Fidelity Digital Assets, the crypto-focused subsidiary of Fidelity Investments, has planned a hiring spree to extend services to include Ethereum trading and custody. See related article: Fidelity allows retirement investments in Bitcoin Fast facts Fidelity Digital Assets was founded in 2018 to enable institutional investors to store and trade Bitcoin — its parent company announced […]

Goblintown NFTs, a new meme-adjacent collection, surpassed the likes of Bored Ape and Mutant Ape Yacht Club, according to CryptoSlam.  See related article: Azuki fortunes reverse as sales soar after floor price drop Fast facts Launched on May 22, Goblintown NFTs are unapologetically crude drawings of goblin-like creatures, with a culture built around poor grammar, […]

Binance Labs’ fundraise comes as venture capital investments face headwinds from expectations of interest rate increases. See related article: Binance’s investment in Forbes is a wake-up call for the crypto industry Fast facts See related article: Binance, a16z among investors backing Musk’s Twitter bid with US$7B

South Korean police said Wednesday they arrested a man in his 30s on fraud charges for allegedly stealing about US$658,000 in cryptocurrencies based on personal data leaked on local social media platform Naver Band. See related article: Guilty verdicts handed down in S.Korea’s biggest crypto scam Fast facts The man allegedly stole cryptocurrencies from 90 […]

Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat cautioned retail investors to steer clear of investments in cryptocurrencies, saying the nascent asset class “is a highly risky area.”  See related article: Singapore wants to bring some adult supervision to crypto Fast facts Many investors suffered losses and even lost their life savings in the recent meltdown […]

Bitcoin dropped more than 6.5% in the past 24 hours to trade below US$30,000 as the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization gave up most of the gains made over the U.S. holiday weekend.  It was trading at US$29,850 at the time of publishing. See related article: Bitcoin, Ethereum, crypto at 2022’s lowest point Fast […]

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged Nate Chastain, a former employee of the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea, with wire fraud and money laundering for allegedly using confidential information from the platform to trade NFTs. See related article: Insider trading scandal rocks world’s biggest NFT platform OpenSea Fast facts The DOJ alleges Chastain, […]

In its urgency to reign in the cryptocurrency industry in the wake of the Terra collapse, South Korea will launch a “Digital Asset Committee” by the end of June, according to a local news report. See related article: South Korean authorities cite LUNA debacle to call for speedier crypto oversight  Fast facts The committee will […]

The “social” humanoid developed by the Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics released her non-fungible token (NFT) collection, Baby Singularities, on OpenSea on Wednesday, according to a statement on her verified Twitter handle.  See related article: Meta showcases focus on AI, announces new voice assistant program Fast facts Sophia, who gained fame for being the world’s first […]

Lei Wai Nong, Macao’s secretary for economy and finance, said China’s expertise in developing its digital yuan could help the specially administered region introduce a central bank digital currency (CBDC), according to local media reports. See related article: China to issue free digital yuan to boost locked down economy Fast facts Lei said he will […]

Dunamu, the South Korean fintech company and operator of the country’s largest crypto exchange Upbit, rebutted claims that it profited by over 130 billion Korean won (US$105 million) off of LUNA Classic last year. See related article: S.Korea eyes restraints on crypto unicorn Dunamu over monopoly concerns Fast facts Last week, multiple local media reports […]

BNB Chain’s roadmap for the year will prioritize faster transactions and enhanced support for decentralized applications (dApps), the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume said. See related article: Binance rebrands blockchains for metaverse, DeFi expansions Fast facts In its 2022 technical roadmap released Tuesday, BNB Chain said it is working to offer end users more […]

Global crypto asset management platform Kassio has launched its services in India to help its users extract value from their crypto holdings beyond just trading, the company said in a statement. See related article: CoinDCX offers to let Indians earn yield on crypto holdings Fast facts Kassio offers instant crypto-backed loans and interest earnings up […]

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced Project Guardian, a collaborative initiative with the financial industry to explore the economic potential and value-adding use cases of asset tokenization, according to a statement from Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Tuesday. See related article: Singapore wants to bring some adult supervision to crypto Fast […]

Popular Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Optimism airdropped its new OP governance token to nearly 249,000 eligible wallets on Wednesday morning Asia time. See related article: Vitalik Buterin: Layer 2 is the future of Ethereum scaling Fast facts The airdrop was first announced in an April blog post which outlined plans for the network to launch […]

