human intervention — takes hold, blockchain is emerging as a core layer of trust infrastructure. Forbes reported on April 16 that major global financial institutions view bloc

Hanwha Investment to Launch RWA Digital Asset Platform Next Year, Targeting Global Hub Status

Hanwha Investment & Securities plans to launch a digital asset platform based on real-world assets, or RWAs, early next year as it steps up its Web3 business. The company aims to win demand from institutions and wealthy clients through a "TraDeFi" mo

KRWQ Lists on Institutional Digital-Asset Exchange EDX Markets

KRWQ, a Korean won-based stablecoin, has listed on EDX Markets, an institutional digital-asset exchange. The stablecoin was designed to make won-based transactions more efficient in an on-chain environment. The listing links KRWQ to spot trading in a

SharpLink CEO Says Ethereum Will Tokenize All Assets, AI Agents to Transform Finance

Joseph Chalom, CEO of SharpLink, said Ethereum will fundamentally reshape financial infrastructure. Speaking at the ETHCapital Summit hosted by EtherGas at the Raum Art Center in Seoul's Gangnam district on August 15, Chalom said the $700 trillion tr

Hashed Says Southeast Asian Governments, Institutions Are Embracing Tokenized Assets as Korea Awaits Regulatory Reform

Global venture capital firm Hashed offered a detailed assessment of accelerating institutional entry into Web3 in Southeast Asia and evolving regulatory conditions in South Korea. Speaking at the ETHCapital Summit held at Raum Art Center in Seoul's G

EthGas Says It Boosted Ethereum Speed 100-Fold, Signs $3 Billion Ether.fi Partnership

Ethereum infrastructure company EthGas said it has dramatically improved Ethereum’s performance and secured a large-scale investment partnership as it pushes to upgrade the blockchain’s ecosystem. At the ETHCapital Summit hosted by EthGas at Raum Art

Hashed’s Kim, Circle’s Allaire Say AI-Led ‘B2A’ Crypto Payment Era Is Coming, Urge Korea to Act

AI agent economy gains traction B2A and A2A markets move into focus Stablecoins gain ground as a payment method Korea risks isolation if regulation lags Circle Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Allaire and Hashed CEO Kim Seo-jun said stablecoins will be

Circle CEO Says Korea Needs Privately Led Won Stablecoin

Jeremy Allaire, chief executive officer of Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, said South Korea needs to adopt a privately led won stablecoin to preserve the competitiveness of its economy. At a closed-door press briefing in Seoul's Gangnam di

Circle Says It Will Launch Korea Unit if Rules Open Market to Foreign Stablecoin Issuers

Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, said it would establish a local unit and formally enter South Korea if the country finalizes regulations that allow overseas issuers to operate there. The company plans to secure the necessary licenses and e

Circle Says It Won’t Issue Won Stablecoin in South Korea, Focuses on Local Partnerships

‘Won stablecoin would be difficult to issue’ Focus on technology partnerships with Korean companies Tie-ups with local exchanges including Dunamu and Bithumb Talks with financial firms on cross-border payments and RWA Circle Internet Group, the issue

Bhutan Sells 70% of Bitcoin Holdings, Reducing Stack to 3,954 From 13,000 in 18 Months

Bhutan, which has mined and held Bitcoin at the state level, has sold about 70% of its holdings over the past 18 months, CoinDesk reported. The drawdown has also raised questions over whether the country has effectively halted its hydropower-based mi

South Korea Weighs Confiscating Investment Principal for Crypto Insider Trading

South Korea’s financial authorities are reviewing a plan to confiscate investors’ principal in virtual-asset trades that use nonpublic information. According to the financial industry on April 11, the Financial Services Commission is considering addi

CFTC Completes Appointments to Crypto Innovation Task Force

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has completed appointments to its Innovation Task Force, or ITF, aimed at improving regulatory clarity for the digital-asset market. Cointelegraph reported on July 10 that the CFTC named the initial five

Bitwise Nears Hyperliquid Spot ETF Launch With 0.67% Fee

Bitwise Asset Management is moving into the final stages of launching a spot exchange-traded fund tied to Hyperliquid's HYPE token. The disclosure of a ticker and fee typically signals that a listing is near. In an updated filing with the Securities

Iran Can’t Find All Its Own Mines, Hindering Immediate Reopening of Hormuz

Iran is running into practical obstacles in complying with President Donald Trump’s demand for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened immediately. Tehran has not identified the exact locations of all the naval mines it scattered in the waterway during t