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Search results: Stablecoin

Tether says commercial paper holdings now less than US$50 mln

Tether Holdings Limited, the issuer behind the world’s largest stablecoin USDT, reduced its holdings of commercial paper to less than US$50 million as of Sept. 30, according to a tweet by Tether Chief Technology Officer Paulo Ardoino. See related article: SEC fines Tether’s former auditor US$1 mln over accounting malpractice Fast facts In the tweet, Ardoino also […]

China’s international blockchain push may face Huawei-like obstacles

China spent billions on its ‘belt and road’ infrastructure network to expand trade so what are its plans for a domestic and international digital infrastructure built on blockchain?

US Treasury says Congress needs to act to mitigate crypto risk to stability

The Financial Stability Oversight Council report says the lack of clear regulations in the cryptocurrency industry could pose a risk to overall U.S. financial stability and urges congress to write up new rules of the road.

How will the crypto tax debate play out in the UK?

Like many nations, the UK is formulating new rules and guidelines for crypto taxation. Will they help or hinder its crypto hub aspirations?

3 reasons crypto will spring back after Crypto Winter

The crypto market has been down for months, but the industry’s long-term future is brighter than ever, writes Guilhem Chaumont of Flowdesk. Here’s why.

Markets: Bitcoin price falls below US$19,000, XRP down, BNB only gainer in crypto top 10

Bitcoin was back under US$19,000 in Monday morning trading in Asia, a level it has fluctuated around for most of the past two weeks, boxed in by global macroeconomic concerns that have also hit equity markets. Ether also fell. BNB was the only gainer among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. See related article: […]

India’s ED freezes more crypto in E-Nuggets money laundering case

India’s financial crime fighting agency has frozen additional cryptocurrencies worth around US$58,000 as part of an ongoing money laundering probe against mobile gaming application E-Nuggets and its former executive. See related article:  Indian authorities probe alleged $125 mln money laundering cases involving crypto, report says Fast facts The additional cryptocurrencies include WRX, the utility token […]

Terraform cofounder Daniel Shin to testify in South Korean parliament

South Korea’s National Assembly intends to get to the bottom of the Terra-LUNA debacle in its next audit in October along with several other issues surrounding the local crypto industry.

Tokenize plans acquisitions, fund raising to build exchange network

As the crypto slump drives job cuts and worse, some exchanges are seeing opportunity for expansion in the downturn, call it the fortune-favors-the-brave mantra.

Cryptocurrency crowd shrugs off market woes at upbeat TOKEN2049 conference

In the first of a two-part report on this year’s cryptocurrency gathering in Singapore, defiance outshone defeatism despite industry’s struggles.

South Korea’s investigation of Do Kwon ‘unfair’: Terraform Labs

Terraform Labs Pte. Ltd., the firm behind the collapse of the Terra-LUNA stablecoin project said South Korean prosecutors’ measures in pursuing its chief executive officer Do Kwon violate his basic rights under Korean law.

USDC coming to five additional blockchain ecosystems

Circle Internet Financial, Inc., the global financial technology company behind the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin, will soon be making the token available on five additional blockchains, Chief Product Officer Nikhil Chandhok said on Wednesday at the company’s Converge22 conference.  See related article: U.S. Fed has growing interest in CBDCs, says Jeng at Crypto Council for […]

Kevin O’Leary to launch Web3 fund with backing from UAE; pushes back on Jamie Dimon

Kevin O’Leary plans to launch a Web 3.0-focused investment fund called Cipher, the Shark Tank investor told Forkast Editor-in-Chief Angie Lau at the Converge22 blockchain and cryptocurrency conference on Wednesday in San Francisco.  See related article: Capital gains: How Web3 property rights can transform the digital economy Fast facts “We’ve got to get away from this […]

Australia gears up for state-backed digital currency trials

Top blockchain and crypto news: Digital dollar didgeridoos. Bitcoin softens as sterling sinks. ‘World’s dumbest’ crypto criminals nabbed in China.

Do Kwon denies cashout allegations

The man behind Terra-LUNA contradicts the basis of the new action South Korean authorities took to corner and locate him.