South Korea’s smart contract auditing firm Sooho.io is partnering with Lambda256, the blockchain subsidiary of Upbit operator Dunamu, to develop a bridge layer connecting the country’s fragmented decentralized finance (DeFi) and Web 3.0 ecosystem. See related article: Two crypto exchanges reach unicorn status in South Korea Fast facts The new bridge will work as a […]

The pseudonymous creator of Shiba Inu, Ryoshi, came online after a year on Monday only to delete all of its social media activity, and disappear again. See related article: Shiba Inu metaverse tease fuels 60% price boost Fast facts Ryoshi, who last tweeted on May 29, 2021, deleted all tweets and Medium blog posts, leaving […]

With over 1 million vendors, unique non-fungible token (NFT) sellers on the Solana blockchain hit an all-time high in May, outpacing unique buyers, according to data tracker CryptoSlam. See related article: Solana NFT sales drop by 21% after OpenSea integration Fast facts From April to May, the number of unique sellers grew by almost 170%. […]

The Hong Kong-based public trust company Tuesday announced a US$20 million funding round to build up a secondary market for private equity and digital assets, according to a press release. See related article: Singapore wants to bring some adult supervision to crypto Fast facts The venture for empowering startups Nogle and the Blockchain Technology venture […]

Whether the fixing of a pricing error by Mirror Protocol, the decentralized finance (DeFi) application built on Terra Classic, will help prevent a drainage of the pool similar to last year will only be known by the end of U.S. trading hours on Tuesday. See related article: Winning back the trust of the Terra community […]

The Indian government is studying how other countries have regulated the asset class before drafting laws for the industry, the secretary for economic affairs Ajay Seth told local media.  See related article: Crypto regulation has to ‘take its time’: India FM Nirmala Sitharaman Fast facts “Our consultation paper is fairly ready. We have gone into […]

Russia’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Vasily Shpak called for regulating cryptocurrency mining as the industry has grown too big to ignore, Interfax news agency reported on Friday. See related article: Russia uncovers a crypto mining farm in its oldest prison: report Fast facts Shpak said that crypto mining activities took up over 2% […]

Ethereum gained over 10% in 24 hours to reach US$2,000 on Tuesday morning in Asia after spending the better part of a week below the mark. Ethereum was trading at US$1,985 at press time. See related article: Bitcoin, Ethereum, crypto at 2022’s lowest point Fast facts The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency hit a low of US$1,721 […]

Luxury Italian fashion house Prada announced a scheduled June 2 drop of its first independent non-fungible tokens (NFT), Timecapsule NFT, following its January NFT collaboration with Adidas.  See related article: How high fashion is waking up to blockchain’s possibilities Fast facts First started in December 2019, Prada Timecapsule is a monthly online event where an […]

The Tezos blockchain showcased the evolving relationship between art, technology and culture at a three-day interactive exhibition, The Ever-Evolving World of Art, at Art Basel, Hong Kong, which ended Sunday.  See related article: How Asia’s generative NFT art is reshaping the global creative culture Fast facts The event featured NFT works from 22 international digital artists, […]

Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Xiong’an New Area announced they are distributing free digital yuan “red packets” to boost local consumption amid China’s economic slowdown fueled by mass Covid lockdowns.  See related article: Covid-19, postponed Asian Games to push digital yuan into the slow lane? Fast facts See related article: What I learned from my role in […]

The new LUNA was trading under US$6 on Monday morning Asia time, after peaking at US$18.87 shortly following the launch of the Terra 2.0 blockchain on Saturday, according to data from CoinGecko. See related article: Winning back the trust of the Terra community a tall order for Do Kwon: Experts Fast facts LUNA Classic (LUNC) […]

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) featuring Chinese late Qing dynasty painter Wu Changshuo’s artwork debuted on Tencent’s Huanhe NFT platform on Thursday with all 28,000 copies selling out immediately after the drop, reflecting a still robust market for such assets in China. See related article: Chinese stock image agency VCG tests NFT marketplace Fast facts The Wu […]

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is aligning its central bank digital currency (CBDC) design with monetary policy objectives and financial stability, the central bank said in its annual report.  See related article: Report: Stablecoins, CBDCs may not resolve financial inclusion, international remittance challenges Fast facts Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in February the RBI […]

