opinion

This week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) submitted a court brief (amicus brief) in support of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Previously, the CFTC was sued by the Capital Markets Alliance (CMA) last week, which sought to overturn the CFTC's approval of individual stock perpetual derivatives. CMA is an industry organization with members including Cboe and Citadel Securities.In the brief, the SEC rebutted CMA's claim that the CFTC has "gone rogue," stating that the CFTC's new rule changes are also subject to SEC review, and that the SEC and CFTC frequently collaborate, which is crucial for regulating stock perpetual contracts. The SEC indicated that its brief clarifies that the description of "CFTC out of control, SEC absent" is incorrect. CMA claimed in the lawsuit that the CFTC violated the Administrative Procedure Act because these perpetual derivatives should fall under SEC jurisdiction and requested the court to "overturn the approval."Subsequently, several cryptocurrency companies, including Coinbase, Kraken's parent company Payward, Kalshi, DRW Holdings, Paradigm, and Jump Trading, submitted a joint brief opposing CMA. Among them, Coinbase, Kalshi, and Payward have submitted applications to the CFTC for listing stock perpetual contracts linked to U.S. stocks, which were considered approved on November 2. The economic advocacy organization Better Markets and former SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee also submitted a brief, arguing that these new products should be regulated by the SEC. Better Markets stated that these products are essentially security swaps and should be regulated by the SEC to provide strong investor protection.

The New Zealand FMA plans to exclude eligible New Zealand dollar-backed stablecoins from the classification of financial products, with the consultation closing on December 18.

President Trump is facing differing opinions from his advisory team and foreign allies, with the debate focusing on whether the United States should end the war in Iraq or resume large-scale military operations. Vice President Pence and Special Envoy Whitaker support a diplomatic solution, while Secretary of Defense Hegseth and Central Command Commander General Brad Cooper advocate for military action. Secretary of State Rubio and Treasury Secretary Basant argue for tightening sanctions. Qatari officials have initiated a new round of mediation, attempting to prevent military action and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Binance co-founder He Yi commented on "Binance facing a second battlefield of public opinion after the security incident," stating, "When the storm comes, they believe that cutting down the biggest tree will make them the winner. Fanning the flames will only drive everyone away and reduce confidence in the industry, not just in Binance."Earlier, Binance founder CZ shared a lengthy article and referred to it as "another attack on Binance." According to the article, from October 30 at 05:00 to November 2 at 20:00, within approximately 78 hours, 1,083 accounts published 11,700 hostile posts regarding the theft of Binance's hot wallet, with about 20.93 million exposures, of which 79.6% were replies, and 3,354 posts were deemed false information, categorized into 15 types of rumors.The article suggests that alongside the real security incident, there was a rhythmic and organized narrative operation on X, with themes shifting according to Binance's response points, including internal sabotage, insolvency, a second FTX, reluctance to open withdrawals, a bank run upon opening, and exaggerating net outflows, among others.

According to an announcement released by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand on October 29, the agency has publicly solicited opinions on a series of draft notifications to amend the licensing framework for derivative businesses, covering derivative exchanges, derivative clearinghouses, and intermediary businesses, to support the inclusion of digital assets in the scope of underlying assets recognized by the Derivatives Act. According to the proposal, digital asset operators can apply for a derivative business license without establishing a new company.According to MediaNama, the proposed digital asset derivative license will allow for activities such as derivative agency, proprietary trading, investment consulting, and investment management, with a license fee of 500,000 Thai Baht. Existing digital asset exchanges, brokers, and dealers can be exempt from application fees and license fees. Among digital asset operators, only exchanges and brokers can apply to operate derivative exchanges, while digital asset custodians are not allowed to apply for clearinghouse licenses. The deadline for public consultation is November 28, and the Thai SEC has solicited opinions on related principles from April to May of this year.

According to the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea mentioned in its denial of involvement in the theft related to Binance that last year the United States linked the hacking incident at the cryptocurrency exchange platform Bybit to North Korea. The Korean Central News Agency stated that the United States misled international public opinion, creating the illusion that cyber fraud occurring around the world was all orchestrated by North Korea, which is a serious political provocation against North Korea. North Korea firmly opposes any attempts to politicize cyber issues and use them as a means of interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, stating that this is the consistent policy position of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea government.The Korean Central News Agency also stated that it is necessary for the international community to reflect again on the fact that the current U.S. government announced the confiscation of illegally stolen cryptocurrency assets, acting as a national strategic reserve as soon as it took office last year. The Korean Central News Agency suggested that if the stolen massive cryptocurrency funds were to be recovered, one might discover clues related to the hacking incident. On February 21, 2025, Bybit experienced a large-scale theft incident, with a total value of approximately $1.5 billion. The U.S. FBI and several on-chain analysis agencies subsequently attributed the incident to the North Korean Lazarus Group (TraderTraitor).

