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India shortlists nine banks to start CBDC trial from Nov. 1

India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will pilot the country’s first digital rupee in the wholesale segment (e₹-W) from Nov. 1 and has identified nine banks for participation in the trial. 

Singapore’s digital marketplace Alta buys Hg Exchange

Singapore-based Alta, a digital marketplace for alternative investments, has acquired private digital securities exchange Hg Exchange (HGX) for an undisclosed amount. 

Singapore’s DBS Bank trials use of digital SingDollar with vouchers

DBS Bank, the largest lender in Southeast Asia, has partnered the Singapore government’s Open Government Products (OGP) to pilot purpose-bound money-based vouchers (PBM) using tokenized Singapore dollars to facilitate live transactions with selected merchants. 

Markets: Bitcoin, Ether fall; DOGE leads losses across top 10 crypto

Bitcoin fell in evening trade in Asia along with almost all other top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, with the sole gain seen in Polkadot’s uptick.

South Korea’s Wemade to remedy WEMIX token after ‘investment warning’ by crypto exchanges

South Korea-based blockchain game developer Wemade is working on a fix for WEMIX after four major crypto exchanges in the country added the cryptocurrency to an “investment warning” list for inaccurately reporting circulation numbers.

Terra CEO Do Kwon faces lawsuit in Singapore, next hearing on Wednesday

A hearing is scheduled in Singapore on a lawsuit filed against Terraform Labs’ Do Kwon on behalf of investors who lost about US$57 million in the collapse of Terra-LUNA.

Fortune favors the brave? One year on from Crypto.com’s ad with Matt Damon

Trading volume on cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has slumped about 90% in the 12 months since the company’s “fortune favors the brave” ad.

Markets: Bitcoin, Ether, Cardano, XRP fall; BNB gains on Binance Twitter investment

Bitcoin and Ether fell in Monday morning trading in Asia, along with most other top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins.

Visa’s trademark filings hint at launch of crypto wallet

Visa International Service Association on Oct. 22 filed two trademark applications that hinted at plans of launching a crypto wallet.

Meta’s one-year anniversary: Virtual reality meets tough reality

It is the one-year anniversary of Facebook’s rebrand as Meta, a major step in the company’s foray into virtual reality and Web3. However, in actual reality, not everything has gone to plan for the platform’s new parent company.

Markets: Bitcoin, Ether drop; ADA leads decline across top 10 crypto

Bitcoin dropped nearly 3% in afternoon trading in Asia. All other top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, declined following a strong two-day rally by most tokens.

SBF: FTX stablecoin, ‘Second Great Stablecoin War’ are coming

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the crypto exchange FTX, says he hopes FTX will soon join most other major exchanges in having launched a stablecoin.

Ethereum’s LooksRare latest NFT marketplace to make creator royalties optional

LooksRare is the latest NFT marketplace to make paying creator royalty fees optional as the industry struggles amid an ongoing slump in the NFT market.

Markets: Bitcoin, Ether fall; Dogecoin gains as Elon Musk’s Twitter buyout moves ahead

Bitcoin’s recent price gains came to a halt in Friday morning trading in Asia though it remained above the US$20,000 support line.

World’s largest Bitcoin miner Core Scientific’s stock tumbles amid liquidity crisis

The Nasdaq-listed company expects to deplete its cash resources by the end of this year.

Markets: Bitcoin, Ether rise; Dogecoin leads gains across most top 10 cryptos

Bitcoin extended its rally and rose nearly 2%, with top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, mostly higher on the day, led by Dogecoin’s 18% gain as Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter neared completion.

Meta AR/VR arm adds to mounting losses for Facebook parent company

Meta’s metaverse division Reality Labs lost US$3.7 billion in the third quarter of this year, bringing its accumulated losses in 2022 to US$9.4 billion.