The world’s second-largest stablecoin USDC and ERC-20 IAG tokens can now be bridged from Ethereum to the Cardano network through Iagon’s cross-chain bridge powered by the Milkomeda sidechain. See related article: Wormhole to bridge Polkadot, Kusama to Ethereum, Solana Fast facts A cross-chain bridge allows for crypto assets of one blockchain to be converted for […]

STEPN on Friday said it would stop providing Global Positioning System (GPS) and Internet Protocol (IP) location services to users in mainland China starting mid-July. See related article: Chinese runners offer substitute running to earn STEPN’s GMT for commission Fast facts STEPN said the move was made to abide by Chinese regulations and that it […]

Veteran investor Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management and Swiss investment product issuer 21Shares are trying their luck again at getting a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) approved. See related article: SEC comes around on Bitcoin ETFs Fast facts Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. is seeking the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval to a proposed rule […]

The Terra governance system has given a 99.39% approval on Friday Asia time to burn about 1.38 billion TerraClassicUSD (USTC), or approximately 11% of the total supply of the stablecoin’s supply. See related article: Terra, LUNA vote ends in favor of Do Kwon’s new chain proposal Fast facts There is a total of about 11.2 […]

Visual China Group (VCG), China’s largest stock image provider, has started a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace that lets users outside of mainland China pay with Ether. See related article: China’s diktat against NFT flipping spawns an ingenious industry Fast facts The platform, dubbed “Vault by 500px,” went live with a beta version on Wednesday, and […]

Pop culture event Comic Con India (CCI) will dive into the metaverse with the launch of non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles Non-Fungible League.  See related article: How the metaverse is closing the gap between virtual and reality Fast facts The Non-Fungible League will create and mint heroes for the metaverse, and will contain a series of […]

U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard said a central bank digital currency (CBDC) could coexist and complement stablecoins in her Thursday testimony to a House Financial Services Committee virtual hearing. See related article: CBDC tracker shows U.S. falling further behind Fast facts CBDCs are digital currencies released and backed by central banks, while stablecoins […]

The world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume Thursday said it acquired Latin American crypto exchange Bitex to expand its footprint in the region. See related article: Huobi Group poised to establish regional hub in Singapore Fast facts Though terms of the deal were not disclosed, Huobi said it plans to integrate Bitex’s […]

The operator of the Indian cryptocurrency exchange is working with large institutional borrowers, third-party lending partners and staking platforms to generate yield on cryptocurrency and digital assets, CoinDCX said in a statement. See related article: CoinDCX investment arm to invest US$13 mln in Web3 startups Fast facts The yield program doesn’t come with lock-in periods […]

a16z crypto said its fourth fund raised US$4.5 billion, bringing the total amount of funds raised for investment in crypto and Web 3.0 startups by the famed Silicon Valley venture capital firm to more than US$7.6 billion. See related article: Binance, a16z among investors backing Musk’s Twitter bid with US$7B Fast facts Around US$1.5 billion […]

The Supreme People’s Court of China urged the local judicial system to adopt blockchain technology to build up connections between courts across the country by 2025.  See related article: How blockchain technology is shaking up courtrooms in Asia Fast facts The Supreme Court said in a document published on Wednesday that blockchain can utilize the […]

A JPMorgan strategist said digital assets are the bank’s preferred alternative asset class while placing Bitcoin’s fair price value at 28% higher than its current price of about US$29,000. See related article: JPMorgan predicts $150,000 Bitcoin price in the long run Fast facts “Going forward, we see upside for Bitcoin and crypto markets more generally,” […]

The digital assets tax compliance and portfolio tracking firm’s launch in India comes after the country announced a series of measures to benefit off the gains made in cryptocurrencies.  See related article: India tax breaks crypto’s back Fast facts Crypto users in India can use CoinTracker to aggregate and reconcile cryptocurrency and non-fungible token (NFT) […]

Bitcoin’s hashrate dropped by 10.6% to 204.4 exahashes per second on Wednesday on a seven-day average from its peak earlier this month, Blockchain.com data show. See related article: Beijing banned crypto mining, so China miners went underground Fast facts The Bitcoin mining difficulty level fell by 4.33% to 29.9 trillion at block height 737,856 on […]

Around US$1.5 million worth of 29 Moonbirds non-fungible tokens (NFT) were stolen in a phishing scam on Wednesday. See related article: Beeple’s Twitter account latest victim to phishing scam hacks Fast facts A phishing attack is where scammers use deceptive means to direct victims to malicious links to steal personal information. Twitter user @0xLosingMoney has […]

