What used to be dismissed as internet oddity is moving into the mainstream of fraud prevention, platform regulation and organised crime analysis: the distinction between sock-puppet accounts and catfishing is no longer academic. Authorities, platforms and researchers are increasingly treating fake digital personas as a wider security and financial risk, particularly as artificial intelligence makes them cheaper to create, easier to scale and harder for ordinary […]
Hackers are exploiting internet-exposed ComfyUI servers in a monetisation campaign that turns poorly secured AI image-generation systems into cryptocurrency mining machines and proxy infrastructure, according to multiple security findings published this week. Researchers say more than 1,000 exposed ComfyUI instances remain reachable online after honeypots are filtered out, giving attackers a narrow but valuable pool of GPU-equipped targets spread across cloud environments. The activity centres on unauthenticated […]
The head of the International Monetary Fund on Monday defined the direction of glbal economic travel with unusual clarity. “All roads now lead to higher prices and slower growth,” said managing director Kristalina Georgieva in an interview. The IMF had expected global growth of 3.3% in 2026. Six weeks of war centred on Iran and the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz have already forced a rethink. […]
Strategy has bought another 4,871 Bitcoin for $329.9 million, extending the company’s long-running cryptocurrency accumulation plan and taking its total holdings to 766,970 BTC as of April 5, according to a regulatory filing released on April 6. The company said the latest purchases were made at an average price of $67,718 per Bitcoin, lifting its aggregate spend on the token to about $58.02 billion since it […]
Romania is poised to keep borrowing costs unchanged as a fresh oil shock clouds the inflation outlook and leaves policymakers wary of loosening monetary conditions too early. The National Bank of Romania is widely expected to leave its benchmark interest rate at 6.5 per cent, preserving one of the European Union’s highest policy rates while consumer prices remain far above target and fiscal strains continue to weigh […]
Oil prices pushed higher on Tuesday as Donald Trump intensified pressure on Iran, sharpening investor anxiety over the fate of the Strait of Hormuz and the risk of a wider supply shock across global energy markets. Brent crude traded above $110 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate rose past $113, extending a rally driven by fears that a prolonged disruption in the Gulf could squeeze flows […]
Bitcoin pushed back above the $70,000 mark on Monday, offering a measure of relief to a market that has been battered by volatility, geopolitical tension and doubts over whether institutional buying is strong enough to absorb selling by large holders. The move was modest rather than decisive, with live pricing showing bitcoin at about $69,728 on Tuesday in Asia after an intraday high of $70,240, underscoring […]
Tokenisation of financial assets could pull some of the crypto market’s most destabilising traits into mainstream finance, the International Monetary Fund has warned, saying the same technology that promises faster settlement and lower costs may also magnify volatility, fragment liquidity and leave regulators with less time to respond in a crisis. The IMF set out the warning in an April note by Tobias Adrian, its financial counsellor, […]
Indonesia Blockchain Week will return to Jakarta on August 12 and 13 with organisers positioning the 2026 edition as a pivot point for Web3, arguing that the sector is moving beyond pilot projects and speculative narratives towards infrastructure with measurable economic use. Official event channels identify the Jakarta International Convention Center as the venue and carry the theme “Turning Infrastructure into Impact”, framing the gathering as Southeast Asia’s leading institutional-focused blockchain conference.
That message reflects a wider shift in digital assets. After years dominated by token launches, trading cycles and proof-of-concept experiments, the emphasis across much of the industry has moved towards tokenised securities, cross-border settlement, digital identity, compliant custody and blockchain rails for mainstream financial institutions. Reuters has reported that major market infrastructure players are developing tokenised securities platforms, while analysts have projected strong growth in tokenised real-world assets, even as sceptics warn that much of the promise still sits in early-stage back-office applications rather than broad public adoption.
For Indonesia, that debate carries particular weight because the country has spent the past two years reshaping supervision of digital assets. Regulatory oversight of crypto assets and other digital financial assets was formally transferred from commodity futures regulator Bappebti to the Financial Services Authority, or OJK, under the wider financial sector reform framework. That has tightened the link between blockchain activity and mainstream finance, while signalling that the authorities want a more structured regime around licensing, compliance and consumer safeguards.
OJK’s own public updates show that digital financial assets and crypto supervision now sit within a broader integrity and resilience agenda for the financial system, alongside sandbox oversight and enforcement. That regulatory direction matters for a conference such as Indonesia Blockchain Week because institutional investors, banks and enterprises are less likely to engage seriously with Web3 infrastructure unless licensing, governance and disclosure standards are clearer than they were during the sector’s earlier growth phase.
