Markets: Bitcoin, Ether strengthen; XRP leads gains in top 10 cryptos
Bitcoin and Ethereum prices rose in Wednesday afternoon trading in Asia along with all other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies, with XRP leading gains.
India’s CoinSwitch exchange to add non-crypto products amid punishing taxes on digital asset trading
Indian cryptocurrency exchanges faced a flurry of taxes on trading last year that saw volumes across most platforms drop as much as 90%, slashing income from trading fees. What’s a crypto exchange to do? Maybe sell mutual funds?
DCG writes to shareholders to detail finances amid US$900 mln Twitter feud with Winklevoss
Barry Silbert of the Digital Currency Group wrote to shareholders on Tuesday to explain loans from its subsidiary Genesis Global Capital.
Bitcoin named dirtiest crypto of 2022, tops major tokens in carbon emissions: Forex Suggest
A Bitcoin transaction produced close to a metric ton of carbon emissions, while XRP was the most energy-efficient among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization last year.
Binance’s BUSD-peg stablecoin has not always been fully collateralized: report
Binance Global, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has acknowledged flaws in its systems that allowed its BNB Smart Chain-based BUSD stablecoin to be under-collateralized by up to US$1 billion on at least three occasions, according to a Wednesday report from Bloomberg.
MetaMask developer ConsenSys to slash 100 or more staffers: report
ConsenSys, the Ethereum software firm behind cryptocurrency wallet MetaMask, is reportedly planning to lay off at least 100 employees.
Markets: Bitcoin, Ether follow U.S. equities higher on view inflation starting to ease despite hawkish Fed
Bitcoin and Ether prices rose in Wednesday morning trading in Asia along with most other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies, continuing a strong start to the year on signs inflation is slowing in the U.S.
Coinbase to cut 20% of its remaining workforce
Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., will be letting go of about 950 employees, or about 20% of its current workforce, as part of “a further restructuring plan,” which is expected to be “substantially complete” by the second quarter of 2023.
Microsoft mulls US$10 bln investment in ChatGPT’s OpenAI
Microsoft is reportedly in talks to place a US$10 billion bet in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT
Stopping Scalpers
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour was met with a series of ticketing nightmares as scalpers tried to resell tickets for as high as US$22,000. But could NFTs have solved that problem?
India’s Decimal Point Analytics gets US$750,000 grant funding to develop tokenization solutions
India’s Decimal Point Analytics (DPA), a research and data analytics firm, has received grant funding of up to US$750,000 from The Hashgraph Association, a Switzerland-headquartered non-profit organization, to develop an asset tokenization platform on Hedera’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) network.
Markets: Bitcoin slips, Cardano leads losses in top 10 cryptos
Bitcoin dropped in afternoon trading on Tuesday along with most other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Ethereum rose further while Dogecoin led gains.
Paycoin seeks reapproval after S.Korea suspends the payments token: report
PayProtocol, the South Korean issuer of payments-focused cryptocurrency Paycoin (PCI), will reapply for a local license to stay in business.
Australian crypto exchange Swyftx to end interest yielding product, cites lack of regulation clarity
Australian crypto exchange Swyftx is ending its crypto-interest earning product Earn on Tuesday due to a “constantly changing regulatory landscape” in the country, according to a company announcement.
Can human psychology help save blockchain gaming?
NFTs in gaming have drawn mixed reactions, including gamer backlash and vitriol. What can the sector do to better meet gamers’ innermost needs?
German government warns of ‘Godfather’ malware targeting banking, crypto apps
Germany said “Godfather” virus generates a fake copy of a banking or crypto app login screen to appropriate a user’s information and steal funds.
Markets: Bitcoin, Ether rise with most of crypto market, Solana posts best start to the year for major token, BNB retreats amid Binance probe
Bitcoin and Ether gained in Tuesday trading in Asia along with most other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies, helped by signs inflation pressure is easing in the U.S.
Crypto payments firm Wyre limits withdrawals as it mulls ‘strategic options’ amid market downturn
Wyre Payments, a San Francisco-based crypto payments firm, will implement withdrawal limits for user accounts, it said in a Twitter statement on Jan.7.
