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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.

The world’s largest crypto exchange’s regional head of Asia says the Philippines’ GameFi community and rampant inflation in Turkey present opportunities for Binance.

Original artworks are being set on fire and destroyed to be digitally reborn on the blockchain as non-fungible tokens. But, how far is too far in this recent incendiary trend?

Panelists at Forkast’s live-streamed event ‘Crypto Rising: The Role of Law: An International Debate post Tornado Cash’ co-hosted by Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI) said the significance of the sanctions could not be understated.

China spent billions on its ‘belt and road’ infrastructure network to expand trade so what are its plans for a domestic and international digital infrastructure built on blockchain?

The Financial Stability Oversight Council report says the lack of clear regulations in the cryptocurrency industry could pose a risk to overall U.S. financial stability and urges congress to write up new rules of the road.

As the crypto slump drives job cuts and worse, some exchanges are seeing opportunity for expansion in the downturn, call it the fortune-favors-the-brave mantra.

The second Forkast report on Asia Crypto Week’s anchor event explores what bets TradFi players are making, how Asian investment patterns differ from those elsewhere, and what cooperation between crypto companies and regulators should look like

In the first of a two-part report on this year’s cryptocurrency gathering in Singapore, defiance outshone defeatism despite industry’s struggles.

Who will regulate the regulators is a time-honored question and one Bitcoin enthusiasts raise when talking about the benefits of the token’s fixed supply versus the tendency of central banks to switch the money spigots off and on.

Chinese authorities can track e-CNY wallet transaction history, if warranted, thanks to its ‘managed anonymity’ design.

The coastal city was a prominent manufacturer of footwear, fabric and other light industries during the 1970s and 80s, and then grew into one of the world’s biggest container ports. Now it’s trying to reinvent itself in the digital world of blockchain.

Binance generated controversy when it told customers it would convert their holdings in three stablecoins to its own stablecoin. Some analysts say the concerns are overblown, others disagree.

Yi He, who manages the multibillion-dollar portfolio at Binance Labs, is looking to invest in Web 3.0 projects from infrastructure, application and data to analytics and security.

A member of the prosecuting team tells Forkast additional charges are likely to be leveled against Terraform Labs Chief Executive Officer Do Kwon following this week’s issuance of an arrest warrant for violating the country’s Capital Markets Act.

Prosecutors investigating the man behind the US$37 billion wipeout of the Terra-LUNA cryptocurrency project are raising the stakes to get him back to South Korea.

When is a cryptocurrency a security and when is it not? Financial regulators around the world are raising that question. The answer that comes out of the U.S. may set the tone, but South Korea is also ahead in tackling it.

Crypto exchanges in India say the number of female investors isn’t huge, but it is growing even as prices slide and new taxes eat into revenue.

The Merge is a milestone in slashing electricity use on the Ethereum blockchain, but there are plenty more upgrades in the pipeline.

The Merge is the most anticipated event in the crypto industry in years, but could the multibillion dollar non-fungible token industry become an unexpected casualty?

The most critical upgrade in Ethereum’s history is just around the corner, so what will it mean for prices of cryptocurrency?

White House says carbon footprint of crypto industry does not align with goals to decarbonize the economy.

China’s Blockchain-based Service Network wears two hats in building blockchains: one for business in China and one for everywhere else, but it doesn’t see a role for crypto in either.

With over 100 countries experimenting with the technology behind Central Bank Digital Currencies, the World Economic Forum of Davos fame lays out its views on the potential benefits and drawbacks of CBDCs.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange said the move was designed to “enhance liquidity and capital-efficiency for users.” 

In facing a government hostile to cryptocurrency trading, Indian exchanges are trying to attract new business with suites of different investment products.

The NFT hype from earlier in the year is dying off as the market continues its downward path into the final third of the year. Fire sale coming for apes and cats?

South Korea last week said crypto token airdrops are subject to a gift tax of as much as 50% under existing laws, but what is the likelihood this rule can be applied to digital holdings?

Are you a good runner? Or eater? Or sleeper? Chances are whatever you’re good at, there’s a Web3 project out there to reward you in crypto. But do the tokenomics stack up?

Despite the Indian government’s hostility towards cryptocurrencies, the CoinDCX exchange says more traditional financial products will shift to DeFi platforms.

The city-state hosted a seminar with a title that it hopes sums up its crypto approach: “Yes to digital asset innovation, No to cryptocurrency speculation.”

Panelists speaking at Forkast’s recently live-streamed event “Crypto Rising: The future of crypto regulation: APAC and Beyond,” co-hosted by Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI), said there need to be international cooperation among regulators from around the world to make any oversight of the crypto industry effective.

Ethereum has by far the most developers from DeFi projects to NFTs so how are they expected to respond to a plan by Etheruem miners to fork the network, a move miners argue is needed to stay in business.

Financial instruments sold and traded on a public blockchain could be the next big thing, so Forkast caught up with OSL to hear about what’s planned.

The Treasury Department says its plan for how to regulate cryptocurrencies is unlike anything else in the world, but the country’s crypto industry isn’t sure that’s a good thing.

Not every NFT collection is facing the same issue, but due to the collection’s outsized influence it could have a significant impact on the rest of the Ethereum NFT ecosystem.

Report by Chainalysis says both use cases fell in dollar terms in first half of year and while legitimate usage by value far exceeds criminal, illicit activities fell by a much narrower margin.The report attempts to explain why.

In a Q&A, the former cryptocurrency miner explains his methods for trying to pull together a band of Ethereum mining brethren in order to keep their rigs running. The idea started at a party at his house.

Cross currents: BlackRock Inc, the world’s biggest money manager, is talking about Bitcoin opportunities amid a market slump. Singapore’s Coinhako looks to have similar ideas.

Nasdaq-listed Eqonex’s decision to shutter its low-fee crypto exchange business to focus on asset management and custodial services may prompt similar moves in the highly commoditized industry.

Australia’s retirement fund industry, the world’s fifth largest at US$2.3 trillion, is one future target for investment funds offering cryptocurrencies.

Something of a sea change? Financial institutions that once turned up their noses at cryptocurrencies are now figuring out ways to get access for their clients.

Follow the money? Korea Blockchain Week concludes this weekend in Seoul and one of the overarching themes is enthusiasm for blockchain-based gaming as the key to opening up a Web3 world to a broader audience.

After high-profile cyberattacks on decentralized apps, the blockchain industry is in a hurry to ramp up security. Sam Sangmin Seo, head of Klaytn, tells Forkast that minimizing human error may be the key.

What’s a crypto trader to do when the government freezes exchange assets, sparking a war of words between supposedly ‘merged’ exchanges?

How does a centralized internet browser plan for a decentralized future? Reinvention, and finding a receptive audience. First stop, Southeast Asia.

The U.S. bill to bring cryptocurrencies under the oversight of the Commodities Futures and Trading Commission is likely to hasten legislation of such digital assets around the world.

Lawmakers are pulling together regulations for trading in digital assets. If all goes to plan, the so-called Digital Asset Basic Act will be in shape by the first half of 2023.

India’s government doesn’t like cryptocurrencies and has made that clear in statements and with heavy taxes on the asset class, but what does that say about blockchain adoption?

Beijing’s drive to stamp out crypto mining and the slump in crypto prices are headwinds that Canaan says it knows how to deal with, adding that the crypto winter may be shorter than expected.