The cryptocurrency market remains quiet, with net inflows of just US$2.9 million last week, according to digital asset investment firm CoinShares’ weekly digital asset fund flows report. Fast facts “The summer doldrums are here, but in line with seasonal expectations,” wrote James Butterfill, a CoinShares’ investment strategist. Bitcoin investment products saw net outflows of US$10.4 […]

Hong Kong newspaper the South China Morning Post is making a foray into the world of non-fungible tokens in the latest move by a Hong Kong publisher to preserve content through blockchain technology. Fast facts The SCMP today released its “ARTIFACT” lite paper, a project designed to advocate “a standardized metadata structure for recording accounts […]

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the CEO of Binance — the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume — today said it was “never easy” running a crypto exchange in a series of tweets about key products Binance has launched over the past four years. Fast facts “Never easy,” Zhao tweeted, referring to an extract from the […]

The price of Dogecoin rose more than 15% at the weekend after Tesla CEO Elon Musk changed his Twitter profile picture to a photo featuring the dog breed whose likeness features on the memecoin. Fast facts Musk’s new picture featured the billionaire wearing mirrored, aviator-style glasses with a Shiba Inu dog reflected in them. Dogecoin’s […]

Decentralized lending platform Aave will build “Twitter on Ethereum,” its founder, Stani Kulechov, tweeted during the weekend. His message came seemingly in response to an announcement that Twitter founder Jack Dorsey was developing a Bitcoin-oriented fintech platform resembling Aave. Fast facts Dorsey, who is also CEO of payments company Square, tweeted that the firm was […]

The difficulty of mining Bitcoin has dropped a further 4.81% in its latest fortnightly adjustment, according to data from BTC.com, bringing it to the lowest point since January last year. Fast facts The decline marks the fourth consecutive drop in the difficulty rate for the world’s leading cryptocurrency — the longest slide in its history. […]

A round of crowdfunding for Ethereum documentary “Ethereum: The Infinite Garden,” which is set to feature Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Ethereum Foundation Executive Director Aya Miyaguchi, has exceeded its target of 750 ETH, raising 1,035.96 ETH (around US$2 million). Fast facts In the spirit of decentralization, the fundraising exercise, which ended on July 16, […]

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs have agreed to reschedule the deposition of William Hinman, the former head of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, to July 27. Fast facts Last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn ruled to authorize Hinman’s deposition to proceed, with a delay to allow the SEC […]

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission today issued a warning that Binance — the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume — was not allowed to conduct “regulated activity” in the city, specifically trading in stock tokens. Fast facts In its statement, the SFC said it was aware that Binance was offering stock tokens in […]

South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges have delisted an estimated 200 crypto coins this year, according to a lawmaker who also says the country’s financial authorities have not prepared appropriate standards for crypto listings and delistings. Fast facts People Party legislator Kwon Eun-hee made the statement in a proposed bill, asserting that 20 virtual asset exchanges in […]

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb announced today that Bithumb Global and Bithumb Singapore will no longer be licensed to use its name after their contracts expire on July 30. Industry experts say the South Korean business’s severing of links with eponymous operations outside the country is designed to prevent any association with possible future money […]

Hong Kong’s Financial Services Development Council — a cross-sector advisory body established by the government to engage the city’s financial services industry — is putting together industry feedback on the government’s legislative proposals related to virtual assets and virtual asset service providers. Fast facts In May, Hong Kong’s Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau released […]

Italy has become the latest jurisdiction to clamp down on Binance amid regulatory pressure around the world centered on the biggest crypto exchange by trading volume. Fast facts Binance Group companies are “are not authorized to provide investment services and activities” in Italy, not even through the exchange’s website, “whose sections called ‘derivatives’ and ‘Stock […]

Britain’s financial crimes enforcement agency is set to launch a campaign costing £11 million (US$15.2 million) to warn young people about the risks of investing in cryptocurrencies.  Fast facts Financial Conduct Authority CEO Nikhil Rathi said social media users aged 18 to 30 would be the target audience. “As with the GameStop episode, more people see investment as […]

Music magazine Rolling Stone Australia is releasing a cover as a non-fungible token to coincide with the release of the debut album by pop star Tones and I, according to a company blog post. The album is out today. Fast facts The cover on offer, which features the singer-songwriter, is Rolling Stone Australia’s debut cover […]

