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On the heels of Facebook, or now Meta, Microsoft and Nike are also racing into the metaverse action. Fast facts Microsoft is introducing a more fun working environment experience by announcing 3D avatar and immersive meeting settings, according to media reports. The Verge reported that Microsoft will use artificial intelligence to listen to the creator’s […]

Top blockchain and crypto news: Stablecoins at regulatory crossroads. Squid Game crypto players suffer shocking fate. Are metaverses China’s new national insecurity?

Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are gaining massive traction and ranking among the top five traded cryptocurrencies on Indian exchanges. Fast facts Dogecoin contributed 13.76% to the overall trading volume of CoinSwitch Kuber, which claims to be the largest Indian crypto exchange with over 10 million customers, over the last six months, according to a report […]

Wrapped XRP (wXRP) will be supported on the Ethereum blockchain from December, according to an Oct. 31 announcement by Wrapped.com, a cross-chain wrapped assets provider. Fast facts Wrapped XRP will be backed 1:1 with XRP — the native cryptocurrency of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) — and held in custody with Hong Kong-based licensed digital asset […]

Ethereum crosses the $4,600 mark for the first time and Solana overtakes Cardano as the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market value.

Amid debate in Australia surrounding the banking sector’s relationship with cryptocurrency, the country’s largest bank, Commonwealth Bank, will soon be allowing customers to buy, sell and hold crypto assets directly through its app — making it the first bank in the country to do so. Fast facts Partnering with leading global crypto exchange and custodian […]

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is going to expand its crypto derivatives offerings and launch Micro Ether futures on Dec. 6, pending regulatory review. Fast facts Micro Ether futures will be sized at 1/10th of one Ether, allowing access to a wide range of investors amid surging Ether prices, according to a press release. Ether reached […]

Director Quentin Tarantino announced he will auction seven uncut scenes from Pulp Fiction as non-fungible tokens.

Thailand’s oldest bank, Siam Commercial Bank, has acquired a majority stake in the country’s largest crypto exchange Bitkub. Fast facts Siam Commercial Bank Securities, a subsidiary of SCB, has purchased 51% stake in Bitkub for approximately US$535.6 million, according to an announcement on Tuesday. The transaction is expected to be completed by the first quarter […]

The outcome of a Miami civil trial may uncover who Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto really was, and who owns his rumored US$66 billion in Bitcoin.

It’s a red light for those who bought the controversial token inspired by the Netflix mega-series Squid Game, as its developers appear to have cashed out their investments, leaving SQUID’s price to plunge 99.99%.

The highly awaited report outlines recommendations for stablecoin regulation and asks regulatory bodies to combat risks until Congress introduces new laws.

In a city where memories disappear every day, people are turning to blockchain to preserve news archives — so the first drafts of history will survive.

While the idea of the metaverse has many people talking and Chinese tech giants showing signs of making a foray into the space, a Beijing-based state-owned think tank has warned of the national security risks that the metaverse could bring. Fast facts In a research report titled “Metaverse and National Security” published Saturday by China […]

Sebastien Borget, COO and co-founder of The Sandbox tells Forkast.News how NFTs and an open and decentralized metaverse is transforming the way we live, work and play.

The hacked DeFi platform called China’s cyber police first thing as most users appear to be in China.

Bitcoin miners saw another mining difficulty adjustment on Monday, with an increase of 7.85%, recovering to the level recorded in May, according to data from BTC.com. Fast facts The mining difficulty level is now at 21.66 trillion at block height 707,616, reflecting the most difficult level since a previous adjustment on May 13, the data show. The latest […]

Cryptocurrency investment products saw inflows of US$288 million last week, with total inflows year-to-date at a record of US$8.7 billion — 30% higher than the total for 2020, according to digital asset manager CoinShares. Fast facts Bitcoin continued to lead with institutional inflows of US$269 million last week, albeit at a significantly lower level compared […]

The big-money world of NFTs is also attracting hackers, thieves and con artists. How do you know if that Ape NFT or digital Banksy is fake?