Trust and Compliance
Many crypto exchanges are implementing proof of reserves as trust and confidence are becoming two of the biggest watch words in the crypto space, but traditional institutions are also trying to bring the crypto sphere back to health.
Slumdog Millionaire composer A. R. Rahman tunes into metaverse
Indian music composer A. R. Rahman, who won Best Original Score at the Oscars for the movie Slumdog Millionaire, has launched the ‘Katraar’ metaverse platform to promote new music creations and other art forms.
Markets: Bitcoin, Ether extend rise; Cardano leads gains in top 10 cryptos
Bitcoin, Ethereum extended gains in afternoon trade in Asia on Monday along with the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Cardano rose the most in the last 24 hours, followed by Polygon, BNB and Dogecoin.
Where is the stablecoin market heading in 2023?
FTX’s collapse triggered a stablecoin sell-off, but we will need them to survive the Crypto Winter, writes Vladimir Gorbunov of Choise.com.
Hong Kong pushes ahead with crypto hub plans as tech firms, startups show interest: financial secretary
Hong Kong will continue pushing ahead with the development of the Web 3.0 industry as it aims to become a regional hub for the nascent industry despite the series of collapses of crypto exchanges, said Paul Chan, the city’s financial secretary on Monday.
U.S. subpoenas hedge funds in Binance probe: report
Federal prosecutors have issued subpoenas to several U.S. hedge funds that have dealt with the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance Global Inc.
US prosecutors, SEC probes Digital Currency Group: report
U.S. prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have started to investigate cryptocurrency-focused conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG), Bloomberg reported on Saturday, citing unnamed sources.
Markets: Bitcoin back above US$17,000; Ether, crypto market extend weekend gains
Bitcoin and Ether rose in Monday morning trading in Asia, rising with the rest of the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with Cardano and BNB changing the most.
Will crypto’s decentralized application layer boost mass adoption in 2023?
ChainSafe’s Aidan Hyman believes that crypto’s fully decentralized application layer may finally be complete in 2023.
Ripple Decision Soon?
Ripple expects a SEC ruling on a two-year-old suit and what regulations it could bring about.
Crypto exchange Huobi latest firm to slash staff: Reuters
Seychelles-based crypto exchange company Huobi plans to lay off about 20% of its staff, according to a Friday report from Reuters.
CeFi regulation may create an advantage for DeFi, Bitcoin.com CEO says
Dennis Jarvis of Bitcoin.com believes the incoming regulatory crackdown on CeFi may tip the scales in DeFi’s favor next year.
Lido DAO surges 35% over the last week, BitDAO gains 22%: Why?
LDO surged as Ethereum’s upcoming March upgrade is expected to resolve current risks in ETH staking. BitDAO also gained with its buyback plan.
Markets: Bitcoin, Ether slip; Cardano extends gains
Bitcoin and Ether dipped in Friday afternoon trading in Asia, with nearly all other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies slipping. Dogecoin was the biggest loser, while Cardano’s ADA was the sole gainer in the top 10 cryptos.
SEC objects to Binance’s US$1 bln deal to buy Voyager Digital’s assets
The U.S. SEC has objected to Binance’s U.S. affiliate’s proposed US$1 billion purchase of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital’s assets.
Hong Kong lawmaker says e-HKD has potential to be a stablecoin
Hong Kong should make efforts to encourage the establishment of virtual assets rating agencies, and consider developing the e-HKD, the city’s central bank digital currency in the works, into a stablecoin, a Hong Kong lawmaker said in a recent media interview.
Animoca Brands slashes Web3 fund target to US$1B: Bloomberg
Animoca Brands Corp. has scaled down the target amount for its Web 3.0 and metaverse investment fund to US$1 billion.
Digital Currency Group shuts down wealth management unit: report
Cryptocurrency-focused conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG) is shutting down its wealth management unit called HQ, CoinDesk, a DCG-owned media outlet, reported on Friday.
