Search results: Forkast.News

Top blockchain and crypto news: US leads charge in ramping up cybersecurity. Crypto fans crow as Facebook flops. China bears down on metaverses.

Blockchain payments company Ripple has partnered with Qatar National Bank (QNB) to improve cross-border payments and launch a new remittance platform, Ripple announced on Tuesday. Fast facts QNB will pilot RippleNet, a network of banks and other payment companies developed using Ripple’s technology, with QNB Finansbank in Turkey as part of a group rollout, the […]

Brazil’s legislators are expected to discuss in the next few days a bill that seeks to establish a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, which may be a major step toward making Bitcoin a legal “payment currency” in the country if approved by the congress. Fast facts Bill 2.303/15, proposed by Federal Deputy Aureo Ribeiro, aims to […]

Bitcoin miners saw another mining difficulty adjustment on Tuesday, with an increase of 4.71%, according to data from BTC.com. Fast facts The mining difficulty level is now at 19.89 trillion at block height 703,584, reflecting the most difficult level since a previous adjustment on June 14, the data show. The latest increase follows five increases after four […]

Xive co-founder says its one mining farm in the south of the Central Asian nation has been forced to disconnect from the grid.

A lawmaker claims Upbit earned hundreds of millions by listing sketchy cryptocurrencies, while the exchange rebuts that it follows fair and strict standards.

Sky Mavis, the company behind leading non-fungible token game Axie Infinity, has raised US$152 million in a Series B funding round with a valuation of nearly US$3 billion, according to news outlet The Information. Fast facts Led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Sky Mavis said it will use the funds to improve its blockchain […]

This is the second time the world’s largest cryptocurrency has hit the mark in recent months. Does that mean this price point is here to stay?

U.S. Bank, the country’s fifth-largest retail bank, will now offer custody services for cryptocurrencies, starting with Bitcoin, the bank announced on Tuesday. New York Digital Investment Group, a fintech firm dedicated to Bitcoin, is the first crypto sub-custodian in the bank’s network of providers, the statement said. Fast facts The services are geared toward institutional […]

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) today published a joint report proposing that international standards for payment, clearing and settlement systems should be applied to “systemically important stablecoin arrangements.” Fast facts The BIS, CPMI and IOSCO report comes amid the […]

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has no plans to ban cryptocurrencies, chair Gary Gensler said during a congressional hearing on Tuesday. He added that any decision to ban crypto is “up to Congress.” Fast facts Gensler responded to Rep. Ted Budd’s question about whether the U.S. plans to ban crypto along the lines of […]

MetaMask Institutional (MMI), the version of the MetaMask decentralized finance (DeFi) wallet for institutions, today announced its partnership with digital assets custodians U.S.-based BitGo, British Virgin Islands-headquartered Qredo, and Hong Kong-based Cactus Custody to facilitate companies seeking access to DeFi. Fast facts The partnership comes amid growing institutional interest in DeFi and aims to address […]

What does it mean to provide ‘institutional’ crypto services, and what role does blockchain technology play? Robert Cooper of Digivault explains.

Korea crypto tax pause called for meanwhile Tiktok jumps into NFTs

Crypto investors say virtual asset gains will be taxed on uneven grounds compared to stock capital gains.

TikTok, an app that is popular for making and sharing short videos, is jumping onto the non-fungible token (NFT) bandwagon. TikTok placed a full-page advertisement in the New York Times to promote its entry into that market. Fast facts The fast-growing social media platform, which has just surpassed 1 billion monthly users worldwide, announced plans […]

It’s been quite a run for the world’s leading play-to-earn game, but as its monthly revenue takes a hit, what’s in store for the future of the game?

As China intensifies its crypto crackdown, regulatory clarity is a beacon for safer shores in Southeast Asia.

Hong Kong, a hotbed for crypto startups and exchanges, is at a crossroads, writes Jeremy Ng of Gemini. Here’s how the industry can better secure its future.

Much of the growth in the region is driven by strong grassroots adoption rates led by Vietnam, India and Pakistan, new data from Chainalysis shows

Bitcoin investment products saw inflows of US$69 million last week amid improving investor sentiment, according to digital assets fund manager CoinShares. Fast facts “We believe this decisive turnaround in sentiment is due to growing confidence in the asset class amongst investors and more accommodative statements from the U.S. Securities [and] Exchange Commission and the Federal […]

Laos enlisted Soramitsu, a blockchain company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, to explore a central-bank backed digital currency (CBDC). The Lao Central Bank and Soramitsu’s research will begin as early as this month. Fast facts The Central Bank of Laos reportedly has recently signed a memorandum with the Japan International Cooperation Agency to discuss the development […]

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Monday released a white paper proposing potential technical architecture and design for the infrastructure of a digital Hong Kong dollar. The paper is one of the deliverables described in Project e-HKD, a feasibility study the HKMA announced in June 2021. Fast facts Hong Kong began its exploration of […]

China’s telecom giants to bring digital yuan transactions to mobile chatting boxes.

