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  • Hong Kong crypto rules attract global banks as AMINA wins new approval

    Hong Kong crypto rules attract global banks as AMINA wins new approval

    Hong Kong crypto rules attract global banks as AMINA wins new approval

    • The licence covers 13 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ether, USD,C and Tether.
    • AMINA reported a 233% increase in Hong Kong trading volumes in early 2025.
    • Hong Kong launched new stablecoin rules and approved a Solana ETF this year.

    Hong Kong’s push to build a regulated digital asset market is drawing more interest from global financial institutions, and the latest example is Swiss crypto bank AMINA Bank AG securing approval to expand its services in the city.

    The bank received a Type 1 licence uplift from the Securities and Futures Commission, which makes it the first international bank allowed to offer regulated crypto trading and custody to institutional clients in Hong Kong.

    The move strengthens the city’s position as a regional digital asset hub and highlights rising demand for bank-grade crypto services among professional traders.

    AMINA plans to use the approval to provide institutional users with a regulated route into cryptocurrencies at a time when clients are looking for stronger safeguards and clearer rules.

    Hong Kong’s compliance standards have often limited the number of foreign institutions able to offer these services, which has left a gap in the market for firms with established banking frameworks.

    AMINA’s entry aims to fill that gap while giving clients a regulated platform backed by traditional financial infrastructure.

    AMINA expands in a fast growing market

    The licence uplift allows AMINA’s Hong Kong subsidiary to offer trading and custody for 13 cryptocurrencies.

    These include Bitcoin, Ether, USDC, Tether, and several leading decentralised finance tokens that are widely used across global exchanges.

    The approval creates new opportunities for institutional clients looking for a single regulated venue with access to a curated list of major digital assets.

    AMINA also reported a sharp rise in market activity.

    The bank recorded a 233% increase in trading volume on Hong Kong crypto exchanges in the first half of 2025.

    The increase points to stronger engagement from both institutional and retail segments, which are becoming more active as Hong Kong’s regulatory environment evolves.

    The bank expects the new approval to support a wider product range.

    It plans to expand into private fund management, structured crypto products, derivatives, and tokenised real-world assets.

    These additions would place AMINA among the firms offering institutional clients diversified exposure across multiple types of digital assets.

    Local players face new global competition

    While AMINA is the first international bank to receive this specific licence upgrade, it enters a competitive market.

    Hong Kong already hosts regulated local firms such as Tiger Brokers and HashKey, which serve institutional and retail clients under earlier permissions.

    AMINA’s approval signals that the market is open to more foreign institutions, which could change competitive dynamics for both global and local providers.

    Hong Kong officials have said on multiple occasions that attracting global firms is central to the city’s digital asset strategy.

    AMINA’s arrival may encourage more banks and brokerages abroad to consider similar applications as they assess opportunities in Asia’s regulated crypto markets.

    Policy changes shape Hong Kong’s crypto framework

    AMINA’s approval arrives during a period of rapid policy development in the city.

    Hong Kong introduced its new stablecoin rules in August, creating a formal licensing pathway for issuers.

    Following this, major regional banks such as HSBC and ICBC indicated they were examining licence applications as part of their digital asset plans.

    The city also approved its first Solana exchange-traded fund in late October.

    The approval placed Hong Kong ahead of the US in allowing a regulated Solana ETF and added another product to its growing list of crypto-linked investment options.

    Hong Kong tightened rules around self-custody of digital assets in August.

    The change focused on improving cybersecurity protections and reducing risks tied to individual key management.

    The decision was presented as a safety measure rather than a restriction on user access.

    The combination of new rules and rising institutional interest has created an environment that is now attracting more global firms.

    AMINA’s regulatory progress adds momentum to Hong Kong’s strategy of balancing strong compliance with market expansion.

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  • Bernstein analysts predict Bitcoin surge to $90k if Trump wins

    Bernstein analysts predict Bitcoin surge to $90k if Trump wins

    • Bitcoin could surge to highs of $90k if former US president Donald Trump wins the next election in November, analysts at brokerage and research firm Bernstein predict.
    • Analysts at the brokerage shared the prediction in a note to clients on September 9.