Alex Mashinsky steps down as Celsius CEO

Alex Mashinsky, the chief executive officer of cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network LLC which has filed for bankruptcy, has resigned from his position, according to a statement released by the company on Tuesday. See related article: Regulator alleges Celsius resembled Ponzi scheme in new filing Fast facts The company’s chief financial officer, Chris Ferraro, has been […]

BIS mBridge cross-border CBDC project concludes pilot, advisor says

Hong Kong’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) project with three other central banks and the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) has completed its pilot, an advisor from the BIS and a specialist from Thailand’s central bank said on Tuesday. See related article: Future of CBDCs & Stablecoins Fast facts The mBridge pilot saw 20 commercial […]

SEC fines Tether’s former auditor US$1 mln over accounting malpractice

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday it filed and settled a US$1 million fine against Friedman LLP, Tether’s former auditing firm, over “serious violations of the federal securities laws.” See related article: What is the right approach to regulating stablecoins?  Fast facts See related article: Should Tether’s shrinking cash reserves be cause for […]

Upbit exchange to use LUNC fees to set up crypto monitoring center

Upbit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is using fees it collected from Luna Classic (LUNC) transactions to establish a crypto monitoring center in a gesture to help compensate for the losses from the Terra-LUNA debacle, according to local media reports. See related article: Interpol issues red notice for Do Kwon, says South Korean prosecutor Fast […]

Polkadot eyes increasing transaction speed by 100 to 1,000 times

Polkadot updated its roadmap on Monday, expecting to deploy a technique called “asynchronous backing” on its development-testing network Kusama before the end of 2022, as a prelude to upgrading the mainnet for boosting the transaction speed. See related article: Markets: Bitcoin price back above US$19,000; Ether, Polkadot gain; XRP leads losers Fast facts See related […]

Terra Classic surges 50% as Binance offers token burning mechanism

Terra Classic (LUNC), the original crypto token of the Terra-LUNA blockchain that collapsed back in May, gained over 50% on Tuesday following an announcement by Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume, that it would support a burn mechanism for the network. See related article: For South Korea, making Do Kwon pay for his […]

Markets: Bitcoin price back above US$19,000; Ether, Polkadot gain; XRP leads losers

Bitcoin broke above the US$19,000 resistance level in Tuesday morning trading in Asia, as most other tokens on the top 10 list by market capitalization gained ground. XRP continued its slide from Monday to lead the decliners, but remains higher over the past seven days. See related article: Markets: XRP reverses gains, Bitcoin stuck under […]

California governor vetoes bill requiring crypto-related businesses to obtain special license

A bill that proposed a regulatory and licensing framework for crypto companies was rejected by Gov. Gavin Newsom amid a broader national debate concerning the policing of digital assets.

Interpol issues red notice for Do Kwon, says South Korean prosecutor

South Korea is pursuing different options to get custody of Do Kwon as the Terraform Labs CEO faces charges for his alleged involvement in the multibillion collapse of the Terra-LUNA stablecoin project.

South Korea’s Busan city wants to be blockchain central. Did everyone get the memo?

The coastal city was a prominent manufacturer of footwear, fabric and other light industries during the 1970s and 80s, and then grew into one of the world’s biggest container ports. Now it’s trying to reinvent itself in the digital world of blockchain.

Markets: Cryptocurrencies up amid Cardano’s Vasil hard fork, XRP leads gains

Bitcoin bounced back above US$19,000 in Friday morning trading in Asia as Cardano announced a successful hard fork to their upgraded Vasil network. XRP led gains among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. See related article: Cryptocurrency lobby group gets court approval to weigh in on SEC vs Ripple’s XRP lawsuit Fast facts Bitcoin […]

Binance taps ex-U.S. senator Max Baucus to chair global advisory board

Binance has tapped Max Baucus, a former U.S. senator and ambassador to China, to chair its new global advisory board, to advise the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange on regulatory, political and social issues. See related article: Binance stablecoin conversion controversial, but what does it mean for users? Fast facts Binance said on Thursday in a […]

U.S. Fed has growing interest in CBDCs, says Jeng at Crypto Council for Innovation

Linda Jeng, chief regulatory officer and general counsel at the Crypto Council for Innovation said the U.S. has seen the writing on the wall and is expanding the conversation about cryptocurrency, in comments at Forkast’s “Crypto Rising: CBDCs & Stablecoins: The Asia Perspective.”

Terra chief faces arrest as South Korea ramps up global manhunt

Top blockchain and crypto news: Where is Do Kwon hiding out? Ethereum Merge mood fading fast. China’s digital yuan draws scrutiny Down Under.

