Search results: NFT

India crypto exchanges allow bank deposits while FTT token on a roll

Donkey, launched Sept. 1, aims to become a DeFi service that brings more South Korean investors into decentralized finance by making their favorite cryptos more scalable and available. Fast facts Donkey is a virtual asset deposit and lending protocol that runs on the Ethereum blockchain where anyone can deposit crypto as collateral and borrow other […]

NFTs, metaverses and ‘play-to-earn’ are upending gaming’s traditional revenue model. Shreyansh Singh of Polygon explains blockchain gaming’s business potential.

The United States, Vietnam, Thailand, China and the United Kingdom lead global adoption in decentralized finance (DeFi), according to Chainalysis’ Global DeFi Adoption Index published this month. Fast facts “While grassroots cryptocurrency adoption generally is highest in emerging markets, DeFi adoption is strongest in high-income countries that already had substantial cryptocurrency usage, especially amongst traders […]

China’s BSN to launch in South Korea portal as Chinese Canaan secures huge mining rig orders

The multiplayer online role-playing game is widely popular elsewhere, while Korea bans play-to-earn crypto and NFT trading.

MetaMask, a non-custodial wallet that allows users to interact with the Ethereum blockchain and Ethereum-compatible networks such as Polygon, has seen its monthly active users surge over 1,800% in the past year to surpass 10 million, according to ConsenSys, an Ethereum blockchain software developer. Fast facts Alongside the explosive growth of the Ethereum ecosystem from […]

The hot play-to-earn token game Axie Infinity is under increased scrutiny from Philippines tax  authorities. The country’s central bank said it is closely monitoring how players use game tokens to decide whether to classify and regulate Axie’s parent company as an entity that runs payment systems. Fast facts The central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, […]

Zipmex, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange, has completed a US$41 million Series B funding round as it innovates toward a “full 360 digital banking offering,” the company said during a media briefing today. Fast facts Investors in Zipmex’s Series B funding round indicate increasing institutional buy-in to the digital assets industry. The investors include Krungsri Finnovate, […]

Though crypto is not yet part of daily life, it may be a matter of time, writes Simon Yu of StormX. Here are the keys to the industry’s long-term success.

As Bitcoin and Ethereum drop after a quick ascent, the surge of Solana (SOL) continues. SOL hit a new all-time high of US$102.07 today, with its market cap reaching over US$29 billion. The world’s eighth largest cryptocurrency has been consecutively hitting new all-time highs in the past four days. Fast facts The market cap of […]

Decentralized finance (DeFi) is attracting a lot of attention from traditional banks and venture capital, but many institutions remain firmly on the sidelines. Forkast.News explores why.

What is the relationship between crypto assets and stock prices? An analysis week’s market trends.

Axie Infinity, one of the world’s most popular non-fungible token (NFT) games, tweeted that it is “looking forward to working with physical nations” and called for its digital users to abide by the laws of their home countries, presumably a reference to local tax laws. Fast facts The tweet came just days after the Philippines government stated […]

Bitcoin’s price dropped following a quick ascent past US$50K, but analysts say the rally is set to continue. Meanwhile, Solana again defied the overall market to post a new price high.

Anyone who owns a website is now able to receive crypto payments directly to their domain name, as Ethereum Name Service announces full integration with the centralized web. Fast facts Making the announcement on Twitter Friday morning, the new upgrade will bring interoperability between the centralized web and the blockchain-based ENS system. The internet currently […]

Korea reveals crypto exchange ‘Death Note’: DeFi investment booms

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub Hong Kong Centre and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) are collaborating on Project Genesis — a green finance project for the tokenization of green bonds using blockchain technology, according to a BIS statement. Fast facts Project Genesis — the BIS Innovation Hub’s first green finance project […]

What is DeFi, why it’s poised to enable financial inclusion, and how the showdown between decentralized finance and regulators is taking shape.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Is another Bitcoin bull run coming soon? Punks rocking NFTs. Why crypto contracts may not be enforceable in China.

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday launched a public consultation on its proposed amendments to regulations for the custody of crypto holdings in digital asset businesses. Fast facts The additional regulations — which the SEC said are intended to enhance investor protection — include requiring digital asset businesses to comply with “the principles […]

Professor jailed for crypto scam while Cryptopunks trading volume soars

With play-to-earn crypto games like Axie Infinity continuing to attract users, tax authorities in the Philippines are looking into taxing such blockchain-based game companies as well as the income earned by users on such platforms, according to a report by the Manila Bulletin. Fast facts Philippines’ finance undersecretary Antonette C. Tionko said earnings from these […]

Led by Ethereum rivals, crypto prices are in an upswing with over $2.1 trillion in total market cap. Is this the start of another crypto bull run?

