U.S. Bank, the country’s fifth-largest retail bank, will now offer custody services for cryptocurrencies, starting with Bitcoin, the bank announced on Tuesday. New York Digital Investment Group, a fintech firm dedicated to Bitcoin, is the first crypto sub-custodian in the bank’s network of providers, the statement said. Fast facts The services are geared toward institutional […]

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) today published a joint report proposing that international standards for payment, clearing and settlement systems should be applied to “systemically important stablecoin arrangements.” Fast facts The BIS, CPMI and IOSCO report comes amid the […]

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has no plans to ban cryptocurrencies, chair Gary Gensler said during a congressional hearing on Tuesday. He added that any decision to ban crypto is “up to Congress.” Fast facts Gensler responded to Rep. Ted Budd’s question about whether the U.S. plans to ban crypto along the lines of […]

MetaMask Institutional (MMI), the version of the MetaMask decentralized finance (DeFi) wallet for institutions, today announced its partnership with digital assets custodians U.S.-based BitGo, British Virgin Islands-headquartered Qredo, and Hong Kong-based Cactus Custody to facilitate companies seeking access to DeFi. Fast facts The partnership comes amid growing institutional interest in DeFi and aims to address […]

TikTok, an app that is popular for making and sharing short videos, is jumping onto the non-fungible token (NFT) bandwagon. TikTok placed a full-page advertisement in the New York Times to promote its entry into that market. Fast facts The fast-growing social media platform, which has just surpassed 1 billion monthly users worldwide, announced plans […]

Bitcoin investment products saw inflows of US$69 million last week amid improving investor sentiment, according to digital assets fund manager CoinShares. Fast facts “We believe this decisive turnaround in sentiment is due to growing confidence in the asset class amongst investors and more accommodative statements from the U.S. Securities [and] Exchange Commission and the Federal […]

Laos enlisted Soramitsu, a blockchain company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, to explore a central-bank backed digital currency (CBDC). The Lao Central Bank and Soramitsu’s research will begin as early as this month. Fast facts The Central Bank of Laos reportedly has recently signed a memorandum with the Japan International Cooperation Agency to discuss the development […]

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Monday released a white paper proposing potential technical architecture and design for the infrastructure of a digital Hong Kong dollar. The paper is one of the deliverables described in Project e-HKD, a feasibility study the HKMA announced in June 2021. Fast facts Hong Kong began its exploration of […]

Chinese communications giant China Mobile and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jointly released an e-CNY wallet based on the upgraded SMS service Message over 5G. The wallet allows users to transfer money, check balances, pay bills, and perform other functions through the chat window. Fast facts Message over 5G is an upgraded text message […]

Technical woes continue to beset decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Compound this week as a hack resulted in 202,472 COMP, or US$68 million at the time, being transferred from its reservoir to its Comptroller where the funds remain vulnerable to being drained by subsequent transactions. Fast facts Yearn.Finance developer Banteg tweeted about the hack late Sunday […]

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today granted licenses to DBS Vickers (DBSV), the brokerage arm of DBS Bank, and Independent Reserve, an Australian cryptocurrency exchange, to provide digital payment token services under the Payment Services Act (PS Act). Fast facts Formal approval from MAS, which follows its earlier “in-principal approval” granted to both companies […]

The Hainan International Art Exchange Center on Wednesday launched an NFT art-trading platform that supports e-CNY payments, according to China News’ report. According to the staff of the center, the blockchain platform provides services for the purchase and sale of art between art institutions. Institutional traders will be able to tokenize physical artworks as NFTs […]

Ali Sahraee, the CEO of Tehran Stock Exchange, has resigned after Iranian authorities recently busted an illegal crypto mining operation in the basement of the bourse building, according to a report by Iran’s state media. Fast facts The authorities discovered the illegal mining rigs during a sudden inspection. The operation was being run by several […]

dYdX, the governance token for the dYdX exchange protocol, surged to a new all-time high of US$27.86 today, according to CoinGecko data. Fast facts dYdX is a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on Ethereum that currently supports perpetual contracts, margin trading and spot cryptocurrency trading, as well as lending and borrowing. It is a non-custodial exchange […]