Markets: Dogecoin reenters top 10 tokens by market cap, Bitcoin and Ethereum up

Crypto markets continued their recovery streak in Tuesday evening trade in Asia with Bitcoin rising over 4% in the past 24 hours to be the second-highest gainer among the top 10 tokens by market capitalization, only behind XRP. Despite a 4.3% recovery, Ethereum was still down over 20% over the past seven days in the […]

Australia Senator says China’s CBDC may threaten national security

Amid the worsening relationship with China, one Australian Senator is trying to address possible national security concerns that may arise from Beijing’s Central Bank Digital Currency project.

Aptos offers US$1 mln bug bounty for catching critical vulnerabilities

Aptos, a public chain launched by former members of failed Meta stablecoin project Diem, announced Friday a prize of up to US$1 million to encourage developers to find major vulnerabilities in the blockchain network, as the launch of the highly-anticipated blockchain fell slightly behind schedule. See related article: Binance makes additional investment in Aptos  Fast […]

Cross-chain DOT staking dApp wins Polkadot’s North America hackathon

A decentralized application (dApp) “XCM DOT Autostake” developed by a team called Entity 54 won the grand prize at Polkadot’s North American hackathon, Polkadot announced on Sunday. See related article: Polkadot Defi hub Acala burns some 1.3 bln mis-minted stablecoins Fast facts See related article: Polkadot to hold first hackathon centered in Latin America 

Will Ethereum ever surpass Bitcoin? This is “The Flippening”

Many believe Ethereum is destined to overtake Bitcoin’s dominance in an event known as “The Flippening.” Find out if Ethereum’s reign is inevitable in this Forkast explainer.

Terra CEO Do Kwon faces ‘illegal alien’ status in Singapore as Seoul cancels passport

Prosecutors investigating the man behind the US$37 billion wipeout of the Terra-LUNA cryptocurrency project are raising the stakes to get him back to South Korea.

SEC’s Gensler says proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies may be securities

When is a cryptocurrency a security and when is it not? Financial regulators around the world are raising that question. The answer that comes out of the U.S. may set the tone, but South Korea is also ahead in tackling it.

S.Korea finance regulator: crypto can be subject to capital markets law

South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) governor Lee Bok-hyun says he disagrees with the view that crypto cannot be seen as financial investment products or securities, while revealing he assisted local prosecutors in designating Terra-LUNA tokens as securities, according to local media reports. See related article: Securities or not? South Korea to evaluate Terra’s LUNA […]

Women in India start to plug into cryptocurrency trading

Crypto exchanges in India say the number of female investors isn’t huge, but it is growing even as prices slide and new taxes eat into revenue.

Polkadot to hold first hackathon centered in Latin America

Polkadot will hold its first hackathon that focuses on Latin America starting Sept. 26 to engage local developers in the network and promote the uses of blockchain around the world. See related article: Polkadot is top crypto held by VCs and hedge funds in Q4 2021 Fast facts See related article: Polkadot-based Acala Dollar burns […]

Binance launches Ethereum staking ahead of Merge upgrade

Top blockchain and crypto news: Binance bets on Ethereum Merge. What does Terra’s sudden resurgence mean? China seeks to expand e-CNY ecosystem.

South Korea issues arrest warrant for Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon

South Korean prosecutors investigating the collapse of Terra-LUNA have issued an arrest warrant for Terraform Labs cofounder and chief executive officer Kwon Do-hyung, also known as Do Kwon, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office told Forkast. See related article: Securities or not? South Korea to evaluate Terra’s LUNA token Fast facts “Violation of the capital […]

Markets: Bitcoin, Solana continue rally, Ether slips in anticipation of Merge

Bitcoin and Solana continued their rallies in Tuesday afternoon trading in Asia, both up over 10% in the past week. However, Ether continued to slip as the market awaited the upcoming Etherium “Merge.”  See related article: Markets: Bitcoin, Solana lead gains in crypto top ten, Ether slips ahead of Merge Fast facts Bitcoin was up […]

Markets: Bitcoin back above US$20,000, Ether rallies, Solana leads gains in Top 10

Bitcoin and Ether rallied in late Friday afternoon trading in Asia, helping drive up the global cryptocurrency market capitalization more than 5% to back above the US$1 trillion mark.  Solana led the gains among tokens in CoinMarketCap’s top 10 by market capitalization.  See related article: Markets: Bitcoin, Ether little changed; Polkadot leaps Dogecoin into crypto […]

Markets: Bitcoin, Ether little changed; Polkadot leaps Dogecoin into crypto top ten