Markets: Bitcoin, Ether little changed; Polygon, XRP lead losers; Cardano holds onto gains
Bitcoin and Ether traded little changed Friday morning in Asia, with most other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies losing ground.
NFT December sales surge to highest since June amid ‘tax-loss harvesting’
Slump in prices of some non-fungible tokens and other digital assets allows U.S. holders to take advantage of a loophole to reduce capital gains taxes.
Silvergate cuts 40% of staff after facing US$8.1B in withdrawals amid FTX collapse
Cryptocurrency bank Silvergate Capital has laid off 40% of its staff, or about 200 employees, after the collapse of FTX.com, which sparked mass withdrawals of around US$8.1 billion.
India’s Crypto Outlook
WazirX VP Rajagopal Menon sits down with Forkast to provide some insight as survival becomes a huge concern for crypto exchanges in India.
Markets: Bitcoin slips, Ether unchanged, Dogecoin gains most among top 10 coins
Bitcoin edged down and Ether remained unchanged on the day, in Thursday afternoon trading in Asia. Dogecoin was the biggest gainer among the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies, while Litecoin recorded the largest loss.
Crypto P2E game investments not protected by law, China court says
A Shanghai court ruled that investments in cryptocurrency-powered play-to-earn (P2E) games are not protected by law in China.
U.S. authorities to seize US$460 mln of Robinhood shares in FTX fraud case
U.S. prosecutors are moving to seize the US$460 million worth of Robinhood Markets Inc., shares linked to Sam Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive officer of Bahamas-based bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX.com
MoneyGram seeks to seal parts of its filings in the XRP lawsuit between Ripple, SEC
MoneyGram has requested the court to seal certain portions of summary judgment materials in Ripple Labs’ ongoing lawsuit against the SEC.
How ‘naming collisions’ threaten the promise of Web3
What are ‘naming collisions,’ and why will unique user-owned identities play a pivotal role in Web3’s future success? Matthew Gould explains.
Markets: Bitcoin, Ether rise with most other tokens amid mixed signals on U.S. economic outlook
Bitcoin and Ether rose in Thursday morning trading in Asia along with most other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies. Cardano led the gainers, while Litecoin and Tron were the only ones on that list to fall.
Indian crypto exchanges may lose US$1.2 trillion of trade volume in next four years: research
India’s current cryptocurrency tax structure “may lead to a loss of approximately US$1.2 trillion of local exchange trade volume in the next four years,” according to research by Esya Centre, a technology policy think tank in India.
Blockchain in Davos
Welcome to The Daily Forkast – January 4, 2022 – presented by Angie Lau. As the bells rang in the new year, many said goodbye and good riddance to a year of headline grabbing failures in the blockchain space. From Ronin’s bridge hack, the collapse of Terra Luna, to the bankruptcy of FTX, 2022 was […]
Crypto payments firm Wyre reportedly shutting down amid market downturn
Cryptocurrency payments company Wyre is reportedly shutting down operations by the end of January, amid the broader crypto market downturn following the fall of FTX
Alameda Research transfers spark suspicions as SBF denies involvement
Top blockchain and crypto news: Where is Alameda Research’s money going? US tax loophole may give crypto investors a break. China’s blockchain momentum builds.
Indonesia to set up crypto stock exchange this year: report
Indonesia plans to set up a crypto stock exchange in 2023, ahead of moving regulatory powers to securities authorities from a commodities jurisdiction.
CeFi regulation to accelerate further 2023
Regulators will focus on centralized finance instead of decentralized finance in 2023, Chainalysis’ Caroline Malcolm says.
Markets: Bitcoin, Ether rise; Solana surges 18% as new dog coin spikes interest
Bitcoin and Ether rose in Wednesday afternoon trading in Asia, along with all other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies. Solana led gains with an 18% surge, followed by Cardano and BNB.
Ripple expects SEC ruling in first half, clearer global regulations for digital assets in 2023
Ripple Labs Inc. expects a court decision in the first six-months of this year in the case filed against the company by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission. The SEC sued Ripple in December 2020 for allegedly selling US$1.3 billion in unregistered securities.
