Tag Archives: financial

Crypto in Crisis: What Happens When War Disrupts the Financial System

Crypto in Crisis: What Happens When War Disrupts the Financial System

Since the US-Iran conflict escalated in 2026, volatility across global markets has revived an old question: can cryptocurrency function as a financial fallback when traditional systems falter? Supporters argue that decentralised networks allow money to move even when banks, payment rails or currencies face disruption.

The reality is more complicated. While crypto can offer alternative ways to transfer funds across borders, it remains volatile, heavily regulated and dependent on internet infrastructure and exchanges.

The conflict also triggered sharp movements across financial markets. Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain adviser, notes that equities declined during parts of the market volatility while bitcoin briefly outperformed.

Why People Turn to Crypto in Crises

Cryptocurrency networks operate independently from banks, allowing users to send funds directly using digital wallets. That capability has made crypto attractive during moments of instability, when traditional financial channels slow down or stop entirely.

One of the clearest examples came during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. More than $212 million in cryptocurrency has been donated to pro-Ukrainian war efforts. Around $80 million of that went directly to the Ukrainian government.

Prices typically fall alongside other risk assets during the early stages of a crisis before recovering as market activity stabilises. “Markets stabilise or rise within weeks as utility outweighs fear,” Lian says.

During periods of volatility, many users move towards stablecoins rather than more volatile assets such as bitcoin.

Why Stablecoins Often Surge

Stablecoins such as USDT and USDC often see increased activity during crises because they are pegged to the US dollar. That allows users to hold a relatively stable digital asset while still transferring funds across borders without relying on banks.

Their total market value has surpassed $315 billion, reflecting growing demand for dollar-linked digital liquidity. Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, says the trend shows rising demand for stablecoins as a way to store and move value during periods of financial uncertainty.

Humanitarian organisations have also experimented with crypto donations. UNRWA USA, for example, partnered with the Giving Block to accept bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital assets to support Palestinian refugees.

How Crypto Platforms Respond

During geopolitical crises, cryptocurrency platforms often tighten compliance measures to meet sanctions and regulatory requirements. Exchanges may block sanctioned addresses, restrict accounts in certain jurisdictions or increase monitoring of suspicious transactions.

During the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war, Binance restricted accounts held by Russian users with balances above $10,000 and Coinbase froze more than 25,000 Russia-linked IPs.

Amid the 2026 Iran-US conflict, platforms have also increased scrutiny of transactions connected to sanctioned jurisdictions. Chen says these measures balance compliance with accessibility.

Crypto analyst Rume Ophi notes that while digital assets can provide alternative ways to move money during crises, the ecosystem still depends heavily on centralised exchanges and regulated on-ramps. That means governments can still restrict access to platforms or monitor transactions, limiting crypto’s usefulness as a complete escape from financial controls.

The Limits of Crypto

Despite its appeal during periods of financial instability, cryptocurrency remains an imperfect fallback. Prices can swing sharply during geopolitical shocks, exchanges remain subject to sanctions and regulations, and access to crypto often still depends on the same financial infrastructure it aims to bypass.

As conflicts disrupt markets and banking systems, crypto may offer an alternative way to move money across borders. But as recent crises have shown, it functions less as a replacement for traditional finance than as a parallel system that operates alongside it – with its own risks and limitations.

Source:

https://www.wired.me/story/crypto-in-crisis-what-happens-when-war-disrupts-the-financial-system

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
j j j

Quantum computing threat looms over Asia’s financial systems: ‘we are not secure’

Quantum computing threat looms over Asia’s financial systems: ‘we are not secure’

Swathes of Asia’s financial systems are vulnerable to potential disruption from quantum computing technology, including those hosting secure transactions, industry executives have warned.

Only a handful of major economies in the region, such as China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, have embarked on strategies to safeguard their systems, but most financial institutions across the region are vulnerable to quantum attacks because they are ill prepared, experts say.

The threat looms even as digital wallets and real-time payment systems are widely being used and deeply integrated into the financial systems. Quantum computing is a new branch of processing which can solve complex problems within minutes or hours that might take a classical computer thousands of years to crack.

While it will allow scientists to test and discover new medicines speedily, build climate modelling systems and accelerate scientific research, the system also has the ability to break public-key cryptography or security systems of digital tokens such as bitcoin.

“Asia’s financial systems face an existential threat from quantum computing’s ability to break widely used public-key cryptographic protocols” which underpin digital signatures and enable secure communications, according to Anndy Lian, a Singapore-based intergovernmental blockchain adviser.

Once sufficiently powerful quantum computers emerge – expected within five to 10 years – they could attack stored financial data, forge digital identities and compromise interbank settlements, experts warn.

Such disruptions “could destabilise trust in digital finance”, Lian said.

“In Asean alone, where digital payment adoption is accelerating, the absence of quantum-safe infrastructure leaves trillions of transactions exposed,” he said. “Moreover, the interconnectedness of Asian financial markets means a breach in one jurisdiction could cascade regionally.”

The Asia-Pacific region is poised to become the fastest-growing market for quantum computing, driven by strong government support, significant investments and rapid digital transformation across key countries such as China, Japan, South Korea and India.