Decentralized wallet imToken is restricting access to some of the services it offers for users in China, in the wake of the latest ban imposed by top Chinese authorities last Friday. Fast facts The company has restricted users in China from accessing and using third-party financial applications, including those from decentralized crypto exchanges, stake mining […]

Ripple, a San Francisco-based blockchain payments company currently embroiled in litigation against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, has launched a US$250 million “creator fund” for content creators, brands and marketplaces to build non-fungible token (NFT) use cases on the XRP Ledger, according to a company blog post. Fast facts Ripple’s latest move to expand […]

The Xi’an taxi industry and the Bank of Xi’an launched an e-CNY pilot program to accept e-CNY as fare, becoming the first city in China to accept digital renminbi as a taxi fare, a local newspaper reported. Fast facts Ten cabs selected as pilot vehicles have QR codes posted, and passengers can scan the QR […]

Malaysian property developer Hatten Land has signed an agreement, through a subsidiary, with Singapore-based digital asset management company Frontier to share proceeds from jointly operating at least 1,000 cryptocurrency mining rigs within Hatten Land properties in Malaysia, according to a company statement released today. Fast facts Hatten Land has previously announced that it would repurpose […]

China’s stepped-up cryptocurrency ban continues to send shockwaves through the industry, as more crypto service providers are shutting their doors to users in China. BeePool and Tiger Brokers are among the latest to announce service suspensions. Fast facts China-based BeePool, the fourth-largest Ethereum mining pool in hashrate, said Tuesday that it has stopped registering new […]

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has slapped a US$1.25 million fine on Kraken, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the U.S., for Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) violations, the CFTC announced yesterday. Fast facts The CFTC, in its settlement with Payward Ventures Inc., the San Francisco-based company doing business under the name Kraken, said […]

Nigeria, Chile and Tajikistan have taken major steps in their plans for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), while mainland China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates explore the potential for CBDCs in cross-border payments. Fast facts The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has launched a website for eNaira, the country’s CBDC, which will […]

Fetch.ai, an artificial intelligence lab based in the British city of Cambridge, today announced its partnership with Algbra, a London-based fintech platform, to bring artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to decentralized finance (DeFi) and the banking sector to provide minority communities with greater access to financial services. Fast facts According to a statement shared […]

China’s Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) — a public-private nationwide infrastructure project to spur mass adoption of blockchain technology — is moving a step closer to more international exposure, as the company behind it is working to register a foundation based in Singapore. Fast facts Red Date Technology, the company China tapped to manage its BSN, […]

Cryptocurrency investment products saw inflows of US$95 million last week, with total inflows over the past six weeks of US$320 million, according to digital assets fund manager CoinShares. Fast facts “The continued inflows suggest the recent headwinds for digital assets, such as the widened China ban, were seen as buying opportunities for investors,” wrote CoinShares […]

Singapore-based digital securities exchange ADDX today announced it had tokenized an allocation to a global private equity fund by Partners Group, a private equity firm listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Fast facts The allocation from the Partners Group Global Value SICAV Fund is the first from a major private equity firm that has been tokenized, […]

Amid growing regulatory heat, Binance — the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume — will restrict users in Singapore from buying cryptocurrencies using fiat, spot trading and liquid swaps on its main Binance.com platform starting Oct. 26, according to a company announcement. Fast facts Binance is advising Binance.com users in Singapore to cease all […]

Singapore-based blockchain protocol eXchange inFinite (XinFin) and trade finance distribution platform Tradeteq today announced their partnership to tokenize trade finance assets into non-fungible tokens (NFTs), according to a company statement shared with Forkast.News. Fast facts Atul Khekade, co-founder of XinFin, told Forkast.News in an interview that traditional trade finance assets that are typically paper-based such […]

GIGXPAD, a decentralized finance (DeFi) project based in Africa, is partnering with public blockchain network Conflux to tokenize real-world assets, according to a company statement shared with Forkast.News. Fast facts The collaboration, which marks the Chinese blockchain Conflux’s first use case in Africa, will see GIGXPAD deploying a decentralized crowdfunding platform on Conflux. According to […]

Huzhou City in Zhejiang, a province in eastern China, announced the launch of a blockchain to track and record carbon emissions records. Fast facts The blockchain was built by Beijing Zhongdian Puhua Information Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of State Grid. The data will be provided to third-party carbon accounting agencies, governments, and individuals for […]

