Asia dominates Chainalysis’s 2026 Global Crypto Adoption Index as Bitget confirms $351.6 million breach

Asia Pacific keeps showing up where crypto actually gets used: nine of the top 20 countries in Chainalysis’s 2026 Global Crypto Adoption Index are in the region. At the same time, Bitget has suspended withdrawals after confirming an unauthorized transfer of about $351.6 million, a reminder that wallet architecture and incident response still matter as much as market growth.

1. Chainalysis’s newly released 2026 Global Crypto Adoption Index puts Japan at number 4, followed by South Korea (5), India (6), Thailand (8), China (12), Indonesia (14), Australia (15), Vietnam (18) and the Philippines (19). That is nine Asia Pacific countries in the top 20, which is the kind of distribution payment teams should not ignore when they are deciding where crypto and stablecoin flows are actually concentrated.
2. One of the biggest growth areas in APAC is cross-border stablecoin transfers. Tianwei Liu, co-founder and CEO of StraitsX, said fragmented currencies and payment systems in Asia have created demand for stablecoin settlement, and that demand is extending into everyday spending, with stablecoins sitting behind payment methods people already use.
3. Bitget confirmed unauthorized transfers affecting approximately $351.6 million in assets and temporarily suspended withdrawals while it investigates. Gracy Chen, the exchange’s CEO, said the breach was contained to a portion of the hot and warm wallet layers, while cold wallets remained secure.
4. Bitget said it flagged the addresses associated with the transfers and contacted law enforcement and onchain security firms. The amount affected falls within Bitget’s User Protection Fund, which currently holds more than $464 million.
5. Binance has invested $100 million in Circle as part of an expanded five-year agreement to promote USDC on the crypto exchange. Under the deal, Circle will pay Binance a monthly incentive fee based on the amount of USDC held through Circle’s Modular Smart Contract Wallet infrastructure, and Binance also agreed to take additional steps to promote USDC on its platform.

Australia’s new 40-year economic outlook identifies artificial intelligence as one of five major transitions expected to have a profound effect on the economy, but makes no mention of crypto. Coinbase Australia country director John O’Loghlen called that a missed opportunity, saying the report focuses heavily on AI while missing the financial infrastructure those agents will need.

In South Korea, the Bank of Korea launched a pilot of its first 24-hour won settlement network, aimed at letting foreign investors settle won transactions outside normal banking hours. For PSPs and crypto businesses, that is the kind of infrastructure change that can matter more than a policy speech.