Good Morning, Asia. Here’s what’s making news in the markets:

Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk’s Crypto Daybook Americas.

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading above $105K as Asia begins its business day, down 1%.

In a note, Paris-based digital assets trading firm Flowdesk wrote that the world’s largest digital asset was moving into a tactical posture with price consolidation.

«As BTC consolidates near all-time highs, altcoin volumes and liquidity have seen a continued meaningful shift upwards,» Flowdesk wrote.

Flowdesk notes that Bitcoin’s volatility continues to decline despite looming macroeconomic events that typically shake up markets.

With BTC consolidating near its all-time high, there’s a noticeable rise in call overwriting, Flowdesk observed, as traders seek to monetize potential upside without giving up core bitcoin exposure.

«The altcoin rotation continues, ETF inflows are back, and vol positioning reflects a transition to more tactical, yield-generating strategies,» Flowdesk concluded.

Meanwhile, CoinDesk’s Market Insight bot reported that BTC faces downside risks after hitting strong resistance near $108.8K, but ongoing institutional interest may provide support.

House Republicans Unveil New Crypto Bill Giving CFTC Key Oversight Role

U.S. House Republicans officially introduced the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, CoinDesk reported Thursday U.S. time, their latest push to regulate crypto markets.

This 236-page bill, a successor to the earlier FIT21 Act, gives the Commodity Futures Trading Commission primary oversight of digital commodity markets, establishes clear guidelines for crypto exchanges, and exempts certain decentralized finance (DeFi) services from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) oversight.

Flowing parallel to this, the Senate remains focused on separate bipartisan stablecoin legislation, which is further along procedurally but faces ongoing debate. With committee hearings scheduled for next week, lawmakers will publicly discuss the new House bill, setting the stage for negotiations that could shape U.S. crypto regulation this session.

‘Crypto Mom’ Peirce Says Traders Need to Take Personal Responsibility

Hester Peirce, chief of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s crypto task force, urged crypto investors at Bitcoin 2025 to take personal responsibility for their losses rather than seek government bailouts, CoinDesk reported Thursday from BTC Vegas.

Peirce emphasized consistency among libertarian-minded crypto traders, arguing that those who demand freedom must also accept accountability for their financial outcomes, particularly when engaging in speculative ventures like memecoins.

Peirce highlighted ongoing efforts under Republican leadership to clarify the SEC’s jurisdiction, stating that most crypto tokens aren’t securities and thus don’t require SEC registration unless they are explicitly involved with securities. She remained neutral on companies holding digital assets on their balance sheets, provided proper disclosure. Despite the current strides in policymaking at the SEC, Peirce noted that establishing a federal crypto regulator for retail trading would necessitate clear legislative action from Congress.

Blockchain Founders Fund Surpasses 200 Investments

Blockchain Founders Fund (BFF), a Singapore-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage Web3 and blockchain startups, is set to announce Friday at Web Summit in Vancouver that it has surpassed 200 investments across more than 160 companies.

Founded in 2018, the firm is known for supporting projects such as Shardeum, an Ethereum-compatible blockchain platform utilizing dynamic state sharding, and Validation Cloud, an infrastructure company merging traditional enterprises with blockchain and AI technologies.

The fund announced in October that it had hit the 150 mark for investments.

Market Movements:

• BTC: Bitcoin is trading at $105,713 as Asia begins its business day, having fluctuated between $105,682 and $108,927 over the last 24 hours, encountering resistance near the upper range and signaling potential bearish momentum.
• ETH: Ethereum is up 6%, peaking at $2,784 before stabilizing near $2,650, as strong trading volumes and institutional optimism outweigh broader economic uncertainties.
• Gold: Gold is up 0.4%, trading at $3,311, as the U.S. economy shrunk 0.2% on weaker spending, tariff impacts.
• Nikei 225: Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.55% as Asia-Pacific markets fell Friday amid U.S. economic slowdown, inflation concerns
• S&P 500: The S&P 500 closed up 0.4% at 5,912.17 Thursday, boosted by Nvidia but restrained by investor caution amid developments surrounding Trump’s «reciprocal» tariffs.

Elsewhere in Crypto:

• SEC Files to Dismiss Long-Running Lawsuit Against Binance (CoinDesk)
• ‘Most-Hated L1’: Arthur Hayes Thinks Ethereum Could Double in Price This Year (Decrypt)
• Tokenized equities will be ‘bigger than stablecoins’: Backed CEO (Blockworks)
• Inside the $400 million Coinbase breach: An Indian call center and teenage hackers (Fortune)
• Russia Says Financial Institutions Can Offer Crypto-Linked Instruments to Qualified Investors (CoinDesk)

Two men suspected in the kidnapping and torture of a 28-year-old Italian cryptocurrency investor have pleaded not guilty, while the investigation into their case appears to have expanded to the New York Police Department itself.

