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South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) is recruiting extended reality, artificial intelligence, and non-fungible token (NFT) experts for its upcoming boot camp designed to train future metaverse professionals.  See related article: South Korea wants to be the physical home of the metaverse Fast facts MSIT is launching what it calls the nation’s first […]

Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation launched the Meta History Museum of War on Friday, a museum hosted on the Ethereum and Polygon networks that chronicles the country’s war with Russia through non-fungible tokens (NFTs). See related article: Zelenskyy legalizes cryptocurrency in Ukraine Fast facts “Disinformation is used by Russia on a par with deadly military […]

Chinese state-backed real estate giant Greenland Group has formed a partnership, through its financial arm, with Singapore-based digital securities exchange MetaVerse Green Exchange (MVGX), to offer cross-border digital carbon credits trading services. See related article: China eyes blockchain for carbon trading Fast facts The partnership will allow accredited, institutional investors to trade digital carbon credits […]

Russia considers a bitcoin for oil proposal. Meanwhile, crypto markets make gains after weeks of volatility.

India’s crypto tax represents both a threat to the industry and an opportunity to create a regulatory framework to support it, says Polygon’s Jaynti Kanani.

Azuki, an anime-inspired NFT avatar collection, surged over 140% in the past 24 hours to top Friday’s sales volume chart, surpassing Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Mutant Ape Yacht Club, according to CryptoSlam data.  See related article: Azuki, CryptoPunks battle it out for week’s top NFT title Fast facts With its latest spike, Azuki’s […]

Volatility has been the name of the game in the past few months, but experts tell Forkast that may be coming to an end.

Malaysia’s deputy finance minister Shahar Abdullah turned down a proposal to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender on Thursday, calling cryptocurrency unfit for payments.  See related article: Malaysia ministry: adopt crypto as legal tender to engage the young Fast facts Abdullah voiced concerns around cryptocurrencies’ price volatility and cyber security risks. Zahidi Zainul Abidin, the deputy […]

South Korea’s financial watchdog has passed on the compliance of private cryptocurrency wallets to exchanges, as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) travel rule went into effect on Friday. See related article: FATF updates regulatory guidance for crypto industry Fast facts “The travel rule only regulates transactions among individuals. There isn’t any rule pertaining to […]

EarnU, a play-to-earn crypto sports and esports prediction platform, has forayed into India, to target betting Indians looking to earn crypto rewards for correct predictions.  See related article: How sports and crypto are knocking it out of the park Fast facts EarnU is a game that is free to play for BETU token holders.  While […]

China’s anti-graft watchdog has warned that authorities are keeping a close eye on possible corruption behind underground cryptocurrency mining that persists even after the government banned the sector.  See related article: China ousts former official for supporting crypto mining, corruption Fast facts The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Chinese Communist Party said […]

Russia State Duma deputy and Energy Committee chairman Pavel Zavalny proposed Bitcoin and national currencies as payment options for energy exports to “friendly countries,” such as Turkey and China, at a press conference on Thursday. See related article: EU says crypto included in sanctions against Russia and Belarus Fast facts Zavalny proposed gold and Russia’s […]

NFTs are mostly recognized as digital art and collectibles. But what else can they be used for?

Chinese telecom ZTE registers metaverse-related trademarks. Meanwhile, Bollywood star gets chased over NFT taxes.

With explosive growth in the past 12 months, the non-fungible token industry is getting too big to ignore IP licenses, experts say.

Cryptocurrency payments will be banned in Thailand starting April 1, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Wednesday.  See related article: Thailand eases crypto tax burden until 2023 to promote industry Fast facts The SEC said price volatility, lack of customer safeguards, money laundering and cyber theft risks drove the decision to ban cryptocurrencies […]

Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan is in the crosshairs of Indian tax authorities again, this time for NFT sales.

Chinese telecommunications equipment maker ZTE has successfully registered a number of metaverse-related English trademarks. See related article: ‘Metaverse’ enters government radar at China’s Two Sessions Fast facts ZTE’s trademarks fall under the scientific equipment and communication services categories, setting the stage for the firm to provide related services in the metaverse. The partially state-owned Chinese […]

South Korean megacorporation SK Group’s information technology-investment arm, SK Square, is preparing to launch a cryptocurrency this year to build a blockchain-based virtual economy that would link its group of information and communications technology (ICT) businesses. See related article: South Korea wants to be the physical home of the metaverse Fast facts SK Square established […]

DAOs promise radically inclusive and rewarding workplaces, writes Parker McCurley of Decent Labs. Here’s how it would work.