DOT, the native cryptocurrency of the Polkadot blockchain network, crossed the US$50 mark for the first time on Nov. 1 and reached a new all-time high (ATH) of US$50.87, surpassing its previous peak of US$48.73 in May, according to CoinGecko data. DOT, currently the 8th-largest cryptocurrency by market value, was trading at US$48.69 as of […]

CMCC Global, a venture capital firm based in Hong Kong, is targeting US$300 million worth of assets in its latest crypto fund, according to Bloomberg. Fast facts Since being launched in April, CMCC’s fourth digital asset fund has gathered assets close to an estimated value of US$90 million with a goal to reach the US$300 […]

This follows an attack on Cream Finance that also resulted in a $130M hack.

Shanghai outlined its plan to expand digital yuan pilot programs into the city’s five-year plan, in a recently released policy statement, “Shanghai’s Five-Year Plan of Comprehensive Promotion of Urban Digital Transformation.” Fast facts The plan said the city will expand pilot program for online and offline payments, transportation and government services. Shanghai is among the […]

Ant Group and Tencent recently rebranded NFT projects as digital collectibles amid China state media criticism.

Blockchain has achieved platform status, writes Don Tapscott of Blockchain Research Institute. Get ready for the ‘trivergence’ that will shake up the world.

The darling of the play-to-earn gaming world had an explosive start but now struggles with deflation and lower player earnings. Is the play-to-earn model sustainable?

More local governments in China are taking actions to crack down on cryptocurrency mining and trading, with Ganzhou, a prefecture-level city in the eastern province of Jiangxi, having deployed checks and inspections on local businesses. Fast facts The economic development zone in Ganzhou announced that it is working with the central bank’s local branch, the […]

A department director of the Shanghai Environment Energy Exchange (SEEE) said that blockchain will play an important role in the Chinese carbon cap-and-trade system for confirming, trading, and circulating carbon emission data. The statement comes at a time when China is intensively issuing top-down documents on reducing carbon emission heading into the 26th United Nations […]

Stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) may not live up to their promise of increasing financial inclusion and improving cross-border payments in emerging markets, according to a new report by the Bank for International Settlements. Fast facts According to the report, the most important contribution of stablecoins is that they have drawn attention to […]

Martial arts comedy movie series “King Fury” director David Sandberg has launched a new non-fungible token series called “Unicorn Masters” inspired by monstrous action figures from movies in the 1980s and 90s. Fast facts The Halloween edition of Unicorn Masters contain 15 3D-rendered animated characters described as disturbed, disembodied and desiccated. The NFT characters look […]

Facebook, now called Meta, is casting off one of the world’s most famous names to retool itself into a metaverse company. Will its $10 billion bet pay off?

Red Date Technology, the company China tapped to manage its Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), said today it plans to fully launch an infrastructure for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) by the end of January 2022. Fast facts Red Date revealed on Friday an NFT infrastructure plan — BSN-Distributed Digital Certificate (DDC) — at its BSN Open Permissioned […]

The global AML watchdog provides clarifications on how crypto is to be regulated — and why DeFi could see more scrutiny.

Central Retail Corp., one of Thailand’s biggest department store chains, has developed a blockchain-based digital currency called C-Coin and is now testing it among employees, Bloomberg reported yesterday. Fast facts The company is currently distributing C-Coin to its 80,000 employees as bonus to their usual salary. Employees can use the crypto coin to shop at […]

The wild popularity of South Korean Netflix TV series Squid Game and K-pop boy band BTS prompt parody tokens in the crypto space under circumstances that are being called into question.

