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From the ashes of Lehman Brothers to this year’s bank failures, Bitcoin has proven itself as a necessary part of the global financial system, writes Mike Belshe, CEO of BitGo.

The blockchain world is hampered by many of the same problems as the early internet, writes Amrit Kumar of Altlayer. What could RaaS do for the industry?

Dubai-based Fasset says Indonesia digital asset adoption is still in early stages, but the country’s young population is taking to crypto faster, encouraging exchanges to move in despite infrastructure constraints.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Binance targeted in CFTC lawsuit. Law catches up with Do Kwon. Chinese banks bet on Hong Kong crypto.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said the charges are “an unexpected and disappointing civil complaint” in response to the CFTC lawsuit filed on Monday against him and the world’s largest crypto exchange.

For long, people could only put cash into a bank account or under the mattress, writes Eric Johnson. Will blockchain technology offer a viable alternative?

Despite the potential sell pressures after Ethereum’s upcoming hard fork, it’s more likely that ETH stakers will hold for the longer term, writes Bill Xing of Bybit.

As banking contagion worries reignited, Bitcoin traded firmly above US$28,000 for most of the week. Considering that Bitcoin was made for a potential banking crisis, industry experts are eyeing the US$30,000 mark for BTC.

Hong Kong’s new crypto licensing regime isn’t the only bullish sign for the city’s digital asset industry, says Signum Digital, the first company to win a preliminary license to handle securitized tokens in the city.

Filing taxes on crypto assets is a ‘massive pain in the proverbial butt,’ writes Don Gossen of Nevermined. As IRS deadlines loom large, how can responsible investors avoid underreporting or overpaying?

Angelina Kwan, who helped shape early Hong Kong automated trading services and internet trading regulation, told Forkast the upcoming virtual asset licensing regime is almost identical to that for traditional financial institutions.

DAOs are exploding in popularity but still hampered by weak governance and treasury mismanagement. What can help these novel organizations become more effective?

If there was a lesson from the crypto implosions of 2022, it is the demonstration of the superiority of open code and decentralization over central intermediaries, argues Voorhees at DC Blockchain Summit.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Banking woes boost Bitcoin. Arbitrum counts down to launch. Chinese billionaire faces US crypto scam charges.

The fall of Silvergate, SVB and Signature has left crypto firms scrambling for new banks. Will crypto banking head offshore for the long term?

The digital era has made piracy rampant and copyright enforcement difficult, but blockchain technology is shifting power back to creators, writes Wes Levitt of Theta Labs.

Crypto in Taiwan remains largely unregulated, but lawmakers have requested the cabinet to appoint a regulator by May 16 to oversee all things crypto.

As the U.S. banking system stared into the pit of bank runs and collapsing share prices, the authorities acted swiftly to try and pull everything back from the edge. However, Bitcoin seemed unperturbed. Is this what a safe haven looks like?

As bank after bank topples, fingers are pointing everywhere. But crypto is not to be blamed for this unfolding crisis, writes Winston Hsiao of XREX.

Many crypto users see losses as the cost of doing business. In fact, we can and must improve the sector’s deficiencies, writes Pelle Brændgaard of Notabene.

Top blockchain and crypto news: USDC stabilizes after SVB collapse. Silvergate closes shop. China tightens financial supervision.

India’s crime fighting agencies have been investigating crypto exchanges and individuals on money laundering charges and have now put the onus on exchanges to report suspicious transactions.

What began as novel collectibles and rampant speculation is maturing into real-world utility across a multitude of industries, writes Tom Chalmers of Banxa.

The recent U.S. bank failures are proof that the banking system is introducing systemic risks to the crypto industry, not vice versa, says Circle chief strategy officer Dante Disparte.

The collapse of Voyager and Celsius highlights the risks of crypto investing apps and underscores the need for tailored user education, writes Jackson Zeng of Caleb & Brown.