BAYC is one of the hallmark NFT collections and a billion-dollar ecosystem. This Forkast explainer explores the cartoon primates and what makes them so special.

Major record labels have generated massive profits from previous structures of creative industries, but NFTs can transfer power to the artists.

Meta, formerly Facebook, has filed eight trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) relating to blockchain, crypto and the social media giant’s metaverse push. See related article: Meta showcases focus on AI, announces new voice assistant program Fast facts One of these applications includes a trademark for cryptocurrency services including exchange […]

Global Sales Volume NFT sales amounted to US$18.5 billion in 2021—a 570-fold increase from 2020 as the record bid for Beeple’s digital collage and the strong reception for NBA Top Shot attracted new collectors and boosted prices, data from NFT industry data aggregator CryptoSlam showed. Companies from Gucci and Ray-Ban to McDonald’s and Coca Cola […]

Growth drivers of the NFT ecosystem The growing popularity of NFTs is stunning, having risen from several hundred million dollars in sales when the market first started, to around US$20 billion in 2021. We believe the exponential growth seen around the world can be explained by the product-market fit: NFTs have effectively provided a bridge […]

Malaysia’s Fusang defers their IPO. Meanwhile, Blockchain Week Australia looks into intellectual property rights.

NFT sales amounted to US$18.5 billion in 2021 — a 570-fold increase from 2020 as avatars and digital art gained in popularity and organizations such as the NBA issued NFT collections that attracted an overwhelming response, data from NFT industry data aggregator CryptoSlam showed. With sales holding above US$2.5 billion in recent months and reaching […]

The world’s first NFT dates back to 2014, when New York artist Kevin McCoy’s animation known as Quantum was originally minted on Namecoin, a blockchain forked from Bitcoin. Quantum eventually sold for US$1.47 million at a Sotheby’s auction in June 2021, but its host blockchain is buried deep in the history of NFTs, rarely visited […]

Top blockchain and crypto news: Bitcoin buzz in Malaysia. Yuga Labs teases Otherside. Blockchain verdict in China.

Conflict in Ukraine takes a toll on Malaysian exchange’s $10 million IPO just a week before planned listing.

Blockchain gaming unicorn Animoca Brands co-founder and executive chairman Yat Siu said Web 3.0 needs rapid adoption in order to become more decentralized at Australia Blockchain Week in Melbourne on Wednesday. See related article: FTX heads Down Under as Australia looks to crypto industry Fast facts “If people don’t move into the space quickly enough, […]

Ethereum Classic (ETC) is leading the crypto market’s weekly rally by gaining 79.2% over the past seven days, a time frame in which all but five non-stable tokens in the top 100 by market cap landed in the green.  See related article: How Ethereum Classic’s 51% attacks reveal risks to Bitcoin and Ethereum Fast facts […]

Opensea, an NFT marketplace on the Ethereum blockchain founded in 2017, currently dominates the NFT landscape with a market share of over 80% as of February 2022. OpenSea’s monthly trading volume on Ethereum soared to a new record high of US$5 billion in January 2022, surpassing its previous peak of US$3 billion reached in August […]

The NFT marketplace landscape is getting more and more competitive. What are your thoughts on staying ahead in this competitive landscape? The NFT space is definitely the hottest industry on earth right now and it is the fastest-growing industry. There’s a lot of competition. At Mintable, we’re also growing very quickly. In order to continue […]

While blockchains and NFTs can theoretically eliminate plagiarism and fraud, there is as yet no clear distinction between NFTs that have been inspired by the designs of others and those that are simply copycats. Nike, for instance, has filed a lawsuit against StockX for selling NFT images of its shoes, while Hermès has sued an […]

As NFT adoption grows, massive amounts of capital are pouring into the industry.  January 2022 saw the close of investment rounds in several high-profile companies, including NFT marketplace OpenSea, which raised US$300 million in Series C funding from investors led by Paradigm and Coatue. The new investment valued OpenSea at US$13.3 billion. Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands, […]

The Sandbox metaverse is made up of 166,464 unique land NFTs, digital pieces of real estate, that players can own to publish their creations, monetize their games or rent to other creators. These lands will host a wide range of experiences, and their limited number makes The Sandbox seem like a virtual Manhattan when it […]