Crypto, digital assets account for 69% of online investment scams in Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Police received 1,503 online investment scam complaints over the first 10 months of 2022, 70% were related to cryptocurrencies.
U.S. banking regulators warn against cryptocurrency fraud, contagion risks
The U.S. Federal Reserve, FDIC and the OCC have issued a joint statement to warn banks of the risks with crypto assets.
Binance declines comment on speculation it may buy South Korean crypto exchange GOPAX
Binance declined to comment on reports in local media that it is in late stage talks to acquire South Korean digital asset exchange GOPAX.
Magic Eden NFTs display explicit content, ‘Big Bang Theory’ images
Images on Magic Eden, the largest Solana-based non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, displayed pornographic content and popular sitcom series “The Big Bang Theory” on Tuesday Asia time instead of users’ NFTs.
Markets: Bitcoin price dips, Ether little changed, Litecoin adds to gains, Dogecoin biggest loser
Bitcoin slipped back, while Ether was little changed in mixed Wednesday morning trading in Asia for the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies.
Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to fraud charges in FTX exchange collapse
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange that collapsed in November with billions of dollars in investor funds missing, pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud on Tuesday in New York.
Decentralized social media can change content ownership in 2023
NEAR Foundation’s Marieke Flament believes that Web3-based social media platforms could gain popularity in 2023.
Markets: Bitcoin, Ether inch up, XRP leads gains in top 10 cryptos
Bitcoin and Ethereum prices inched up in Tuesday afternoon trading in Asia, along with most other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. XRP led gains at 3.22%, followed by Polygon at 1.76% and Litecoin at 1.74%.
Bahamas regulator denies FTX CEO’s claims over seized assets
The Securities Commission of The Bahamas has rejected “material misstatements” made by FTX’s newly-appointed CEO, John J. Ray III
Final Fantasy’s Square Enix stays committed to blockchain despite backlash
Yosuke Matsuda, the president of Square Enix, has reaffirmed the gaming company’s commitment to blockchain technology.
Bitcoin mining difficulty drops 3.6% in latest adjustment
The Bitcoin mining difficulty level fell 3.59% on Tuesday morning in Asia, after some U.S. mining firms unplugged due to deadly winter storms over the holiday season on top of continued cash shortages mainly caused by low Bitcoin prices and high energy costs.
DCG’s Silbert, Gemini’s Winklevoss start Twitter spat over frozen funds, billion dollar loans
Barry Silbert, the CEO of Digital Currency Group rejected claims that the company borrowed US$1.6 billion from its Genesis Global Capital.
Bitcoin ATM rush Down Under: Australia leapfrogs El Salvador, Poland
Australia had a total of 225 Bitcoin ATMs by the end of 2022 after installing around 150 machines in the final four months of the year, overtaking El Salvador and Poland to become home to the fourth-highest number of crypto ATMs in the world, according to data from CoinATMRadar.com.
Happy birthday to Bitcoin! What will it become when it’s all grown up?
It takes a village to raise a child, and Bitcoin is no different — we must support its growth but also set firm boundaries, writes Justin d’Anethan of Amber Group.
Markets: Bitcoin, Ether edge higher with crypto top 10; Litecoin surges after record transactions in 2022
Bitcoin and Ether prices rose in Tuesday morning trading in Asia, along with all the non-stablecoin top ten cryptocurrencies.
Hong Kong financial service providers gear up for retail crypto traders
Hong Kong’s financial services providers, including local brokers and fund managers, are seeking advice to prepare for new licensing requirements which will allow them to provide services to retail traders, according to a media report.
Will 2023 be the year of institutional DeFi adoption?
Despite a potential regulatory crackdown, 1inch Network’s Sergej Kunz believes institutions will start adopting DeFi on a large scale.
How crypto custodians can help centralized exchanges win back public trust
In the post-FTX world, crypto exchanges must offer stronger protection for investors’ assets, writes Colin Brooks, chairman of the advisory board of Hex Trust.