More than just a JPEG? Digital Art Fair Hong Kong explores NFTs for data streaming and display

Pixelated pictures and cartoonish drawings have typically dominated the world of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), but some exhibits at Hong Kong’s Xperience art fair show new means of applying the technology.

Markets: Bitcoin price nears US$21,000 amid market rally as Ether, Dogecoin lead gains

Bitcoin continued its price run higher in Thursday morning trading in Asia as it neared US$21,000. Ether and the rest of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, also rose. The total crypto market cap exceeded US$1 trillion for the first time since mid-September. Leading memecoin Dogecoin was the best performer, while the […]

Markets: Bitcoin price hits three-week high; top 10 cryptos gain, led by Ether

Bitcoin posted a three-week high in afternoon trading in the Asia time zone. Ether led gains across all top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with a 12% surge. Cardano’s ADA and Solana’s token also registered double-digit gains.

S.Korea’s Shinhan Securities lays groundwork toward hoped-for crypto expansion

As a leading financial institution of South Korea, Shinhan is gearing up for business expansion into crypto — while a local ban remains on the books.

Markets: Bitcoin price back above US$20,000, Ether jumps as U.K. votes to regulate crypto

Bitcoin was trading above US$20,000 for the first time in almost three weeks on Wednesday morning trading in Asia.

Reddit NFT trading volume hits all-time daily high as avatars sell out

Reddit non-fungible token (NFT) avatar trade volumes hit an all-time high, with sales exceeding US$2.5 million in the past 24 hours.

Markets: Bitcoin little changed, Ether rises, top 10 cryptos mixed, XRP leads losers

Bitcoin traded flat on Tuesday afternoon in Asia hours, while Ether edged higher in a mixed day for prices among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins. XRP led the losers for the second consecutive day. Polygon’s Matic token held onto recent gains and Dogecoin also moved higher.

Taiwan singer Annie Yi taps LGBT NFTs with artist son to advocate inclusion

The singer-actress and son Harrison Yu said they launched the Theirsverse NFT brand in New York to engage marginalized groups in the early building of Web 3.0.

Letter to Zuck: Meta, metaverse dreams must come down to earth

Meta shareholder Altimeter Capital’s CEO Brad Gerstner wrote a letter to Mark Zuckerberg suggesting a cut in headcount and in metaverse investments.

The crypto industry needs to do more to help ordinary investors

Cryptocurrency was created to be accessible to the masses. So why are retail investors getting shut out from the best analytical and trading tools?

Markets: Bitcoin falls as mining difficulty hits record high, rest of crypto top 10 also decline

Bitcoin dipped in Tuesday morning trading in Asia, but held above the US$19,000 support line where it has been fluctuating for several weeks.

Scammers Paradise?

Crypto crimes are costing Hong Kong billions every year – but what’s being done about it and what can the rest of the world learn from it?

Markets: Bitcoin gains, Polygon leads top 10 crypto; Hong Kong stocks plunge

Bitcoin rose in Monday evening trading in Asia in a mixed day across the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins. Ether gained more than 2% and Polygon had a strong run up of more than 6%. XRP fell. Different picture for Hong Kong stocks, where the Hang Seng Index plunged to lows last […]

SEC asks court to deny Ripple motion for summary judgment in XRP lawsuit

The U.S. SEC has filed a legal rebuttal to Ripple’s motion for summary judgment, a day after Ripple took a similar move against the SEC.

‘Chinese Netflix’ iQIYI taps smart contract ERC-3475 to resolve copyright disputes

iQIYI, one of China’s largest online video platforms with over 100 million subscribers, is tapping Ethereum smart contract standard ERC-3475 to solve copyright-related issues, according to a press release on Sunday from the standard’s inventor, decentralized bond protocol DeBond.

Markets: Bitcoin, Ether, Polygon gain; US equities see largest gains since June

Bitcoin and Ether were both gaining in Monday morning trading in Asia, as were all other top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins.

