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Cryptocurrency exchanges in India had lobbied the government to reduce taxes introduced last year, arguing the levies were backfiring by driving local investment offshore.

Bitcoin has long been the world’s largest cryptocurrency blockchain, but non-fungible tokens or NFTs were always the domain of Ethereum. A new protocol could change that, and some in the Bitcoin community are not too pleased.

Cryptocurrencies post the Terra-Luna, FTX failures were a debated topic at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos in the week through Jan. 20, with some authorities calling for a doubling down on regulations. Others had a more nuanced view.

India announces its full year budget on Feb. 1, the last before general elections in 2024, and the cryptocurrency and digital asset industry is lobbying the government for changes in tax rules, among others.

Hong Kong’s new digital asset-friendly policies could set the city up as the home for secondary NFT marketplaces from China as trading of ‘digital collectibles’ remains a gray area on the mainland.

The central bank rolled out a “red packet” feature for its digital currency, the e-CNY, for the Lunar New Year holiday but it will require help from the tech giants it has bashed to popularize the digital yuan.

South Korea’s attempts to extradite the founder of the collapsed Terra-Luna stablecoin will remain hamstrung while the courts in Seoul dispute the charges against him.

Indian cryptocurrency exchanges faced a flurry of taxes on trading last year that saw volumes across most platforms drop as much as 90%, slashing income from trading fees. What’s a crypto exchange to do? Maybe sell mutual funds?

Slump in prices of some non-fungible tokens and other digital assets allows U.S. holders to take advantage of a loophole to reduce capital gains taxes.

Ripple Labs Inc. expects a court decision in the first six-months of this year in the case filed against the company by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission. The SEC sued Ripple in December 2020 for allegedly selling US$1.3 billion in unregistered securities.

Cryptocurrencies had a turbulent 2022 to say the least. Blockchain technology made progress but that failed to offset the multiple bankruptcies and hacks that plagued the industry through the year.

After a year of new all-time highs for major cryptocurrencies in 2021, 2022 was a challenging year for Web3. Industry experts tell Forkast what crypto has in store for 2023 and beyond.

India loves religious festivals, but are its citizens ready to attend such celebrations in virtual reality? An Indian startup reckons they are and launched its first effort this year, saying 20,000 avatars showed up.

A centuries old Taiwan temple dedicated to a popular goddess has latched onto non-fungible tokens or NFTs as a means for worshippers to get access to pilgrimages and other events.

A lot of the troubles for India exchanges in 2022 will run into next year as they shed staff and run down reserves to stay afloat, and not all are expected to make it.

Bankman-Fried won an upgrade from his Bahamas prison cell after posting bail following his extradition to the U.S. on Wednesday, where he faces charges for what prosecutors called “fraud of epic proportions.”

The deal will need approval in a court hearing on January 5 and also faces a vote by creditors under Voyager’s chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

Sam Bankman-Fried has reportedly made a second application for bail in the Bahamas – this as lawyers feud over control of the FTX bankruptcy, raising concern the sour grapes may seep into efforts to have Bankman-Fried extradited to face fraud charges in the U.S.

As U.S. prosecutors line up charges against Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed FTX cryptocurrency exchange, Senator Elizabeth Warren is seeking to pass bipartisan regulation to rein in the “dark underbelly” of the crypto industry.

Members of a U.S. Congressional hearing expressed frustration about the timing of Bankman-Fried’s arrest, saying they wanted him to testify under oath so the public could get the answers they are seeking about the collapse of FTX.

By some estimates, job cuts in the cryptocurrency-specific industry are running at about 30-40%, which means tough times for employers and employees, and compensation packages are also taking a hit.

The fall from grace: Once one of the most admired figures in crypto, the former head of the FTX exchange is unlikely to see his Bahamas penthouse anytime soon after being arrested Monday on U.S. charges that are expected to lead to his extradition.

Before the FTX implosion there was Mt. Gox, an exchange that oversaw 80% of all Bitcoin trades before it collapsed in 2014. In this exclusive interview with Forkast, former Mt. Gox Chief Executive Officer Mark Karpeles says what he sees in store for the industry in 2023 in the wake of the FTX bankruptcy.

The exchange has gone silent since pausing withdrawals and liquidating all futures positions, with users fearing a repeat of the FTX collapse.

NFT investors seemingly see opportunities in a month full of surprises and headwinds for the broader cryptocurrency market.

Many are minting NFTs and posting articles on Matters, a decentralized content-sharing platform, amid protests across China against Covid-19 lockdowns that turned political.

Employee accounts of life at Sam Bankman-Fried’s flagship cryptocurrency trading arm Alameda Research paint a picture of overworked and inexperienced millennials running a ship headed for the rocks: one seemingly escaped.

The cryptocurrency lender was hit by the earthquake set off across the industry by the collapse and bankruptcy of the FTX crypto exchange this month, and other companies are looking vulnerable.

The former CEO of the collapsed crypto exchange “needs to keep his mouth shut” and stop making public comments that could be used against him in future court cases, lawyers tell Forkast.

The Genesis brokerage arm of the Digital Currency Group is one of the latest cryptocurrency platforms to lock down withdrawals following the bankruptcy of crypto exchange FTX, and the freeze is spreading.

The country is one of the first to say it will act to set up regulations to prevent a collapse similar to FTX, which filed for bankruptcy protection and froze the assets of hundreds of thousands of investors.

Can decentralized platform Mastodon, named after an extinct elephant, replace the little blue bird that has dominated the world’s social media landscape for over a decade?

The number of creditors with claims on the collapsed FTX cryptocurrency exchange and its affiliates may run into the hundreds of thousands and possibly more than 1 million.