Bitcoin and Ethereum were largely unchanged in Friday morning trading in Asia. Polkadot rose to leapfrog Dogecoin into the top 10 list by market capitalization, while Solana posted the biggest percentage gain on the list. See related article: Markets: Bitcoin climbs above $19,000, Ether bounces back, BNB gains on staking Fast facts Bitcoin rose less […]

Markets: Bitcoin, Ethereum hold gains, Terra Classic soars on Luna airdrop

Bitcoin held onto gains above US$19,000 in late afternoon trading in Asia. Ethereum also rallied to post the biggest gain among tokens in CoinMarketCap’s top 10 by market capitalization. Terra Luna Classic surged more than 50%. See related article: Markets: Bitcoin climbs above $19,000, Ether bounces back, BNB gains on staking Fast facts Bitcoin rose […]
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Regulator alleges Celsius resembled Ponzi scheme in new filing

A financial regulator in Vermont has all but said that bankrupted Celsius Network LLC resembled a Ponzi scheme at times, alleging the crypto lender had used new investor funds to repay previous investors, as well as misled investors about its financial health and bolstered its balance sheets by using its CEL token. See related article: […]

New UK PM, finance minister have previously supported crypto, blockchain

Britain’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss has appointed Kwasi Kwarteng, former head of the U.K.’s department for business, energy and industrial strategy, as the new finance minister, charging him with decisions that will impact British and global crypto markets. See related article: Bank of England calls for greater crypto regulation Fast facts Former Finance Minister […]

Binance halts USDC support; Inflation hits crypto

Binance puts it’s own stablecoin, BUSD, at the forefront. Meanwhile, inflation casts its own shadow across the crypto.

Binance move to remove USDC and others raise questions about market conduct

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange said the move was designed to “enhance liquidity and capital-efficiency for users.” 

Markets: Bitcoin rises slightly, Ether and Ethereum Classic gain amid price run for alternatives

Bitcoin rose slightly in Tuesday morning trading in Asia after falling below the key resistance line of US$20,000 on Monday morning. Ether posted the greatest gains in the crypto top ten by market cap as the rest of that list rose or fell by less than 1%. See related article: Markets: Bitcoin, Ether edge up; […]

Hong Kong hosts Digital Asset Series seminars for mass literacy

Hong Kong is hosting the Digital Asset Series (DAS) educational seminars, which started in August to continue into November this year. See related article: Why children around the world need crypto education Fast facts The free educational seminars will be delivered by industry experts, legal professionals, regulators and scholars from the finance-technology (fintech) sector, according […]

Markets: Bitcoin, Ether, Cardano slip; remnants of Terra – USTC and LUNC – jump

Bitcoin slid back down under the US$20,000 mark late afternoon in Asia, with the rest of the top 10 tokens by market capitalization turning lower. Terra’s fallen cryptocurrency surged, likely due to LUNA Classic’s recent network upgrade. See related article: Markets: Bitcoin edges up; U.S. stocks, bonds post worst returns in 5 decades Fast facts […]

Bybit to work with Circle to offer USDC spot pairs

Singapore-headquartered crypto derivatives exchange Bybit is partnering with Circle, the issuer of stablecoin USD Coin (USDC), to offer USDC spot pairs. See related article: Bybit to cut up to 30% of its workforce Fast facts Bybit said on Thursday it will offer Circle’s services to its users by expanding its USDC spot pair listings to […]

US Digital Dollar Project to work with Ripple on CBDC technical sandbox

The U.S.-based Digital Dollar Project said it will work with Ripple and a few other digital asset firms to launch a technical sandbox program to further study a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC). See related article: CBDCs better poised for cross-border payments than Bitcoin, stablecoins: ECB study Fast facts The non-profit initiative announced on […]

Tether pushes back at WSJ doubts on its reserves

In response to the Wall Street Journal alleging that Tether’s USDT stablecoin is not adequately backed by reserves, Tether called the report a series of “unsubstantiated conclusions” that tried to “discredit Tether’s work on transparent and honest communications to the public.” See related article: Should Tether’s shrinking cash reserves be cause for investor worry? Fast […]

Bank of Korea to institutionalize ICOs in new crypto law

South Korea will have to institutionalize initial coin offerings (ICO) when establishing its new crypto law, tentatively named the Digital Asset Basic Act, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). See related article: South Korea’s all-encompassing crypto law is coming — what we know so far Fast facts South Korea’s Financial Services Commission banned ICOs […]

Argentine province Mendoza to accept cryptocurrency as payment for taxes

The western Argentine province of Mendoza — the fifth most populous in the country — now accepts cryptocurrency as a payment option for taxes, the Mendoza Tax Administration (ATM) announced on Saturday. See related article: El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption, one week on Fast facts Mendoza’s roughly 2 million residents will now be able to pay […]

What in crypto hell just happened to all your money?