Reinventing banking: Why is Standard Chartered so drawn to Web3?

Institutional adoption of Web3 in finance means getting traditional banks involved, which will in turn reshape the way banks work, says SC Ventures’ Alex Manson.

India Web3 talent driven away by lack of regulatory clarity, industry body says

India’s lack of regulatory clarity on crypto and Web 3.0 is a driving force of critical human capital flight, according to a new report by Nasscom.

Markets: Bitcoin holds above US$19,000 support but top 10 cryptos fall

Bitcoin traded at US$19,045.18 at 4 p.m. in Hong Kong, while Ether fell 0.48% to US$1,286.01, according to data from CoinMarketCap. 

The Lord of the Rings NFT comes with a Web3 AR movie journey in 4K

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. will launch Lord of The Rings non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Eluvio, as part of the entertainment giant’s Web 3.0 movie experience coined “Movieverse.”

NFT marketplaces ditching standard royalty fees labeled “short-sighted”

After Solana’s Magic Eden marketplace said it was bowing to pressure and making payment of royalties “optional” to NFT creators, industry insiders tell Forkast the policy is wrongheaded and damaging.

Software maker Hancom raided amid suspicions over token Arowana, slush fund

South Korean police raided local software company Hancom and home of chairman Kim Sang-cheol on Thursday amid speculation that Kim created a slush fund using crypto token Arowana, according to local media reports.

Markets: Bitcoin dips, 30-day volatility at 2 year low; Ether falls, Dogecoin gains

Bitcoin fell, but traded back above the US$19,000 support level in Friday morning trading in Asia. Ether lost ground along with most other top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, but leading memecoin Dogecoin rose and Tron also edged higher. See related article: Twitter user prevents 200 billion BitBTC bridge exploit, highlighting major vulnerability […]

Sachin Tendulkar joins NFT market Rario’s cricket legends roster

Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricket legend and former captain of the national cricket team, has partnered with cricket non-fungible token (NFT) platform Rario to launch exclusive digital collectibles. See related article: 55,000 Meta Cricket League NFTs sell out in nine minutes Fast facts Rario has existing partnerships with cricket icons, like Zaheer Khan, Kevin Pietersen, Jonty […]

Markets: Bitcoin, Ether slip amid muted performance of top 10 cryptos; XRP leads gains

The crypto market continued its sluggish performance during Thursday evening trading in Asia, with Bitcoin and Ether lower and XRP’s 0.63% rise marking the biggest gain among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins. See related article: Japan eases token vetting process to expand crypto offerings: report Fast facts Bitcoin fell 0.35% in […]

Terra CEO Do Kwon, wanted in South Korea, left Singapore and flew to parts unknown via Dubai

Kwon Do-hyung, the cofounder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Terraform Labs Pte. Ltd., also known as Do Kwon, left Singapore last month and landed in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, South Korean prosecutors confirmed with Forkast.

Markets: Bitcoin, Ether fall along with rest of crypto top 10; Uniswap gains

Bitcoin and Ether both fell in Thursday morning trading in Asia and with the exception of stablecoins, all other top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization lost ground.

Markets: Bitcoin, Ether fall with top 10 cryptos, XRP slumps

Bitcoin fell in Wednesday afternoon trading in Asia along with the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, with XRP holders suffering the steepest losses at 3.93%.

Moola Market DeFi hacker returns US$9 mln in stolen funds for bounty

The perpetrator of the US$9.1 million Moola Market exploit returned close to the entirety of the loot in exchange for an undisclosed ransom on Wednesday, according to the project’s social media update.   See related article: ‘Hacktober’ continues with US$1 mln taken from BitKeep token swap service Fast facts Decentralized finance (DeFi) project Moola Markets announced […]

EU targets Bitcoin with energy efficiency labeling for crypto

This isn’t the first time the bloc has examined cracking down on Bitcoin mining, and it comes amid a growing push from regulators to examine the industry’s carbon footprint.