Yet regulatory frameworks lagged behind technological developments, with nations in the region lacking a coordinated strategy, Lian said.

Banks in Asia including HSBC, DBS Bank, OCBC and UOB had launched quantum computing initiatives addressing cybersecurity threats and exploring applications in areas such as trading, risk management and fraud detection, industry executives said.

The use of quantum computing across businesses and other applications is expected to become prevalent from the 2030s, according to Alexandra Beckstein, CEO of QAI Ventures, a global venture capital firm focused on quantum technology, which recently established its presence in Singapore.

Banks in the region were worried because passwords might not be safe any more, she said. “Everyone can enter the system, and this will, of course, tremendously damage the capital markets.”

Beckstein predicted that it would be possible to decrypt all the data currently stored in the early 2030s. “So every data you produce right now is potentially prone to threat, so we are not secure now, just because quantum is not happening yet,” she said.

A lot of the banks were currently implementing classical algorithms that would make it harder for a quantum computer to break encryption, she added.

Uneven safeguards

Other industry executives noted, however, that the implementation of security systems across Asia was uneven.

“Asia has bright spots where supervisors and industry are already experimenting with quantum-safe measures, yet region-wide readiness remains nascent,” said Raj Kapoor, founder and chairman of India Blockchain Alliance, noting that most institutions in Asia were only at the stage of building awareness.

According to Kapoor, Singapore is among the most well-prepared countries for the transition to quantum computing in the Asian region, while mainland China has also made significant progress in developing infrastructure. In India and Hong Kong, the momentum is building, but the preparedness is mixed.

But each major Asian market needed to set a clear timetable for developing a common framework to prevent a messy “big-bang switchover”, Kapoor said.

Experts have repeatedly urged the need for greater coordination of cyber policies in Asia, one of the fastest-growing internet markets which has also emerged as a global hotspot for cybercrime.

“Quantum computing will not immediately equip cybercriminals in Southeast Asia with quantum machines, as those remain years away from practical, widespread use. However, it fundamentally alters the threat landscape,” Lian said.

He warned that large-scale quantum computers would expose “vast troves of currently encrypted data”.

“Cybercriminals operating from the region may not wield quantum computers directly, but they will certainly exploit the fallout” by manipulating data decrypted by others, Lian said.

 

Source: https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3330673/quantum-computing-threat-looms-over-asias-financial-systems-we-are-not-secure

 

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
j j j

From dollars to digital coins: Tariffs shake the financial world

From dollars to digital coins: Tariffs shake the financial world

Solid earnings from megacap technology firms have failed to buoy broader market confidence, while movements in currencies, stock indices, Treasury yields, commodities, and even cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin reflect a pervasive sense of caution.

I will walk you through what’s driving this retreat, weaving in my perspective on its implications for investors and the global economy.

Trump’s tariffs: The spark of uncertainty

At the forefront of this market unease is President Trump’s tariff policy update. The White House has confirmed that a minimum global tariff of 10 per cent will persist, with countries enjoying trade surpluses with the United States facing steeper duties of 15 per cent or more. Specific nations have been hit harder: Canada now faces a 35 per cent levy, and Switzerland a hefty 39 per cent.

What amplifies the market’s anxiety is the lack of clarity on when these new rates will take effect. This ambiguity leaves businesses and investors grappling with unanswered questions about how these tariffs will reshape global trade flows, corporate profitability, and economic growth.

This tariff strategy reflects Trump’s ongoing commitment to addressing perceived trade imbalances, but it risks igniting a broader trade conflict. Tariffs of this magnitude could disrupt supply chains, particularly for countries like Canada, a key US trading partner, and Switzerland, known for its precision exports. The absence of a timeline only deepens the uncertainty, forcing companies to delay investment decisions and prompting markets to price in potential downside risks.

I see this as a double-edged sword: while it may bolster certain domestic industries, it could also inflate costs for consumers and businesses reliant on imported goods, potentially stoking inflation at a time when central banks are already on edge.

The immediate market response underscores this concern. US stock markets closed lower, with the S&P 500 slipping 0.4 per cent, the NASDAQ holding flat, and the Dow Jones dropping 0.7 per cent. These declines suggest that investors are prioritising the macroeconomic fallout of tariffs over other positive signals, a theme that recurs across asset classes.

Tech earnings: A bright spot overshadowed

Amid this tariff-induced turbulence, megacap tech firms have delivered robust earnings reports. Companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon have showcased strong quarterly results, buoyed by resilient demand for technology products and services. Under normal circumstances, such performances might spark a rally in equity markets. They have failed to lift broader sentiment, a telling sign of the market’s preoccupation with larger forces.

In my view, this disconnect highlights a critical shift in investor psychology. While these tech giants demonstrate operational strength, their success cannot offset the uncertainty surrounding trade policies. Investors appear more focused on how tariffs might erode profit margins for multinational corporations, many of which rely on global supply chains.

For instance, higher duties on imported components could squeeze profitability, even for firms reporting solid earnings today. This suggests to me that the market is in a risk-off mode, where macroeconomic narratives trump individual company fundamentals.

