Asia's weekly TOP10 crypto news: India explores tokenized US debt, Kazakhstan meets CZ on digital infrastructure and Uzbekistan rolls out stablecoin payment pilot and Top10 News

1. India Launches Demat 2.0 Pilot to Tokenize $620B Corporate Bond Market link

India’s Securities and Exchange Board (SEBI) has launched the Demat 2.0 pilot, leveraging blockchain and the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) wholesale digital rupee to issue and settle tokenized corporate bonds. State-owned power financier REC issued bonds worth 5 billion Indian rupees (approximately $56 million) via the system this month. Larsen & Toubro followed with an issue of the same size, while non-bank financial institution IIFL Finance issued 250 million Indian rupees (around $2.8 million) in bonds. The bonds retain fixed coupon rates, maturity dates and investor rights. Through RBI’s Unified Market Interface, Demat 2.0 links the tokenized bond ledger with the wholesale digital rupee, enabling simultaneous transfer of bonds and payment funds to mitigate settlement risk. Later phases plan to introduce secondary-market trading and gradual access for retail investors.

2. HK Legislator proposes Independent Digital Asset Regulator, Targeting 2032 Global Hub link

Duncan Chiu, Legislative Council member for the technology and innovation functional constituency in Hong Kong, has released a policy proposal. He suggests the SFC establish a dedicated independent digital asset division to unify regulatory standards, speed up approvals, and foster businesses including RWA, tokenised stocks, virtual asset ETFs and Hong Kong dollar stablecoins. The proposal sets a target for Hong Kong to develop into an international digital asset hub by 2032, and explores Web3 early-stage investment channels and private fundraising frameworks. SFC data shows 11 virtual asset spot ETFs have been approved in Hong Kong to date. Whether these proposals will turn into formal policies remains to be seen.