Terra’s governance vote closed on Wednesday evening Asia time with 65.50% of governance voters in favor of Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon’s proposal to create a new blockchain. See related article: Terra raises aUST initial token float to 30% in revival plan amendment Fast facts Kwon’s “Terra Ecosystem Revival Plan 2” ditches the algorithmic stablecoin […]

The Lu Xun High School in China’s Hainan province has provided students with a new campus smart card device with digital yuan payment functionalities, further expanding use of the e-currency at education institutions, China’s largest state-owned broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) reported Tuesday. See related article: Covid-19, postponed Asian Games to push digital yuan into […]

Nasdaq-listed Coinbase Global, Inc. became the first cryptocurrency company to make it to the Fortune 500 list of the biggest U.S. corporations on Monday.  See related article: Coinbase blames India’s central bank for exit Fast facts Coinbase’s 2021 revenue of US$7.8 billion brought the company to the 437th rank in Fortune’s annual list. The top […]

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) of South Korea will perform an on-site inspection of Terraform Labs and financial services linked to TerraUSD (UST) or LUNA. See related article: Are we heading for a post-Terra crypto winter? Fast facts The FSS said at an emergency National Assembly meeting on Tuesday that the audit aims to prevent […]

Chinese authorities have fined a hydropower plant in Central China’s Hubei province 43,493 yuan (US$6,528) for “illegally supplying electricity to virtual currency mining operations,” as the country continues to crack down on cryptocurrency operations. See related article: Beijing banned crypto mining, so China miners went underground Fast facts In addition to the fine, the authorities […]

Brave announced on Wednesday it has added support for the Solana blockchain to expand Web 3.0 access for the browser’s 15.5 million daily users. See related article: What decentralization can offer Web 3.0 and social media | Part 1 Fast facts The Brave Wallet can now be used to buy, sell and hold Solana-based cryptocurrencies. […]

China’s state-backed infrastructure Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) announced on Tuesday that it is preparing the launch of BSN Spartan on Aug. 31, a new international network for non-cryptocurrency public chains. See related article: Resist the temptation on NFTs, Chinese state-backed developer says Fast facts “We’re not against public chains, but we’re against crypto,” BSN developer […]

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das said in a local media interview that the central bank has rightly been cautioning against cryptocurrencies, following the collapse of Terra’s UST and LUNA.  See related article: RBI calls for crypto ban in India, again Fast facts Das told CNBC TV18 on Monday that if crypto had […]

Hang Seng Index Company launched the China Metaverse Index on Monday to track the performance of 30 metaverse-related listed businesses in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Shenzhen.  See related article: Asian Games set for digital yuan, metaverse pilots, tech firm claims Fast facts Hang Seng Index Company is a subsidiary of major Hong Kong bank Hang […]

A deputy warden of Russia’s oldest prison has allegedly mined cryptocurrency in the facility and is under investigation on suspicion of stealing electricity to do so, Bitcoin.com reported on Monday. See related article: To stay relevant, crypto regulations need to evolve, decentralize: Crypto Rising Fast facts The deputy manager of Butyrskaya prison in central Moscow […]

Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Cyber Crimes Investigations Unit revealed on Monday that it has received a report alleging a Terraform Labs employee was involved in embezzling corporate funds, according to local media reports. See related article: Terra’s S.Korean office closure ‘purely coincidental’: Do Kwon Fast facts The police are currently investigating the validity of the […]

Defense contractor Lockheed Martin and the Filecoin Foundation have partnered to demonstrate the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) in space, the pair announced on Monday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. See related article: Filecoin explained: Decentralizing cloud storage for Web 3.0 Fast facts Filecoin is the economic incentive layer of the distributed storage […]

The Twitter account of non-fungible token (NFT) artist Mike Winkelmann, widely known as Beeple, was briefly hacked on Sunday and used to promote a phishing scam to drain over US$72,000 from Ether wallets of victims.   See related article: Twitter hacker takes over verified accounts to promote fake Azuki NFT drop Fast facts The hacker shared […]

Terraform Labs CEO and cofounder Do Kwon claimed on Saturday that the closure of two offices in South Korea was “purely coincidental,” and not a response to the national tax authorities’ investigation. See related article: LKB, 5 clients file lawsuit against Terra, Do Kwon to ‘Grim Reaper’ Fast facts Terraform Labs closed its two offices […]