New York police had previously arrested William Duplessie, 33, and John Woeltz, 37, on the charges, as well as a third individual, Beatrice Folchi, 24, though her prosecution is being deferred. The victim has not been publicly named.

The men are accused of kidnapping the victim and holding him hostage in a luxury townhouse in Manhattan’s ritzy SoHo neighborhood for more than two weeks. During that time, New York City police say the trio tortured the man, forcing him to take drugs, dangling him from a ledge, urinating on him and electrocuting him in an effort to force him to hand over the private keys to his bitcoin. The alleged perpetrators are accused of making t-shirts of the victim with a crack pipe in his mouth and taking Polaroids of the victim with a gun to his head.

The victim escaped last Friday, grabbing his laptop and getting out of the townhouse and then seeking help from a traffic officer.

Duplessie entered a not-guilty plea to five different charges, including kidnapping with an intent to collect a ransom, kidnapping and causing a physical injury, criminal possession of a loaded firearm, assault with an intent to cause a physical injury with a weapon and unlawful imprisonment, according to the court docket.

Woeltz was charged with kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a firearm, and he also pleaded not guilty, according to his court docket.

Two NYPD officers, including a detective assigned to Mayor Eric Adams’ protection detail, worked for both Duplessie and Woeltz in their off-duty hours and have now been placed on modified duty, Bloomberg reported Thursday. A source familiar told CoinDesk that the two officers are not believed to be part of the kidnapping, but rather did security work for the defendants. They may have driven the victim from an airport to the townhouse, but have not been tied to his torture, the source said.

A spokesperson for the NYPD said the matter was «under internal review.»

A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said in a statement that, «Every city employee is expected to follow the law, including our officers, both on and off duty. We are disturbed by these allegations, and as soon as it came to our attention, the officers were placed on modified duty. The investigation is ongoing.»

UPDATE (May 29, 2025, 22:27 UTC): Adds additional detail.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission moved to drop its long-running lawsuit against crypto exchange Binance on Thursday, without providing an explanation in a court filing.

The SEC and Binance filed a joint motion, noting that the case had already been paused while the SEC’s new crypto task force worked to «develop a regulatory framework for crypto assets.»

«In the exercise of its discretion and as a policy matter, the Commission believes the dismissal of this Litigation is appropriate,» the joint filing said. «… the Commission’s decision to seek dismissal of this Litigation does not necessarily reflect the Commission’s position in any other litigation or proceeding.»

The SEC has not published a framework yet, though lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced their formal bill to define how the SEC and its sister agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, would each oversee digital assets earlier on Thursday.

The parties want the case dismissed with prejudice, meaning the SEC would not be able to bring this lawsuit against Binance again in the future. The filing also includes provisions to block Binance or its affiliated entities and executives from filing a suit or complaint against the SEC tied to the lawsuit, which was brought in June 2023 against Binance, Binance.US and Binance founder Changpeng CZ Zhao.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who’s overseeing the case, previously ruled that the SEC had brought plausible charges against the exchange and allowed most the lawsuit to proceed last year.

In a statement, an external spokesperson for Binance.US said they were «pleased that the SEC fully dismissed its charges against Binance.US, confirming what we have always known — that the company did not violate U.S. securities laws.»

«Today’s news is a major milestone for our company, as putting this matter to rest allows us to focus entirely on growing our business and work on restoring our relationships that were impacted by the SEC,» the statement said. «We are excited about the future of Binance.US and crypto in the U.S. and look forward to continuing to offer access to crypto in the U.S., while maintaining our commitment to compliance and our customers.»

Thursday’s filing just marks the latest withdrawal for the SEC, which already moved to drop over a dozen other investigations and lawsuits. Prior to 2025, the SEC was investigating non-fungible token marketplaces and suing crypto exchanges. Binance was just one exchange the SEC alleged was illegally operating as an unregistered broker, clearinghouse and exchange. Others included Coinbase and Kraken.

The SEC’s about-turn came after Donald Trump retook office as the U.S. President, appointing Commissioner Mark Uyeda as acting chair and nominating Paul Atkins to be the agency’s full chair. Atkins was confirmed and sworn into office last month.

Last week, Binance announced it would list USD1, a stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, a crypto company tied to Trump, some of Trump’s children and some of his affiliates.

Earlier Thursday, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said during an appearance at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas that some crypto investors should not expect a bailout or government protection if they invest in speculative digital assets.

UPDATE (May 29, 2025, 22:08 UTC): Adds additional detail.

UPDATE (May 29, 22:45): Adds Binance.US statement.

UPDATE (May 29, 23:05): Adds USD1 note.