Binance conducts monthly internal phishing tests; India reviews BitChat code

Binance conducts monthly internal phishing tests; India conducts reviews of BitChat code

Binance said that in the past four years, it has conducted monthly simulated phishing attacks on its employees and used the test results to measure whether its security measures have improved. Jimmy Su, the exchange's chief security officer, said an internal "red team" was responsible for carrying out the drills, and employees who repeatedly failed the tests could be sent for remedial training.

At the same time, the crypto industry is also facing policy and compliance pressures across Asia: an Indian Internet rights group has questioned a government-backed order to remove code warehouses related to Jack Dorsey's BitChat; and other developments-from the stablecoin payment pilot in the Philippines to the shift in retail behavior in South Korea-highlight the simultaneous advancement of technology adoption and regulation.

Core Points

Binance conducts monthly internal phishing tests through its red team and arranges remedial training based on the test results.

The Internet Freedom Foundation of India said a recent order requiring GitHub to disable the BitChat repository was unconstitutional and threatened open source and freedom of speech.

Social engineering concerns related to CoinShares remain a concern after previous industry estimates showed that a large proportion of cryptographic security incidents are caused by human manipulation rather than purely technical vulnerabilities.

Total trading volume on South Korea's top five cryptocurrency exchanges fell significantly year-on-year despite a strong stock market performance.

Many countries are exploring practical application scenarios for stablecoins and blockchain payment channels, while regulatory review is also strengthening.

Binance checks security habits through internal phishing drills

According to reports, Binance's security strategy includes continuous controlled testing that attempts to deceive employees by phishing. Jimmy Su, Binance's chief security officer, said the company conducts these drills "monthly" to assess whether daily security habits have improved. These tests are performed by Binance's internal ethical hacking team-known as the "red team"-which is responsible for penetrating the system to discover vulnerabilities. Su pointed out that employees who fail the fishing simulation will not just be recorded, but will need remedial training.

More broadly, attackers often target human behavior rather than just exploiting software vulnerabilities. In February this year, AMLBot estimated that 65% of encryption security incidents in 2025 were driven by social engineering, highlighting why organizations are increasingly focusing on employee training and technical control.

India challenges GitHub removal order for BitChat warehouses

In India, the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) has condemned a government directive requiring GitHub to remove or disable BitChat-related warehouses, calling the move unconstitutional. The group warned that the decision could harm free speech and the open source ecosystem. According to sources, IFF's statement came after a cybercrime agency issued an order requiring GitHub to disable access to three BitChat warehouses within three hours. The agency's reasoning is that BitChat may be used to bypass Internet outages, circumvent legal surveillance, and engage in illegal activities.

BitChat is described as a decentralized messaging application designed to route encrypted messages between nearby devices via Bluetooth without relying on an Internet connection or centralized server. The source also said that since its launch in July 2025, BitChat has gained attention during periods of unrest and Internet outages in multiple countries, including Madagascar, Nepal, Uganda, Jamaica and Iran.

For developers and users, the controversy highlights a common tension in encryption and open source technologies: Platforms and code warehouses can fall victim to broader concerns about communications infrastructure and governance. It is unclear whether GitHub's handling of the directive, and possible legal challenges in India, will change the way decentralized tools are released, or whether similar requests will spread to other warehouses.

South Korea's retail crypto interest cools, stock market soars

On the other hand, crypto trading activity in South Korea has dropped sharply, despite a rise in its stock market. According to reports, total trading volume on the top five Korean won exchanges-Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax-fell 89% year-on-year. The data comes from an analysis of CoinGecko's historical 24-hour trading volume, comparing a seven-day average for July 2025 with July 2026. Overall, the average daily trading volume dropped to US$305 million from US$2.82 billion in July 2025. The news also mentioned that South Korea's KOSPI benchmark index more than doubled over the same period. While crypto trading volumes have declined, this divergence suggests that some retail funds may be shifting to stocks, or that risk appetite and participation in the crypto market are being influenced by factors other than token prices, such as market structure or broader macro sentiment.

Traders and investors focusing on South Korea may be concerned about whether this pattern will continue beyond July and whether exchange-level initiatives or regulatory developments will change participation. The next question is whether the decline in trading volume reflects a temporary shift in sentiment or a more lasting change in retail capital allocation decisions.

Restructuring of stablecoin payment channels and exchanges: Continuous construction

In addition to security and policy disputes, adoption-oriented development continues to advance. In the Philippines, the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) plans to build a stablecoin-based settlement channel for cross-border payments (for overseas income workers such as freelancers and virtual assistants). The project, being developed in partnership with Meridian, aims to reduce processing costs and time while retaining safeguards associated with traditional banking transactions. According to relevant reports, the stablecoin will be used as a settlement tool, and then the funds will be converted into Philippine pesos and deposited into the recipient's BPI account.

In Singapore, Coinbase is also reported to be expanding its local business, planning to increase its workforce from 150 to about 200 by the end of 2026, giving priority to hiring positions such as engineers and institutional sales. The source quoted Hassan Ahmed, regional director for Coinbase Singapore, as commenting on the Business Times, saying that the city-state is a strategic hub for encryption innovation.

Elsewhere in Asia, HashKey Holdings said it has merged HashKey Exchange and HashKey Global into one platform and application, aiming to provide users with a consistent application experience while managing compliance through local regulatory frameworks.

Taken together, these developments suggest that the industry is splitting into two paths: defensive maturity (such as Binance's ongoing internal phishing drills) and front-end expansion (such as stablecoin payment settlement testing and exchange platform integration). The common thread is governance: Whether it is security enforcement within companies, government access decisions to code warehouses, or product launches with strict compliance requirements in the banking system,"how to do" in encryption adoption is becoming equally important as "what to do".

In the coming weeks, keep an eye on the development of the BitChat warehouse controversy in India and whether it will affect other open source or decentralized tools; also keep an eye on South Korea's transaction volume trends to determine whether retail activity is temporarily shifting or is forming a new benchmark.