The Helium network is set to deploy on the Solana blockchain as 81% of its community voted in favor of HIP 70, an improvement proposal for operational efficiency and better user experience. See related article: Helium announces new token to scale 5G in multi-network expansion Fast facts The proposal will move Helium’s proof-of-coverage algorithm and […]

Bitcoin continued trading above US$19,000 in Friday afternoon trading in Asia. Ether rose along with most of the top 10 coins by market capitalization following the completion of the first phase of Cardano’s Vasil hard fork. XRP led gains with its price soaring over 20% in the past 24 hours. See related article: Markets: Cryptocurrencies […]

DBS Bank Ltd., Southeast Asia’s largest lender, has launched a self-directed cryptocurrency trading service for accredited wealth clients.  See related article: Asia banking giant DBS jumps into The Sandbox metaverse Fast facts The bank’s wealth clients have been favoring self-directed options, with digital trades dominating 90% of equity transactions, DBS said in a press release […]

Dunamu Inc., the mother company of South Korea’s largest crypto exchange Upbit, will focus its future endeavors on Levvels, its Los Angeles-based non-fungible token (NFT) joint venture with Hybe Co., Ltd., the entertainment agency behind K-pop group BTS. See related article: Dunamu’s NFT venture with BTS’s HYBE to launch services later this year Fast facts […]

Coinbase, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has obtained regulatory approval in the Netherlands, as the U.S.-based exchange looks to expand its presence globally. See related article: Coinbase hit with lawsuit over allegedly poor security Fast facts Coinbase said on Thursday in a statement that it has registered with De Nederlandsche Bank, the central […]

The United Kingdom has introduced a bill that would enable its law enforcement agencies to “seize, freeze and recover” crypto assets, to prevent cyber crime and money laundering.  See related article: UK watchdog: Crypto firms fall short on anti-money laundering rules Fast facts The reforms to the governmental Companies House, including issues beyond crypto, are […]

The Chinese province of Gansu says that it will “strictly prohibit crypto mining” in the server rooms for China’s mega digital Eastern Data and Western Computing infrastructure project, according to a policy document. See related article: GBA among regions for China’s blockchain-powered data hubs  Fast facts The Eastern Data and Western Computing project aims to […]

The Cardano blockchain’s long-awaited upgrade, the Vasil hard fork, successfully completed its first phase early Friday morning, according to Cardano operator Input Output Global Hong Kong’s official Twitter page. See related article: Cardano’s Vasil hard fork upgrade confirmed for Sept. 22 Fast facts Vasil will bring improvements to the Cardano network, making it more scalable […]

Bitcoin bounced back above US$19,000 in Friday morning trading in Asia as Cardano announced a successful hard fork to their upgraded Vasil network. XRP led gains among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. See related article: Cryptocurrency lobby group gets court approval to weigh in on SEC vs Ripple’s XRP lawsuit Fast facts Bitcoin […]

Tokyo-based financial services group Nomura Holdings, Inc., recently announced its new digital asset subsidiary named Laser Digital and respective holding company Laser Digital Holding, which will be active in Switzerland. See related article: Japan’s government approves policy to drive Web 3.0 adoption Fast facts Laser Digital will focus on secondary trading, venture capital and investor […]

Binance has tapped Max Baucus, a former U.S. senator and ambassador to China, to chair its new global advisory board, to advise the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange on regulatory, political and social issues. See related article: Binance stablecoin conversion controversial, but what does it mean for users? Fast facts Binance said on Thursday in a […]

Bitcoin traded below US$19,000 Thursday afternoon in Asia after dropping below that resistance level earlier, following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates by 75 basis points. Ether also fell. XRP was the biggest gainer among the 10 largest coins by market capitalization, while most other top 10 tokens were little changed. See […]

Cryptocurrency lobby group Chamber of Digital Commerce (CDC) has received approval from a U.S. federal court to be an amicus curiae (Latin for friend of court) in the lawsuit that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed in 2020 against Ripple Labs. See related article: Ripple objects to SEC’s relief suggestion in XRP lawsuit […]

Crypto exchange Huobi Global’s Hong Kong-listed parent, Huobi Technology Holdings, is proposing renaming the group to “New Huo Technology Holdings Limited,” while its sister company, the crypto exchange Huobi Global, is reportedly seeking a buyer for the majority of its company. See related article: Huobi-incubated Chinese NFT platform iBox ends international operations  Fast facts The […]