China’s first national standard for blockchain could be released next year and a draft is now in the process of being submitted for approval, an official said earlier this week at an event in the western province of Sichuan, according to a report from local media Chuanguan, run by state-owned Sichuan Daily. Fast facts Li […]

In the latest sign of the American business establishment’s warming embrace of cryptocurrency, the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton business school will accept crypto for tuition payment for an online program. Fast facts The Wharton School’s new executive education program “Economics of Blockchain and Digital Assets” plans to accept cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin for tuition […]

Bitcoin is growing up in ways not imagined in Satoshi Nakamoto’s 2008 writings that gave birth to it. How will Bitcoin’s future unfold?

A dog fight has broken out in the crypto top 10 in the past 24 hours as memecoin Dogecoin and its pup Shiba Inu token battle it out for the position of top dog. Fast facts The price of the once-derided Shiba Inu coin has been on a tear this past week, gaining over 200% […]

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the social media giant is rebranding its corporate name to Meta as it focuses on building out its metaverse vision of an embodied internet with immersive spaces and experiences where people can digitally connect. Fast facts “The metaverse is the next chapter for the internet and it’s the next chapter […]

Behind this year’s giddy markets, evil and tragedies abound. Just in time for Halloween, Forkast.News shakes out the skeletons in crypto’s closet.

Even the most reliable media can report wildly different crypto numbers. Forkast.News dives into DeFi math and crypto exchange economics to find out who’s right.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is ready to be the “primary cop on the beat” for digital assets, CFTC acting chair Rostin Behnam said at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday. Fast facts As of Tuesday, “the total size of the digital asset market was US$2.7 trillion and among that $2.7 trillion, nearly 60% were commodities. […]

‌‌As‌ ‌Asia‌ ‌warms‌ ‌to‌ ‌crypto,‌ ‌cyber attacks‌ ‌are‌ ‌growing‌ ‌in‌ ‌sophistication,‌ ‌writes‌ ‌Shahnawaz‌ ‌Backer‌ ‌of‌ ‌F5.‌ ‌What can be done to thwart bad actors?

Popular play-to-earn blockchain game Alien Worlds has launched its Alien Worlds Missions game on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), according to a media statement. Fast facts Alien Worlds is a decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible token (NFT) metaverse where players compete using unique digital items (NFTs), earn Trilium (TLM), the in-game currency, and travel on Alien World Missions […]

This appears to be the third hack for the protocol this year — yet the biggest one so far.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has appointed 30 senior business professionals from a range of financial institutions and related organizations to its market advisory group for the digital euro project, according to a media statement. Fast facts The appointment of industry members to the advisory group follows the ECB’s launch of its digital euro project […]

The South Korean government pushes forward its plan to tax crypto income beginning in January while investors and lawmakers criticize the pending tax law for its loopholes, with one lawmaker mentioning NFT goods of K-pop mega-group BTS. Fast facts The National Tax Service (NTS) of Korea met with 28 domestic cryptocurrency exchanges earlier this week […]

More decentralization is being planned for Polkadot as its much-anticipated rollout draws close with the first batch of parachain slot auctions starting on Nov. 11.

Only two weeks after the Australia Securities Exchange approved a similar product, the Cosmos Global Digital Miners Access exchange-traded fund (ETF) launched on rival exchange Chi-X Australia today, granting exposure to globally listed digital asset mining and infrastructure companies. Fast facts Trading under the name “DIGA,” the fund tracks the Global Digital Miners Index, designed […]

Singapore’s DBS Bank — Southeast Asia’s largest lender — has joined the Hedera Governing Council, a diverse group of companies that governs and supports the Hedera network, an enterprise-grade public ledger of transactions, according to a media statement. Fast facts DBS — the first and only bank in Southeast Asia to join the Governing Council […]

The success of the first U.S. Bitcoin futures ETF presents a challenge to investors when futures trade too far ahead of actual prices.

Sotheby’s ended its Natively Digital 1.2 auction event with 1,500 bids on Tuesday, with a total turnover of US$18.6 million after nine days of live bidding. Three non-fungible tokens (NFTs) reached record bids, including #8817 Ape by Bored Ape Yacht Club, Rare Pepe PEPENOPOULOS, and Self Portrait #1 by Dmitri Cherniak, according to a press […]

South Korean mobile game developer Netmarble to create a virtual K-pop idol group under partnership with internet giant Kakao group using meta-human technologies.