The9 Ltd., a Chinese gaming company that pivoted earlier this year to cryptocurrency mining — along with Polygon and Protocol Labs — are forming an ecosystem collaboration on The9’s non-fungible token (NFT) platform NFTSTAR and GameFi play-to-earn projects. Fast facts The company said in a statement released on Thursday that NFTSTAR and The9’s GameFi projects will […]

The cryptocurrency mining industry is attracting more investment money. Hong Kong-headquartered crypto miner BIT Mining said it had entered into an agreement to jointly invest in a crypto mining data center in the U.S. state of Ohio, with access to power capacity of up to 85 megawatts. Fast facts The development of the Ohio mining […]

SushiSwap, a Japanese decentralized exchange, has dismissed the claims of a white hat hacker who says two contracts on the exchange have a vulnerability that puts US$1 billion worth of user assets at risk. Fast facts An anonymous white hat hacker published a report on Thursday claiming there is a loophole in the emergency withdrawal […]

With the Cardano blockchain now supporting smart contract capabilities, developers will soon be able to upload their decentralized applications (DApps) and make them available to others through a Plutus dAppStore, according to a blog post by Input Output HK (IOHK) ahead of the Cardano Summit taking place this weekend. Fast facts “The store will provide […]

Umbrella Network, a decentralized oracle, has acquired Lucidity, a blockchain-based advertising and analytics platform, to bring more data transparency to advertisers, according to a company statement. Fast facts The acquisition was completed in August 2021 for an undisclosed amount, according to the company statement. Lucidity will be integrated with Umbrella Network as part of the […]

Amber Group, a Hong Kong-based crypto financial services company, is eyeing a direct listing in the U.S. within the next two years, Amber Group co-founder and CEO Michael Wu told the South China Morning Post in an interview. Fast facts Founded in 2017, Amber Group propelled to unicorn status this year following its US$100 million Series […]

The United Arab Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) and Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA) have signed an agreement to support crypto-assets trading and related financial activities in the DWTCA free zone. Fast facts The agreement allows the DWTCA to issue approvals and licenses for financial activities related to crypto assets and the SCA […]

The Indian ministry of finance has formed a panel to examine how income from crypto investments can be taxed, according to a report by Inc42. Fast facts The panel will evaluate whether crypto income can be taxed as capital gains or if it requires the formation of a new category. The committee is required to […]

The cryptocurrency market has rebounded in the past 24 hours as news broke that China Evergrande Group, the second largest property developer in the world’s most populous nation, has taken a step back from falling off a potential debt cliff today. Fast facts While the overall cryptocurrency market is still down for the week, all […]

Cobo, a Singapore-based crypto custody and asset management platform, today announced the completion of its US$40 million Series B fundraise to accelerate the rollout of its decentralized finance (DeFi) as a service (DaaS) product. Fast facts In an interview, Cobo Chief Operating Officer Lily Zhuo told Forkast.News that Cobo’s DeFi as a service (DaaS) product, […]

Following similar moves in Singapore, embattled crypto exchange Binance — the largest in the world by trading volume — is ending its derivatives trading in Australia by year’s end, according to a company blog post on Tuesday. Fast facts Aussie traders will have 90 days to reduce or close their positions on options, futures and […]

Decentralized finance platform Vee Finance, which is based on the Avalanche blockchain, has suffered from a hack that saw the loss of Ether and Bitcoin tokens worth US$35 million, the lending platform announced on Tuesday. Fast facts Vee Finance suspended the platform’s contracts as well as its deposit and borrow function to protect user assets […]

In an interview by the Washington Post on Tuesday, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler questioned the future of cryptocurrency, saying, “I don’t think there’s a long-term viability for five- or six thousand private forms of money. History tells us otherwise.” He added that “in the meantime, it’s worthwhile to have an investor […]

With only a few days left until Korea’s regulatory deadline for virtual asset exchanges, all have accepted the government mandate in service suspension except for one exchange, Gopax. Fast facts Twenty-four virtual asset exchanges in South Korea are in limbo — they have only met one of two new requirements, and were subsequently asked by […]