Traditional art and NFTs Art collectors have become much more interested in NFTs over the past year. Crypto-native NFT projects, like profile photos, are opening an entirely new market to art fans. The ranks of mainstream art collectors are also expanding, since many young NFT collectors go on to explore other forms of art, including […]

1. What are programmable NFTs?  Programmable NFTs are completely customizable digital objects that can be programmed to change their appearance and purpose over time, allowing for the creation of unique objects and collectibles that can change in response to future events.  Picture a massive multiplayer online role playing game like World Of Warcraft, where you […]

NFTs are increasingly being seen as an asset class that is distinct from cryptocurrencies, and this is reflected in the rising valuations and trading volumes in recent months. For instance, sales of Bored Ape Yacht Club tokens doubled from December 2021 to a record US$313 million in January 2022, according to CryptoSlam data. In contrast, […]

From the lookout: Unbeknownst to those outside the NFT space, there’s a mammoth blockchain game on the horizon. Even before the launch of Star Atlas, which promises cinema-quality graphics, investors are already pouring millions of dollars to purchase in-game NFT items. The unreleased game’s leaderboard shows a player with US$4 million worth of assets. This […]

As NFTs continue to draw new users, hacks and scams have begun to surface in the nascent industry. According to blockchain analytics company Chainalysis, the two most popular NFT-related crimes are money laundering and wash trading. The amounts involved are, however, relatively small with Chainalysis estimating that such criminal activities generated illicit profits of US$10 […]

Asia looks set to become the next big market for NFTs, with some experts predicting the region may surpass the West as early as this year. Global Google search interest for the term “NFT” surged past “crypto” in January, with the search engine’s data showing growth originating in the East. Data from Taiwan, Japan and […]

NFTs serve as the bridge for millions of users who are beginning to move to Web3.0 through digital collectibles. New use cases outlined in the report have the potential to disrupt traditional industries such as music, art, ticketing and even education. Global sales of NFTs reached US$18.5 billion in 2021, which was 570 times higher […]

In March 2021, a non-fungible token (NFT) in the form of artist Beeple’s digital collage sold for US$69 million at a Christie’s auction. It created a buzz among retail and professional investors who began to take a serious look into this new revenue stream for digital artists. Around the same time, Dapper Labs’ NBA Top […]

NFTs are widely expected to gain increased popularity as the metaverse becomes more established, thanks to the technology’s ability to provide indisputable proof of ownership. Ownership of virtual real estate, which involves the use of NFTs, has grown rapidly. In Decentraland, one of the most popular metaverses, property prices have risen 400-500% in the months […]

NFT avatars are digital portraits, often illustrating animated or pixelated characters. Avatars are algorithmically generated to give each NFT unique identifiable traits, such as a particular hairstyle, mustache, glasses, or even laser eyes — a social trend Bitcoiners cite to support the cryptocurrency’s climb to US$100,000. In many instances, the ownership of these avatars represent […]

Avatars accounted for most of the growth in the NFT space in 2021, but diverse use cases are starting to emerge. More niche products are also emerging, including fractionalized property ownership, and DeFi products made specifically for the NFT ecosystem are expected to grow this year. Such developments were discussed in detail during interviews with […]

What major use cases or trends will we see in the NFT space in 2022? Trend 1: Mass adoption. Currently, we estimate there are around 1 million unique wallets globally that have been used to buy, sell or hold NFTs. We believe this number will rise sharply as more companies and developers create NFTs to […]

Strong sales from leading NFT series may be a sign the market is maturing as investors become more discerning, observers say.

Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs announced on Wednesday Asia time that it has raised US$450 million in a funding round, bringing the Web 3.0 company to a total valuation of US$4 billion.  See related article: The future is decentralized: How Web3 can reshape the world Fast facts The funding round was led by […]

Adding to its ambitious roster of sports sponsorships, Crypto.com will be the exclusive cryptocurrency trading platform backing the Qatar World Cup after bagging the deal for an undisclosed amount, the international soccer association announced on Wednesday, Asia time.  See related article: Crypto.com discloses details of US$34M hack Fast facts Singapore-based Crypto.com stands to gain massive […]

Traditional banks are failing the nearly 2 billion people in the world without access to financial services, writes Khalid Howladar. But DeFi can be a lifeline.