The failure of cryptocurrency exchange FTX has been compared to the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008, but it may have more similarity to the bankruptcy of energy trading giant Enron Corp. – an event FTX’s new chief executive officer knows all too well.

Panelists at Forkast’s livestreamed event ‘Crypto Rising: How Top VCs Are Investing Out of Crypto Winter’ shared their thoughts on the future of the industry following FTX.

Exchanges to the rescue? Cash is reportedly being made available to help blockchain and crypto projects caught in the fallout of the FTX exchange collapse.

Changpeng Zhao, founder and chief executive of Binance, tells the B20 Summit in Indonesia that the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange aims to help improve business and operation standards in the crypto industry.

The collapse of one of the world’s biggest crypto exchanges last week has investors worried about the finances of other trading platforms. Cold wallet time?

The FTX.com unraveling has prompted crypto industry leaders to demand clearer rules of the road for trading digital assets.

Binance may have nixed the deal to bailout rival exchange FTX.com, but it could still gain a big chunk of FTX’s business as investors flee the platform.

Just over 24 hours after news of Binance’s planned acquisition of FTX shook the crypto market, a reversal of that decision sent prices even lower.

Commonly known as “CZ,” the Chinese-Canadian founder of Binance appears to have stolen Sam Bankman-Fried’s shine, coming out of the FTX acquisition with the most to gain.

Binance chief executive officer Changpeng Zhao already runs the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange so just what are his ambitions?

Binance steps in with deal to buy FTX.com, but with so many moving parts to consider how messy could this pending acquisition get?

In a period of toxic divide between the Democrats and Republicans, the need to figure out how to regulate the growing cryptocurrency industry is one of the few issues both parties seem to agree on.

Central bank digital currencies draw fire over inflation, privacy and threat to innovation, as questions raised over status of stablecoins in digital asset ecosystem.

Hong Kong’s latest FinTech policies indicate it wants to reclaim its position as a hub for cryptocurrencies and digital assets, but that means finding the right people for the job.

U.S. computer scientist Stuart Haber, recognized with Scott Stornetta as the co-inventor of blockchain, says he is excited to see the evolution of the technology, not only in the financial sector, but also in entertainment, business, and technology industries.

Bursting of speculative bubble described as a turning point in the evolution of digital assets as industry players and observers welcome promise of mainstream adoption and better governance.

Digital asset and blockchain highlights of event draw huge crowds, even as industry figures say they want the technology behind them to become just a normal component of the finance system.

DBS, the largest bank in Southeast Asia, said it tested trading of foreign exchange and government bonds using permissioned decentralized finance (DeFi) liquidity pools on a public blockchain as part of the city-state’s Project Guardian exploration of blockchain in finance.

The issuer of the world’s second-largest stablecoin is joining a fleet of companies in the digital asset industry moving into Singapore. What’s the attraction?

Cryptocurrency exchanges in Singapore are shifting focus to heavy-hitter investors, such as family offices and financial institutions, in line with the central bank’s warnings about the risks in retail crypto trading.

Hong Kong reveals digital asset policies to distinguish itself from China, where cryptocurrency trading was banned in September last year.

Privacy protection is “top on our agenda,” but combating crime is equally important for the digital yuan, central bank governor Yi Gang said at the Hong Kong Fintech Week.

Busan, S. Korea’s designated blockchain city, plans to make itself a global center for the technology. Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, plans to help.

When China banned cryptocurrency trading and mining in September 2021, it was feared that policy would make its way into Hong Kong. Seems that concern is getting a rethink.

Bankman-Fried says the global crypto industry needs a “passporting” policy framework that lowers barriers for crypto businesses.

Pixelated pictures and cartoonish drawings have typically dominated the world of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), but some exhibits at Hong Kong’s Xperience art fair show new means of applying the technology.

The lead counsel for the plaintiff in the case has called Friday’s ruling a decision with implications for the global blockchain industry

The singer-actress and son Harrison Yu said they launched the Theirsverse NFT brand in New York to engage marginalized groups in the early building of Web 3.0.

After Solana’s Magic Eden marketplace said it was bowing to pressure and making payment of royalties “optional” to NFT creators, industry insiders tell Forkast the policy is wrongheaded and damaging.

In a Q&A with Forkast, First Digital Trust Chief Executive Officer Vincent Chok shared his views on Hong Kong getting back into crypto, regulations, and how the crypto pie in Asia is big enough for rivals Singapore and Hong Kong.

Kwon has been issued with an Interpol “red notice” requesting his extradition on charges brought by South Korea related to the implosion of the Terra Luna cryptocurrency project he founded

“No finders keepers’ law”: Coinbase considers legal action against some 1,000 users in east Europe’s Georgia who took advantage of a pricing glitch on the platform.

Hong Kong seems set to put out a new welcome mat for the blockchain and crypto industries, but will it work after concern about regulatory restrictions convinced many cryptocurrency operators to leave?

Decentralized finance sites are the preferred choice of hackers as crypto heists look to be on course to hit a record high this year.

One company says it’s bringing solutions for confused investors in digital assets in India who grapple with hours of tax calculations.

The crypto world has been watching how one of the world’s largest blockchains responds to a hack last week and the questions it raises about the state of decentralization in the industry.

Tornado Cash, the Ethereum coin mixer slapped with sanctions by the U.S. Treasury back in August, has returned to the software hosting website GitHub amid a flurry of lawsuits against the Treasury for its action.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) can be used to preserve and spread fine art and cultural heritage, tapping into new generations of audiences and patrons, said stakeholders.

The former CEO of Huobi Global has jumped into the GameFi space.