CEO Jack Dorsey announced that his mobile payments company Square has created a new division dedicated to decentralized finance (DeFi) on Bitcoin. For now, Dorsey is referring to the new Square Bitcoin DeFi platform as TBD, having not yet decided on an official name.  Fast facts The DeFi space, which has grown exponentially over last […]

Input Output Hong Kong, one of the companies behind the Cardano blockchain, today announced the successful upgrade of its Alonzo testnet to the Alonzo White network. Fast facts The Cardano blockchain is in the midst of a multi-phase Alonzo upgrade that will bring smart-contract functionality to the blockchain. Each phase — named blue, white and purple […]

Singapore-based crypto derivatives exchange Bybit today announced the launch of a new cryptocurrency spot trading platform. Fast facts The spot trading platform offered BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT, XRP/USDT and EOS/USDT trading pairs at its launch, and more will be introduced. Traders will be able to buy and sell crypto coins at current market prices once orders are […]

The Delhi High Court has sent a notice to government agencies and crypto exchanges to seek guidelines on crypto-related advertising on national television. Fast facts The division bench of Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh sought responses from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Securities and Exchange Board of India and crypto exchanges […]

The European Central Bank has launched a two-year project to prepare for the potential issuance of a digital euro. The central bank digital currency would be supported by an underlying architecture with a negligible environmental impact compared to Bitcoin’s hugely energy-intensive blockchain. Fast facts The ECB has begun the investigation phase of a digital euro […]

Australians will soon be able to use Visa cards to spend their Bitcoin holdings for the first time as the global payment giant is partnering with local fintech app CryptoSpend, the Australian Financial Review reports. Fast facts CryptoSpend allows payments to be made in several cryptocurrencies to any account in the Australian banking system, crediting […]

Privacy-focused cloud computing project Phala Network’s “canary network” Khala this week won the fourth Kusama parachain slot auction with 132,280 Kusama (KSM) contributed by 2,759 addresses. A canary network is an experimental environment for blockchain developers to build and test out their code as well as products and services. Fast facts Phala Network is designed […]

Ever wanted to own a piece of game-worn NBA merchandise, but without that well-worn fragrance? Now you can. Brooklyn Nets star Spencer Dinwiddie is selling a pair of shoes he has worn in-game as a non-fungible token, Forkast.News has learned. Fast facts The shoes on auction are from Dinwiddie’s K8IROS clothing range, and all proceeds […]

Turkey’s tax authorities have told companies with cryptocurrency-related business to report information on their ultimate controllers as a part of their tax filings. Fast facts An official document states that the requirement is part of meeting Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development guidelines on tax transparency. Crypto companies must submit their first filings by Aug. 31 […]

C.R.E.A.M. Finance’s Iron Bank today announced that it has facilitated a US$3.5 million loan with cypto art collective PleasrDAO using high-value non-fungible tokens as collateral, according to an announcement shared with Forkast.News. Fast facts Taipei-based C.R.E.A.M. Finance, part of the Yearn finance ecosystem, is a decentralized lending protocol for individuals, institutions and protocols to access […]

ICICI bank, one of India’s largest lenders, has warned its customers against using its international remittance services for transferring any form of cryptocurrency, the Bharat Express reports. Fast facts The Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India recently made an amendment to an international remittance form compelling customers to declare: “The above remittance is NOT […]

Singapore state-owned investment firm Temasek has announced record returns of S$381 billion (US$283 billion) for the financial year ending March 2021, up 24.5% from the year before. Fast facts According to its latest annual review, Temasek is “increasingly shaping” its portfolio in line with four trends: digitization, sustainable living, future of consumption, and longer lifespans. […]

Financial index provider S&P Dow Jones has launched five new cryptocurrency indices, according to a company statement, bringing its total number of crypto indices to eight. Fast facts The most significant of these new indices is the Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Market (BDM) Index, which includes more than 240 coins and can be used for a […]

The Ontario Securities Commission in Canada and Bybit, a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange headquartered in Singapore, have come to an agreement on the schedule for Bybit’s upcoming enforcement proceeding, according to the OSC. Fast facts The first hearing between Bybit and the OSC — the agency that oversees securities legislation in Canada’s largest province by population […]

