A Former Binance Australia Chief Wants to Turn Malaysia's Stalled Forest City Into an AI and Blockchain Campus
Jeff Yew, former head of Binance Australia and now chief executive of Monochrome Asset Management — which runs an Australian-listed bitcoin ETF with roughly A$128 million in assets — is in early talks with Balaji Srinivasan's team about building a technology campus at Forest City, the US$100 billion Johor development that has struggled to reach its original scale since developer Country Garden's financial troubles set in. The opening comes after Network School, the experimental technology community Srinivasan founded at Forest City, was shut down on July 22 when the Iskandar Puteri City Council revoked its business and advertising licences over local licensing breaches — a decision that followed separate scrutiny of Israeli-national participants, though officials confirmed all held valid travel documents.
Yew is pitching a "Malaysia first" version of the concept: a campus still open to international talent but built to give local founders a bigger role, including local scholarships, aimed at supporting Johor's ambitions in AI, blockchain and computing. "It's about a balance of attracting talent overseas and also nurturing local entrepreneurs," Yew said. No final decision or agreement has been made, and Yew's talks with Srinivasan's team remain at an early stage.
Singapore's Q2 GDP Beats Estimates at 5.9%, and the Government Nearly Triples Its 2026 Growth Forecast on AI Demand
Singapore's economy grew 5.9% year-on-year in the second quarter, ahead of the 5.7% advance estimate, taking first-half growth to 6.1%. The Ministry of Trade and Industry responded by raising its full-year 2026 GDP growth forecast to 4.5%-5.5%, up sharply from the 2.0%-4.0% range it had held previously, citing a milder-than-feared hit from the Middle East conflict and a stronger-than-expected global AI investment cycle. Enterprise Singapore separately lifted its 2026 non-oil domestic export forecast to 14%-16%, more than triple its earlier 3%-5% projection, pointing to "sustained AI-related demand and capex spending."
MTI was explicit that the upgrade is uneven: sectors tied to the AI-driven technology cycle, chiefly electronics and precision engineering, have improved, while sectors more directly exposed to Middle East-related supply disruption remain weak. The ministry flagged the Iran war, new U.S. tariffs, and the sustainability of the AI investment boom itself as the principal downside risks to the new forecast.
Maya Pushes Its Philippine and US Dual Listing to 2027, Conceding GCash Will List First
Maya chair Manuel V. Pangilinan said the Philippine digital bank and e-wallet operator is now targeting an IPO in 2027, a year later than the US-first dual-listing plan it had floated for the second half of 2026. Asked whether 2027 was realistic, Pangilinan said: "Yes. Hopefully. And we're also preparing." He compared the runway to Maynilad Water Services' roughly two-year preparation period ahead of its own listing, adding: "Being public is not easy. So, you have to do some preparations for it and have the right people."
Pangilinan acknowledged that rival GCash would likely list first, saying "I think GCash will really get listed first" — a reference to GCash parent Globe Telecom's own October IPO timeline. He said Maya still intends to pursue listings on both a US exchange, where foreign shareholders want deeper capital-raising access, and the Philippine Stock Exchange, where local shareholders want a listing too.
Eyes on the Day Ahead
Indonesia Blockchain Week 2026 runs its second and final day in Jakarta on August 13, with Binance co-CEO Richard Teng and OJK-adjacent speakers on the agenda — a venue to watch for any fresh signal on Indonesia's digital-asset licensing regime or tokenization policy before the event wraps.
Layer 7 Ventures is a research-driven firm focused on AI and cryptocurrency in Southeast Asia. Views expressed are those of the firm and do not constitute investment advice.
