US government goes after Cambodian conglomerate for making billions from online scams
Houses, offices and $15B in bitcoin are among the initial assets seized
Welcome back—pig butchering scammers are on the menu after the US government seized $15 billion in bitcoin allegedly owned by the chairman of one of Cambodia’s largest conglomerates, after the firm was indicted for running a major online scam network. American citizens are estimated to have lost $10 billion to Southeast Asia-based scammers last year alone, and other nationals were targets, too.
This major move from the US government exposed Prince Group chairman Chen Zhi, who is a citizen of five countries including Cambodia and China.
One of Cambodia’s most prominent companies, Prince Group runs businesses across real estate, finance and entertainment. But Chen is said to be directly involved in the operations, which include developing scam compounds that rely on trafficked, forced labour to carry out ‘pig butchering’ scams to swindle victims out of money.
His stash of $15 billion in bitcoin, as of 2020, was said to be held across 25 self-hosted wallets—which have now been seized, although it isn’t clear how. Money from the enterprise is said to have been laundered into a range of legitimate businesses, spanning crypto mining, startups, fintech, energy companies and even a luxury resort complex on the Pacific island nation of Palau. One associate reportedly bragged that the business made $30 million per day from scams at one point.
The full indictment names 146 people and entities, including 117 shell firms, which were sanctioned for alleged involvement. The UK also took action. British authorities seized assets from Prince Group that include a £100 million office, a £12 million mansion and 17 apartments.
The governments of Singapore and Thailand are also investigating Prince Group, both are working with US and UK counterparts over potential asset seizures and further legal action.
South Korea, meanwhile, has repatriated 64 of its citizens from Cambodia. Authorities said more than 300 Koreans were abducted or detained by criminal gangs in the country during the first eight months of the year. In total, an estimated 200,000 workers are believed to have been forced into these operations in Cambodia. A Korean college student was reported to have died in August after being deceived into taking a job at a scam centre.
This story is sure to continue as other nations take action and seize assets, while more tragic accounts from workers emerge.
Happy Diwali to those who celebrate. As for me, I’m off to try to retain my sanity during the half term break
Jon
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Beijing ends Big Tech’s stablecoin experiment before it even begins
China’s stablecoin revolution will not be happening, at least not right now and not in Hong Kong.
That’s because Beijing has intervened and halted plans by several of China’s big tech giants to launch stablecoins, aka digital currencies, from Hong Kong. The launches were part of the city’s pilot programme and Ant Group and JD.com were among those interested.
However, regulators, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC, aka China’s central bank) and the Cyberspace Administration of China have warned against the moves. They likely see them as a threat to the existing monetary system and China’s currency.
China isn’t alone in taking that opinion. India is another major market that has shunned cryptocurrencies and stablecoins in favour of a much more controlled route to digital money through CBDCs (central bank digital currencies), which would be run by the government directly. That’s a route China may take. We have heard concerns that the yuan is losing market share and prestige since US dollar-denominated stablecoins dominate the crypto world.
Stablecoins are tipped to become a major part of global economics in the future but they are not there yet so China does have some time to formulate its response. We’ll have to wait to see how China’s biggest companies apply stablecoins to their wide-ranging businesses.
Nexperia effectively divided into two as China unit rejects Dutch government seizure
We wrote about the Dutch government’s seizure of control at Nexperia last week, and there’s been plenty of fallout to note since:
The company’s Chinese CEO Zhang Xuezheng was removed after the US requested the change to avoid a trade blacklist—Zhang is also Nexperia’s controlling shareholder
European carmakers deployed their “Covid playbook” in preparation for a fierce battle over automotive chip supplies after the export ban, which could have huge implications for Europe’s automotive industry
Nexperia was said to have halted salaries and system access for Chinese employees
But Nexperia’s China unit asserted its independence from the Netherlands-based HQ, and told employees to ignore “any external instructions”
The Dutch move looks to have divided the company, as we once saw with Arm and its rogue China unit. The immediate question, though, is how the shakeout will impact car production and other industries reliant on its technology.
