The US government has ordered federal civilian agencies to stop using DeepSeek, the Chinese artificial intelligence company. The order came during a busy week for crypto and financial markets across Asia.
The Department of Homeland Security filed the order on Monday. Agencies must remove DeepSeek products from their IT systems and cannot make new purchases.
The order also covers DeepSeek affiliates and third-party products built with DeepSeek technology. DHS said use by government workers and contractors could expose sensitive information about US citizens and federal programs to China.
US Treasury Targets AI Investment Abroad
The US Treasury has proposed new rules that would block US investment in some artificial intelligence and high-risk semiconductor projects in certain foreign countries.
The rules mainly target China but would also cover Russia, Iran, North Korea and Cuba. They would carry out the COINS Act from December 2025 and expand a program that began in January 2025.
Treasury announced its first penalty under the program this month. Amidi, LLC was fined $200,000 for failing to report an investment by its Chinese subsidiary in a robotics company.
In Shanghai, a Solana Foundation event was postponed. Solana Foundation president Lily Liu said registrations quadrupled overnight and passed a cap set by local authorities.
Stablecoin Projects Grow Across Asia
South Korea’s Shinhan Card signed an agreement with Japan’s SBI VC Trade and SBI XDC Network APAC. The companies will test yen stablecoin payments for travelers and cross-border trade.
The test will cover card payments, wallet-to-wallet transfers and trade settlement. The firms will also review anti-money-laundering and fraud controls.
In South Korea, Kakao, KakaoBank and KakaoPay formed a task force to build won stablecoin systems, starting with shopping and gifting. Blockchain network Injective also signed a deal with custodian BDACS to bring a won-backed stablecoin to its tokenized asset markets.
South Korean finance officials met with major crypto exchanges this week to discuss crypto taxes. The meeting came days after a lawmaker proposed delaying a new crypto tax by two more years. The tax is currently set to start in 2027.
Malaysia’s central bank launched a new platform for issuing and holding tokenized bonds, including Islamic bonds called sukuk. In Thailand, crypto exchange Bitget announced plans to buy GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics, weeks after a $388 million hack.
Vietnam signed a free-trade agreement with Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. Swiss President Guy Parmelin proposed linking Switzerland’s Crypto Valley with Vietnam’s tech sector.
Super League shareholders approved a deal that would give Japanese Bitcoin treasury firm Metaplanet a 93.7% stake in the Nasdaq-listed gaming and media company. The deal involves 2,100 Bitcoin.
Metaplanet also announced plans to buy back about $160 million of its own shares.
In Switzerland, Singapore-backed BIT Asset Management, formerly known as Matrixport, launched the country’s first spot Bitcoin ETF. Swiss regulators approved the fund, which is now the only spot Bitcoin ETF in Europe.