    Bernstein says a “Trump trade”, as they referred to a potential win for the Republican candidate, could see the flagship digital asset’s value reach a new all-time high.

    Gautam Chhugani, Sanskar Chindalia and Mahika Sapra shared the prediction in a client note published on Sept. 9. Per the analysts, Bitcoin price could climb to the $80,000-$90,000 level by the end of the year if Donald Trump wins the upcoming election.

    But while a second term for the former president would herald a positive momentum for BTC, the opposite is likely should US Vice President Kamala Harris win. If the Democratic candidate surmounts the Republican challenge, her win could provide a negative impact for cryptocurrencies, the analysts noted.

    In this case, it’s possible Bitcoin could trade low – price levels in the $40,000 to $30,000 range being the likely primary support area.  

    Currently, most polls have Trump ahead of Harris. Traders on decentralized platform Polymarket are also betting on a Trump win, giving him a 52% chance.

    Meanwhile, Polymarket data suggests Harris has a 47% chance of snatching victory.

    Trump vs. Harris’ crypto approach

    Trump’s more crypto-friendly stance and plans for crypto stand out as a key factor. Notably, the former US president’s approach largely contrasts with that associated with the Harris camp.

    Although the Harris campaign has initiated moves such as the crypto roundtable meetings, the Democratic presidential nominee has not added her voice to the crypto question in her campaign or policy statements.

    Bitcoin price struggles for upside

    Bernstein’s predictions come amid Bitcoin price’s struggles in the $50k-$60k range.

    Massive sell-off pressure, regulatory landscape and overall macro environment have all combined to add to a negative sentiment.

    However, analysts are bullish on crypto in the short term, particularly if Trump wins. This will also feed into the long term picture, which Bernstein has previously predicted could catapult BTC to $200k by end of 2025 and $500k by December 2029.

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  • Solo Bitcoin miner wins 6.25 BTC block reward

    Solo Bitcoin miner wins 6.25 BTC block reward

    • A solo Bitcoin miner earned the 6.25 BTC block reward after beating the odds to solve block 793607.
    • The miner reportedly used an Antminer S9 with about 17 TH.
    • At today’s Bitcoin mining difficulty and with 17 TH, a solo miner would need an average of 450 years to land a block.

    With Bitcoin price struggling below $26,000, and the wider crypto market impacted by recent regulatory events, there’s has been very little to cheer Bitcoiners.

    But for a solo BTC miner, a lucky break had them strike gold with the winning of a block reward. According to on-chain data, the miner beat staggering odds to mine block 793607 and earn the 6.25 BTC block reward.

    BTC miner with single Antminer S9 hits jackpot

    The solo miner reportedly achieved the once-in-a-life-time feat using a single Antminer S9 and accounted for only 17 terahashes (TH). Their “lottery” win was worth about $160,000 at the time of block reward.

    “Congratulations to miner 151XTfHBfaDqoNWGGeYobNX2YzFFWuB5YD with only ~17TH for solving the 275th block at http://solo.ckpool.org! That is likely a single S9 miner. A miner of this size would only solve a block once every ~450 years on average,” tweeted Con Kolivas, a CGMiner software engineer and the admin of Solo CKPool.  

    It’s not the first time a solo miner has hit such a jackpot, with CKPool apparently seeing seven such instances since January. However, the feat is increasingly difficult as the Bitcoin hashrate and mining difficulty have increased.

    According to data from Blockchain.com, the current Bitcoin mining difficulty is 51.23 trillion hashes. Mining difficulty looks at how difficult it is to mine the next block, that is how many hashes a miner must generate to find and solve a valid block. The current difficulty is at all-time highs and has most blocks solved by major mining pools and companies.

    The difficulty adjusts every 2016 blocks (about two weeks’ time) and can go up or down. The next adjustment expected on June 14 will see the difficulty jump by about 2.92% to 52.73 T.