Crypto investors were blindsided when firms like Voyager suddenly froze their accounts. How can we improve digital asset protection in the future?

Singapore’s MAS says needs to do better job explaining crypto policy

The city-state hosted a seminar with a title that it hopes sums up its crypto approach: “Yes to digital asset innovation, No to cryptocurrency speculation.”

An internet of blockchains: Interoperability in a multi-chain future

Interoperability among blockchains will be central to the next phase of the technology’s evolution, says Cosmos cofounder Ethan Buchman.

Siloed regulatory efforts unlikely to help bring oversight to highly decentralized crypto industry

Panelists speaking at Forkast’s recently live-streamed event “Crypto Rising: The future of crypto regulation: APAC and Beyond,” co-hosted by Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI), said there need to be international cooperation among regulators from around the world to make any oversight of the crypto industry effective.

Animoca Brand’s Japan subsidiary raises US$45 Mln to invest in NFT

Animoca Brands KK, the Japanese unit of Hong Kong blockchain investment firm Animoca Brands, Friday said it raised US$45 million from the world’s second-largest financial group Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), and parent Animoca Brands. See related article: Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ to issue yen-pegged stablecoin: report Fast facts MUFG and Animoca Brands each invested US$22.5 […]

Huobi-incubated Chinese NFT platform iBox ends international operations

Its operations in mainland China are continuing as normal.

Tether says didn’t freeze sanctioned Tornado Cash addresses so as to not interfere in investigations

Tether Holdings Ltd.,the issuer of USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalisation, Wednesday said freezing the sanctioned addresses might interfere with ongoing investigations despite no clear instruction to do so by law enforcement. See related article: Bad actors in North Korea, Russia send record-high funds to crypto mixers Fast facts The U.S. Treasury Department’s […]

Markets: Bitcoin treads water, Ether Classic gets a bump, Cosmos gains on Kujira news

Bitcoin and Ether were little changed in Asia on Thursday morning, though Ether Classic rose. Solana and Cardano lost ground along with most other top 10 tokens by capitalization, though the global cryptocurrency market cap edged up 0.23% to US$1.03 trillion. Investors across all financial markets remain on edge about the direction of interest rates […]

Hodlnaut owes US$200 mln debt to 17,000 creditors: report

The Singapore and Hong Kong-based Hodlnaut has a funding gap of about US$193 million, and potentially 17,513 creditors, crypto media outlet The Block reported citing an affidavit the troubled crypto lender filed with the court last week. See related article: India authorities freeze Vauld exchange’s assets worth $46.5 mln Fast facts See related article: Hodlnaut […]

Problems with tokenizing real estate and how to fix it

Real estate as an investment is not very liquid, composable or accessible, writes Joel Lin of CitaDAO. Can tokenization and DeFi transform this market?

If successful, Ethereum’s Merge will cause a sea change in ETH supply and value

The Merge, one of this year’s biggest crypto events, is now due to happen next month. Why is it so hotly anticipated — and feared?

USDC whales leave, trading volume soars

The percentage of stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) supply held by the top 1% addresses dropped to a 22-month low on Monday, while USDC average trading volume in seven days surged to an all-time high on the same day, according to crypto data dashboard Glassnode. See related article: Vitalik Buterin says he used Tornado Cash to […]

Tether to release monthly USDT reserves report with new auditor BDO Italia

Tether Holdings Limited, the issuer of USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization, has roped in accounting firm BDO Italia for its regular reports of USDT reserves. See related article: Tether says USDT reserves have no Chinese commercial paper Fast facts Tether said in a statement shared with Forkast that it began working with […]

EU seeks to limit banks’ crypto exposure

European Union (EU) banks with exposure to highly volatile cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin should face higher capital requirements, according to a proposed amendment to a European financial services law.  See related article: Bitcoin miner Stronghold to return mining rigs to cut debt; shares plunge as losses widen Fast facts Crypto assets like Bitcoin, which are considered […]

Eqonex closes crypto exchange as market woes prompt cost-cutting

Top blockchain and crypto news: Eqonex shutters exchange operation. Huobi denies sale report. Taiwan beefs up cyber defenses.