Another strand of the Indonesian story is the state’s interest in sovereign digital infrastructure. Bank Indonesia’s Project Garuda, the central bank’s digital rupiah initiative, has been presented as part of a broader effort to safeguard monetary sovereignty in the digital era. Even though a retail or wholesale digital rupiah remains under development rather than fully launched, the project has become one of the clearest signs that distributed ledger technology is being examined not just by crypto-native firms but by the institutions that underpin payments and currency systems.
That backdrop helps explain why conference organisers are leaning into the language of “impact”. Across Asia, the conversation has become more institutional and more policy-aware. Reuters reported last year that wealthy Asian investors were increasing crypto exposure, while other reporting this year has shown how tokenisation is moving closer to exchanges and regulated financial venues. At the same time, risks remain central to the story: the IMF warned this month that tokenised finance could amplify market stress if regulatory guardrails and crisis-response mechanisms do not keep pace with technology.
That balance between promise and caution is likely to define the Jakarta event. Proponents of tokenisation argue that blockchain-based representations of bonds, funds, property interests and other assets can reduce settlement delays, widen market access and make ownership more divisible. Critics counter that many of these benefits are still more theoretical than proven at scale, and that fragmented standards, legal uncertainty and cybersecurity risks continue to hold the sector back. Reuters’ explainer on tokenisation captured that divide by noting both the liquidity and access arguments advanced by supporters and the unresolved questions over how fast real adoption will follow.
Indonesia Blockchain Week itself appears keen to place the country at the centre of that regional conversation. Organiser material describes the event as a gateway between local innovation and global capital, policy and technology networks. Yet the official website also shows some transitional messaging, with parts of the site still carrying 2025 branding even as other official channels and partner announcements point to the August 2026 summit. That inconsistency does not alter the announced dates, but it does suggest organisers are still in the process of consolidating the event’s next edition across platforms.
By Nantoo Banerjee The Reserve Bank of India and the government may officially deny or even pretend to ignore the adverse impact of the continuous downhill journey of the Indian Rupee against the US Dollar on the economy, the disturbing trend, if not contained, is bound to lead the heavily import-reliant nation to high inflation […]
Gold prices extended their retreat as investors recalibrated expectations for US interest rates after stronger labour-market signals collided with a worsening conflict in the Middle East, a combination that lifted the dollar, pushed oil higher and revived concerns that inflation could stay stubborn for longer. Spot bullion has come under pressure even as geopolitical risk remains elevated, an unusual pattern that reflects how sharply energy costs and […]
Drift Protocol has said the theft of about $270 million to $286 million from its platform was the result of a six-month operation by North Korea-linked actors who built trust slowly, posed as a legitimate trading firm and used face-to-face meetings, capital deposits and carefully timed social engineering to prepare the strike. The Solana-based exchange’s account adds a new layer to an attack that security researchers had […]
Ether traded just above the $2,000 mark on Sunday, holding a level that traders have treated as a key psychological floor, while BitMine Immersion Technologies’ continued accumulation of the token added to a broader argument that institutional buyers still see value in the market after a bruising first quarter. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market value was priced at about $2,055 in Sunday trading, little changed on the […]
Attackers behind the compromise of the widely used Axios package have widened their campaign, turning from code repositories to the people who maintain them and exposing how a single deceptive approach can threaten vast stretches of the software supply chain. Security researchers and the Axios maintainer’s own post-mortem show the March 31 breach was not an isolated package hijack but part of a co-ordinated social-engineering operation aimed […]
By Saifur Rahman Credit rating agencies have reaffirmed the UAE’s stable economic outlook with Moody’s Investor Services reaffirming Aa2 rating with Stable Outlook on April 3, 2026 – five weeks since the breakout of the war against Iran and the regional uncertainty. Moody’s completed a periodic review of the ratings for the UAE on March 30, 2026, which reaffirmed its previous rating, reflecting continued global confidence in […]
3Commas has launched QuantPilot, a new AI-driven crypto trading platform aimed at giving retail traders access to tools more commonly associated with quantitative desks, as competition intensifies among trading software providers seeking to simplify strategy design, market research and execution. The company said the product is now in early access, with a public waiting list open through quantpilot. com, and positioned it as a no-code system that […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai UAE equities ended Friday on a divided note as investors weighed the prospect of a wider Middle East conflict after U. S. President Donald Trump signalled that Washington could intensify attacks on Iranian infrastructure, a message that added to concern over energy supplies, shipping routes and regional risk appetite. Dubai’s main index fell, while Abu Dhabi’s benchmark edged higher, reflecting a market torn […]
President Donald Trump on Thursday sharpened his threat against Iran by publicly celebrating the destruction of a major bridge and warning that more infrastructure could be hit unless Tehran accepts a deal, a move that deepened concern over the direction of the conflict and added to volatility across energy and financial markets. In a social media post, Trump said “the biggest bridge in Iran” had come […]
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 2 April 2026 – ShopBack, the leading shopping and Cashback platform in Asia-Pacific, is pleased to announce that ShopBack Play is rapidly breaking the barriers between online shopping and gaming, making earning rewards effortless and fun for everyone.By seamlessly bridging mobile games with cash prizes, ShopBack has evolved from a simple shopping tool into a high-engagement “Play-to-Earn” ecosystem. To date, the platform has already given back over HK$5 million in Cashback to users through its gamified features.