Circle said its $3.3 billion of USDC cash reserves at the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank will be available Monday after regulators stepped in to backstop deposits.

Bitcoin fell below US$20,000 for the first time since Jan. 13 on the back of crypto bank Silvergate’s collapse and the U.S. Fed signaling higher than expected interest rate hikes.

The Forkast SOL NFT Composite dropped 6.13% over the past week while sales increased. Industry expert suspects casino-like behavior of traders moving funds to new projects.

Savvy traders are quick to extract liquidity to reinvest into the “slot machines” of the NFT casino, according to CryptoSlam’s NFT strategist.

In the race to tame crypto’s excesses, we need to avoid regulatory clashes while DeFi draws lessons from TradFi, writes Rachel Lin of SynFutures.

NFT sales and market capitalization show rising investor activities, but recycled liquidity and wash trading may tell a different story, Forkast Labs co-CEO says.

Unique in the world, Singapore is a big investor and player in digital assets while advancing regulations that favor institutions over individual crypto users, writes Danny Chong of Tranchess.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Silvergate woes spark bankruptcy talk. LDO dips on false enforcement rumors. Chinese leaders push digital development.

Ethereum validators are benefiting from the increasingly heated competition between the two largest NFT marketplaces that is driving up gas fees, but the windfall may not last much longer.

Blockchain data is public for all to see. The irony is that few know what to look for, and why. A new set of indexes by Forkast Labs filters out the noise and offers data intelligence and clarity.

Web3 is growing more rapidly than the early internet, writes Ken Timsit of Cronos Labs. But to achieve mainstream success, the following issues must be addressed.

With 69% of Bitcoin supply in profit, BTC is struggling to stay above the US$22,300 support level. A daily close below US$22,300 could see Bitcoin retest the US$21,450 support level. Industry experts share their end-of-March Bitcoin price predictions with Forkast.

The number of unique buyers rose to an all-time high this week after crypto exchange Coinbase dropped free NFTs to celebrate the launch of its new Layer 2 network Base.

Look for blockchain, self-reliance in technology discussions in China’s biggest political meetings of the year as China’s President Xi Jinping’s aims to build a digital economy.

DAOs are supposed to be democratic, egalitarian and inclusive, but those ideals are far from the current reality, writes Awa Sun Yin of Namada.

The metaverse has the potential to make the real world more just and inclusive, writes Sébastien Borget of The Sandbox. Here are the key ingredients for its future success.

DBS bank’s digital exchange, which serves institutional clients, said macroeconomic conditions last year were not suitable for security token offerings (STO), but it will explore opportunities for such listings in 2023 and plans to add more crypto tokens.

Less than two months since the launch of the Ordinals protocol, Bitcoin Ordinals are gaining traction. Yuga Labs announced its first Bitcoin-native NFT collection, on the same day Bitcoin Punks saw over 1,145 ETH in trading volume. Industry commentators told Forkast what this could be for the Bitcoin network.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Blur wash trading explodes. Coinbase extends developer foray with Base test. Hong Kong crypto embrace gets Beijing’s nod.

Officials at Bitcoin mining companies say the rebound in prices so far this year for the world’s biggest cryptocurrency has thrown a lifeline to the industry after some miners sought protection from creditors last year amid the slump in the token’s price.

The Metabirkins case makes clear that NFT trademarks belong to the original creator, bolstering future profit-making opportunities for fashion houses as well as other companies, writes Justin Banon of Boson Protocol.

Now a teenager, crypto is wrestling with its identity and purpose. But it’s learning from its mistakes and on its way to maturity, writes Zach Bronstein of Endaoment.

NFT data aggregator Cryptoslam has flagged more than half a billion dollars worth of NFT wash trades related to Blur since the marketplace’s Valentines airdrops started

Bitcoin remained resilient around the US$24,000 level on Tuesday despite Wall Street’s worst day of the year so far. Industry experts are eyeing a potential retest of the US$25,000 psychological level, as a failure to reclaim it may result in a downtrend to around US$21,500.