China
Beijing Kingsoft shares surged after the Chinese government used the company’s software product, instead of Microsoft Word, for a major policy announcement, reflecting optimism about future demand link
Hundreds of thousands of Chinese investors in a bitcoin Ponzi scheme may face years of legal battles to recover losses as they struggle to link their claims to the 61,000 bitcoins seized by the UK government link
Investment China Renaissance is back in the spotlight following chairman Bao Fan’s release after it was in talks to raise $600M for a public vehicle investing in Binance’s BNB cryptocurrency alongside YZi Labs, the family office of Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao link
Grindr’s majority owners, Raymond Zage and James Lu, are considering taking the $2.4B dating app private after a stock slide hurt their finances link
Apple is launching its ultra-thin iPhone Air in China after a delay to give local carriers time to support its eSIM-only design link (and it sold out within minutes)
The iPhone Air became China’s first eSIM-enabled smartphone and now domestic brands including Oppo and Huawei are following fast to launch their own link
Apple CEO Tim Cook pledged to increase investment in China after visiting the country on an official trip link
Temu more than doubled its EU profits to nearly $120M despite having only eight staff in the region link
The EU is weighing new rules that would force Chinese companies to share technology and use EU-made components or labor if they want access to key sectors like cars and batteries link
Pony.ai and WeRide, two major Chinese robotaxi operators, have filed plans to raise funds via share offerings on the Hong Kong stock exchange link
Cambricon reported a 14-fold surge in quarterly revenue, one of the starkest signs yet of how China’s chipmakers are benefiting from a national drive to replace restricted Nvidia gear during a domestic AI development boom link
The company, which competes with Nvidia as well as Chinese leader Huawei, swung to a net profit of 567 million yuan ($79.6 million) in the September quarter, compared to a net loss of 194 million yuan a year ago, according to a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. That’s off revenue of 1.73 billion yuan.
Micron plans to stop supplying server chips to data centres in China after the business failed to recover from a 2023 government ban on its products in critical Chinese infrastructure link
Chinese crime rings have made over $1B through fake toll-payment texts, tricking victims into giving up credit card details, then using them to buy gift cards and luxury goods link
Chinese state actors repeatedly breached UK government computer systems for over a decade, accessing low- to mid-level classified data, including “official-sensitive” and “secret” files, according to former senior security officials link
However UK officials have dismissed the reports as “categorically untrue” link
China accused the US of stealing secrets and hacking its National Time Service Center, warning such breaches could disrupt communications, finance, power, and global time standards link
The Trump administration plans to counter China’s economic moves by taking greater control of US companies in strategic sectors, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said—the strategy involves taking stakes in firms tied to critical technologies, like rare earths and batteries, to reduce reliance on China and limit Beijing’s leverage in trade link
US cybersecurity firm F5 suffered a potentially “catastrophic” breach attributed to China-backed hackers, who accessed its network for at least 12 months, stealing portions of its source code and details on vulnerabilities affecting Fortune 500 and government clients link
India
Huge news from Google, which will invest $15B to build a 1-gigawatt data center and AI hub in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, over the next five years link
Quick-commerce startup Zepto closed $450 million in pre-IPO funding, boosting its valuation to $7B link
Analysis of how wildly different quick-commerce is in India and China, the only markets where the business model has stuck link
Coinbase invested in CoinDCX to expand its presence in India and the Middle East—the deal was part of CoinDCX’s previous fundraising round and done at a $2.45B post-money valuation link
Meesho is targeting a December 2025 listing that could raise $700M-$800M link
Staggering numbers: Streaming platform JioHotstar averaged 400M monthly active users during the most recent quarter link
Data suggests overseas investors are moving money out of India in favour of more markets like Taiwan and Korea, which are seen as more AI-relevant than India and its serviced-oriented economy link
Apple is lobbying India to tweak its tax law so it isn’t taxed for high-end iPhone equipment it provides to contract manufacturers, that’s seen as a potential barrier to further expansion link
Storytelling platform Kuku raised $85M in Series C funding at a $500M valuation to expand to new markets and grow its 10M paid subscribers link
Wealth management startup Dezerv raised $40M link
Tata Electronics acquired the India unit of Chinese industrial firm Justech Precision for around $100M to expand its manufacturing capacity link
Drone startup Airbound, which develops ultra-light and blended-wing-body aircraft from cheap deliveries and has a 20-year-old founder, raised $8.65 million in seed funding link
Southeast Asia
A look at Hyperliquid, the decentralised crypto perpetuals exchange run by 15 people in Singapore which threatens Binance and others with its popularity that generates over $100M in fees per month link
Apple is shifting more production to Vietnam as it moves deeper into the smart home market and reduces reliance on China link
Microsoft plans to produce most of its new products outside China as early as next year, while AWS is shifting its supply chain down to component level link
Meanwhile, Google is asking suppliers to aggressively expand server production capacity in Thailand, two people with direct knowledge told Nikkei. One server system assembler has helped Google double its capacity in the Southeast Asian country by constructing four new facilities there, one of the sources said.