Cryptocurrency assets seized from alleged tax delinquents in South Korea in 2021 and 2022 amounted to nearly 260 billion Korean won (US$184.3 million), according to local media reports. See related article: South Korea’s taxman keeps circling crypto – airdrops look to be the next target Fast facts The highest amount of crypto seized from a […]

Bitmain announced on Tuesday that it is cutting the price of one of its latest mining rig models, the S19 Pro, to US$19 per terahash (TH), which is 41% less than the price index shown on the mining rig data website Hashrate Index. See related article: US raises red flag on crypto mining, concern over […]

South Korea-based internet giant Naver Corp. launched its non-fungible token (NFT) platform, NOW.Drops, with LINE NEXT on Wednesday. The platform will let K-pop music fans create customized NFTs. See related article: Naver’s Zepeto metaverse starts blockchain initiative with Solana Fast facts NOW.Drops allows users to mint NFTs of their favorite musical acts that they crop […]

Sam Bankman-Fried‘s FTX is in talks with potential investors about a funding round that would keep the company’s valuation in line with prior financing at the start of the year, CNBC reported Wednesday.  See related article: Binance and FTX lead bidding for bankrupt Voyager Fast facts FTX Trading Ltd.’s latest funding round in January raised […]

Bitcoin fell below US$19,000 in Thursday morning trading in Asia after briefly moving above that resistance level overnight as investors digested the U.S. Federal Reserve decision to raise interest rates by 75 basis points, or in line with expectations. All the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization lost ground, with Ether the biggest loser.  See […]

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, rose more than 3% on Thursday to recover from a sharp drop to under US$19,000 after the Federal Open Market Committee said it would raise interest rates by 75 basis points, or in line with market expectations, to rein in inflation. See related article: Digital dollar takes another […]

Bitcoin remained below the US$19,000 level in Wednesday evening trading in Asia as the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with the exception of XRP, traded lower. See related article: Ripple objects to SEC’s relief suggestion in XRP lawsuit Fast facts Bitcoin fell 2.2% in the past 24 hours to trade at US$18,906 at 4:30 […]

While India’s central bank has adopted a hostile stance towards cryptocurrency, the South Asian nation has recognized the potential for blockchain technology.  See related article: Women in India start to plug into cryptocurrency trading Fast facts Use of blockchain technology is going to rise by about 46% in the next few years, India’s finance minister […]

Ripple Labs Inc. has objected to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s suggestion that it may seek additional time and pages if other amici curiae (Latin for friends of the court) submit briefs, as the lawsuit the SEC filed in 2020 against Ripple drags on. See related article: SEC, Ripple seek summary judgment in attempt […]

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s global head of payments Takis Georgakopoulos said that demand for cryptocurrencies as a payment method has seen a drastic decline in the past six months.  See related article: JPMorgan, LRC bet on blockchain startup Ownera in US$20 mln Series A Fast facts […]

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) claimed on Tuesday in a news conference that the country accounted for more than 84 percent of the world’s blockchain patent applications, despite the country’s ban on cryptocurrencies. See related article: Ant Group and Tencent obtain the most blockchain patents in China: report Fast facts However, the […]

Crypto exchanges FTX and Binance have reportedly made the highest bids on bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital Ltd. and its assets, but neither offer had been accepted as of Tuesday, according to a Wall Street Journal report.  See related article: Sam Bankman-Fried lashes out at Voyager for rejecting FTX’s proposal  Fast facts The WSJ article […]

Bitcoin fell below the US$19,000 resistance level for the second time in a week in early Wednesday trading in Asia. Ether and most other tokens in the cryptocurrency top 10 by market capitalization lost ground. XRP was the exception, gaining on news the token’s issuer, Ripple Labs Inc, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission […]

Sam Bankman-Fried’s trading firm Alameda Research will repay around US$200 million in cryptocurrencies to bankrupt digital assets broker Voyager Digital by Sept. 30. See related article: Voyager Digital issues notice of default to 3AC Fast facts Alameda owes Voyager about 6,553 Bitcoins, more than 51,000 Ether and smaller amounts in various tokens including USDC, DOGE […]

CoinDCX, India’s first crypto unicorn, asked users not to click on any link or messages from its official Twitter handle as the company lost control of the social media account following a hack. See related article: How Twitter hackers social-engineered their way into VIP accounts to shill for bitcoin Fast facts “We are in the […]

