Uk Jin

While Mastercard is reviewing the acquisition of virtual asset (cryptocurrency) infrastructure firm Zero Hash, some say the deal could hasten the era of 24-hour payments. On the 5th (Korean time), Cointelegraph reported that Mastercard is conducting negotiations worth $1.5–2 billion to acquire Zero Hash. It was previously reported to have also considered acquiring stablecoin payments platform BVNK. The deal is interpreted as a strategy for Mastercard to secure a stablecoin payment system that can be integrated immediately rather than building its own infrastructure. If the acquisition is completed, the establishment of a 24-hour, 365-day payment system not bound by bank business hours is expected to accelerate. Zero Hash and BVNK provide institutional crypto asset custody, conversion, payment, and compliance management functions. If Mastercard absorbs these companies, it could immediately secure licenses and customer networks and quickly move from pilot phases to real-world transaction applications. Currently, card payments experience delays due to bank business hours and batch processing, but integrating stablecoins into payment infrastructure is expected to enable real-time fund movement between exchanges and merchants even on weekends and holidays. However, several constraints remain for full 24-hour payment adoption. Limits cited include traditional financial network cutoffs (ACH, SEPA), compliance procedures in the conversion process between virtual assets and cash, and real-time anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions screening systems. Liquidity variance, network fees, and stablecoin pegging risk are also pointed out as concurrent issues. Cointelegraph noted, "If Mastercard finalizes the Zero Hash acquisition and concludes negotiations with BVNK and expands USDC and EURC payment rails to key regions, a financial environment where the concept of 'business hours' disappears could become reality."

The Singapore government has suspended tax benefits for two family offices linked to individuals associated with Prince Group. On the 5th (Korea time), Bloomberg reported that Chee Hong Tat, Deputy Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), told parliament that Prince Group chairman Chen Zhi and his associates are under investigation by the Singapore police on allegations of money laundering that exploit virtual assets (cryptocurrencies). The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned Chen Zhi and his associates, including three Singapore citizens, on charges of being linked to online investment scams and laundering networks using virtual assets. Singapore police also on Oct. 30 seized assets of US$115,000,000 (about S$15,000,000,000) linked to Prince Group and Chen Zhi. Deputy Chairman Chee emphasized that Singapore must provide appropriate benefits to bona fide family offices and genuine investors. He said, "If you open the window, flies can come in," adding, "What is important is to deal with the flies quickly when they come in while letting in sunlight and fresh air."

The Canadian government said it plans to introduce a stablecoin (a virtual asset whose value is linked to fiat currency) regulation bill in the 2025 federal budget. On the 5th (Korean time), Cointelegraph, a media outlet specializing in virtual assets (cryptocurrencies), reported that the Canadian government announced the budget and disclosed details about the stablecoin-related bill. Specifically, the bill includes provisions to require stablecoin issuers to maintain sufficient asset reserves, establish redemption policies, build risk management systems, and implement personal data protection measures. In addition, Canada's stablecoins are planned to be designed as a payment means that consumers and businesses can use safely, including safeguards at the national security level. The Bank of Canada plans to use 10 million dollars over two years starting from the 2026~2027 fiscal year to draft the related bill, and thereafter plans to cover administrative costs by collecting about 5 million dollars annually from stablecoin issuers. The government also plans to amend the 'Retail Payment Activities Act' to provide a regulatory basis for payment service providers that perform payment functions using stablecoins. The government said it will also work with the private sector to strengthen innovation and explore ways to adopt trust-based artificial intelligence (AI) to promote the use of AI within the financial sector. Meanwhile, Canada withdrew plans to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in September last year.

<Today's major economic schedule> ▶︎5th (Wed) : △ADP October nonfarm employment change (Korea time 22:15, US time 08:15), △US October services PMI (Korea time 23:45, US time 09:45) <Today's major cryptocurrency schedule> ▶︎5th (Wed) : None

On-chain finance is rapidly moving into mainstream finance, and the convergence of institutions and DeFi is said to be the key driver of industry growth. On the 5th (Korean time), according to crypto media Odaily, Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink (LINK), said in his keynote at 'SmartCon' held in New York that "the blockchain industry has reached a decisive moment ahead of large-scale adoption," and that "Chainlink is reshaping the trust architecture of the financial system through cryptographic guarantees and a single source of truth for smart contracts." He added, "We are building the infrastructure to eliminate human error and opaque operations, which is key to improving trust across the financial system." Finally, Nazarov said, "Chainlink will ensure both transparency and privacy through a privacy-preserving system that combines Trusted Execution Environments (TEE) and Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP)," adding, "This will allow developers to rapidly build high-quality smart contracts and meet both regulators' and market demands." Also at SmartCon that day, Chainlink announced the official launch of the cross-system runtime environment platform 'CRE (Chainlink Runtime Environment)'.

