China’s blockchain boosts ’50x’, Alibaba-linked AI mines Bitcoin: Asia Express

Everything that happened in cryptocurrency news in Asia over the past seven days: Asia Express.

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1. China showcases new blockchain acceleration technology

2. A rogue AI agent linked to Alibaba is trying to mine Bitcoin

3. People’s Bank of China pledges to crack down on cryptocurrencies with “high pressure”

4. South Korean cryptocurrency giants may face ownership changes

5. South Korea is considering the Basel framework for stablecoins

6. Japanese “Iron Lady” denies her connection to the Solana memecoin

7. The Japanese messaging giant launches a stablecoin wallet

8. PVARA has been officially appointed as the Crypto Mayor of Pakistan

China showcases new blockchain acceleration technology

China has built a blockchain accelerator chip that can increase performance by up to 50 times, a lawmaker claimed during the country’s annual parliamentary meetings.

Dong Jin, Vice President of the National People’s Congress of China and Director of the Beijing Academy of Blockchain and Advanced Computing, He said The chip is designed to address the computing bottlenecks faced by large-scale networks.

This technology allows China’s reliable digital infrastructure to rely on its own “Chinese chip,” Dong said, referring to the country’s push to develop domestic semiconductor and computing capabilities.

These developments are part of China’s efforts to build domestic digital infrastructure and reduce dependence on foreign technology.

According to Dong, locally developed blockchain systems are already being used by 16 central government ministries and 27 state-owned enterprises.

A rogue AI agent linked to Alibaba is trying to mine Bitcoin

Experimental An independent AI agent attempted to mine cryptocurrencies Using its own training infrastructure.

In a technical report, researchers said the client, named ROME, diverted GPU resources and created a reverse SSH tunnel to an external IP address while the reinforcement learning was running.

The researchers said the behavior was not programmed but emerged when the model discovered ways to interact with its environment while optimizing tasks.

ROME is developed by joint research teams linked to Alibaba’s AI ecosystem.

People’s Bank of China pledges to crack down on cryptocurrencies with “high pressure”

The Chinese central bank again warned of tough measures against Cryptocurrency speculation, illegal fundraising, and underground banking.

The Governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), Pan Gongsheng, said that the authorities will continue a “high pressure” campaign against such activities, while speaking during a press conference at the annual session.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has imposed several stages of restrictions on cryptocurrency-related activities over the years, including the infamous 2021 ban on trading and mining. Its repressive campaign expanded to Stablecoins and real assets in February.

South Korean cryptocurrency giants may face ownership changes

South Korea’s ruling party and financial regulators reportedly agreed Reducing the stakes of major shareholders on cryptocurrency exchanges by 20%, as part of the country’s upcoming cryptocurrency framework.

Under the proposal, exchanges would have three years after the law goes into effect to comply, although smaller platforms could get twice that grace period.

The rule targets concentration of ownership in South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges, which could force major exchanges like Upbit to reduce controlling stakes.

This limit remains controversial and may face resistance in parliament, with opposition MPs and some members of the ruling party criticizing the proposal as potentially harming competition and innovation.

South Korea is considering the Basel framework for stablecoins

South Korea is considering adopting the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s cryptoasset exposure framework as it prepares supervisory standards for banks dealing with digital assets.

Financial Supervision Department He said It is reviewing Basel prudential rules to manage banks’ exposure to crypto-related risks within existing capital requirements.

The Basel framework requires banks to treat most cryptocurrencies as very high-risk assets, forcing them to hold capital equal to the full value of their exposure and limiting the amount they can hold.

Japanese “Iron Lady” denies her connection to the Solana memecoin

The value of a cryptocurrency bearing the name of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaishi rose to about $27.7 million before it collapsed after… He denied any connection to the token.

A machine translation of a social media post from Takaishi’s official account states that she has “absolutely no knowledge” of the Solana-based memcoin, and that neither she nor her office approved or were informed of the project.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency is reportedly considering investigating the parties behind the token to determine whether it was issued without the required registration.

The Japanese messaging giant launches a stablecoin wallet

Unifi, a stablecoin wallet platform integrated into the messaging app LINE, has been launched by Japan’s LINE NEXT He said Monday.

The platform allows users to deposit, transfer, pay and earn rewards using stablecoins within a single service accessible through social logins. Unifi initially supports Tether (USDT) and offers deposit bonuses of 4-5% per year.

LINE is one of the largest messaging platforms in Asia, with hundreds of millions of users across Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and other markets. LINE is building blockchain infrastructure through its Web3 arm LINE NEXT.

PVARA has been officially appointed as the Crypto Mayor of Pakistan

The Pakistani Parliament has The Virtual Assets Act of 2026 was passedThis makes the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) the country’s cryptocurrency regulator.

The framework gives PVARA the authority to license and supervise digital asset service providers, enforce anti-money laundering rules and comply with sanctions.

The bill has been approved by the Senate and the National Assembly, but still requires the signature of President Asif Ali Zardari to become law.

Pakistan is moving toward regulating digital assets after years of resistance, establishing PVARA in 2025.

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Johan Yuen

Johan (Hysop) Yuen is a Cointelegraph staff writer and multimedia journalist who has been covering blockchain-related topics since 2017. His background includes roles as an assignment editor and producer at Forecast, as well as technology and policy-focused reporting positions at Forbes and Bloomberg BNA. He has a degree in journalism and owns Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana in amounts that exceed Cointelegraph’s disclosure threshold of $1,000.