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  • CFTC wins a record $3.4B penalty payment in a Bitcoin-related fraud case

    CFTC wins a record $3.4B penalty payment in a Bitcoin-related fraud case

    • This is the largest fraud case involving Bitcoin that CFTC has cracked so far.
    • The case involved the CEO of Mirror Trading International Proprietary Limited (MTI).
    • Half of the $3.4B will go toward providing restitution to victims of MTI’s fraudulent activities.

    A Texas court has ordered Johannes Steynberg, the CEO of Mirror Trading International Proprietary Limited (MTI) to pay a $3.4 billion penalty in connection with a large-scale fraud case involving Bitcoin.

    According to the CFTC allegations, Steynberg engaged in an international fraudulent multilevel marketing scheme (MLM) to ask for bitcoins from the public for an unregistered commodity pool operated by the South Africa-based company MTI.

    Steynberg who was controlling MTI and the company falsely claimed to trade off-exchange retail forex through a proprietary “bot” or software program between May 2018 and approximately March 2021.

    The final judgment read:

    “Either directly or indirectly, the defendants misappropriated all of the Bitcoin they accepted from pool participants.”

    According to the CFTC Steynberg, individually and as the principal and agent of MTI, accepted at least 29,421 bitcoins, valued at over $1.7 billion at the time. The bitcoin was obtained from at least 23,000 individuals in the US and other countries around the world. The individuals were tricked to participate in the commodity pool although MTI was not registered as a commodity pool operator (CPO), as required by the law.

    Steynberg arrest

    Steynberg was arrested in December 2021 and has been held in Brazil on an Interpol arrest warrant since then.

    Besides the recent charges against him by the CFTC, Steynberg is also permanently banned from registering with the CFTC or trading in any CFTC-regulated markets.

    Restituting MTI’s victims

    Half of the $3.4 billion penalty will go towards providing restitution to the victims of MTI’s fraudulent activities. The other half is a civil penalty, which is the highest civil penalty to be ordered in any CFTC case.

    The CFTC has however conceded that “orders requiring payment of funds to victims may not result in the recovery of any money lost because wrongdoers may not have sufficient funds or assets.”

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  • El Salvador’s volcano-powered Bitcoin City wins design award

    El Salvador’s volcano-powered Bitcoin City wins design award

    • El Salvador is the first country that recognised Bitcoin as legal tender.
    • Bitcoin City has been recognised as a sustainable and highly efficient project.
    • El Salvador is building the new city in the country’s East, with clean energy entirely sourced from nearby volcanoes.

    El Salvador made history when it became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. The country also announced an ambitious project dubbed ‘Bitcoin City’ – a move that continues to inspire many other nations and jurisdictions across the world.

    Importantly though, and in one of the many positive news around the El Salvador Bitcoin bet, the eco-friendly project Bitcoin City has just received international recognition.

    According to a news report by Noticias de Bariloche, Bitcoin City won an award after getting a thumbs up approval from a panel of experts over its architectural design.

    The award was given by LOOP, a Costa Rica-based sustainable architecture and design studio. Per the the LOOP Designs Awards 2022 website, Bitcoin City was picked as category winner from a pool of 705 submissions from 56 countries.

    Volcano-powered Bitcoin city

    EL Salvador’s Bitcoin City is a new city project under development in the country’s East, and is designed by Fernando Romero Enterprise EE, a Mexico-based design studio. The project features revolutionary urban planning with Bitcoin and nearby volcanoes powering financial investments and everyday activities.

    The two volcanoes (Tecapa and Conchagua) will provide clean energy.

    “A number of incentives for investors will make this city a reference on how to make a city both efficient and sustainable at the same time,” LOOP wrote in a brief description of the project.

    As CoinJournal previously reported, building Bitcoin City is expected to take at least ten years.

    El Salvador proves critics wrong on Bitcoin bet

    On Tuesday, El Salvador president Nayib Bukele slammed international media for their negative reporting on the country since it adopted BTC as legal tender. His comments came as the country repaid in full its $800 million in maturing bonds – despite Bitcoin price plummeting in 2022.

    Mainstream media reports had pointed out that El Salvador risked defaulting on the payments if it failed to strike a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). President Bukele slammed the forecasts by “experts” and rating firms for their “lies”.

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