In a special Q&A, a Canadian law advisor who works with Chinese clients breaks down the ban’s potential legal boundaries and concerns held by overseas Chinese.

Chinese communications giant China Mobile and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jointly released an e-CNY wallet based on the upgraded SMS service Message over 5G. The wallet allows users to transfer money, check balances, pay bills, and perform other functions through the chat window. Fast facts Message over 5G is an upgraded text message […]

The country sees a rise in the amount of illegal currency transactions across the border while the use of virtual assets makes it almost impossible to track down.

Stablecoins combine the portability of crypto with the price stability of fiat currencies. But are they all that stable?

Technical woes continue to beset decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Compound this week as a hack resulted in 202,472 COMP, or US$68 million at the time, being transferred from its reservoir to its Comptroller where the funds remain vulnerable to being drained by subsequent transactions. Fast facts Yearn.Finance developer Banteg tweeted about the hack late Sunday […]

Mainland China’s recent clampdowns on crypto are reverberating beyond its borders. In a special Q&A, former regulator and crypto industry leader Angelina Kwan discusses what this means for Hong Kong.

This week, FTX announced it is moving its headquarters from Hong Kong to the Bahamas, as the larger Caribbean region takes on a bigger role as host to virtual currency exchanges.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today granted licenses to DBS Vickers (DBSV), the brokerage arm of DBS Bank, and Independent Reserve, an Australian cryptocurrency exchange, to provide digital payment token services under the Payment Services Act (PS Act). Fast facts Formal approval from MAS, which follows its earlier “in-principal approval” granted to both companies […]

Markets on Tuesday in the U.S. were unsettled by the prospect that energy crises in Europe and China could lift inflation to new highs, compelling central banks to reverse accommodations sooner than expected. US Treasuries reacted with a fierce rise in yields and that spilled over to the equity markets.  Although the markets drove down […]

Mobile game company Gamevil buys a large share of crypto platform Coinone, planning to develop blockchain-based gaming.

DeFi benefits from China ban while Gamevil increases Coinone stake

Although scarcely the size of a human palm, Mr. Goxx is earning big returns in the virtual currency market, raking in a 16% return as of Tuesday.

Chinese social media has been abuzz since authorities lowered the boom on crypto. Forkast.News has been following the chatter. Here’s what they’re saying on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

dYdX, the governance token for the dYdX exchange protocol, surged to a new all-time high of US$27.86 today, according to CoinGecko data. Fast facts dYdX is a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on Ethereum that currently supports perpetual contracts, margin trading and spot cryptocurrency trading, as well as lending and borrowing. It is a non-custodial exchange […]

Decentralized wallet imToken is restricting access to some of the services it offers for users in China, in the wake of the latest ban imposed by top Chinese authorities last Friday. Fast facts The company has restricted users in China from accessing and using third-party financial applications, including those from decentralized crypto exchanges, stake mining […]

DeFi tokens like dYdX soared after China’s latest move to throttle crypto. Is this a short-term spurt or decentralized finance shifting into high gear?

As Chinese authorities take aim at crypto violations outside mainland borders, Forkast.News asks lawyers in the know: Who is in China’s line of fire?

Ripple, a San Francisco-based blockchain payments company currently embroiled in litigation against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, has launched a US$250 million “creator fund” for content creators, brands and marketplaces to build non-fungible token (NFT) use cases on the XRP Ledger, according to a company blog post. Fast facts Ripple’s latest move to expand […]

Against the global tide of digital asset adoption, China’s harshest crypto ban yet heralds golden opportunities, writes Richard Byworth of EQONEX. Other governments should take note.

The Xi’an taxi industry and the Bank of Xi’an launched an e-CNY pilot program to accept e-CNY as fare, becoming the first city in China to accept digital renminbi as a taxi fare, a local newspaper reported. Fast facts Ten cabs selected as pilot vehicles have QR codes posted, and passengers can scan the QR […]

China crackdown legal concerns as Korea also discusses virtual asset law

NH Nonghyup is the third bank in South Korea to invest in a virtual asset custody service while they are prohibited from running their own.