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the city’s de-facto central bank, Tuesday said it concluded its market consultations on technical and policy grounds towards the city’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), estimating at least two to three years to build the wholesale system.  See related article: Hong Kong flirts with e-HKD as it talks of […]

Crypto markets continued their recovery streak in Tuesday evening trade in Asia with Bitcoin rising over 4% in the past 24 hours to be the second-highest gainer among the top 10 tokens by market capitalization, only behind XRP. Despite a 4.3% recovery, Ethereum was still down over 20% over the past seven days in the […]

The U.S. Department of Treasury is seeking public opinion on the “responsible development of digital assets” and has requested comments from the general public on national security and illicit financing risks posed by digital assets.  See related article: Singapore’s central bank says cryptocurrencies have ‘no fundamental value’ Fast facts Comments can be submitted until Nov. […]

Binance Labs, the incubator and investment arm of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said it invested an undisclosed amount in Salus Security, which provides blockchain smart contract audits and automated smart contract vulnerability detection. See related article: Binance’s US$7.5 billion woman sees plenty of promise in bear markets Fast facts Binance Labs said in a […]

WazirX, India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trade volume, said it has stopped deposits of stablecoins USDC, USDP and TUSD, and will automatically convert users’ existing balances to Binance’s USD-backed stablecoin BUSD at a 1:1 ratio.  See related article: India’s WazirX introduces new ‘learn and earn’ campaign with The Sandbox Fast facts WazirX will begin the […]

South Korea’s official media regulation agency met with Andy O’Connell, vice president of product policy and strategy of Meta Platforms, Inc. on Monday to discuss ways to boost user protection on the metaverse. See related article: South Korea will not rule the metaverse with game laws, science ministry says Fast facts Ahn Hyoung-hwan, the vice […]

Bitcoin rose above US$19,000 in early Tuesday morning trading in Asia after falling below that resistance level overnight for the first time in almost two weeks. Ethereum showed signs of shaking off the post-Merge slump as it gained along with the rest of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. See related article: Ethereum’s PoW […]

South Korean prosecutors are in the process of requesting Interpol to issue a red notice for Terraform Labs Pte. Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Kwon Do-hyung, also known as Do Kwon, according to media reports.  See related article: Terra CEO Do Kwon faces ‘illegal alien’ status in Singapore as Seoul cancels passport Fast facts An Interpol […]

Hong Kong has invited firms interested in security token offerings (STO) to share their proposals with the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), the regulator’s Fintech department head Elizabeth Wong told digital assets industry representatives last week, according to a press release published on Monday.  See related article: Hong Kong regulator: ramp up oversight of virtual […]

The global crypto market cap for cryptocurrency dropped over 7% in Monday evening trade in Asia, nearing US$900 billion. Bitcoin fell to a 24-hour low of US$18,390.32 at 5 pm Hong Kong time, while Cardano led losses within the crypto top 10 by market capitalization, followed by Ethereum.  See related article: Markets: Bitcoin back below […]

Aptos, a public chain launched by former members of failed Meta stablecoin project Diem, announced Friday a prize of up to US$1 million to encourage developers to find major vulnerabilities in the blockchain network, as the launch of the highly-anticipated blockchain fell slightly behind schedule. See related article: Binance makes additional investment in Aptos  Fast […]

WazirX, India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trade volume, has introduced a “learn and earn” campaign with The Sandbox, one of the biggest Ethereum-based metaverse game platforms.  See related article: WazirX launches India’s first NFT marketplace Fast facts The campaign started Sept. 19, and the top five winners will get free passes for The Sandbox’s recently […]

A decentralized application (dApp) “XCM DOT Autostake” developed by a team called Entity 54 won the grand prize at Polkadot’s North American hackathon, Polkadot announced on Sunday. See related article: Polkadot Defi hub Acala burns some 1.3 bln mis-minted stablecoins Fast facts Polkadot is a protocol for linking multiple, incompatible blockchains (“parachains”) and allowing them […]

Bitcoin fell back below US$20,000 in early Monday morning trading in Asia after breaching that support line overnight, while Ethereum led the losses in the crypto top 10 by market capitalization, which were all trading lower. See related article: Markets: Bitcoin dips below US$20,000; Ether, ETC fall post-Merge Fast facts Bitcoin fell by 3.4% in […]