The ideal metaverse is open and interoperable, says Jamie Burke of Outlier Ventures. Here’s how blockchain gaming and NFTs are closing in on that future.

Cardano’s Alonzo upgrade is fueling ADA’s price growth into top-3 cryptocurrency. Major crypto players are now also signaling bullishness on Cardano.

Aleph.im, a cross-blockchain storage and computing network, announced today the release of a decentralized indexing tool for the Solana blockchain ecosystem. Fast facts

The Bank of Thailand today published the results of its retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) study and public survey, which the central bank says will guide the development of the country’s CBDC pilot test. Fast facts The Bank of Thailand underscored that a CBDC for the general public “must not adversely affect monetary policy […]

Top blockchain and crypto news: A darkweb stain is scrubbed away. Solana’s moment in the sun. Alibaba huddles with Tencent.

Union Bank of the Philippines and Hex Trust, a Hong Kong-based digital asset custodian, today announced that the bank was partnering with Hex Trust to provide digital asset custody services to it as it enters the digital asset sector. Fast facts As part of the collaboration, Hex Trust will provide digital asset custody as an […]

Solana hits all time high as GoSats launches bitcoin reward card

Cardano breached the US$2 mark for the first time in almost three months as key developers announced a release date for the planned “Alonzo” hard fork on Friday, which will allow full smart contract functionality on the network. Fast facts Slated for full release on September 12, the upgrade to Cardano’s mainnet completes the Alonzo […]

Solana price hits new record and enters top 10, beating Uniswap, following launch of blockchain communication bridge Wormhole and sellout debut of Degenerate Ape NFTs.

London hard fork is live and Ethereum users are hoping high gas fees will be a thing of the past. Will ETH improvements phase out layer-2 scaling protocols? Polygon’s co-founder thinks not.

Taiwanese VC firm attracts big investors as it bets on future of region and staying-power of NFTs.

Global investment in blockchain and cryptocurrencies leapt in the first half of 2021, with US$8.7 billion raised and 548 deals sealed, according to consulting firm KMPG’s latest Pulse of Fintech H1’21 report. Fast facts Global fintech investment in H1 2021 reached US$98 billion in 2,456 deals, compared to US$121.5 billion for the whole of 2020, […]

TZ APAC, an entity supporting the Tezos blockchain ecosystem in Asia-Pacific, this week announced a “strategic commitment” to the region as it bolsters its efforts to grow the Tezos ecosystem. Fast facts TZ APAC intends to deploy capital and resources across the region towards business development, marketing and project management to drive adoption of the […]

With Ethereum 2.0 still in development, rival blockchains like Cardano, Binance Smart Chain, Solana and Polkadot are hot on Eth’s tail. Who might prevail, and why?

Largest hack in DeFi history while ADA hits two month high

As Cardano’s Alonzo Purple upgrade launches and the full roll-out of smart contract support is teased, the price of ADA — the native cryptocurrency of the Cardano blockchain network — surged more than 20% in the past 24 hours. ADA was trading at US$1.71 at press time — its highest in over two months, according to […]

The US Securities and Exchange Commission wants to review ‘terabytes’ of Ripple’s Slack chats for evidence of XRP-related wrongdoing. How much is too much?

Despite a recent recovery in crypto prices, digital asset investment products last week saw outflows of US$26 million, according to CoinShares, Europe’s largest digital asset fund manager. It was the fifth consecutive week in which institutional money flowed out of cryptocurrencies, mainly Bitcoin. Fast facts Bitcoin — the largest cryptocurrency by market value — bore […]

After hovering aroud the US$35,000 mark through most of June and July, Bitcoin’s price has started rising again this past month. In the past 24 hours, Bitcoin’s price broke US$45,000 for the first time since mid-May amid the market-wide crash from the historic highs in April, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Fast facts Conversely, gold […]

Cryptocurrency platform Poloniex has agreed to pay more than US$10 million to settle charges for operating an unregistered online digital asset exchange, according to an announcement by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Fast facts According to the SEC’s order, Poloniex violated securities laws from July 2017 to November 2019 as the company did […]

Unocoin offers bitcoin vouchers as Alonzo upgrade onboards users

Cardano’s much-anticipated Alonzo Purple upgrade has begun onboarding users to its testnet, according to a 12-part Twitter thread by developer Input Output Hong Kong. Fast facts Alonzo Purple is the third and final stage of the Alonzo upgrade, following Blue and White, and when complete will be the first fully public Cardano testnet to support […]

Singapore and Hong Kong are at the forefront of regulations over crypto exchanges, writes Vince Turcotte of Eventus Systems. Here’s why trade surveillance and risk management will be critical.