The issue surrounding the military version of the "Starlink" satellite communication system within Ukraine has led to differing opinions from the United States, Ukraine, and SpaceX. Ukrainian President Zelensky stated that the Ukrainian military faces speed limits when using "Starlink," while U.S. President Trump claimed he was unaware and stated that the speed limits had been lifted. SpaceX CEO Musk indicated that any restrictions are determined by the U.S. military and ultimately depend on the U.S. President.

On October 23, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Adapting to the Development of Artificial Intelligence Technology to Support the Construction of Employment-Friendly Development Models" (Guo Ban Fa [2026] No. 29). The document proposes to adapt to the development of artificial intelligence technology, enhance the positive effects of job creation, empower traditional positions, and mitigate the impact of job replacement.The opinions point out that the role of artificial intelligence should be leveraged to improve the employment environment, enhance occupational safety levels, and improve work quality and efficiency, with priority given to promoting applications in positions with labor shortages and high-risk environments; it is essential to cautiously manage the scope, intensity, and pace of artificial intelligence applications in labor-intensive industries to minimize the impact on workers. The document also encourages enterprises to explore the establishment of an unemployment buffer period system, to inform affected workers in advance during the large-scale promotion of artificial intelligence applications, and to provide support for job transition and transformation.The opinions also outline deployments in areas such as strengthening job creation effects, constructing employment-friendly upgrade paths, enhancing workers' digital literacy and employment capabilities, promoting artificial intelligence-enabled employment policy services, improving workers' rights protection and social security, and perfecting employment monitoring, early warning, and risk response mechanisms. The document is dated October 16, 2026, and is marked for public release.

Bitcoin News posted on platform X, stating that as the Clarity Act is stalled, regulators are independently formulating rules for the digital asset market based on existing authorities. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has solicited opinions on a framework for retail digital asset trading, which includes a new category of "crypto asset market" exchanges, with the comment period ending on December 14.The comment period for the Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed Regulation Crypto Assets will close on October 20. The pace at which regulators are crafting rules is faster than congressional legislation, but the relevant rules may face challenges in court or be rescinded by future commissions; a lasting regulatory framework still requires legislation.

According to Jinshi news, the Ministry of Commerce and 8 other departments have released opinions on accelerating the promotion of technology-driven commerce. The opinions propose to promote the iterative upgrading of commodity supply, deeply implement the "Artificial Intelligence + Manufacturing" special action, accelerate the deep integration of artificial intelligence technology with product research and development, design, manufacturing, and marketing, enrich the supply of smart products such as smartphones, computers, home appliances, wearable devices, and robots, and encourage the research and application of smart products based on secure and reliable open-source operating systems.The opinions also propose to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of historical classic industries, develop classic high-quality products, build a lineup of Chinese consumer brands, and explore consumer brands that are independently innovative and of high quality. Vigorously develop technology-driven agriculture, promote the quality and efficiency of high-quality specialty agricultural products, encourage time-honored brands to innovate while maintaining their essence, and support time-honored enterprises in using modern production technologies for product innovation.

According to a report by the Korean News Agency, the South Korean government will convene representatives from the five major virtual asset exchanges—Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Digital X, and GOPAX—along with DAXA executives on October 20 to gather industry opinions regarding the virtual asset tax originally scheduled to be implemented in January 2027.The current proposal aims to impose a 22% income tax and local income tax on virtual asset transfers and lending income after deducting a basic tax exemption of 2.5 million Korean won. This tax policy has been postponed three times since it was proposed in 2020, and the government is still advancing preparations according to the original schedule. The National Tax Service of Korea is expected to release a related announcement in November.In addition, South Korea's financial regulatory authorities are accelerating the advancement of the government draft for the "Basic Law on Digital Assets," which is expected to be completed by the end of this month and initiate related consultation procedures.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has launched a public consultation on proposed capital, custody, and trading requirements for cryptocurrency platforms. The related rules aim to align with the digital asset legislation passed in April and expand regulation of the industry. The proposals include three capital models, restrictions on platforms conducting proprietary trading, and quarterly reporting of wallets holding customer assets.ASIC also intends to allow offshore custody and is seeking opinions on safeguards in the event of the failure of overseas parent companies or affiliates. One of the models requires platforms that do not adopt qualified third-party custody arrangements to hold at least AUD 14 million (approximately USD 9.7 million) in net tangible assets or 10% of average revenue, whichever is higher. Feedback is due by November 27, and ASIC plans to release final standards and guidelines in March 2027. The related laws will take effect on April 8, 2027, and operators must apply for licenses by October 7 of the same year, with the ability to continue operations during the ASIC review period.

