In the early morning of August 13, 2025, an inconspicuous office building in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong was abruptly sealed off by the police. As staff from the Monetary Authority carried out encrypted devices, an undercover officer whispered to a colleague, "320 million, all black market dirty money." This was already the third large-scale crackdown on underground virtual asset trading in Hong Kong this month. Ironically, on the same day, the cash premium for USDT at an underground money exchange in Sham Shui Po surged to 8.7%—the black market trading volume skyrocketed by 24%, reaching a two-year high.
The strange coexistence of heavy regulation and black market revelry reveals the harsh truth of Hong Kong's cryptocurrency market: as the Monetary Authority builds high walls with the 'Stablecoin Regulation', retail investors are becoming trapped beasts being harvested by three scythes. $BTC