Markets: Bitcoin, Ether fall as EU considers crackdown on energy-intensive crypto mining

Bitcoin and Ether both fell in Wednesday morning trading in Asia amid news the European Union is considering a bill to restrict the mining of energy-intensive cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin. Most of the rest of the cryptocurrency top 10 by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, also declined, with the exception of Polygon. See related article: Bitcoin, […]

Ripple devs push for Ethereum smart contract compatibility with XRPL sidechain

The first XRP Ledger (XRPL) Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible sidechain has gone live on the parallel test network, XRPL Devnet, Ripple developers announced on Monday.

Markets: Bitcoin price rises amid sweeping gains across top 10 crypto, Polygon increases 7%

Markets: Bitcoin price rises amid sweeping gains across top 10 crypto, Polygon increases 7%

Markets: Bitcoin, Ether rise; Polygon, Solana lead gainers among the top 10 tokens

Bitcoin and Ether rose as all top 10 tokens by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, gained in Tuesday morning trading in Asia. Polygon led the list. Solana followed on news a leading non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace will suspend transaction fees. See related article: Gold commodities market could enter the blockchain, according to new industry initiative Fast […]

Mastercard to let banks offer crypto services to clients

Global payments company Mastercard intends to enable financial institutions to offer crypto services to customers with its new Crypto Source program. See related article: Binance partners Mastercard to launch card in Argentina for bill payment, everyday purchases Fast facts The program will allow financial institutions to tap into Mastercard’s partners to buy, hold and sell […]

Gold commodities market could enter the blockchain, according to new industry initiative

A partnership between the World Gold Council (WGC) and Swiss-based DLT infrastructure and application provider aXedras Group could make gold trading more accessible and streamlined, though insiders are skeptical, according to a Bloomberg report Sunday.  See related article: Diamond Standard raises US$30 mln to ramp up tokenized asset distribution Fast facts The WGC’s initiative “Gold247” […]

Markets: Bitcoin inches up, most top 10 cryptos stable after rollercoaster week

Bitcoin inched up slightly Monday, with the majority of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization remaining stable, the only considerable price change coming from XRP’s 3% drop.  See related article: South Korea seeks software to track US$7.2B in illegal crypto Fast facts Bitcoin rose 0.83% in the past 24 hours to trade at US$19,296 […]

Why the crypto bear market can be a bull for innovation

The market may be in the doldrums, but there’s no better time to clean house and build for the future, writes Clayton Roche of UMA. Here are 5 areas of opportunity.

Magic Eden, largest Solana-based NFT platform, makes royalty fees optional

The platform said the move was in line with growing market trends, but some are concerned about what it means for the industry.

North Korea’s Lazarus Group attacks Japanese crypto firms, police say

North Korea-backed hacker group Lazarus has been sending phishing emails to Japanese crypto exchange employees to infect their computers with malware, causing some companies to have their systems hacked and cryptocurrencies stolen, Japan’s National Police Agency announced last week. See related article: DPRK hackers sneak US$52 mln in crypto into S.Korean exchanges: Chainalysis Fast facts […]

Markets: Bitcoin rises as Ether leads gains in crypto top 10

Bitcoin and Ether were trading higher along with top 10 tokens by market capitalization excluding stablecoins in Monday morning trading in Asia, as the world’s largest cryptocurrency remained above US$19,000. XRP was the only token on that list to fall. See related article: Ethereum supply would have grown by 350,000 tokens under PoW Fast facts […]

Markets: Bitcoin, Ether rise along with all top 10 crypto as inflation sell-off turns bullish

Bitcoin rose in Friday evening trading in Asia to jump past its US$19,000 support line, with Ether and all other top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization gaining, led by XRP.  See related article: Ethereum price undervalued since The Merge: report  Fast facts Bitcoin gained 3.33% in the past 24 hours to trade at US$19,647 at […]

Crypto hackers on track for bonanza year as theft surges, Chainalysis says

Decentralized finance sites are the preferred choice of hackers as crypto heists look to be on course to hit a record high this year.

