North Korea has become the most tenacious state actor when it comes to theft of digital assets. Given its proximity to the Hermit Kingdom, a shared language and a deep understanding of how its criminal pursuits are carried out, South Korea plays a leading role in the investigation of Pyongyang’s crypto crime. In late November, South Korean police said that their investigation confirmed that hackers linked to North Korea's military intelligence agency were responsible for a large 2019 Ethereum heist.

In a growing number of countries, stablecoins appear here to stay. DeFiLlama data show that the total market capitalization for stablecoins has risen 46% this year to a new high of roughly US$190 billion, cementing a remarkable comeback from the nadir the cryptocurrencies experienced following the implosion of TerraUSD in 2022. Yet two of the world’s largest economies and its two largest by population remain wary of stablecoins. How China and India ultimately choose to approach stablecoins could have significant implications for their broader adoption.

We remember when Swedish payments firm Klarna was valued at US$46 billion back in June 2021. Unsurprisingly, leading the charge in funding the company was SoftBank, which has a tendency to make losing bets on tech startups. At the time, investors were ecstatic about buy now, pay later (BNPL), which we have long seen as old wine in a new bottle. There is nothing particularly innovative about installment payments, and it was not long before banks and tech giants like PayPal moved into the space. Since there is little differentiation between different providers of BNPL services, it was no surprise that Klarna’s valuation plummeted, finally bottoming out at US$6.5 billion. Analysts have recently turned more bullish on the company though and it is valued at US$14.6 billion ahead of an expected IPO in New York next year.

We recently wrote about the implications of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) possibly exiting the mBridge cross-border CBDC project it has overseen, but we did not expect the Switzerland-based entity would make its decision so soon. On October 31, BIS announced its departure from mBridge, and on Nov. 11 published an update on its official website stating that the initiative had reached the minimum viable product (MVP) stage. There was no explanation given for why BIS exited mBridge and no details provided about next steps for the project.

South Korea’s K Bank had a strong third quarter during which its net income surged almost 181% annually to 37 billion won (US$26.3 million). Through September, the online lender had accrued profits of 122.4 billion won, up 220% from the first nine months of 2023. K Bank’s customer numbers are rising steadily as well, reaching 12 million by the end of September, thanks to strong demand for high-interest rate deposits, cashback programs and mortgage loans. There was really no bad news in K Bank’s earnings report, but the lender still faces significant challenges due to its close ties with the cryptocurrency exchange Upbit and its general high reliance on digital assets to fuel growth.

What happened to the digital rupee? With each passing week, it seems that India’s CBDC project is fading further into the background of the subcontinent’s financial ecosystem. In contrast to China, which is unswervingly pressing forward with the digital renminbi – irrespective of actual market demand, it should be noted – India’s financial regulators seem uncertain if they really want a digital fiat currency.

Singapore has become one of the two most important financial centers in Asia alongside Hong Kong and the region’s top fintech hub. Yet Singapore’s strengths as a financial center do not extend to capital markets. In this segment, it is one of the weakest performers in the region. This has been consistently true in recent years, despite efforts to improve the situation.

Ever since the China-led central bank digital currency project mBridge was launched several years ago, there have been whispers that its ultimate goal was to develop an alternative payments rail that could circumvent the U.S.-dominated international financial system. That is because mBridge aims to establish direct links between the central banks of its participants, allowing money to be sent outside of the existing correspondent banking system. It was primarily the involvement of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) in mBridge that gave the project an appearance of neutrality. Yet with the news that BIS is considering shutting down the project, it seems clear the CBDC cross-border payments initiative cannot be separated from geopolitical tensions.

South Korea’s No. 2 digital bank K Bank has postponed its IPO plans yet again, after seemingly having committed to a listing in the near future. This development comes as something of a surprise. K Bank posted a net profit of 85.4 billion won (US$64 million) in the first half of this year, the highest since its establishment and more than thrice as much as during the same period a year ago. It seemed that the company had adequate momentum to finally go public. However, looking at a few aspects of K Bank’s business model, we can see why it is delaying the IPO again.

Hong Kong’s financial regulators and at least some in the industry seem to believe that the city’s future as a financial hub depends on its embrace of cryptocurrency. For the past two years, Hong Kong has been relentlessly pitching itself as a digital assets hub in an effort to regain ground lost to Singapore and mainland China. The city-state has emerged as a larger and more important fintech hub, while mainland Chinese stock exchanges are attracting companies to list that might have once chosen to go public in Hong Kong. While it can be argued that Hong Kong would be better served by focusing less on an industry that remains problematic in many respects, its big bet on crypto might end up paying off big.