NFT sales more than doubled this week, with NFT marketplace Blur remaining the talk of the town.

The blockchain sector’s gender divide is narrowing. Its newness and founding ideals also allow for more flexible workplaces, writes Anastasia Kor of Choise.com.

Amid the rubble of FTX and other centralized exchanges, cross-chain technology and on-chain trading offer more trustworthy alternatives, writes Simon Harman of Chainflip.

Hong Kong’s proposed crypto licensing regime received Huobi Global’s pledge to return to the city, and more companies may follow, industry experts told Forkast.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Blur’s success spurs changes at OpenSea. Is Binance eyeing US exit? Taiwan asset disclosure rules may include crypto.

Multi-billion dollar bankruptcies, fraud allegations, scandal, and plunging cryptocurrency prices in 2022 all characterized why investors came to distrust centralized exchanges. Yet, some commentators expect platforms to become ever more centralized … and regulated.

What makes Web3 compelling to many is its promise to shift power from centralized players to individual users, but China is doing the opposite, writes Lily King.

The Philippines’ Bataan province wants to streamline systems and procedures of government services through blockchain technology and tokenization, Bataan Governor Joet Garcia told Forkast.

Greater transparency and confidence in who you are transacting with could go a long way toward alleviating public mistrust, writes Travis Nelson of Quadrata.

The digital asset space is ripe for regulation, and tokenized real estate is no exception. But views differ when it comes to finding a framework that fits.

The cryptocurrency industry this week reacted to the recent moves by U.S. authorities against Kraken and Paxos. Meanwhile, India has been calling for a collaborative approach to crypto regulations.

Bitcoin briefly climbed above US$25,000 for the first time since August 2021, before declining to US$23,764 after its first weekly “death cross.” Investors liquidated over US$70 million worth of Bitcoin short positions in the past 24 hours, according to data aggregator GlassNode, contributing to BTC’s rally.

Blur.io, the NFT marketplace that beat OpenSea’s trading volume in the past month, airdropped its platform tokens on Valentine’s Day, contributing to the global NFT sales increase this week.

Many gamers still oppose NFTs and blockchain gaming, overlooking the myriad benefits of the latest technology, writes Ramona Ciocea of Protokol.

The SEC’s latest heavy-handed approach toward crypto will leave investors less protected while benefitting dodgy offshore companies, writes Danny Talwar of Koinly.

Investors may view Web3 through the lens of financial opportunities and revenue, but that misses the point of trying to build a fairer and more transparent infrastructure, with content creators at the forefront, says Mysten Labs co-founder Evan Cheng

Top blockchain and crypto news: Paxos halts BUSD issuance. Kraken faces disclosure charges. Beijing backs new blockchain research center.

The current payment system relied on by truck drivers runs through third parties and adds costs to supply chains and consumers. Could blockchain tech provide an alternative, and would truckers trust it?

Last year was memorable in the emerging world of digital assets for the sheer number of corporate failures. The industry itself has been asking for clearer legal guidelines to help development. Is that what’s happening now?

Self-custody is cumbersome and carries risks of seed phrases getting lost, but how can we ensure if a third-party custodian can be trusted?

Tokenization, stablecoins and DeFi will be growth areas, but regulatory uncertainty is still holding back adoption, writes John Avery of FIS.

After the strongest January price increase since 2013, Bitcoin gave up some of its gains this week to dip below the US$22,000 support line on Friday. The crypto market was buffeted by bearish comments on interest rates by U.S. Federal Reserve officials this week, along with concerns about a regulatory crackdown. Is this the start of a downtrend, a healthy correction, or the beginning of a so-called “crab” market moving sideways?

Hester Peirce said using enforcement action to dictate law in an emerging industry is the act of a “lazy” regulator, after the SEC fined the U.S.-based Kraken crypto exchange for failing to register staking programs.