Currency markets: Diverging reactions

Currency markets offer a mixed picture, reflecting the varied impacts of Trump’s policies. The US Dollar Index climbed 0.2 per cent, signaling a modest strengthening of the dollar. This uptick likely stems from its safe-haven status amid uncertainty, as well as expectations that tariffs might bolster US economic activity in the short term by favouring domestic production.

However, other currencies tell a different story. The Swiss franc edged lower, likely pressured by the 39 per cent tariff on Swiss exports, which could dent its export-driven economy. Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar held steady despite a 35 per cent levy, perhaps buoyed by its linkage to commodity prices, particularly oil.

The dollar’s modest gain suggests cautious optimism about US resilience, but the stability of the Canadian dollar surprises me given the tariff burden. It may indicate that traders see Canada’s energy exports as a buffer, though I suspect prolonged trade tensions could eventually weigh on the loonie. The franc’s decline, conversely, aligns with expectations, as Switzerland’s smaller, trade-dependent economy has less room to absorb such shocks.

Treasury yields and commodities: Inflation fears and demand worries

In the bond market, US Treasury yields rose, with the 10-year yield increasing 0.4 basis points to 4.374 per cent and the two-year yield climbing 1.7 basis points to 3.957 per cent. This upward movement stands out against the risk-off backdrop, where yields typically fall as investors seek safety in bonds.

To me, this suggests that markets are anticipating higher inflation, possibly driven by tariffs raising the cost of imported goods. It could also reflect concerns about the fiscal implications of trade policies, as reduced trade volumes might not offset the revenue gains Trump envisions.

Commodities present a contrasting narrative. Gold rose 0.5 per cent to US$3,290 per ounce, reinforcing its role as a safe-haven asset during uncertain times. I view this as a classic flight to safety, with investors hedging against both geopolitical risks and potential economic slowdowns.

Brent crude, however, fell 1.0 per cent to US$72.5 per barrel, driven by expectations of increased OPEC+ output following their upcoming meeting to set September quotas. This decline puzzles me somewhat: while higher supply makes sense, softening global demand due to trade tensions could also be at play, signalling broader growth concerns.

Jobs report: A looming test

The market’s gaze now shifts to the upcoming July jobs report, due Friday, which economists predict will show a more deliberate pace of hiring and an unemployment rate rising to 4.2 per cent. This data point carries significant weight.

A softening labor market could amplify fears of an economic slowdown, especially if paired with tariff-related headwinds. Conversely, a stronger-than-expected report might offer temporary relief, though I doubt it would fully dispel the tariff overhang.

In my opinion, this report will serve as a litmus test for US economic resilience. A tick up in unemployment could prompt the Federal Reserve to reconsider its rate stance, particularly if inflation pressures from tariffs persist. For investors, it’s a moment to watch closely, as it could either reinforce or challenge the current risk-off sentiment.

Bitcoin’s plunge: A crypto microcosm

The cryptocurrency market, particularly Bitcoin, mirrors this broader retreat. Bitcoin’s price dropped 2.18 per cent to US$115,621 over 24 hours, a decline fuelled by leveraged liquidations, technical breakdowns, and waning institutional enthusiasm. Between July 31 and August 1, over US$560 million in crypto positions were liquidated, with US$153 million tied to Bitcoin alone.

This cascade of forced selling intensified as Bitcoin breached the US$118,859 support level (the 23.6 per cent Fibonacci retracement of its 2024-2025 rally), turning it into resistance and accelerating technical selling.

Technical indicators reinforce this bearish turn. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 49.44, and a MACD histogram at -630 signals weakening momentum, with the next support at US$114,500 (38.2 per cent Fibonacci) in sight. If breached, an additional US$149 million in liquidations could follow, per technical analysis data.

Beyond technicals, institutional demand has cooled, with spot Bitcoin ETF assets under management stagnating at US$151.48 billion despite US$47 billion in corporate purchases. Meanwhile, a shift toward altcoins has seen Bitcoin’s dominance dip 0.51 per cent, as capital flows to riskier crypto assets.

Coinglass data paints a stark picture: in one hour on August 1, US$284 million in liquidations hit the crypto market, with US$276 million from long positions, including US$91.6493 million for Ethereum and US$76.0871 million for Bitcoin. Over four hours, liquidations exceeded US$409 million. The Fear & Greed Index slid to Neutral (57) from Greed (62), capturing this sentiment shift.

To me, Bitcoin’s woes encapsulate the broader market’s struggles. The liquidation wave reflects overleveraged optimism meeting harsh reality, while the technical breakdown and institutional pullback suggest a maturing market reacting to global cues. I see this as a warning sign: if even speculative assets like Bitcoin falter, the risk-off mood may be deeper than it appears.

For me, the key takeaway is adaptability. Investors must brace for volatility, balancing safe havens like gold with selective exposure to resilient sectors. The interplay of inflation risks, trade disruptions, and labor market signals will shape the near-term outlook.

 

 

Source: https://e27.co/from-dollars-to-digital-coins-tariffs-shake-the-financial-world-20250801/

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
j j j