South Korea seeks software to track US$7.2B in illegal crypto

South Korea’s Supreme Prosecutors’ Office is looking to hunt down illegal crypto funds by purchasing a software program that tracks down crypto transactions and sources, a local media outlet reported Friday. See related article: DPRK hackers sneak US$52 mln in crypto into S.Korean exchanges: Chainalysis Fast facts The tracking program is expected to be used […]

Markets: Bitcoin rebounds with equities after inflation data sparks initial sell off

Bitcoin traded back above US$19,000 in Friday morning trading in Asia, rebounding with U.S. equities from a sharp drop that followed a September inflation reading in the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) report on Thursday that was higher than expected. BNB and memecoin Shiba Inu were two other tokens among the top 10 by market […]

Markets: Bitcoin holds $19,000 (just); Cardano, XRP lead losses among top 10 crypto

Bitcoin dipped but just held the US$19,000 support line in Thursday evening trading in Asia. Excluding stablecoins, all other cryptocurrencies on the top 10 list by market capitalization fell. Cardano led the declines. See related articles: Judge grants amicus requests to support Ripple in lawsuit with SEC Fast facts Bitcoin fell 0.52% in the past […]

‘High risk’ crypto activity most prevalent in Eastern Europe amid Russia-Ukraine war: Chainalysis

‘Risky or illicit’ transactions represent the highest rate of any region measured by the blockchain analytics firm.

China digital currency transaction volume soars to nearly US$14B

China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) has reached 100 billion yuan (US$13.9 billion) in transactions as of Aug. 31, 2022, the People’s Bank of China said via a verified WeChat account. See related article: Digital yuan tops US$12B transactions in 2022 so far  Fast facts See related article: China to speed up, expand digital yuan […]

Binance says BSC hard fork successful after hack

Binance Global Inc., the operator of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, says it successfully completed a hard fork of its BNB Smart Chain (BSC) network around 5 p.m. Hong Kong on Wednesday. See related article: Binance to hard fork BNB Smart Chain amid heated debate around decentralization Fast facts A hard fork is a split […]

Markets: Bitcoin, Ether prices rise; BNB little changed following BSC hard fork

Bitcoin gained in Thursday morning trading in Asia, with the world’s largest cryptocurrency holding above support at US$19,000. Ether, second on the list of top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, also gained. Other coins on the top 10 moving higher included Solana, XRP and Tron. Cardano fell. See related article: Binance to hard […]

Markets: Bitcoin, Ether inch up; XRP rebounds following positive lawsuit ruling

Bitcoin inched up today to remain above the US$19,000 support line amid mixed results among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, led in gains by Tron. XRP rebounded from losses yesterday. See related articles:  Binance to hard fork BNB Smart Chain amid heated debate around decentralization  Fast facts Bitcoin gained 0.17% in […]

Binance to hard fork BNB Smart Chain amid heated debate around decentralization

The crypto world has been watching how one of the world’s largest blockchains responds to a hack last week and the questions it raises about the state of decentralization in the industry.

Archives

BSC to hard fork on Wednesday after US$100 mln exploit

BNB Smart Chain (BSC), the blockchain network launched by the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, will perform a hard fork and upgrade on Wednesday as a fix following an Oct. 6 vulnerability, according to an announcement on Tuesday. See related article: BNB Chain back online after around $100 mln lost in possible exploit Fast facts […]

Are NFTs securities? Bored Ape creator Yuga Labs faces SEC probe

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly probing Yuga Labs, Inc., the company behind the top-selling non-fungible token (NFT) collection Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), for its issuance of the digital assets, according to a Bloomberg report.  See related article: SEC fines Kim Kardashian US$1.26 mln for promoting EthereumMax Fast facts The report […]