Binance Labs, the venture capital arm of world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has made a follow-on investment in Aptos Labs, as a part of a broader fundraising round by the blockchain startup. See related article: Aptos raises US$150 mln from FTX Ventures, Jump Crypto Fast facts Aptos will use the funds to expand its team and […]

Bitcoin continued trading below the US$20,000 support line in Friday afternoon trading in Asia. Ether fell in a “sell the news” mood after the Ethereum network completed the network Merge on Thursday. Most other coins among the top 10 by market capitalization dropped. See related article: Markets: Bitcoin dips below US$20,000; Ether, ETC fall post-Merge […]

Amid its bankruptcy proceedings, crypto lender Celsius Network LLC has sought court approval to sell and/or exchange its stablecoin holdings for U.S. dollars in order to generate liquidity and help fund its operations.  See related article: Goldman Sachs said to raise US$2B for Celsius assets: report Fast facts “Celsius currently owns eleven different forms of […]

ETHPoW, the Ethereum hard fork blockchain intended to preserve proof-of-work after the native chain transitioned to proof-of-stake, is facing technical difficulties despite months of anticipation.  See related article: Ethereum says Merge upgrade successfully completed, more to come Fast facts Prior to the fork, it was announced that ETHW tokens would be airdropped to Ethereum holders. […]

Mining pools F2Pool, Poolin and Antpool have launched their ETHW (EthereumPoW) mining pools, according to their respective websites, while a few other large mining pools have also said they would support the mining of the fork token. See related article: Ethereum says Merge upgrade successfully completed, more to come Fast facts F2Pool said on Thursday […]

South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) governor Lee Bok-hyun says he disagrees with the view that crypto cannot be seen as financial investment products or securities, while revealing he assisted local prosecutors in designating Terra-LUNA tokens as securities, according to local media reports. See related article: Securities or not? South Korea to evaluate Terra’s LUNA […]

Bitcoin fell below the US$20,000 support line in Friday morning trading in Asia, while Ether saw a sell-off following the long-awaited network “Merge” on Thursday. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization fell below US$1 trillion as all top 10 tokens were trading down. See related article: Ethereum says Merge upgrade successfully completed, more to come Fast […]

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is preparing for the future of finance by exploring distributed ledger technology use cases, such as asset tokenization and cross-border payments, the city-state’s Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Thursday at an event organized by the central bank.  See related article:  Filecoin service provider RRMine leaves China for […]

SBI Digital Markets Pte. Ltd. (SBI DM) has received a Capital Markets Services (CMS) license from Singapore’s central bank, which allows it to provide custodial services and offer capital markets products. See related article: Singapore’s MAS says needs to do better job explaining crypto policy Fast facts SBI DM plans to launch a digital asset […]

The Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has prohibited cryptocurrency companies from offering digital assets lending and staking products, or depository services.  See related article: Thailand’s SCBX scraps plan to buy 51% stake in crypto exchange Bitkub Fast facts The regulator said in a press release on Thursday that the decision was made to protect […]

The bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network’s native CEL token suddenly spiked to US$4.26, during Ethereum’s much-anticipated Merge, according to data from CoinGecko. See related article: Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky floats restructuring as custody business amid bankruptcy proceedings Fast facts CEL’s price has since dropped to US$1.94, making it the 61st largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, […]

The last block on the proof-of-work (PoW) Ethereum chain before The Merge was filled by a VanityBlocks non-fungible token (NFT) minted for 31.5 ETH, which was succeeded by the first NFT in the post-Merge proof-of-stake (PoS) chain minted for 36 ETH.  See related article: Fungible after all? Duplicates may disrupt NFT industry after Ethereum Merge […]

Chinese Ethereum mining rig maker Sunlune has concluded its Series A fundraising with “tens of millions” of US dollars from Intel Capital, in an announcement two days before the completion of the Ethereum Merge.  See related article: Why Ethereum Merge will be game-changing for DeFi and crypto investing Fast facts The funding will go towards […]

Cryptocurrency markets trended higher in Thursday afternoon trading in Asia, with global market capitalization up 0.4% in 24 hours, trading at US$995.9 billion, still under the US$1 trillion benchmark it dropped below last night. All cryptocurrencies in the top 10 by market cap, with the exception of Bitcoin, strengthened.  See related article: Markets: Bitcoin little […]

Polkadot will hold its first hackathon that focuses on Latin America starting Sept. 26 to engage local developers in the network and promote the uses of blockchain around the world. See related article: Polkadot is top crypto held by VCs and hedge funds in Q4 2021 Fast facts The eight-week-long hybrid event will include the […]