Singapore is set to launch an Online Safety Commission with the power to block harmful content on platforms like TikTok and Facebook, targeting scams, deepfakes, harassment and child abuse link
Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, sued Chinese EV maker Nio and executives in a US court, alleging securities law violations for inflating revenues link
South Korea
Kim Sang-beom, chairman of circuit board maker ISU Petasys, is Korea’s newest billionaire after an AI chip boom sent his company’s stock soaring over 200% this year link
Authorities have resumed their review of Binance’s acquisition of local crypto exchange Gopax after a delay of over two years, a hint that the company could soon re-enter the market link
Korea scrapped its AI-powered textbook program after four months following backlash from teachers, students and parents link
SK Telecom is reshaping its newly launched AI division, AI CIC, offering staff voluntary retirement as it consolidates the company’s AI units link
Samsung just recorded its largest profit since 2022 thanks to the global AI boom link
Seoul may finally approve Google and Apple to offer high-resolution maps in the country link
Japan
Space and defense startups increasingly rely on government funding as private investors have pulled back amid weak returns and uncertain profits link
MUFG, SMBC and Mizuho, Japan’s three megabanks, will join forces to launch stablecoins pegged to the yen and the US dollar link
Japan formally asked OpenAI to prevent copyright violations after the release of Sora 2, which can generate 20-second, 1080p videos and has already produced clips featuring copyrighted characters from franchises like One Piece, Demon Slayer, Pokémon and Mario link
Japan’s top financial regulator plans to ban insider trading in cryptocurrencies, imposing surcharges based on illicit gains—the SEC will have license to investigate and issue penalties or criminal referrals for trades made using undisclosed information link
Rakuten is considering a US IPO for its credit card arm, one of Japan’s largest, prompted by SoftBank’s plans to list PayPay in the US link
Hong Kong
Alibaba and Ant will spend $925M to buy office space in one of Hong Kong’s priciest areas link
Lawmakers passed a bill requiring ride-hailing platforms like Uber to be licensed from next year link
The US FCC moved to block Hong Kong-based HKT, a major telecom provider owned by PCCW, from accessing US networks over national security concerns link
Huobi founder Li Lin and several prominent Asian Ethereum backers are launching a $1B Ether trust, aiming to take it public through a Nasdaq shell link
Taiwan
OpenAI is reportedly working with Arm to develop a CPU designed to work with the AI chip OpenAI is developing with Broadcom link
Taiwanese stablecoin payment firm OwlTing is set for Nasdaq debut via a direct listing link
TSMC hiked its projection for 2025 revenue growth for the second time this year, it now foresees mid-30% growth in annual sales link
Rest of Asia
North Korean state-linked hackers have begun using public blockchains to deliver malware and steal cryptocurrency, in what researchers say is the first known case of a nation-state adopting the technique link
Bhutan is moving its national ID system from Polygon to Ethereum, in a move that will give nearly 800K citizens blockchain-based access to government services link