As the city welcomes the festive break, ShopBack is set to catalyze this momentum with the launch of its 2026 Easter Egg Hunt. From April 3 to April 7, the campaign will welcome Gen Z and Millennial cohorts to download the official ShopBack App and discover a world of surprises — where every discovery is a chance to win, turning leisure into leverage and proving that in the modern retail landscape, entertainment is the “new currency”.
ShopBack launches the 2026 Easter Egg Hunt from April 3 to April 7, start hunting for capital—where gaming meets gaining.
The Quantifiable Rise of Gamified Earning
The shift from shopping to active “gaining” is backed by record-breaking engagement metrics within the ShopBack app: Over 1,200 curated game titles have been integrated and downloaded on ShopBack Play. Building on a track record of over HK$5 million in rewards already delivered to our community, the platform has cultivated a new class of “Super Earners.” The top-performing user has successfully extracted over HK$30,000 in Cashback rewards simply by mastering game milestones—positioning ShopBack Play as a sophisticated Cashback tool for avid gamers.
2026 Easter Egg Hunt: A Multi-Dimensional Reward Matrix
While traditional holiday campaigns focus on consumption, ShopBack’s Easter Egg Hunt focuses on Community and Catch-up. The 5-day campaign (April 3-7) introduces two flagship challenges designed to maximize player “yield”:
“Easter Egg Everyday” – The Blind Box Thrill: During dedicated daily Happy Hours, users who reach specific milestones in the app’s “Red Zone” will unlock surprise loot “Easter egg” boxes. These eggs contain instant Cashback rewards of up to HK$100, adding an element of high-stakes discovery to the daily routine.
“United to Unlock” – The Power of Solidarity: In a bold move toward social gamification, ShopBack introduces a collaborative community challenge. If collective participation reaches the 40,000 opt-in benchmark, a massive HK$20,000 prize pool will be unlocked, and every participant stands a chance to win.
A New Paradigm: Beyond the Transaction
“We are witnessing a transformation in retail, where shopping goes beyond a simple task or pastime. ShopBack Play redefines the experience as an engaging ‘treasure hunt’, enabling users to enjoy shopping while earning real rewards effortlessly,” says Mr. Arthur Wan, General Manager of East Asia Cluster at ShopBack. “With ShopBack Play, we have evolved past a simple Cashback upgrade into the next level of ‘Play-to-Earn’. This Easter, we aren’t just offering discounts; we are presenting an immersive hunt where the stakes are real, and the rewards are tangible. We are moving Hong Kong from Gaming to Gaining.”
This Easter, swap the chocolates for real rewards. Dive into ShopBack Play to earn real cash—making the holiday not just a treat, but a “treasure-filled” retreat.
Hashtag: #ShopBack
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About ShopBack
Founded in 2014 in Singapore, ShopBack Group is the leading shopping, Cashback, and payments ecosystem in the Asia-Pacific, serving over 60 million users across 13 vibrant markets. Driven by a mission to make every shopping journey rewarding, the platform seamlessly integrates commerce with entertainment, pioneering the “Play-to-Earn” movement through its innovative ShopBack Play feature. Beyond consumer empowerment, ShopBack serves as a strategic growth engine for thousands of merchants and brands, providing sophisticated, performance-based marketing solutions that drive measurable outreach and high-intent engagement. With the expansion into ShopBack Pay, the Group continues to redefine the future of retail finance, offering a frictionless payment infrastructure that bridges the gap between digital rewards and real-world spending.
