Yihui Xie

In another sign of decentralized finance’s continued growth, Celsius Network has just announced it now has more than US$20 billion in assets under management – making it one of the largest DeFi platforms in the world. Fast facts These figures came from Celsius’ most recent quarterly internal audit, according to a company press release, which […]

Speaking to Parliament, India’s finance minister reveals that the government does not know how many crypto exchanges India has nor the number of crypto users.

Japan’s crypto-asset business association published a report yesterday that highlights issues in crypto investing for the country’s institutional investors.  Fast facts This report is an update of the latest use cases and projects from the “Discussion Paper Interim Report on Cryptocurrency Use Cases” published on May 7, 2021, and is a supplementary material to the […]

Thailand’s central bank yesterday published guidelines to regulate and promote the use of blockchain technology in the financial sector.  Fast facts Released by Siritida Panomwon Na Ayudhya, assistant governor of the payment systems policy and financial technology group at the Bank of Thailand, the guidelines provides principles for blockchain technology adoption by financial services providers.  […]

Fifteen of India’s largest banks have invested in a fintech firm that aims to use blockchain to speed up domestic letters of credit, a first in domestic trade finance, regulatory filings to the National Stock Exchange of India show. Fast facts Named the Indian Banks’ Blockchain Infrastructure Co., the firm uses blockchain technology to verify […]

The Philippine Digital Asset Exchange, a cryptocurrency trading platform licensed by the central bank of the Philippines, now has more than 450,000 users, a 22.5-times increase from 2019, the bourse has told local media.  Fast facts PDAX Chief Executive Nichel Gaba said many Filipinos were crypto-curious, which explained why the number of traders on the […]

Facebook’s Novi, a digital wallet designed for its digital currency, Diem, is in hiring mode in the Philippines. Fast facts Facebook’s careers page currently shows five openings in the country for positions dedicated to Novi, including help operations investigator, onboarding coordinator and learning business partner. It has only one other opening in the entire Asia-Pacific […]

Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, appears to be expanding its Singapore office. At the time of publishing, Linkedin showed that it had 261 job vacancies in Singapore — where its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, allegedly lives — among 964 vacancies globally.  Fast facts The talent Binance is seeking ranges from futures growth […]

Cryptocurrencies are gaining traction in Singapore, especially among younger investors. A survey of 1,000 Singaporeans carried out by Toluna, a consumer insights provider, has shown that 43% of Singaporeans own crypto and that 74% of them have increased their wealth by using it as an investment.  Fast facts The survey is said to have been […]

India plans to implement the country’s digital currency in phases, Reserve Bank of India’s deputy governor Shri T Rabi Sankar said at a webinar organized by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, New Delhi.  Fast facts “CBDC (central bank digital currency) will be in the arsenal of most if not all central banks in the […]

Indonesia has seen red-hot growth in the crypto asset market, but the country’s regulators are just beginning to get to grips with burgeoning industry and formulate policy responses.

OpenSea, the world’s second-biggest non-fungible token marketplace by trading volume, has raised US$100 million in a series B funding round led by venture capital firm A16z, the company has announced.  Fast facts The new funding raises the company’s value to US$1.5 billion, making it a unicorn — a start-up with a valuation of more than […]

Retailers reluctant to accept currency they are said not to trust even as large finance sector players offer crypto products and beef up their holdings.

Cryptocurrency investment manager Grayscale has started a fund focused on decentralized finance tokens and based on CoinDesk’s new DeFi-specific index, the company has said in an announcement.  Fast facts The fund offers investors a selection of leading DeFi protocols through a market capitalization-weighted portfolio designed to track the index. It allows investors to allocate funds […]

In a special Q&A, Yale-NUS College professor Andrew Bailey says the world’s oldest cryptocurrency has untapped potential to promote liberty, equality and justice around the world.

The price of gold is rising with inflation. Then why is ‘digital gold’ Bitcoin’s price stagnant — and public interest in BTC falling to a new low?

Italy has become the latest jurisdiction to clamp down on Binance amid regulatory pressure around the world centered on the biggest crypto exchange by trading volume. Fast facts Binance Group companies are “are not authorized to provide investment services and activities” in Italy, not even through the exchange’s website, “whose sections called ‘derivatives’ and ‘Stock […]

The Delhi High Court has sent a notice to government agencies and crypto exchanges to seek guidelines on crypto-related advertising on national television. Fast facts The division bench of Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh sought responses from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Securities and Exchange Board of India and crypto exchanges […]

Science institute building given bio-fuel boost as users poo to accrue.

Non-fungible tokens have gained traction across Asia, but in Thailand, the phenomenon has taken on a distinctive local twist: amulets featuring a revered abbot of a Buddhist monastery that believers say ward off evil spirits. Fast facts Crypto Amulets is a company that develops NFT amulets on the Ethereum blockchain. Founded in March, it offers […]

Police in Aichi Prefecture in central Japan have arrested four men on suspicion of crypto investment fraud, according to a report by Kyodo News.  Fast facts According to a person familiar with the matter, it was suspected that a total of at least 6 billion yen (US$54 million) was collected from more than 20,000 people […]

U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Gemini is planning to expand its Asia-Pacific operations to cash in on the region’s growth, the bourse’s Asia-Pacific Managing Director, Jeremy Ng, wrote in a blog post this week. Fast facts The new expansion is to capture the growth of its Singapore office after it was first established last year, he wrote.  […]

Japan’s plan to launch a digital yen is likely to come into sharper focus in late 2022, a lawmaker overseeing the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s digital currency strategy has told Reuters.  Fast facts The Bank of Japan launched the first phase of a central bank digital currency experiment in April. It hopes to move to […]

The Philippine Stock Exchange wants to be the country’s platform for trading crypto assets when regulators issue rules to govern the sector, according to a report by CNN Philippines.  Fast facts Stock exchange President and CEO Ramon Monzon said the bourse’s management had first discussed the idea of setting up a domestic crypto exchange two […]

Crypto investment in India has grown from about US$200 million to nearly US$40 billion in the past year, driven in large measure by demand among young investors.

Mexico’s finance minister reiterated his country’s ban on cryptocurrencies on Monday, saying they are not legal tender and are not to be treated as currencies within the country

Chinese mining rig maker Bitmain has stopped selling in-stock cryptocurrency mining equipment amid a plunge in the prices following a shutdown of major mining pools in China.

The People’s Bank of China has told the country’s big banks and other finance sector heavyweights to cut off financing sources for cryptocurrency transactions.

The city’s mayor says it welcomes an exodus of miners from China amid a generalized clampdown on the industry.

Gorilla Mobile, Singapore’s newest mobile virtual network operator, is set to roll out blockchain technology to offer contract-free services.

France-based PlanetWatch, which records air quality data on Algorand’s blockchain, has launched its first test sensor in Hong Kong.

Auction house Sotheby’s has sold a non-fungible token of a digital artwork known as “CryptoPunk, Alien #7523” for US$11.8 million.

California-born singer looks to rekindle relationship with his fans as he pledges to donate the proceeds from his NFT sale to a Taiwan-based NGO.

Former People’s Bank of China Director Yao Qian says that the country’s digital yuan is not a surveillance tool for the government.

Fintech companies in Asia-Pacific pulled in US$2.35 billion in investment during the first three months of 2021, more than the total amount raised in the first half of the previous year.