Asia’s cryptocurrency landscape is fracturing along clearer policy lines as regulators diverge sharply in their treatment of digital assets. India’s central bank is pushing lawmakers to firewall traditional banks from private crypto and stablecoins, while South Korean exchanges are culling weak tokens at record pace, and Taiwan and Dubai are opening licensed pathways.
RBI warns on stablecoins, urges bank isolation
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) briefed a parliamentary panel with a containment-first approach, keeping prohibition on the table. Deputy Governor Rohit Jain and Executive Director P. Vasudevan urged insulation of banks from crypto assets and private stablecoins, citing risks to payment systems, monetary sovereignty, and cross-border crime such as drug trade and terrorism financing. The central bank distinguished speculative tokens from regulated tokenization of bonds, a distinction that may shape future legislation.
Taiwan passes licensing, Dubai hits 50th VASP license
Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission secured passage of a dedicated crypto law requiring virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to obtain approval and stablecoin issuers to hold reserves with a trustee and undergo audits. The bill has cleared its third reading and awaits presidential assent. Meanwhile, Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) issued its 50th VASP license, underscoring its drive to become a regional hub.
South Korea listings collapse, delistings surge
Net new trading pairs across Korea’s top five exchanges—Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, Gopax—plunged 74% year-on-year to just 49 in the first half of 2026. Delistings jumped 258%, as platforms aggressively removed low-liquidity and high-risk tokens. The shift reflects tighter compliance checks, sliding trading volumes, and pressure on exchange fee income. Korea Exchange also revised KOSDAQ rules to subject technology-listed firms that pivot to virtual-asset treasury operations to delisting reviews.
Tokenization gains policy momentum
Bank of Korea Governor Hyun Song Shin promoted tokenized government bonds and a unified ledger for wholesale CBDCs, tokenized deposits, and bonds under Project Hangang. Tokenized U.S. Treasury debt has reached $14.6 billion, nearly half of the $31.7 billion real-world asset market. Russia announced that major banks and retailers will support digital ruble transactions from September 1.
Corporate moves and USDT stress
Japan’s SBI Crypto will close its Bitcoin mining pool at end-July, while Metaplanet bought 2,823 BTC in Q2 to boost holdings to 43,000 BTC. In India, USDT supply tightened, driving the local premium above 8.5%—far exceeding the typical 3–4% range—as regulatory uncertainty squeezed stablecoin access.
