Far Eastern International Bank signed an MOU with Taiwan High Prosecutors Office to integrate 95% of the island's crypto fiat flow into a cross-domain anti-fraud system, combining banking, crypto, and behavioral data.

HashKey Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korean internet bank Kbank and blockchain technology company BPMG Group to work on digital asset business models and technical implementation. The partnership centers on HashKey’s "Asia Connect" strategy in South Korea and will explore practical use cases for a Korean won stablecoin in cross-border payments and trade settlement. Under the arrangement, HashKey will contribute institutional network access and industry insight to connect traditional financial institutions with digital asset service providers. Kbank will assess whether proposed models are compliant and workable within South Korea’s financial system. BPMG, through its U.S. subsidiary ARACORE, will provide technical support and build the payment and settlement infrastructure based on stablecoins. HashKey said the agreement strengthens its links with South Korean financial and technology institutions and adds to its broader regional footprint, which already includes business cooperation in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the UAE. The company said it aims to provide institutional clients in the region with more efficient, transparent and cost-effective digital asset settlement services.

Real-world asset activity expanded on-chain during the week ending July 17, 2026, even as stablecoin payments lost momentum. Data cited from RWA.xyz showed total on-chain RWA market capitalization rising to $34.9 billion, up 3.74% from a month earlier, while the number of asset holders climbed to 1.077 million, a record high. At the same time, stablecoin market capitalization edged down to $299.06 billion and monthly transfer volume fell 20.9% to $5.49 trillion, pointing to a split between broader user participation and softer settlement demand. Regulation moved on several fronts. In the United States, a bipartisan housing bill containing a central bank digital currency ban became law automatically after Donald Trump declined to sign it. The UK set an early-2027 target for a digital sovereign bond, the European Central Bank selected 36 payment firms for a digital euro pilot due to begin in the second half of 2027, and regulators or governments in Russia, South Korea, Bolivia and Tanzania also advanced new digital asset rules or pilots. On the industry side, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo and HSBC are joining a shared tokenized deposit network operated by The Clearing House. DTCC is working with nearly 40 institutions on tokenized stocks and U.S. Treasuries, while Japan remained a focal point through SBI, Progmat and Lawson. Funding activity also stayed strong, led by Alpaca’s $135 million round, Flex’s $70 million financing and Velocity’s $38 million Series A.

Japan’s AI industry is moving to reduce its reliance on Nvidia GPU servers, according to a Nikkei Asia report, and one of the clearest examples is Penguin Solutions’ plan to introduce its MemoryAI KV cache server in Japan in the fourth quarter of 2026. The product is designed to expand memory capacity for large language model inference by offloading KV cache from GPU-based high-bandwidth memory to external DDR5 memory through CXL, or Compute Express Link. Nikkei Asia said the system can be configured with up to 11 TB and may cut per-GB memory expansion costs to between one-third and one-seventh of a GPU expansion approach, while running 10 times faster than NVMe-based alternatives. The report also pointed to a second track in the same “de-Nvidia” shift: lower-power inference systems built around NPUs. Toyotsu Device has signed an MOU with South Korean AI startup Rebellions and is now conducting a proof of concept in Japan with local AI company Tomorrow Net using servers equipped with Rebellions NPUs. Nikkei Asia argued that these changes could affect demand for high-bandwidth memory, a market where Counterpoint data puts SK hynix at 58%, Samsung at 21%, and Micron at 21% by revenue. As AI workloads move from training toward inference, the report said, memory-optimized and lower-power architectures may emerge as a longer-term challenge to GPU-centered infrastructure.

Crypto markets moved sharply higher after a cooler-than-expected June U.S. inflation reading, with Bitcoin trading around $64,600 and Ethereum near $1,880 as traders reacted within minutes of the CPI release. Decrypt’s Morning Minute said June CPI fell 0.4% month over month, the largest monthly drop since April 2020, while the annual rate slowed to 3.5% from 4.2% in May and landed below the 3.8% expectation. Core CPI came in at 2.6% and was flat on the month. The move triggered a rapid rally across majors, pushed BTC as high as $64,900 from roughly $62,000, lifted ETH 7% to $1,884, and led to about $300 million in short liquidations. The newsletter also highlighted a series of policy and industry developments unfolding alongside the macro move. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, in testimony before Congress, said elevated inflation remains unacceptable and rejected the idea that the latest CPI report meant the job was done. The SEC’s Crypto Task Force met Hyperliquid’s Policy Center to discuss regulation, while Mizuho cut Circle to underperform and lowered its target price to $50, citing pressure from OpenUSD. Pump.fun, meanwhile, completed its first major token unlock, putting $86 million worth of PUMP from team and investor allocations into the market. Robinhood Chain also saw a sharp rotation out of earlier meme leaders and into new launchpad and RWA-related names.

A closed-door session on Japan’s real-world asset tokenization, stablecoins and the BNB ecosystem was held in Tokyo on July 13 during WebX, bringing together traditional financial institutions, listed companies, asset owners, stablecoin issuers and Web3 infrastructure teams. Hosted by ASIAN STAR with Hash Global as co-organizer and BNB Chain as blockchain ecosystem partner, the event focused on how Japanese assets can move beyond basic token issuance toward regulated, institutional-grade onchain finance. Speakers discussed the role of governance, valuation, disclosure, KYC/AML and investor suitability in bringing Japanese real estate, trust interests and other yield-bearing assets onto blockchain rails. ASIAN STAR outlined a framework using Japanese GK-TK structures alongside BNB Chain’s settlement and custody capabilities, while BNB Chain representatives said the sector is shifting from defining RWA to solving for scale and real financial use cases. Panelists also examined compliance boundaries, trust requirements for stablecoins, and the conditions needed for pilot RWA projects in Japan, including licensed partners, custody, fiat on- and off-ramps, settlement tools and secondary liquidity plans. The event concluded with ASIAN STAR and Hash Global signing a strategic MOU to work on a Japanese real estate fund project within the BNB Chain ecosystem.

Pakistan has lifted its 2018 crypto banking restrictions, allowing licensed banks to serve approved virtual asset firms under the new PVARA framework. The move could reshape remittances, stablecoin use, and the country’s large informal crypto market.

Pakistan has lifted its long-standing banking restrictions on crypto-linked businesses, allowing licensed banks to serve approved virtual asset providers under a new legal and regulatory framework.