London police announced on Tuesday they have seized a record £294 million (US $408 million) in cryptocurrency in less than a month, as part of an ongoing investigation into money laundering. Fast facts According to London police, their recent £180-million (US＄248.8 million) seizure in cryptocurrency comes less than three weeks after a £114-million (US＄157.5 million) […]

Non-fungible tokens have gained traction across Asia, but in Thailand, the phenomenon has taken on a distinctive local twist: amulets featuring a revered abbot of a Buddhist monastery that believers say ward off evil spirits. Fast facts Crypto Amulets is a company that develops NFT amulets on the Ethereum blockchain. Founded in March, it offers […]

Police in Aichi Prefecture in central Japan have arrested four men on suspicion of crypto investment fraud, according to a report by Kyodo News.  Fast facts According to a person familiar with the matter, it was suspected that a total of at least 6 billion yen (US$54 million) was collected from more than 20,000 people […]

A Shanghai procuratorate has held a seminar gathering judges, police, procurators and scholars to discuss how crimes related to cryptocurrency fit into China’s current legal framework. Fast facts The procuratorate said in a post on Monday that there had been confusion as to how to categorize cryptocurrencies. Some consider them data, while others regard them […]

Non-fungible token platform Nifty’s has announced a partnership with Warner Bros. to launch a giveaway of limited-edition NFTs of characters from the upcoming film “Space Jam: A New Legacy.” Fast facts Space Jam is one of the first major films for which collectible NFTs have been offered. Warner Bros. will give one limited-edition NFT to […]

Grayscale Investments — the world’s largest digital asset manager — has registered its Digital Large Cap Fund with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission following the filing of a registration statement Form 10 last year. Fast facts The company has also announced it is filing three additional registration statements via the same form for the […]

Cryptocurrency investment products saw a total outflow of US$4 million last week in the “quietest trading week since October 2020,” according to digital asset investment firm CoinShares’ weekly digital asset fund flows report. Fast facts Cryptocurrency markets remained soft, with Bitcoin seeing US$6.9 million of outflows. Trading volumes in investment products totaled just US$1.58bn for […]

The United Arab Emirates plans to implement a central bank digital currency as early as 2023 Gulf News reports, as outlined in a road map for the Gulf State’s economic future. Fast facts This 2023-2026 roadmap includes seven objectives — including the CBDC rollout — with the aim of making the UAE one of the […]

South Korean lenders Kbank, Nonghyup Bank and Shinhan Bank have decided to extend their affiliations with cryptocurrency exchanges until a crypto exchange law compliance deadline of Sept. 24. Fast facts Kbank’s contract ended in June, and Nonghyup and Shinhan’s end in late July. Instead of renewing their contracts with the exchanges, the three banks have […]

A 101.38-carat diamond sold at auction in Hong Kong has become the most physical object ever to have been purchased using cryptocurrency, Bloomberg reports. Fast facts The HK$95.1 million (US$12.3 million) sale price nevertheless fell short of the expected US$15 million price, auctioneer Sotheby’s said. A spokesperson for Sotheby’s told Forkast.News it was unable to […]

India-based cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX has announced the launch of its new Liqueth (LQTH) token, which will enable users to stake Ether — the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain. Fast facts Users will be able to stake ETH on Ethereum 2.0 from a minimum 0.1 ETH. LQTH, an ERC-20 token, will be generated and transferred […]

Despite opposition from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Ripple is pushing ahead with plans to question former SEC director William Hinman, the former head of the regulator’s Division of Corporation Finance, telling the judge overseeing discovery in the SEC v. Ripple Labs lawsuit that Hinman’s deposition has been rescheduled to July 19, according to a […]

The price of Axie Infinity blockchain game’s native token has been on a tear. Why is Small Love Potion (SLP), a token on the AXS ecosystem, also rising?

