1. MAS: Tokenized Settlement Must Be Backed by Central Bank Money; Wholesale CBDC & Stablecoin Legislation Planned link

Chia Der Jieng, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), stated that scalable settlement in tokenised financial markets must rely on secure and trustworthy digital currencies, and central bank money will ultimately serve as the anchor for monetary stability. MAS is currently preparing to use wholesale CBDC for the settlement of tokenised MAS bills, and continues to push forward amendments to single-currency stablecoin legislation. It may consider granting systemically important stablecoins access to central bank reserves in the future. In addition, addressing risk control challenges brought by AI agents executing financial transactions, MAS together with industry participants has released the Runtime Agent Financial Resilience (SAFR 1.1) whitepaper to set compliance benchmarks.

2. Russia to Fully Ban Individual P2P Crypto Transactions Starting July 2027 link

The latest regulatory guidance issued by the Central Bank of Russia shows that Russia will fully ban direct peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency transactions between individuals without intermediaries starting from July 1, 2027. All transactions must then be conducted through approved compliant intermediaries. Regulators also clarified that individuals are prohibited from withdrawing and transferring crypto assets held in their regulated digital accounts to self-custody (non-custodial) wallets. This policy comes as Russia accelerates the rollout of a licensed crypto market framework. On Monday, the Central Bank of Russia formally approved Sberbank, the country’s largest bank, to carry out cryptocurrency exchange services. Nevertheless, the use of cryptocurrency to pay for goods and services within the territory remains strictly prohibited.

3. Taiwan Blocks Coinbase and Kalshi Domains Over Alleged Violations link

Chinese Taiwan authorities have imposed domain name blocking (DNS filtering) on the official websites of Coinbase and Kalshi, the CFTC-regulated prediction market platform, over suspected violations. Court rulings reviewed by Bloomberg show that New Taipei District Court has authorized Taiwan’s communications regulator and TWNIC to block access to the two platforms from local networks. Local Coinbase users in Taiwan have reported being unable to log in normally since Wednesday.

4. South Korea to Release Crypto Tax Details in November; Up to 22% Tax Effective 2027 link

Lim Kwang-hyun, Commissioner of the National Tax Service of South Korea, stated at the parliamentary audit on October 13 that the authority plans to release detailed crypto asset taxation rules in November to ensure the tax regime takes effect as scheduled on January 1, 2027. Under current law, the portion of an individual’s annual income from crypto asset trading and lending exceeding 2.5 million won will be taxed at a combined rate of 22%, with the first tax return filing expected in May 2028. The rules will cover tax classification for staking, airdrops, hard forks and DeFi transactions. In addition, South Korea’s National Tax Service acknowledged that tracking transfers between personal wallets for tax purposes remains challenging, and it is coordinating with the country’s five major crypto exchanges to build the taxation system.

5. Metaplanet Plans $160M Share Buyback, Accounting for 7.1% of Total Shares link

Japanese Bitcoin treasury firm Metaplanet announced it plans to repurchase approximately 96.93 million common shares at JPY 261 per share through the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s ToSTNeT-3 system on October 14. The total value of this buyback is roughly JPY 25.3 billion (around USD 160 million), representing about 7.1% of issued common shares excluding treasury stock. The company also approved a share buyback programme with a maximum budget of JPY 60 billion (approximately USD 380 million), intending to repurchase up to 200 million shares within one year, equivalent to roughly 14.7% of outstanding shares. This buyback has not yet been executed, and actual transaction results will be released on October 14.

6. Bank of Singapore Launches Stablecoin Exchange Service for Retail Banking Clients link

Singapore Gulf Bank (SGB) announced that retail customers can conduct two-way conversions between US Dollars (USD) and USDT, USDC via its mobile banking app. Funds do not need to be transferred to crypto exchanges, and users may hold USDT, USDC and other fiat currencies within the same bank account. The conversion service is available 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday. Initiated by Singapore’s Huangpu Group, Singapore Gulf Bank (SGB) is one of Asia’s most crypto-friendly banks at present.

7. CZ Envies Solana’s China Office and Ads, a Milestone Unachieved by BNB Chain link

Rachel Conlan, Chief Strategy Officer of the Solana Foundation, posted that the Solana Foundation has set up a new office in Shanghai and showcased a Solana branding advertising campaign against the Shanghai city skyline. Conlan, formerly Binance’s Global Chief Marketing Officer, joined the Solana Foundation in September this year. Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder of Binance, later commented that it was surprising Solana could run advertisements and even maintain an office in China, something BNB Chain has not yet managed to achieve.

8. Standard Chartered Rolls Out Crypto Trading in UAE for High-Net-Worth Clients link

Standard Chartered announced the launch of cryptocurrency trading services for high-net-worth clients in the UAE, having secured relevant approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). Eligible clients may buy and sell BTC and ETH directly via their existing Standard Chartered bank accounts, with no separate wallet or third-party trading platform required. The bank handles asset custody and trade settlement. Launched in partnership with Zodia Markets, the service is initially available only to professional investors in the UAE, with plans for expansion into other markets in the future. Standard Chartered stated this marks its first direct crypto trading offering for wealth management clients, and also the first such service rolled out by an international bank within the UAE.

9. South Korea’s Kakao to Integrate Stablecoin Payments Into Shopping, Mobility and Digital Content Ecosystem link

South Korean internet giant Kakao is pushing to integrate KRW stablecoin payments into its core businesses. The Kakao Group has formed a stablecoin task force together with KakaoBank and KakaoPay. It plans to build a financial ecosystem covering stablecoin issuance, custody and payments in the form of a consortium. KRW stablecoin payments will first be adopted for Kakao’s gifting and shopping services, before real-time virtual asset payments are expanded to webtoons, music, performances and the Kakao T mobility platform.

10. Chinese Attendees Account for 11.8% at Token2049 Singapore 2026, Surpassing US and Doubling 2025 Figure link

Chinese participants accounted for 11.8% of attendees at the 2026 TOKEN2049 conference in Singapore, nearly doubling from 6% in 2025 and surpassing the United States to become the largest national group by attendance. The share of overseas attendees rose from 82.7% last year to 85.6%. The above data was provided by the TOKEN2049 organisers, with overseas attendees defined as non-Singaporean nationals.

Follow us

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WuBlockchain

Telegram: https://t.me/wublockchainenglish