Samsung Asset Management, South Korea’s biggest asset manager, has launched a fund tied to a virtual world known as the metaverse.

Mexico’s finance minister reiterated his country’s ban on cryptocurrencies on Monday, saying they are not legal tender and are not to be treated as currencies within the country

Bitcoin’s hashrate fell to 58.7971 exa hashes per second on Sunday — the lowest point since August 2019.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore is inviting proposals for retail central bank digital currency innovations to improve payment services.

Hong Kong’s financial secretary has reiterated the city’s determination to develop digital versions of the Hong Kong dollar and the mainland Chinese yuan.

Lawmaker Carlos Rejala tamped down speculation that Paraguay might follow El Savador’s footsteps in making Bitcoin legal tender.

Elon Musk set off a new SHIB price rally after tweeting that he would name his Shiba Inu—the dog breed that the joke meme coin is named after—’Floki.’

Crypto exchange Gemini has bought US$4 million in carbon credits to offset the environmental impact of its Bitcoin holdings

Accountancy giant KPMG is partnering with Australian property group Mirvac to create a blockchain platform to track the provenance of buildings.

Following Israel’s recent tests of a digital shekel, the Palestinian Monetary Authority is looking to launch its own central bank digital currency.

Chinese crypto mining rig maker Bitmain has decided to suspend global spot sales of its Antminer machines, as some of its clients are reselling their rigs.

Chainalysis, the blockchain and cryptocurrency data analytics firm, announced today that it has raised US$100 million in a Series E funding round with a US$4.2 billion valuation. Fast facts: Headquartered in New York, Chainalysis provides blockchain-based software that enables governments and businesses to detect and prevent cryptocurrency crime and money laundering. Chainalysis’ series E round […]

Swiss-based Digital Assets AG, a firm focused on the design of tokenized stock infrastructure, has launched over 50 tokenized stocks on the Solana public blockchain.

Law enforcement agencies in several countries have arrested suspected members of a crypto-linked cybercrime group believed to be responsible for laundering more than US$500 million from ransomware attacks.

A university in Paraguay has announced that it will begin accepting cryptocurrency as payment for tuition starting from August.

QR Capital’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund — the first Bitcoin ETF in Latin America — has been listed on Brazil’s stock exchange.

The Bank of Israel is testing its central bank digital currency, the digital Shekel, in a private permissioned ecosystem using Ethereum.

A tech-savvy activist is using blockchain technology to preserve content from Hong Kong’s Apple Daily, which was yesterday forced by the government to shut down.

Ant Chain, Ant Group’s technology brand, has launched a new blockchain communication technology at Ant Chain’s first developer conference.

South Korea’s presidential office has reacted defensively to a petition calling for the chief of the country’s main finance sector regulator to step down over comments he made about cryptocurrencies.

Nearly one in three novice traders reported making no traditional investments outside crypto over the past year, according to a survey published today by Overbit, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange. In contrast, 85.3% of professional traders reported diversifying their investment portfolios to stock, real estate or other traditional assets. Fast facts: The survey of 3,000 traders […]

Auction house Lloyds Auctions Australia has begun accepting cryptocurrency for all purchases on its marketplace.

Chinese mining rig maker Bitmain is offering assistance to clients that want to relocate their cryptocurrency mining operations from China to other countries.

Crypto exchange Binance is launching a non-fungible token marketplace, auctioning NFTs of artworks by Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali.

A judge has granted Ripple’s request to force the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to reveal its non-public policies regarding whether agency employees may buy and sell XRP and other cryptocurrencies, according to a screenshot of a new legal filing shared by the lawyer representing XRP holders. Fast facts: Earlier this month, Ripple sought the […]

John McAfee has died by suicide in a prison cell in Barcelona after a Spanish court authorized his extradition to the US where he faced tax evasion charges.

Chinese mining rig maker Bitmain has stopped selling in-stock cryptocurrency mining equipment amid a plunge in the prices following a shutdown of major mining pools in China.

Canaan, one of the world’s biggest crypto mining rig makers, has launched its own crypto mining business in Kazakhstan.

South Korean crypto exchange Upbit — the country’s biggest — is facing a lawsuit filed by a university foundation alleging patent infringement.

A team of doctors and engineers in Taiwan is developing a blockchain-based platform that could keep track of residents’ vaccination histories and health conditions.

The U.S. SEC has settled charges against Loci and its CEO, John Wise, for allegedly making false statements in connection with a sale of digital asset securities.

Indian cryptocurrency investors could face a 2% levy on transactions made through foreign-owned crypto exchanges operating in the country.

Iranian police have confiscated 7,000 cryptocurrency mining machines from an abandoned factory in western Tehran, the largest batch discovered in recent days.

Chinese payment app Alipay has started selling non-fungible token artwork, finding buyers for a combined 8,000 editions of two artworks within one day.

Two nominees to the U.S. Treasury Department have promised, if they are confirmed in their posts, to implement new regulations relating to cryptocurrency.

Crypto-related crime in the US increased an average of over 300% per year from 2017 to 2020with a total of 82,135 cases last year alone.