Tether, the operator of the world’s largest stablecoin USDT, has seen US$10 billion of its market capitalization shaved off since TerraUSD’s (UST) collapse.  See related article: Nearly half of Tether reserves are now in US Treasury bills Fast facts USDT’s market capitalization was at US$73.35 billion at the time of publishing, following an all-time high […]

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde said cryptocurrencies are “worth nothing” on a Dutch television program aired Sunday, calling for greater regulation over what she described as “highly speculative assets.” See related article: EU to introduce bill next year to plan a digital euro Fast facts “My very humble assessment is that [cryptocurrency] is […]

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has paused the launch of crypto trading on its app amid heightened volatility in the crypto market, The Guardian reported.    See related article: Commonwealth Bank first in Australia to offer crypto trading Fast facts Australia’s largest bank announced its plans to allow customers to trade up to 10 cryptocurrencies, […]

Crypto exchange FTX.US has introduced FTX Stocks for select U.S. customers to allow stock trading and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) through its app. See related article: FTX reaches US$32B valuation after closing $400M series C Fast facts FTX.US will provide commission-free stock market trading where orders will be routed to Nasdaq through its clearing firm Embed, […]

Terra has increased its initial token float — tokens that are tradable upon issuance — from 15% to 30% for pre-attack Anchor Protocol UST stakers (aUST) and post-attack LUNA and UST holders, in the latest update to the plan to revive its reeling ecosystem. See related article: No hard fork, governance vote in Kwon’s updated […]

Commercial paper backing Tether (USDT), the world’s largest stablecoin, has decreased by 17% from US$24.2 billion in Q4 2021 to US$20.1 billion in Q1 2022, according to Tether’s latest attestation report.  See related article: Tether slashes commercial paper, shows more reserves than liabilities Fast facts Commercial paper in Tether reserves has been reduced by an […]

Sony Music Entertainment has set up a new Greater China venture for its American label RCA Records to explore opportunities in streaming, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse. See related article: John Legend’s OurSong raises US$7.5 mln to fuel music NFTs Fast facts The new label, dubbed “RCA Records Greater China,” will make key hires […]

China southwestern municipality Chongqing recorded 288 million yuan (US$43 million) in total digital yuan trading volume across 1.576 million transactions as of May 15, the People’s Bank of China’s local branch reported at a Thursday press conference.  See related article: China southeastern city tops US$3mln digital yuan transactions in pilot month Fast facts Chongqing is […]

Five South Korean Terra (LUNA) investors with an accumulated loss of around 1.4 billion Korean won (US$1.1 million) represented by local law firm LKB & Partners have filed a complaint against Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon and co-founder Shin Hyun-seung for two charges including fraud, according to local media reports. See related article: Knock, knock […]

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G-7) urged the Financial Stability Board (FSB) to accelerate crypto regulations following the downfall of the Terra blockchain and its terraUSD (UST) algorithmic stablecoin, Reuters reported. See related article: LUNA pumps and dumps repeatedly in weekend’s roller coaster run Fast facts The inter-governmental political forum — consisting of […]

Chinese crypto mining rig maker Canaan booked robust revenue growth in Q1 2022 despite logistical issues and supply chains disruptions from the pandemic, the company said on Thursday. See related article: SEC places Chinese crypto mining rig maker Canaan on pre-delisting list Fast facts Canaan recorded 1.36 billion yuan (US$214 million) in revenue in the […]

Blockchain-based payments network Ripple announced its plans to invest US$100 million in climate-focused fintechs and carbon removal technology for the modernization of carbon markets, the company said in a press release.  See related article: How blockchain is solving the climate crisis Fast facts The funding will also continue to support new functionality and developer tools […]

The development will help institutional clients trade at scale, with better pricing and lower risk, within a regulated market environment, Bullish said. Fast facts An internal study of publicly available Coinbase and Binance data over a two-month period ending on May 8 showed Bullish offering deeper liquidity than peers, the cryptocurrency exchange operator said. The […]

Terraform Labs backer Pantera Capital gradually withdrew nearly 80% of its Terra LUNA holdings over the past year, saving itself from significant damages from the de-pegging of TerraUSD (UST) and the network’s collapse last week, The Block reported. See related article: LUNA, UST investors in S.Korea want to seize Do Kwon’s properties: report Fast facts […]