Singapore's largest money laundering case suspect Wang Shuiming may be extradited to China, with his accomplice being the mastermind behind the Hong Kong crypto platform scam AAX.

On June 18, U.S. Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis and Democratic Senator Rubén Gallego expressed their backing for a non-binding resolution set to be introduced Wednesday that would block former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) from receiving a presidential pardon, commutation, or any form of executive clemency. The resolution explicitly states Bankman-Fried should never be granted executive clemency under any circumstances—including a full presidential pardon or reduction of his sentence. It further argues that if President Donald Trump approves SBF’s pardon request, it would “erase his criminal conviction, weaken deterrence, and send a dangerous signal that large-scale financial fraudsters can evade permanent accountability.” The resolution is non-binding, as the U.S. Constitution grants the president exclusive authority over pardon power. For context: SBF previously formally applied to Trump for a presidential pardon. Last week, a federal appeals court upheld his seven felony conv

June 18, per Bitget data, pre-market trading for U.S. stocks saw broad gains in semiconductor shares. Intel (INTC) surged more than 8% after President Trump announced a collaboration between Apple and Intel. Western Digital (WDC) climbed nearly 5%, while ARM and Micron Technology (MU) each rose over 4%. AMD and ASML posted roughly 3% increases apiece. The optical communications sector also notched advances: Marvell Technology (MRVL) gained over 4% and Credo (CRDO) rose more than 3%.

June 18 – The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced a joint pilot program today to test a new digital payment solution for after-hours derivatives trading. The initiative aims to streamline Hong Kong’s capital markets and meet growing demand for extended derivatives trading hours. The two organizations are exploring the introduction of the Digital Hong Kong Dollar – a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) that operates 24/7 – to process collateral payments during post-trade hours. This will strengthen risk management capabilities for the derivatives market outside standard banking hours, while keeping existing operational processes fully intact. (Jinse)

June 18 — Per an official announcement from HTX DAO shared on social media, the HTX Genesis Hackathon (organized by HTX DAO and B.AI, co-hosted by OpenCSG, TinTinLand, and OpenCity) has drawn more than 70 teams to sign up. The event aims to bring together truly innovative developers and teams, focusing on the integration of AI, Web3, and AI × Web3. Participants will explore new frontiers in next-gen intelligent finance, on-chain asset management, AI Agents, transaction infrastructure, DAO tools, and applications within the $HTX ecosystem. Total prize pool for the hackathon stands at 20,000 USDT, with over $100,000 in mining power support provided. The offline final round is scheduled to take place during the Shanghai WAIC (World Artificial Intelligence Conference) on July 17–18.

On June 18, shares of Intel rose 6.6% in pre-market trading, per Bitget data. The move follows Trump’s statement that Apple will partner with the tech firm on chip design and manufacturing.

On June 18, per Bitget market data, storage sector stocks in the US pre-market session posted broad gains, as follows: Western Digital (WDC) rose 5.81%; Micron Technology (MU) advanced 4.88%; Seagate Technology (STX) gained 4.27%; SanDisk (SNDK) climbed 4.23%.