According to Xinhua News Agency, on October 10, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council recently issued opinions on developing new quality productivity. The opinions propose promoting the deep integration of the real economy and the digital economy, building a national integrated computing power network and a national blockchain network, improving the system for determining data property rights, market transactions, rights distribution, and interest protection, implementing pilot demonstrations for data elements, and optimizing the layout and operation of national data infrastructure.The opinions also propose improving an open, shared, and secure data element market, exploring mechanisms for efficient cross-border data flow, enhancing the policy system for digital industrialization and industrial digitalization, creating internationally competitive digital industry clusters, and establishing mechanisms for future industry investment growth and risk sharing, thereby strengthening long-term capital investment in cutting-edge hard technology.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has released a consultation document to gather feedback from the industry on the risks associated with tokenized collateral in terms of legality, liquidity, and operations. This is to assess whether clearinghouses can acquire and liquidate relevant assets under market pressure and to determine if new EU regulatory measures are needed. ESMA Chair Verena Ross stated that legal certainty, infrastructure interoperability, and appropriate regulation are necessary to create conditions for the safe cross-border operation and scalable development of the tokenized market.Tokenized collateral is entering the European clearing business, allowing banks and investors to more quickly obtain securities to meet margin requirements. This assessment will also review whether current EU rules can support clearinghouses in acquiring and clearing tokenized collateral in the event of member defaults. In July 2025, Eurex Clearing will launch a collateral service based on distributed ledger technology, and JPMorgan has completed its first real-time transaction for Dutch pension investor PGGM.ESMA will also evaluate the tokenized forms of assets held by traditional financial infrastructure, assets originally issued on distributed ledgers, and their relationship with stablecoins, central bank currencies, and tokenized deposits. The European Central Bank system will launch Pontes in September 2025 for settling tokenized asset transactions in central bank currency, which can connect blockchain infrastructure with existing settlement systems.

South Korean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Lee Hyeong-ryeol stated that in response to the virtual asset taxation policy planned for implementation in 2027, various opinions proposed by the National Assembly, as well as those from experts, industry professionals, and relevant stakeholders, will be widely collected. South Korean lawmaker Kim Sang-hoon questioned that several months before the implementation of the virtual asset taxation, the relevant infrastructure is still not fully developed, including insufficient tracking and verification capabilities for trading records on overseas exchanges, DEX, DeFi, and other platforms.Regarding the expected tax revenue scale from virtual asset taxation, Lee Hyeong-ryeol stated that there are indeed parts that are "difficult to accurately grasp." Since taxation requires obtaining taxpayer declaration data first, further tax estimation can only be conducted after the relevant declaration system is launched next year, and a careful evaluation of the related policies will be carried out.

South Korean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Lee Hyung-ryul stated that in response to the virtual asset taxation policy planned for implementation in 2027, various opinions proposed by the National Assembly, as well as those from experts, industry professionals, and relevant stakeholders, will be widely collected.South Korean lawmaker Kim Sang-hoon questioned that several months before the implementation of virtual asset taxation, the relevant infrastructure is still not complete, including insufficient tracking and verification capabilities for trading records on overseas exchanges, DEX, DeFi, and other platforms. Regarding the expected tax scale brought by virtual asset taxation, Lee Hyung-ryul stated that there are indeed parts that are "difficult to accurately grasp." Since taxation requires obtaining taxpayer declaration data first, further tax estimation can only be conducted after the relevant declaration system is launched next year, and related policies will be carefully evaluated.

MOJO founder Forest Bai commented on Opinion and YZi Labs on X. He stated that Opinion had received a batch of positive reviews in the primary market at that time, and some friends had recommended it to him, but he still believed that the project belonged to a niche direction and had nothing particularly special.He also mentioned that at that stage, he had already demystified 99.9% of primary market projects; even with luxurious teams and lavish funding, most projects merely held mediocre ideas, seeking very niche, self-indulgent markets, ultimately delivering outsourced-level products, not to mention that most projects' various elements were below mediocre levels.Regarding YZi Labs, Forest Bai stated that the institution has top-notch relationships and deep capital in the industry, but it overly believes in its ability to turn stone into gold through incubation. He acknowledged that the relevant arrangements could indeed lead to token listings and user distribution, but if the project's inherent value is limited, this is not empowerment but rather a consumption of its own resources.He further stated that successful cases of the incubator model worldwide are few and far between; any team with capability, integrity, and vision would not accept being undervalued and bound to an ecosystem through incubation.