Chinese crypto mining rig maker Canaan Inc. announced Monday that its board of directors has authorized a share repurchase program, in a signal of confidence in crypto mining’s future and a belief that its own stock is undervalued. Fast facts Nasdaq-listed Canaan said it may repurchase up to US$20 million worth of its outstanding American […]

Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, has dropped its plans to launch its high-yield-generating “Lend” product following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s threat to sue the exchange if they did. Fast facts Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal disclosed in a blog post earlier this month that the company had received […]

Despite suffering a network outage due to a denial-of-service attack that took the Solana network offline for 17 hours on Sept. 14, Solana funds continued to see inflows of US$4.8 million last week, according to digital asset manager CoinShares. Fast facts “This suggests investors were happy to shrug-off the attack, seeing it as teething problems […]

The amount of electronic waste generated by the Bitcoin network is comparable to the amount of discarded electronic equipment in a small country like the Netherlands, a study published by the academic journal Resource, Conservation and Recycling states. Fast facts According to the paper, a Bitcoin mining machine can lose 35% of its profit potential […]

Kyrgyzstan is cracking down on cryptocurrency mining farms that are using power illegally, local media outlet 24.kg reported Saturday, citing a release from the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan. Fast facts Authorities have spotted over 500 crypto mining farms that were illegally connected to power grids, leading to power shortages, as one set of […]

As most of the crypto market stagnates, Cosmos has been on a tear over the weekend, gaining 35% since Saturday morning Asia time to reach an all-time high of US$44.54 this morning, according to CoinMarketCap.com. Fast facts Though it dropped slightly to US$41.72 just before press time, this jump marks the first time the ATOM […]

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is reportedly now under investigation for possible insider trading and market manipulation by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Fast facts According to a Bloomberg report that cited unnamed sources, investigators from the CFTC — the agency that regulates the U.S. derivatives markets — […]

Four Chinese cities announced they will compete for inclusion in the next batch of digital renminbi pilot projects. They are Guangzhou, Tianjin, Yiwu and Fuzhou. Fast facts Guangzhou and Tianjin have written their goals into their city’s “14th Five-Year Financial Industry Reform Plan,” and Yiwu’s plan has been reported to the State Council. Guangzhou is […]

China’s Inner Mongolia region — once a thriving cryptocurrency mining hub that has enacted a series of measures to rein in the sector — is tightening its crackdown by hiring a contractor to monitor and ferret out mining operations. Fast facts The Inner Mongolia Development and Reform Commission announced on Wednesday a bidding result for […]

The U.S. Treasury is preparing a raft of recommendations for stricter oversight of Tether and other stablecoins, as unnamed insiders say the department has identified the greatest risks posed by the tokens, according to a recent Bloomberg report. Fast facts Making sure investors are able to transfer money in and out of tokens is a […]

AVAX — the native token of the Avalanche blockchain — today surged to a new all-time high of US$68.34, according to CoinGecko data, boosted by news of a US$230 million investment into the Avalanche ecosystem. AVAX has increased by 60% over the past seven days. Fast facts Launched in September 2020, Avalanche is an open, […]

Babel Finance, a Hong Kong-based crypto lender and asset manager, today announced it is opening a business headquarters in Singapore named Babel Asia, as the company looks to serve more clients globally. Fast facts Babel Asia plans to serve as a base for future merger and acquisition activities, together with Babel Finance to drive mainstream […]

Blockchain Association Singapore (BAS) and Singapore’s National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) U Care Fund today announced their inaugural non-fungible token (NFT) charity auction event, Blockchain For Good, which will take place Oct. 4 to 10. Fast facts The charity initiative — supported by a wide range of companies including Singapore Airlines, Amazon Web Services Inc., […]

South Korea’s finance minister Hong Nam-ki gave a firm “no” at the National Assembly to lawmakers asking for crypto taxation to be delayed until the industry is fully prepared. Fast facts Minister Hong insisted the plan to tax capital gains from cryptocurrency transactions should be executed as planned. The amended tax law stipulates that crypto […]

African countries collectively received US$105.6 billion worth of cryptocurrency between July 2020 and June 2021, a year-on-year increase by more than 12 times, blockchain data platform Chainalysis said in a report. Fast facts The adoption rate of cryptocurrency in Africa at the grassroots level is the highest in the world. And retail transactions in Africa […]

