Singapore police have reported at least two cases involving tampered Ledger hardware wallets, with combined losses of about 3.5 million Singapore dollars, or roughly $2.7 million. The first local report was dated Sept. 10, nearly a month before the broader incident became public.
According to Cointelegraph, the Singapore Police Force disclosed the cases in an Oct. 28 consumer advisory. The notice did not make clear whether the September case was reported to police at the time or only added retrospectively. It also did not establish whether Ledger had been notified earlier or whether authorities could have issued a warning sooner. The advisory indicated that the investigation remained at a preliminary stage.
Ledger publicly warned on Oct. 9 that tampered devices had been discovered in the CryptoBilis supply chain. Devices containing spyware components were linked to the draining of almost $100 million from wallets. On Oct. 13, the company asked retailers in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Hong Kong to suspend sales while investigations continued.
A hardware wallet is a physical device designed to store the credentials used to access digital assets. If a device has been altered before reaching a customer, malicious software or components can create a security risk even though the buyer believes the wallet is new. The Singapore cases add a local dimension to an incident that had already affected the wider regional supply chain.
Singapore and Southeast Asia expand digital-asset initiatives
The security warning came as financial authorities in the region continued developing regulated uses for blockchain-based money. Bank Negara Malaysia and the Bank of Thailand joined Singapore’s BLOOM initiative as policymaker members on Friday.
BLOOM stands for Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency. It is a public-private initiative intended to help financial institutions use stablecoins and tokenized deposits for cross-border payments. Stablecoins are digital tokens designed to maintain a stable value, while tokenized deposits represent bank deposits in digital-token form.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore launched BLOOM in October of last year. Its members include Airwallex, Mastercard, Ripple, Visa and the World Bank Group. Separately, a DBS survey of 422 businesses worldwide found that almost 90% were either already adopting tokenized cash or interested in doing so to speed up payments.
The combination of the Ledger investigation and these payment initiatives highlights two different strands of the region’s digital-asset activity: authorities are examining security risks in consumer hardware while banks and payment companies explore institutional applications for tokenized money.
South Korea weighs another crypto-tax delay
South Korean officials are reportedly considering postponing the country’s cryptocurrency tax policy for a fourth time. The tax is currently scheduled to begin in January 2027, but a report by South Korean outlet Newsis said implementation could be pushed back to 2029.
One reason cited in the report is that 2029 may be the earliest point at which officials can exchange tax information on digital-asset transactions with the United States. Under the planned policy, investors earning more than 2.5 million Korean won, equivalent to $1,883 in the source material, would face a 22% tax on crypto gains.
The tax discussion comes alongside new cybersecurity and reporting measures. Bithumb said its internal mobile system was hacked and that personal information had been leaked. Daishin Securities reported that about 38,000 customer records were exposed, while Mirae Asset Global Investments confirmed a hacking incident.
The South Korean government and Bank of Korea also intend to draft amendments to the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act this year to regulate stablecoins used as payment instruments. From Dec. 2, crypto-transfer service providers are due to submit monthly reports identifying people sending money out of the country. The reporting requirement will also cover transfers dating back to the middle of 2024.
Wider regional developments
Chainalysis said it had traced a long-running network of Russian intermediaries that helped North Korean information-technology workers convert millions of dollars in cryptocurrency into cash. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 10 people and one entity on Wednesday over support for North Korean government-run IT-worker schemes that it said funded weapons programs. The sanctioned individuals included Russian nationals Ilya Aleksandrovich Boykov and Vitold Viktorovich Obertas.
In Hong Kong, Nasdaq-listed Solana Company, ticker HSDT, was named a strategic enterprise under a government program designed to attract businesses supporting the city’s economic development. The company said it was part of the seventh group selected by the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises and the only blockchain-infrastructure company added in 2026. Hong Kong said last week that 18 enterprises had been added, taking the program’s total to 142.
The South China Morning Post reported that Beijing wants Hong Kong to help promote international use of the digital yuan. Hong Kong crypto-payments company RedotPay is also planning a US initial public offering before the end of the year and has opened a pre-IPO funding round valuing it at $4 billion.
China’s latest five-year digital-development plan sets 2030 as the target for largely completing a national blockchain network. It also calls for stronger technical standards and wider use of blockchain in data circulation and trading. Mainland China bans cryptocurrency-related business activities while continuing to promote blockchain technology as a national priority.
Thailand’s Supreme Court ruled that Bitcoin qualifies as property under criminal law. The decision upheld a 10-year prison sentence in a robbery case involving about $50,000 in Bitcoin. Thailand has also launched the WORPT digital wallet under its Tourist DigiPay sandbox, allowing visitors to convert USDT or USDC into Thai baht for spending through PromptPay QR codes.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar market data at 22:38-22:39 on Oct. 25, 2026, showed Polygon (prev. MATIC), now listed as POL, at $0.0898082186, up 0.39% over 24 hours but down 0.74% over seven days. Monad was at $0.0215496181, down 0.49% in 24 hours and up 2.33% over seven days. edgeX stood at $0.3244313833, with gains of 0.81% over 24 hours and 13.63% over seven days.