Top blockchain and cryptocurrency news: Beijing’s crypto crusade comes to a head. Chinese mining caves in. Mr. Goxx reaps robust returns.

China’s stepped-up cryptocurrency ban continues to send shockwaves through the industry, as more crypto service providers are shutting their doors to users in China. BeePool and Tiger Brokers are among the latest to announce service suspensions. Fast facts China-based BeePool, the fourth-largest Ethereum mining pool in hashrate, said Tuesday that it has stopped registering new […]

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has slapped a US$1.25 million fine on Kraken, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the U.S., for Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) violations, the CFTC announced yesterday. Fast facts The CFTC, in its settlement with Payward Ventures Inc., the San Francisco-based company doing business under the name Kraken, said […]

Nigeria, Chile and Tajikistan have taken major steps in their plans for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), while mainland China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates explore the potential for CBDCs in cross-border payments. Fast facts The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has launched a website for eNaira, the country’s CBDC, which will […]

Fetch.ai, an artificial intelligence lab based in the British city of Cambridge, today announced its partnership with Algbra, a London-based fintech platform, to bring artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to decentralized finance (DeFi) and the banking sector to provide minority communities with greater access to financial services. Fast facts According to a statement shared […]

China fallout hits mining meanwhile Korea digital custody competition heats up

China saw a fivefold increase in blockchain patents last year despite the Covid-19 shutdown.

China’s Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) — a public-private nationwide infrastructure project to spur mass adoption of blockchain technology — is moving a step closer to more international exposure, as the company behind it is working to register a foundation based in Singapore. Fast facts Red Date Technology, the company China tapped to manage its BSN, […]

China’s crypto ban is part of a global battle over freedom and ideology, writes Michael B. Greenwald. How can the US lead the world in a different path?

China’s earlier efforts to eradicate mining may not have been as effective as the government had hoped, but Friday’s announcement is having an impact.

China assaulted crypto with a new ferocity just as Bitcoin options expired and Evergrande escaped death. Coincidence? Ben Caselin of AAX lays out the clues.

Cryptocurrency investment products saw inflows of US$95 million last week, with total inflows over the past six weeks of US$320 million, according to digital assets fund manager CoinShares. Fast facts “The continued inflows suggest the recent headwinds for digital assets, such as the widened China ban, were seen as buying opportunities for investors,” wrote CoinShares […]

At the Cardano Summit over the weekend, IOHK founder Charles Hoskinson revealed a slew of partnerships and other developments for the Cardano blockchain

Singapore-based digital securities exchange ADDX today announced it had tokenized an allocation to a global private equity fund by Partners Group, a private equity firm listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Fast facts The allocation from the Partners Group Global Value SICAV Fund is the first from a major private equity firm that has been tokenized, […]

Amid growing regulatory heat, Binance — the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume — will restrict users in Singapore from buying cryptocurrencies using fiat, spot trading and liquid swaps on its main Binance.com platform starting Oct. 26, according to a company announcement. Fast facts Binance is advising Binance.com users in Singapore to cease all […]

South Korea’s virtual asset industry is expected to withstand major regulatory reconstruction

China’s crypto crackdown and what it means

Singapore-based blockchain protocol eXchange inFinite (XinFin) and trade finance distribution platform Tradeteq today announced their partnership to tokenize trade finance assets into non-fungible tokens (NFTs), according to a company statement shared with Forkast.News. Fast facts Atul Khekade, co-founder of XinFin, told Forkast.News in an interview that traditional trade finance assets that are typically paper-based such […]

Amid China’s new clampdown, why is DeFi surging and the RMB-to-crypto market important? Sam Bankman-Fried analyzes what it all means and why FTX is leaving Hong Kong for a new home.

Huobi’s diversified businesses outside of China reached nearly 70% in terms of trading volumes, and have been on the rise, its co-founder tells Forkast.News.

China’s intensified crackdown on cryptocurrency leaves service providers looking to stay compliant with Friday’s abrupt announcement.

India’s crypto industry will grow over 200% to reach $241M by 2030, a new study says.

How is China’s latest clampdown on crypto different from its previous bans — and how do authorities plan to catch the scofflaws? Henri Arslanian of PwC breaks it down.

Is China’s influence over Bitcoin and the global crypto market waning? Chinese exchanges get a thrashing as decentralized exchanges get happy on clampdown news.

China’s hardline stance against crypto is already rippling beyond its borders. A mainland crypto insider explains the global shakeup yet to come.

A profound shift is underway in online culture, writes Anndy Lian of BigOne Exchange. Here’s how decentralized finance might one day power the NFT and metaverse economy.