Joran Mamdani, a New York state lawmaker classified as a radical leftist in the U.S. Democratic Party, has been elected mayor of New York. Attention is focusing on what his administration in New York, the financial and blockchain industry hub, will mean for the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market. On the 4th (local time), the virtual asset-focused outlet Cointelegraph reported that Mamdani defeated Andrew Cuomo, a former New York governor who ran as an independent, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa to win. Mamdani campaigned on cost-of-living issues such as rent and childcare, and said he would raise funds by imposing additional taxes on the top 1% of high-income earners. The virtual asset industry has expressed concern about Mamdani's victory. Tyler Winklevoss, Gemini co-founder, criticized his anti-business tax policies. He pointed out, "(New York's college students) have never learned the values of Western civilization, so they don't know why they should fight for it." Sean McGuire, a Sequoia Capital partner, unleashed a stream of vitriolic criticism mixed with Islamophobia toward Mamdani. He said, "The West will learn this lesson the hard way." Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is also reported to have donated $1.25 million to a political action committee (PAC) to try to prevent Mamdani's election. Mamdani's stance on virtual assets is unclear. Unlike his rivals Cuomo and Sliwa, who said they would support the virtual asset industry, he did not make particular mention of fostering the industry or easing regulations. Previously, in 2023, he supported a consumer protection bill introduced by New York Attorney General Letitia James after the Terra-Luna and FTX incidents, and said, "The victims of virtual asset collapses are not the wealthy but low-income people and communities of color." That is the only notable statement. Experts say the New York mayor has limited scope to directly influence virtual asset policy. They analyze that regulatory authority is concentrated at the federal and state levels, making it difficult for the city to pursue policy independently. However, they assess there remains a possibility of some impact on the industry through indirect factors such as prices, real estate, and electricity usage. Mamdani is scheduled to take office on January 1 next year.

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has reportedly withdrawn its proposal to introduce the 'Restricted Jurisdiction Procedure' that would have limited creditor repayments in certain countries such as China and Russia. On the 4th (Korean time), The Block reported that FTX voluntarily withdrew its consent related to the Restricted Jurisdiction Procedure that it had filed with the U.S. Delaware bankruptcy court. The Restricted Jurisdiction Procedure would have reviewed the recoverability of repayments from 49 countries with regulatory constraints and, if deemed infeasible to implement, would have forfeited and redistributed claims from those countries. Countries including China, Russia, Ukraine, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia were classified as restricted, and claims on about $800 million in creditors could have been limited. Chinese creditors accounted for 82% of that. However, it appears the proposal was withdrawn after strong opposition from creditors of Chinese nationality. Creditors argued, "There is no legal or factual basis to designate China as a restricted country."

Stream Finance, operator of the stablecoin 'XUSD' (a virtual asset whose value is linked to fiat currency) that failed to maintain a value of $1 and depegged, disclosed that approximately $93 million in Stream Fund assets were lost. On the 4th (Korean time), Stream Finance said on X (formerly Twitter), "An external fund manager overseeing the Stream Fund disclosed approximately $93 million in Stream Fund asset losses," and "We have currently commissioned the law firm Perkins Coie LLP to investigate." It added, "Through a proactive investigation we will fully examine the cause and circumstances of this loss," and "We are recovering all liquid assets, and this process will be completed in the short term." The company explained, "Deposits and withdrawals will be temporarily suspended until the scale and cause of the loss are fully understood," and "Ongoing deposits will not be processed." Earlier, Stream Finance's XUSD plunged about 20% intraday to $0.92, resulting in depegging. XUSD is currently $0.5504, a 62.1% collapse from the previous day.

On the 4th (Korea time), according to PeckShield, severe depegging (the stablecoin's value moving away from 1 dollar) is occurring in Stake Stream USD (XUSD). As of 11:43 AM that day, according to CoinGecko, XUSD is trading at $0.9204, down 27.2% from the previous day. XUSD's market capitalization is $190 million.

SC Ventures, a venture investment firm under Standard Chartered (SC), expressed a positive view on asset tokenization. According to BlockBeats on the 4th (Korea time), Alex Manson, CEO of SC Ventures, said at the 'Finternet 2025 Asia Digital Asset Summit' held in Hong Kong, "The convergence of asset tokenization, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital financial infrastructure will bring structural change to the financial system," adding, "The convergence of digital banking, banking-as-a-service (BaaS), the digital economy, and the new economy will be a core trend of future finance." He also said, "Virtual asset (cryptocurrency) custody will rapidly expand to custody of all digital assets, and the combination of AI and virtual assets is already being realized through AI agents," and predicted, "Decentralized finance (DeFi·DeFi) will rapidly increase its market share compared to centralized finance (CeFi)." Finally, he emphasized, "The tokenization of all assets and the development of financial infrastructure will in the near future promote a transition to a completely new financial system," stressing, "It will fundamentally change the existing financial order."