Mining pool Spark Pool, which was once a major Ethereum mining pool, says its users may withdraw existing balances, but beginning Nov. 1 it will no longer offer other services related to mining for both domestic and international users, the company said in a statement. Fast facts Spark Pool last month reacted swiftly to China’s […]

Recent developments indicate the government is looking to regulate the sector instead of quashing it, and industry experts remain optimistic. 

Top blockchain and crypto news: Is Tesla’s turbocharge a boost for Bitcoin? Mastercard’s Bakkt with a new crypto deal. Chinese NFTs on knife-edge.

Fee-free trading platform Robinhood’s crypto revenue declined 78% in the third quarter this year, earning only US$51 million during that time according to the company’s Q3 report released Tuesday. This is compared to the US$233 million the company earned in the previous quarter in which the market hit the height of the bull run, from […]

Shiba Inu (SHIB) has soared to another all-time high, setting its new record at US$0.00005486 today, according to CoinMarketCap data. It is now the 11th largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of US$21.5 billion. Fast facts In the last 24 hours, SHIB’s price has surged over 32%. SHIB’s price has been surging since the weekend […]

San Francisco-based blockchain payments company Ripple has partnered with Pyypl, a blockchain-based financial services technology company in the Middle East and Africa, to use XRP for cross-border payments in the Middle East, according to a company statement. Fast facts The partnership with Pyypl marks RippleNet’s first-ever On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) deployment in the Middle East and […]

As Ethereum surges to a new all-time high, 50 fintech experts surveyed by Finder offer predictions on ETH’s year-end and longer-term price outlook.

The Municipal Administrative Center of Beijing officially announced the launch of an e-CNY enterprise zone to “explore the digital renminbi financial system.” The plan includes support for experimental digital currency projects including by increasing  5G infrastructure to enable faster transactions. Fast facts E-CNY is China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC). It is anticipated to be […]

Binance NFT, the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace of Binance, has launched Initial Game Offerings (IGOs) for customers to invest in gaming NFTs projects at an early stage, according to a Binance blog post. Fast facts The IGOs will feature NFT collections from top-tier gaming projects that are available exclusively on the Binance NFT marketplace, Binance […]

Tether Operations, the company behind Tether (USDT) — the largest stablecoin by market capitalization — today announced that it will be trialing Notabene’s crypto travel rule compliance product for cross-border stablecoin transfers. Fast facts USDT has a market capitalization of over US$70 billion and over US$64 billion in 24-hour trading volume, according to CoinGecko data. […]

Ethereum’s creator explains why rollups can help scale Ethereum while preserving decentralization.

Local miners told Forkast.News that existing legal miners won’t be much affected, though they’re still subject to power rationing.

New virtual worlds are full of opportunities, writes Sandra Helou of Zilliqa. But what if real-world problems get magnified in the metaverse?

The Singapore government-incubated blockchain platform promises to dramatically speed up transactions and lower the cost of international trade.

A new data report shows there were about 55,000 blockchain-relate patents applications filed by 7,800 companies from 47 countries and regions during the period between the beginning of 2015 to June 2021, and China has seen the largest share of these applications, as the country has been boosting the development of blockchain technology over the […]

While it may be known locally and domestically as a tourist hotspot and home to many Hollywood A-list celebrities, Australia’s coastal town of Byron Bay is set to become host to Australia’s biggest Bitcoin mining site— and it’s going to be powered by 100% renewable energy. Fast facts According to a company press release, local […]

Tech giants banish non-fungible token references as Beijing looks down new virtual asset market.

The nation’s elections commission wants to upgrade its voting technology to improve voter turnout and public trust. Does blockchain check the boxes?