Da Nang names tokenization a priority for Vietnam's planned international financial centre
The Vietnam Financial Forum 2026 opened in Da Nang on July 9 for a two-day session co-organised by the Da Nang People's Committee and Techcombank, drawing roughly 350 policymakers, financial-industry leaders and investors. Da Nang Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh named five priority financial product groups for the city's planned role in Vietnam's international financial centre: "Tokenisation of real assets; Carbon credits and carbon trading markets; Investment funds and fund management companies; Commodity Exchange; Bonds and medium- and long-term capital mobilisation instruments."
Central Vietnam Business Alliance chairman Chris Vanloon described the centre's progress in concrete terms: "Six months ago, the VIFC existed as an announcement. Today it exists as two campuses, in two cities, with a founding cohort of institutional partners" — a reference to the parallel financial-centre push spanning Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.
Malaysia discloses 75,578 crypto mining machines seized and 629 arrests since 2022
Malaysia's Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah disclosed in a Dewan Rakyat question-time session that authorities have seized 75,578 illegal crypto mining machines and arrested 629 people across 3,049 raids conducted since 2022, in a joint enforcement effort involving the Royal Malaysia Police and national utility Tenaga Nasional Berhad. The minister said the government "will continue enhancing our intelligence capabilities and technology to better identify high-risk locations."
The enforcement action is framed around electricity theft — illegal mining operations typically tap power directly from the grid to avoid the cost of running energy-intensive mining hardware legitimately — rather than crypto policy as such, but the scale disclosed is the first comprehensive multi-year tally Malaysian authorities have put on the record.
Japan's SBI Securities and Daiwa Securities target Singapore first for tokenized Japanese securities
SBI Securities and Daiwa Securities are jointly building a blockchain-based settlement platform to let foreign investors buy Japanese blockchain-issued security tokens, with Singapore named as the first international market — Japanese clients could in turn gain reciprocal access to Singapore-based investments if the initial rollout succeeds. The asset classes targeted are primarily real estate and corporate bonds, with stated ambitions to later extend into tokenized anime-sector investment and tokenized sake. Settlement will run through the USDC stablecoin, with a yen-denominated stablecoin option possible later; the platform will use BOOSTRY as its tokenization infrastructure, chosen over rival platform Progmat, and has been approved by the Japan Securities Dealers Association. The companies are targeting a 2027 launch at the earliest.
Eyes on the Day Ahead
Over the next few days and weeks, watch for Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh City to name the first specific pilot programme under the VIFC's tokenization priority, which would move the forum's announcement from policy statement to implementation. In Malaysia, track whether TNB or the Home Ministry discloses further raids under the same enforcement programme, and whether any figures address the ratio of legitimate to illegal high-density power demand in Johor specifically. And watch for SBI Securities and Daiwa Securities to confirm a firmer timeline or regulatory milestone for their Singapore-first tokenized-securities platform ahead of the targeted 2027 launch.
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.