As the trading volume in non-fungible tokens begins to slow down from recent record heights, leading NFT marketplace OpenSea has been rocked by an insider trading scandal involving a senior team member. Fast facts The company, dubbed “the eBay of NFTs,” issued a statement yesterday acknowledging it became aware on Tuesday that an employee had […]

In his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, said that Coinbase lists “dozens of tokens that may be securities.” Fast facts In response to Senator Pat Toomey’s questions about whether cryptocurrencies classify as securities, Gensler said “very many” of the cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins, are in […]

Despite widespread criticism of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that has emerged in Chinese state-owned media, the 2022 Asian Games has announced the sale of its first NFT collection. Fast facts Organizers of the games, set to take place in September 2022 in Hangzhou, the capital city of the eastern province of Zhejiang, announced in a social […]

Three banks — the Bank of China, Singapore’s DBS and HSBC — have partnered with the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN), a Hong Kong-based non-profit consortium that recently launched a blockchain-based trade platform, to form a trade finance advisory group, according to a media release shared with Forkast.News today. Fast facts Trade finance — the […]

Amid the country’s ongoing Senate inquiry into crypto regulation, the Reserve Bank of Australia has posted a job advertisement for a position within its central bank digital currency research team. Fast facts A successful applicant would join a new cross-disciplinary team to research “whether there is a case for a CBDC in Australia, and if […]

The government of Laos has authorized six firms to trade and mine cryptocurrencies, ending a ban imposed in 2018, according to a recent notice from the prime minister’s office.  Fast facts Laos had implemented a complete ban on cryptocurrencies three years ago, including on trading and mining activities. As recently as last month, the country’s […]

Mid-sized crypto exchange Foblgate announced the closure of its Korean won (KRW) trading functions in advance of a government mandate banning digital asset platforms from operating cash-to-crypto services without a local bank partnership. Fast facts Foblgate announced it is temporarily suspending its KRW withdrawal, deposit and trading market between cryptocurrencies and the Korean won. Instead, […]

Software firm MicroStrategy, the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder, purchased an additional 5,050 Bitcoins for US$242.9 million at an average price of US$48,099 per Bitcoin.  Fast facts Bitcoin was trading 3% lower on Monday, the day of the purchase, at around US$44, 800. The purchase puts MicroStrategy’s total Bitcoin holdings at 114,042 Bitcoins acquired for around […]

China’s largest brokerage firm, CITIC Securities, said in a research report the metaverse will enter an exploration stage in the next three to five years and could become a way of life in 20 years. Fast facts The report said the development of the metaverse can be divided into three stages. The first stage will be completed […]

Huobi Ventures, the investment arm of cryptocurrency exchange Huobi, today announced the launch of a US$10 million “GameFi” fund to invest in early-stage projects that integrate blockchain gaming and decentralized finance (DeFi). Fast facts Huobi’s new GameFi fund follows the launch of its US$100 million DeFi fund in May and comes amid increasing mainstream interest […]

More provinces in China are putting new limits on the cryptocurrency mining sector, as the country works toward its carbon neutrality goals and concerns over cryptocurrency trading loom. Fast facts Authorities in North China’s Hebei province today issued a notice to crack down on cryptocurrency mining and trading activities, saying that crypto mining consumes huge […]

Florida-based non-fungible token (NFT) platform Recur announced it has received backing from Steve Cohen, owner of Major League Baseball’s New York Mets, in its US$50 million series A funding round. Fast facts The financing round, which valued Recur at a US$333 million post-money valuation, was led by Digital, a metaverse investment platform backed by Cohen’s […]

Ernst & Young, one of the Big Four consulting multinationals, announced today it has integrated India-based Polygon, a Layer 2 Ethereum scaling solution, to allow its corporate clients to process blockchain-based transactions on the Ethereum mainnet. Fast facts EY has connected the public Polygon commit chain with EY’s blockchain services including EY OpsChain and EY […]

Ahead of the U.S. Banking Committee’s hearing on the “Oversight of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission” today, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler reiterated his call for crypto platforms and projects that have securities to register with the agency. Fast facts In prepared remarks, Gensler emphasized the concerns he sees over the lack of investor protection […]