Cryptocurrency advocacy group Chamber of Digital Commerce (CDC) has sought to be an amicus curiae (Latin for friend of court) in the lawsuit between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple Labs. See related article: Ripple opposes SEC request to seal expert witness identities in XRP lawsuit Fast facts CDC Wednesday filed several documents in […]

South Korea will issue a guideline for regulating the metaverse instead of applying existing law on video games, the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) announced at a government briefing on Wednesday. See related article: S.Korea’s science ministry announces ethical principles for the metaverse Fast facts The guideline that will be used to better promote […]

Seongnam, the 12th most populated city in South Korea, is planning to recreate the city in the metaverse and will issue non-fungible token (NFT) citizenships to give access to municipal information, according to local media reports. See related article: South Korea’s capital city launches first stage of “Metaverse Seoul” Fast facts The city will finalize […]

Bitcoin was little changed while most of the crypto top ten by market capitalization rose, edging the entire crypto market cap back above US$1 trillion in Thursday morning trading in Asia. Ether and Cardano led the gains after Wednesday’s slump on inflation concerns in the U.S. See related article: Markets: Bitcoin, Ether drop on CPI […]

London-based Ownera has raised US$20 million in a Series A funding round from investors including banking giant JPMorgan and private asset management firm LRC Group. See related article: Tokenized assets may make up 10% of global GDP by 2030: report Fast facts The funds will be used to deploy a global interoperability network to unlock […]

Diamond Standard Co. has raised US$30 million in a Series A funding round led by Left Lane Capital and Horizon Kinetics, the company announced in a statement.  See related article: De Beers to use Tracr blockchain to assure sourcing of diamonds Fast facts The blockchain startup allows institutional and retail investors to trade tokenized counterparts […]

Tencent Cloud, the cloud computing services arm of the Chinese tech giant, on Tuesday, announced it signed a memorandum of understanding with Web 3.0 firm Strange Universe Technology to create and host virtual reality (VR) spaces for businesses. See related article: Tencent Cloud continues blockchain expansion with two new platforms  Fast facts Strange Universe Technology […]

Global investment firm KKR has partnered with digital assets securities firm Securitize to offer tokenized positions for its clients with at least US$5 million in investible assets, exposing them to its US$4 billion health care equity fund, the Wall Street Journal reported. See related article: Guide to tokens and NFTs: what is ‘tokenization’ and how […]

Cryptocurrency markets continued their skid in Wednesday afternoon trading in Asia, with the global market capitalization dipping to around US$997 billion, down 6% in the last 24 hours. All cryptocurrencies in the top 10 by market cap fell. Solana led the losers, with Bitcoin coming in second. Stock markets slumped. See related article: Markets: Bitcoin, […]

South Korean prosecutors investigating the collapse of Terra-LUNA have issued an arrest warrant for Terraform Labs cofounder and chief executive officer Kwon Do-hyung, also known as Do Kwon, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office told Forkast. See related article: Securities or not? South Korea to evaluate Terra’s LUNA token Fast facts “Violation of the capital […]

Amid its bankruptcy proceedings, crypto lender Celsius Network LLC, one of the major players in the contagion that struck the industry earlier this year, plans to reorganize as a crypto custody business, according to audio shared by a customer of the company and a report by the New York Times. See related article: Celsius files […]

Over a month after placing the Ethereum coin-mixing tool Tornado Cash under sanctions, the U.S. Treasury Department announced a way for Tornado Cash users to recover their funds on Tuesday.  See related article: Tether says didn’t freeze sanctioned Tornado Cash addresses so as to not interfere in investigations Fast facts The new guidance provides a […]

South Korea’s Cytown Metaverse is holding a virtual poll and discussion on the topic of giving the members of K-pop megagroup BTS a special exemption from the country’s mandatory military service. See related article: Google approves South Korea’s Cyworld metaverse app Fast facts Cytown opened a public poll on the topic in Cy-agora, the virtual […]

Bitcoin mining difficulty rose by 3.45% on Wednesday, reaching an all-time high, according to data from BTC.com. See related article: Argentinian tax agency conducts first-ever raids on illegal crypto mining farms Fast facts The mining difficulty reading was at 32.05 trillion, as of block height 753,984, the data showed. The difficulty level, which changes about […]