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Cordros Securities has projected a calmer but still constructive second quarter for Nigeria’s equities market, arguing that the sharp gains posted in the first three months of 2026 may give way to more selective buying, with bank stocks likely to remain at the centre of investor attention. That view comes after a powerful first-quarter rally on the Nigerian Exchange, where banking counters were among the strongest performers […]
South Korea’s consumer prices rose 2.2 per cent in March from a year earlier, quickening from 2.0 per cent in both January and February as higher energy costs fed through the economy and kept inflation above the Bank of Korea’s medium-term 2 per cent target. The increase was milder than market expectations for 2.4 per cent, but it still marked the fastest annual pace since December and underscored the strain created by elevated crude prices linked to conflict-driven instability in the Middle East.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.3 per cent in March, matching February’s pace. Petroleum products were a major driver even after Seoul introduced emergency measures to curb the blow to households and businesses. Government controls on fuel prices helped limit the pass-through, yet petroleum product prices still rose sharply from the previous month, showing how external energy shocks are overpowering domestic stabilisation efforts.
The inflation print matters because it lands at a moment when policymakers are trying to balance stronger export-led growth against mounting imported price pressures. The Bank of Korea said in its February outlook that consumer-price inflation for 2026 was expected to average 2.2 per cent, slightly above its previous 2.1 per cent forecast. That projection was made before the latest oil surge intensified, leaving economists to question whether the central bank’s assumptions have already been overtaken by events.
Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy items, eased slightly to 2.2 per cent in March from 2.3 per cent in February. That suggests underlying domestic demand pressures remain contained, even as headline inflation is being pushed up by imported costs. Another closely watched measure, which excludes agricultural products and petroleum, had been running at 2.5 per cent in February, indicating that sticky service-sector and household spending components have not fully disappeared.
Food prices offered some relief. Agricultural product prices fell in March as supply conditions improved, helping offset part of the jump in fuel-linked costs. That softer food picture helped explain why the overall figure came in below forecasts despite the energy shock. Still, analysts say the cushion from better farm output may prove temporary if transport, fertiliser and logistics costs keep climbing with oil.
South Korea is especially exposed because of its dependence on imported energy. About 70 per cent of its crude oil imports come from the Middle East, leaving the country vulnerable whenever shipping routes or production in the region come under threat. The government has already floated wider demand-management steps, including possible driving curbs beyond the public sector if crude prices climb further, a sign of how seriously officials are treating the supply risk.
Seoul has also moved on the fiscal side. This week the government proposed a supplementary budget of 26.2 trillion won, or about $17.3 billion, aimed at cushioning the economy from the oil shock and supporting low-income households and affected businesses. Of that, 10.1 trillion won is earmarked for measures tied to surging oil prices, including support for refiners operating under the emergency pricing system. The package highlights concern that inflation and slower consumption could combine to weaken the broader recovery.
For the central bank, the March data complicate an already delicate policy setting. The Bank of Korea’s next rate decision is due on April 10. Policymakers had held rates steady in February, and the latest inflation reading, while lower than forecast, is unlikely to offer much comfort because upside risks remain tied to oil, the exchange rate and transport costs. At the same time, softer core inflation argues against an aggressive response unless the energy shock broadens into wages and services.
Copper and other industrial metals fell on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump renewed threats to strike Iran’s power plants and other civilian infrastructure if talks fail to halt a war that has entered its second month, adding another layer of risk to commodity markets already strained by conflict in the Gulf. Bloomberg reported the move across metals markets on April 2, while Reuters and AP reporting […]
A compromise of the widely used Axios software package has triggered fresh concern over open-source security after attackers used a hijacked maintainer account to publish poisoned versions carrying remote access trojan malware for Windows, macOS and Linux systems. Security researchers said the malicious releases were pushed to npm on March 31 and removed within hours, but warned that any machine or build pipeline that installed them during […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Serhii Zakharov, founder and chief executive of PayDo, has been honoured at FinTech Week Dubai 2026 with the Excellence in Financial Leadership Award in the Digital Payments Innovation category, adding a personal accolade to a year in which the London-based payments firm has been expanding its regulatory footprint and product stack. Event-linked coverage and company-linked posts place the award at FinTech Week Dubai, […]
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