Blockchain financial institution XREX Group has won the Regulatory Excellence Award at the first AFA Awards, standing out from 88 corporate nominations across the Asia-Pacific region and becoming one of five overall winners. It was also the only Taiwanese team nominated by the Taiwan FinTech Association to take home an award. The recognition covered several parts of XREX’s business at once: its compliance operations and risk management efforts, its regulated presence in both Taiwan and Singapore, its virtual asset exchange operations, its stablecoin-based cross-border B2B payments business, and its regtech work aimed at strengthening anti-scam and anti-money laundering capabilities. According to the event structure described by the organizer, the awards were run by the Asia FinTech Alliance, whose member associations represent 16 Asian economies. Each economy could nominate up to seven companies. The first edition received 88 nominations, narrowed the field through top-30 and top-10 stages, and selected final winners after live presentations and Q&A before seven international judges on Sept. 1. During the final presentation, XREX Group CEO Wayne Huang said fraud and money laundering risks are not costs a single institution should bear alone, but a shared burden across the financial industry.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) aims to suspend new registration of Payment System Operators (OPS) for 12 months to review classification and licensing frameworks. Pending applications will be evaluated but not approved. The draft also mandates stricter controls for Merchant Acquirers serving Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), including enhanced due diligence and risk-based measures. If passed, the rule takes effect 15 days after publication; BSP is now soliciting public comments.

Mirae Asset Securities analyst Kim Young-gun projects that Samsung's HBM shipments for AI will offset the slowdown in general memory chip growth in 2027. HBM capacity and ASP are expected to surge 57% and 49% respectively, outpacing general storage. Profit may be weighed by won strength but remain solid.

The Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (PVARA) has set a registration deadline for cryptocurrency service providers as today, September 5. All VASPs operating in Pakistan must submit a No Objection Certificate (NOC) by the end of the day or face legal cessation of business.

Bitget CEO Gracy Chen revealed in a CoinDesk interview that the exchange is in talks with Wall Street giants including BlackRock for Asian crypto product distribution. The talks focus on leveraging Bitget's 125 million registered users as a distribution channel for traditional financial products. Asia's blockchain transaction volume surged 69% YoY, the highest globally, according to OECD data. BlackRock estimates Asian household wealth at $108 trillion, and a 1% allocation to crypto could bring $2 trillion inflows. BlackRock is already building its Asian digital asset presence, posting a new digital asset role in Singapore in December 2025. Bitget data shows 52% of its users are dual-asset holders, holding both crypto and traditional stocks. Coinbase UK CEO Keith Grose noted that Coinbase already provides custody for BlackRock's US Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs. If the Bitget-BlackRock deal materializes, exchanges could evolve from trading platforms to financial product distribution endpoints. Key factors include Taiwan's VASP regulatory status and the potential for tokenized ETFs to reach retail investors directly through crypto exchanges.

On September 3, DWF Labs announced that it received a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license from the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission, enabling it to offer virtual asset exchange and issuance services. The license, granted under the BVI Virtual Asset Service Provider Act, allows institutional clients to access the firm's regulated entity for over-the-counter trading and market-making. The BVI currently holds nearly 10% of the global tokenized U.S. Treasury market, with over $1.2 billion in stablecoins in circulation. The company stated it will continue to expand regulatory approvals in key markets to support its international growth strategy. This was reported by Decrypt.

Taiwan is moving from broad crypto legislation to the rulemaking stage that will determine how the market actually operates. Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Peng Jin-lung said the regulator is drafting nine authorized by-laws following the passage of the Virtual Asset Service Act, with the parent law and related rules potentially taking effect as early as the first quarter of 2027. The package covers VASP licensing standards, management qualifications, financial and business controls, internal control systems, outsourced operations, account management, suspicious or clearly abnormal transaction handling, industry association oversight, financial reporting, and stablecoin issuance permits. Stablecoins sit at the center of the upcoming rules. Under the new law, any issuer seeking to launch a stablecoin in Taiwan must first obtain consent from the central bank and then secure approval from the FSC. Issuers will also be required to maintain full reserve assets, place those reserves in trust, undergo regular reviews, and meet disclosure obligations. Existing VASPs that previously operated under anti-money laundering registration will be shifted into a licensing regime, with 12 months to apply after the law takes effect and 21 months to obtain approval and licenses, subject to possible extensions of three months at a time. Crypto derivatives such as perpetual contracts and dual-currency products are not part of the first batch of nine by-laws.

Market maker and investment firm DWF Labs announced that its group entity has received a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) regulatory approval from the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (BVI FSC).