Regulators in South Korea clashed with blockchain game developers yesterday at an event entitled “The Future of Blockchain Games in Korea,” at which arguments centered on whether incorporating blockchain into gaming could lead to speculation and whether game developers were being discriminated against. Fast facts Blockchain games in South Korea include in-game items represented in […]

Cardano leapfrogged Bitcoin as the most held cryptocurrency on social trading platform eToro in the second quarter of 2021, the platform reported this week. Fast facts Bitcoin, which led the cryptocurrency bull run at the start of the year, saw a 42% increase in demand, but slipped from first to second place behind Cardano. Cardano […]

Circle, the issuer of stablecoin USD Coin, has announced that it will go public through a merger with special purpose acquisition company Concord Acquisition Corp in a deal valuing Circle at US$4.5 billion. Fast facts Law firm Brodsky & Smith has announced an investigation of the merger agreement, saying it may violate Concord’s fiduciary duties and the law. […]

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has written to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler enquiring about the SEC’s authority to regulate cryptocurrencies and asking what future congressional regulatory action is needed, according to a Reuters report. Fast facts Requesting a reply by July 28, Warren, who heads the Senate Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Policy, […]

El Salvador’s government may face challenges in making Bitcoin legal tender, as more than three-quarters of the country remains skeptical of the plan, according to a report by Reuters. Fast facts A survey of 1,233 people across El Salvador earlier this month found that 54% of people said Bitcoin adoption was “not at all correct.” […]

U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Gemini is planning to expand its Asia-Pacific operations to cash in on the region’s growth, the bourse’s Asia-Pacific Managing Director, Jeremy Ng, wrote in a blog post this week. Fast facts The new expansion is to capture the growth of its Singapore office after it was first established last year, he wrote.  […]

Solidifying its stance against cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, the Bank of Thailand declared yesterday that it does not support the use of cryptocurrency as a means of payment, likening crypto transactions to “barter trade” as the bank does not consider crypto legal tender. Fast facts Siritida Panomwon Na Ayudhya, assistant governor of payment systems policy for […]

The Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Banque de France today announced the successful completion of a wholesale cross-border payment and settlement experiment using multiple central bank digital currencies (m-CBDCs). Fast facts The experiment between the two central banks, supported by J.P. Morgan’s Onyx, simulated cross-border transactions and cross-currency transactions involving a Singapore dollar CBDC […]

Trading app Robinhood has seen a 369% increase in the number of women using its services in the past year, according to COO Gretchen Howard. According to a report by Business Insider, women now make up 30% of its customer base. Fast facts The result comes following Howard’s setting up of a task force to […]

China’s blockchain-based digital invoicing systems are being increasingly put into large-scale use in major cities and provinces.  Fast facts Blockchain-based digital invoicing is being used in multiple sectors in Hainan Province, China’s only free-trade port. Digital invoicing systems are in use in 2,795 organizations, including courts, schools and banks, according to Securities Daily, a Chinese […]

The Bank of Jamaica’s much-anticipated central bank digital currency will launch next month, according to a report by the Jamaica Observer. Fast facts Previously due to launch in May, the CBDC will initially be implemented through the National Commercial Bank — the biggest financial institution in the country — before being expanded to other banks […]

Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing has issued a seizure order against 84 cryptocurrency addresses associated with Palestinian resistance group Hamas as it looks to confiscate holdings of Bitcoin, Tether, Dogecoin and other cryptos. Fast facts “This action comes after a sizable uptick in cryptocurrency donations to Hamas in May following increased fighting between […]

More than US$1 billion was spent on crypto-linked Visa cards in the first six months of 2021, according to a Visa blog post this week. Fast facts Apart from enabling customers to buy cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin using its cards, Visa has partnered with 50 crypto platforms on card programs — such as Coinbase, the largest […]

An Argentine lawmaker presented a bill this week to allow employees and those exporting services abroad to be paid in cryptocurrency, Yahoo News reports. Fast facts Congressman José Luis Ramón said that he presented this bill to allow Argentina’s people — whose local currency, the peso, currently suffers from roughly 50% inflation a year — […]

Chinese blockchain company Easy Visible has disclosed a loss of more than 11.52 billion yuan (US$1.78 billion) for 2020 in an annual report filed two months late. The loss equates to 1.74 times the company’s July 5 market value of 6.66 billion yuan. Fast facts On May 6 the company was suspended from trading on the […]