Decentralized finance hub Acala Network’s sister network, Karura, has won the first parachain lease auction on Kusama, Polkadot’s pre-production network, and is now successfully producing blocks, according to an announcement today. Fast facts: The successful completion of Kusama’s first parachain slot auction and Karura’s launch brings Polkdot ever closer to its rollout. Karura raised more […]

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit is preparing legal action against crypto coin issuer Pica Project, whose tokens it has delisted from its platform.

France’s central bank has successfully completed a central bank digital currency experiment involving the settlement of listed securities with Switzerland’s SEBA Bank.

Bitcoin is in its sixth consecutive week of institutional outflows, with US$89 million exiting the coin, according to a weekly fund flows report.

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is seeking to bring enforcement action against Singapore-based crypto derivatives exchange Bybit for allegedly violating the Canadian province’s securities laws, according to a statement. Fast facts: “Bybit, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, is operating an unregistered crypto asset trading platform, encouraging Ontarians to use the platform, and allowing Ontario […]

Sotheby’s has announced it will be accepting cryptocurrency as payment in an upcoming auction for a 101.38-carat diamond with flawless clarity.

The People’s Bank of China has told the country’s big banks and other finance sector heavyweights to cut off financing sources for cryptocurrency transactions.

Iran’s interior ministry has suspended the Iran Blockchain Association over alleged breaches of government regulations.

Two of China’s largest state-owned banks, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), are now offering two-way exchange between fiat cash yuan and e-CNY digital currency through more than 3,000 ATMs in Beijing, according to reports in local media.  Over 3,000 ATMs in Beijing managed by ICBC […]

South Korean lenders have started money laundering risk assessments of the country’s “big four” cryptocurrency exchanges, with which they have contracts to provide real-name accounts.

European digital asset manager CoinShares hasannounced a partnership with German financial news portal Finanzen.net to bring crypto exchange traded products to investors with no trading fees.

The Bitcoin hashrate plunged over the weekend following a clampdown on cryptocurrency mining by the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan.

Following El Salvador’s move to become the first country in the world to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender, a Paraguayan congressman has announced plans to do the same in the South American nation next month.

The number of Australian women investing in cryptocurrency has grown this year from 7% in January to 11% in June.

The city’s mayor says it welcomes an exodus of miners from China amid a generalized clampdown on the industry.

Dashing hopes of greater regulatory clarity for the cryptocurrency industry, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently released annual regulatory agenda does not mention Bitcoin or cryptocurrency regulations.

Global securities index MSCI plans to launch a cryptocurrency index, according to CEO Henry Fernandez.

Institutional digital asset manager Grayscale announced today that it is exploring 13 more assets for its trusts, mainly related to decentralized finance.

Chinese stock trading app Futu Niuniu has suspended Chicago Mercantile Exchange cryptocurrency futures services and stopped supplying crypto market information.

Gorilla Mobile, Singapore’s newest mobile virtual network operator, is set to roll out blockchain technology to offer contract-free services.

Australian investors adversely impacted by repeated system failures on Binance are considering taking a class action lawsuit to recoup their losses.

The National Republican Congressional Committee in the US will begin accepting donations in cryptocurrency.

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission today revealed plans to ban cryptocurrency exchanges in the country from listing their own coins.

Yunphant is set to build a second headquarters for its blockchain company in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing, according to a report by China News.

SynFutures, a Singapore-based decentralized derivatives exchange, today announced the closure of a US$14 million series series-A funding round led by Polychain Capital.

PSB Academy, a private education institution in Singapore, ACCESS, a crypto non-profit, and learning platform Skilltree today announced the launch of a blockchain diploma program.

Former executives from online travel platforms have partnered with Binance-backed Travala.com to launch an Airbnb-like decentralized home-sharing platform.

The El Salvadorean Department of Labor and Social Welfare has had to clarify it is not within its purview to determine whether salaries can be paid in Bitcoin.

France-based PlanetWatch, which records air quality data on Algorand’s blockchain, has launched its first test sensor in Hong Kong.

Chinese homegrown public blockchain platform Chang’An Chain has been equipped with 96-core blockchain-specific chips, and 23 companies joined its ecosystem yesterday.

BitDAO — a new decentralized autonomous organization that aims to promote and propel the mass adoption of open finance and the decentralized tokenized economy — has announced the completion of a US$230 million private sale.

Nasdaq-listed Diginex, a Singapore-based digital asset financial services company, today announced a rebranding of its businesses, including the EQUOS cryptocurrency exchange, as EQONEX.

The Indian government and leading industry stakeholders are reviewing elements of legislation that proposed a ban on cryptocurrencies.

Fifty South Korean crypto exchanges have applied for certification under the country’s Information Security Management System — the first step in meeting stringent new crypto exchange regulations.

The ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN) is partnering with enterprise software firm R3 on a central bank digital currency (CBDC) sandbox.

Coinbase will add Shiba Inu, Chiliz and Keep Network to its professional trading platform with full trading beginning at 9am PT if liquidity conditions are met.