China’s state-backed Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) has announced the addition of “Zhong Yi Chain,” developed by telecommunications giant China Mobile, to its open permissioned blockchain ecosystem to bolster the growth of home-grown non-fungible tokens (NFTs). See related article: BSN to integrate CasperLabs’ chain to support NFT issuance in China Fast facts The new chain serves […]

The rapid rise of NFTs has sparked concerns about speculative bubbles as well as the negative impact on the environment. As discussed earlier, China permits trading in NFTs so long as there is a holding period after each purchase. The country’s state media have also warned against speculative behavior surrounding NFTs.  In places such as […]

A Malaysian minister has proposed making Bitcoin a legal tender. Meanwhile in Hong Kong, an 11-year-old programmer makes his way into the NFT business.

Inspired by the success of Beeple, Miguel Wang created CryptoTigers to generate pixelated tiger images for the Year of the Tiger.

Sichuan and Inner Mongolia are two regions that recently announced their first cases using blockchain-stored evidence, local media reports. See related article: How blockchain technology is shaking up courtrooms in Asia Fast facts See related article: Court in China says trading in cryptocurrency ‘not protected by law’

Algorand is planning a series of upgrades to bolster the network’s privacy and speed, and developing permissioned co-chains with a trustless decentralized bridge between chains, founder and MIT professor Silvio Micali said at Blockchain Week Australia on Tuesday.  See related article: What is Algorand and why is it a blockchain to watch? Fast facts Algorand […]

Malaysia’s deputy minister of its Communications and Multimedia Ministry told the parliament on Monday the country should consider adopting cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as legal tender, local media The Star reported. See related article: Will El Salvador’s lead on Bitcoin inspire others to follow suit? Fast facts Zahidi Zainul Abidin, the deputy minister, said the communications […]

In a move that may adversely impact crypto adoption in the country, India’s government said its pending tax law for virtual digital assets will not allow offsetting gains on one crypto with losses from another. See related article: India may impose 28% GST on crypto transactions Fast facts India’s government plans to collect a 30% […]

The Korea Forest Service is starting a tree-planting campaign in the metaverse in conjunction with fintech company Dunamu — for every tree planted in the metaverse, it will plant two trees in the fire-affected mountain forest of Andong. See related article: South Korea places $185M bet on the metaverse Fast facts An event is planned […]

Ethereum’s market value passing up Bitcoin’s may not be a matter of if, but when. Dr. Kosrow Dehnad and Joe Duncan offer a predictive model.

Goldman Sachs announced its first over-the-counter crypto options trade on Monday, becoming the first major U.S. bank to do so, marking a milestone for crypto adoption on Wall Street. See related article: Goldman Sachs: Bitcoin could reach $100K price by beating gold Fast facts The trade was in the form of a Bitcoin non-deliverable option […]

South Korea prepares for the imposition of FATF travel rule heat up. Meanwhile in Australia, reforms are set to be introduced for the crypto sector.

The $320 million Wormhole hack laid bare the vulnerability of cross-chain bridges, writes Alex Smirnov of deBridge. How can we plug the gaps?

Bahamas-based crypto exchange FTX announced the establishment of an Australian branch on Monday Asia time as part of the company’s global expansion plans. See related article: New crypto regulation — including tax reform — coming to Australia Fast facts FTX Australia will be headquartered in the nation’s financial capital Sydney and will be fully licensed […]

Australian senator Andrew Bragg called for “urgent” regulation of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) under the nation’s Corporations Act as part of his Digital Services Act proposal at Blockchain Week Australia on Monday.  See related article: ​​New crypto regulation — including tax reform — coming to Australia Fast facts DAOs can replace companies and are therefore […]

Yuga Labs, creators of the Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC) non-fungible token (NFT) collection, teased the launch of its metaverse called Otherside, coming in April. See related article: BAYC’s floor price surpasses 100 ETH since ApeCoin launch Fast facts The teaser video released by Yuga Labs on Saturday featured Yuga Labs NFTs including Mutant Ape […]

Financial Action Task Force (FATF) travel rule compliance service providers VerifyVASP and CODE have signed a memorandum of understanding to link their services before the rule goes into full effect in South Korea this Friday. See related article: South Korean crypto businesses scramble to meet FATF travel rule Fast facts The two entities are backed […]

MaiCoin, Taiwan’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is considering a Nasdaq listing within two years, Bloomberg reported on Friday. See related article: Taiwan has a chance to develop crypto amid China’s clampdown, Filecoin Foundation director says Fast facts MaiCoin is also completing its Series C funding round which would value the company at US$400 million. MaiCoin expects […]