Iran has continued a suspension of cryptocurrency mining, with Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri urging all licensed miners to stop operating as the country continues to suffer power outages, according to a report by U.Today that cited a Farsi-language tweet by the Tasnim News Agency. Fast facts Jahangiri said the ongoing electricity supply problems could last […]

China’s central bank has reiterated its ban on cryptocurrency trading and yesterday said it had ordered a company in Beijing suspected of offering software services for crypto trading to shut down as part of an ongoing nationwide crackdown on the crypto industry. Fast facts A Beijing office of the People’s Bank of China and a […]

The chief of South Korea’s main finance sector regulator has spoken out again against banks that have requested exemptions from anti-money laundering compliance rules in their contracts with cryptocurrency exchanges. Fast facts Eun Sung-soo, the chairman of the Financial Services Commission said yesterday: “Banks should use their own judgement to make decisions and apply for […]

Mixed martial arts organization UFC and Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com today announced a partnership that will see Crypto.com become UFC’s first global official fight kit partner. Fast facts Apart from Crypto.com’s logo placement on UFC fight kits, Crypto.com will, as UFC’s cryptocurrency platform partner, have a brand presence inside the Octagon during all pay-per-view […]

A ransomware attack on U.S. software company Kaseya has likely affected between 800 and 1,500 businesses around the world, the company said in a statement on Monday, as the group claiming responsibility for the attacks demands US$70 million in Bitcoin to release user’s data. Fast facts Cybercrime group REvil, which is linked to Russia, claimed […]

Ethereum’s long-awaited London hard fork — which earlier was expected to go live this month — is now going to launch on August 4 between 13:00 UTC and 17:00 UTC with block 12,965,000, Ethereum developer Tim Beiko said in a recent blog post. Fast facts Following the successful release of its three testnets, Ropsten, Goerli and […]

Huobi Eco Chain, an open-source, decentralized public blockchain, today announced 11 new partners, including Hong Kong-based blockchain gaming company Animoca Brands and crypto data website CoinMarketCap — which is owned by Huobi rival Binance — that will run validating nodes to improve the stability and decentralization of the network. Fast facts Other new validators include […]

CoinShares, Europe’s largest digital asset investment firm, today announced that is acquiring Elwood Technologies’ Exchange Traded Fund Index Business and its equity research unit in a US$17 million equity swap. Fast facts The deal will see CoinShares adding over US$1 billion in assets under management through the Invesco Elwood Global Blockchain Equity UCITS ETF, which […]

A legislator from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea today announced a proposal to defer tax on virtual assets for one year, after which income derived from cryptocurrencies would be treated as financial investment income for tax purposes. Fast facts Noh Woong-rae proposed deferring the levying of tax on income from crypto transactions until January […]

The supply of BTC held on exchanges has hit its lowest point since January, suggesting the worst of the coin’s selloff is over, according to data from crypto analytics firm Santiment. Fast facts Santiment tweeted yesterday: “The 6-month low is a promising sign, as it generally will indicate there is a decreased risk of more […]

Global resort group Pavilions Hotels & Resorts will allow its customers to use crypto to book stays as of tomorrow, its managing director for Asia has told Forkast.News. Fast facts Scot Toon said Pavilions had partnered with British payment service Coindirect to allow guests paying in more than 40 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, to […]

Japan’s plan to launch a digital yen is likely to come into sharper focus in late 2022, a lawmaker overseeing the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s digital currency strategy has told Reuters.  Fast facts The Bank of Japan launched the first phase of a central bank digital currency experiment in April. It hopes to move to […]

British lender Barclays is preventing its customers from making payments to Binance following a regulatory crackdown on the crypto exchange by the country’s Financial Conduct Authority last month, the Financial Times reports. Fast facts The bank said the move would not impact customers’ ability to withdraw funds from Binance, and that it would continue to […]

Institutional sentiment appears to be shifting back to being positive toward crypto as crypto investment products saw inflows of US$63 million for the first time in five weeks, according to a report by CoinShares, Europe’s largest digital asset investment firm. Previously, there were four straight weeks of crypto fund outflows. Fast facts: “For the first […]

In the wake of crackdowns on crypto mining in China, investment firm IBC Group has announced it plans to shut all BTC and Ethereum mining operations in the country and relocate elsewhere.