Китай и Южная Корея ужесточают контроль над криптовалютами и реальными активами Translation: China and South Korea Tighten Control Over Cryptocurrencies and Real Assets

The China Banking Regulatory Commission has issued an unofficial directive to several local brokers to suspend their Real World Asset (RWA) operations in Hong Kong. This information was reported by Reuters.

According to one of the agency’s sources, the department’s instructions aim to enhance risk management. Authorities want to ensure that projects are supported by actual businesses.

Beijing’s initiative stands in stark contrast to Hong Kong’s policies. Over the past year, the city’s authorities have been actively working to transform it into a hub for digital assets. Meanwhile, mainland China has banned cryptocurrency trading and mining since 2021.

According to RWA.xyz, the global market for tokenized real assets is valued at $28 billion.

In the meantime, South Korea has recorded a significant number of suspicious cryptocurrency transactions (STR). From January to August 2025, local providers of virtual asset services submitted 36,684 STR reports, exceeding the total from 2023 and 2024 combined.

Most of the reports are linked to «hwanjigi,» illegal foreign currency transfers. Criminal proceeds are converted into crypto assets on offshore platforms, then transferred to local exchanges and cashed out in won.

From 2021 to August 2025, the Korea Customs Service referred cases of cryptocurrency crimes amounting to $7.1 billion to prosecutors. Approximately 90% ($6.4 billion) of these cases are related to hwanjigi schemes.

Officials have called for intensified oversight to track criminal funds and to block disguised money transfers.

It’s worth noting that in August, regulators in China demanded that brokerage firms and research centers cancel seminars and cease publishing studies on stablecoins.