Hong Kong Unveils Crypto Growth Drive and Stablecoin Licensing

The IMF finds stablecoins are increasingly integrating with the U.S. dollar financial plumbing rather than displacing traditional banks, tying crypto payments into existing dollar-based networks. This shift raises fresh regulatory and systemic considerations for policymakers and banks.

Apollo, the asset manager with more than $900 billion in assets under management, may buy up to 90 million MORPHO tokens as part of a partnership to support the DeFi credit market. The move marks another large institutional signal into decentralized lending.

Morgan Stanley is recruiting blockchain engineers to lead multi-chain initiatives across Ethereum, Polygon, Canton and Hyperledger with a focus on regulatory compliance, security and interoperability. The hiring push highlights growing institutional effort to bridge public and permissioned ledgers.

BlackRock’s head of digital assets warned that heavy leverage and speculation on crypto derivatives exchanges are amplifying volatility and threatening bitcoin’s reputation as a reliable hedge. The comment raises questions about market structure and institutional demand.

Vietnam’s once-high-flying crypto sector has contracted sharply after the recent digital-asset downturn, leaving lower trading volumes, strained startups, and cautious investors. The pullback highlights risks for a market that had one of the region’s largest retail crypto communities.