As blockchain begins to make its way into more consumer applications, decentralized, Ethereum-based music streaming platform Audius has reached 5 million monthly users for the first time, Yahoo! Finance reports. That milestone makes Audius one of the biggest consumer-centric blockchain applications. Fast facts Launched in 2019, Audius boasts approximately 100,000 artists, including big names such […]

Will Google greenlighting US crypto ads, Ethereum’s London upgrade and clearer regulations pave the way for another Ether price rally?

Investing in litigation was once limited to the wealthy. But a lawsuit’s monetary potential can now be tokenized for sale to the masses. Is that a good idea?

The Ethereum ecosystem is continuing to see strong growth, with institutional capital ‘flooding’ into decentralized finance and decentralized autonomous organizations flourishing.

The next half decade will see mass adoption of decentralized technology, writes Max Kordek of Lisk. Here are the leading uses.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has a vision for metaverses — online worlds that one day will replace big parts of our offline lives. But some say that future is already here.

Two of Japan’s largest crypto firms, Monex and SBI Groups, have seen strong performances in the second quarter of the year, according to the groups’ respective Q2 reports. Fast facts SBI operates two domestic exchanges, SBI VC Trade and the TaoTao platform, as well as the mining arm SBI Crypto and U.K.-based liquidity provider B2C2. […]

Blockchain technology is part of the important work being done toward a safer and healthier world. Lucas Schweiger of Blockdata summarizes this year’s strides forward.

Tokenization is creating new ways to invest. 3 crypto firms are partnering to also offer crypto retirement portfolios and inheritance planning.

Flush with capital, blockchain and crypto firms are on a hiring spree. Here’s how the battle for crypto talent is playing out.

EthSign — a Singapore-based electronic signing platform built on the Ethereum blockchain — today announced additional seed round funding from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Draper Associates. Fast facts EthSign is a decentralized application that allows users to comment on, edit and access each version of an electronic agreement securely. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, […]

Ethereum’s future is top of mind for a group of fintech experts polled by Finders. Where do they think Ethereum prices are headed, and will Ethereum overtake Bitcoin?

Bit Mining pivots overseas as Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin joins animated crypto series ‘Stoned Cats’ cast.

Three blockchain and crypto-related companies have donated hundreds of millions of yuan to China’s Henan Province, which has suffered deadly floods since last week. Fast facts Bitmain, a crypto mining firm was the first to announce a donation of 10 million yuan (US$1.54 million) on July 23 to a charity federation in Zhengzhou, the provincial […]

India updates its CBDC plans and Korea threatens to block exchanges

The cryptocurrency community is watching Ethereum closely, with the EthCC event in Paris having wrapped up, Ether prices showing new strength and the London upgrade just around the corner.

Despite Ethereum being the blockchain of choice for smart-contract capabilities, there has been a recent push to bring decentralized finance to the Bitcoin network. Fast facts One such project looking to do so is layer-one protocol Stacks (STX), whose introduction of its programming language Clarity has allowed the development of smart contracts on the Bitcoin […]

Despite growing global interest, CBDCs are not all at the same stage of development. Amit Ghosh of R3 explains how countries in Asia are paving the way.

At EthCC in Paris, Ethereum’s boyish creator lays out a vision for the blockchain’s non-finance uses — like ridding social media of bots and fake news.

In a special Q&A, Mukaya ‘Tai’ Panich of SCB 10X, the venture arm of Siam Commercial Bank, marvels at decentralized finance innovations. ‘Whatever traditional finance has, there’s a parallel version in DeFi.’

Fast-growing FTX just pulled off the largest-ever fundraise for a crypto exchange to date. Will heightened regulatory scrutiny lie in its near future?

AXS, the governance token of blockchain-based game Axie Infinity, is down almost 50% from its all-time high of US$28.61 last Thursday, according to data from CoinMarketCap. It was trading at US$15.28 at press time. Fast facts Despite the slide, the gains AXS had made over the previous few weeks mean it is still trading more […]

E-CNY white paper explains how it will work with physical RMB while Malaysia steamrolls mining rigs.

As the world grapples with crypto mining’s carbon footprint, Nischal Shetty of WazirX examines the technical and regulatory solutions.

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, […]