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Macroeconomic factors and a spate of bad news override bullish outlook in crypto market as the year lurches toward its end.

Investment banks’ hunger for a new revenue stream is likely to drive up the popularity and registration of crypto derivatives products.

The transaction, using the Hedera Consensus Service network, bypasses intermediaries, lowering fees.

OpenSea IPO plans in choppy waters. Crypto markets crumble. Bitcoin mining power struggles.

For the second weekend in a row, markets were hit with a massive shock due to external factors. Market watchers weigh in on price movements and what to expect.

NFTZ opened for trading on the NYSE in the midst of turmoil and fears of inflation and Omicron.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Are India’s CBDC plans crowding out crypto? Jack Dorsey goes full Bitcoin bro. China’s digital yuan hopes claim another victim.

South Korean heavyweight lender Shinhan Bank has completed a proof-of-concept rollout of a stablecoin project for international remittances in partnership with South Africa’s Standard Bank, using Hedera Hashgraph. Fast facts The project’s aim is to test the issuance and distribution of stablecoins for international remittances, which often frustrate senders and receivers due to their high […]

To mark the release of the third installment in the latest Spider-Man trilogy, theater giant AMC and Sony Pictures are offering 86,000 non-fungible tokens for fans who pre-order tickets to the film, which opens on Dec. 16, AMC CEO Adam Aron announced via Twitter. Fast facts Amid rising concerns of the environmental impact of NFTs […]

The digital print of the U.S. Constitution grew an estimated 35% in value by the time Ken Griffin made the winning bid, surely ushering in more NFT interest.

A week after the announcement that the famed Staples Center in Los Angeles will be renamed the Crypto.com Arena, the city plays host to another landmark crypto event, as a player for the NFL team the L.A. Rams has announced he will receive his US$4.25 million salary for the 2021-22 season in Bitcoin. Fast facts […]

The securities markets regulator ordered $3.85B in fines, while new actions included ‘emerging threats’ in the crypto industry.

Indian investors will now get exposure to global companies in the blockchain ecosystem as the Securities and Exchange Board of India greenlighted the Invesco CoinShares Global Blockchain ETF Fund of Fund (FoF). Fast facts The feeder fund will invest in the Invesco CoinShares Global Blockchain UCITS exchange-traded fund (ETF), formerly known as Invesco Elwood Global […]

Scams like the Squid Game Token rug pull are every investor’s nightmare. How to avoid hoaxes and not feel like a fool? Forkast.News explains.

From China’s crackdowns to El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption, where is the world headed in how governments regard crypto? An expert panel explores the future of decentralized finance in the global economy.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed that he owns cryptocurrency during a discussion yesterday at the New York Times’ Dealbook conference, responding to a question as to whether he owned either Bitcoin or Ethereum. Fast facts While he did not reveal which cryptocurrencies he held, the tech boss said in an interview with Andrew Ross […]

Crypto is ‘a behavioral economics experiment,’ says Real Vision co-founder Raoul Pal. ‘Your incentive system is not a like button on Facebook, it’s money.’

Crypto market cap breaks US$3 trillion, also APAC crypto cards to launch

Blockdata co-founder Jonathan Knegtel thinks so. Almost a teenager, Bitcoin is reaching a level of maturity that’s defying the predictions of its critics.

Solana prices keep cresting to new heights, making SOL a top-five cryptocurrency by size. What makes Solana and its ecosystem stand out? Forkast.News explains.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Stablecoins at regulatory crossroads. Squid Game crypto players suffer shocking fate. Are metaverses China’s new national insecurity?

Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are gaining massive traction and ranking among the top five traded cryptocurrencies on Indian exchanges. Fast facts Dogecoin contributed 13.76% to the overall trading volume of CoinSwitch Kuber, which claims to be the largest Indian crypto exchange with over 10 million customers, over the last six months, according to a report […]

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is going to expand its crypto derivatives offerings and launch Micro Ether futures on Dec. 6, pending regulatory review. Fast facts Micro Ether futures will be sized at 1/10th of one Ether, allowing access to a wide range of investors amid surging Ether prices, according to a press release. Ether reached […]

BXH suffers US$130 million exploit, also Squid game token meets deadly end

Cryptocurrency investment products saw inflows of US$288 million last week, with total inflows year-to-date at a record of US$8.7 billion — 30% higher than the total for 2020, according to digital asset manager CoinShares. Fast facts Bitcoin continued to lead with institutional inflows of US$269 million last week, albeit at a significantly lower level compared […]

Warning issued over K-pop crypto meanwhile Dog fight hits crypto market

As the crypto market lit up with green across the board this morning, the price of Solana (SOL) jumped 6% in a few hours overnight to reach a new all-time high of US$218.73, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Solana’s price has since lost some of this ground, however, and was trading at US$208.57 at press […]

Dogecoin copycat token SHIB jumped almost 60% in less than 24 hours on Sunday to reach a new all-time high of US$0.00004442, as DOGE also surged over the weekend. SHIB was trading at US$0.00003937 at press time, and is now the 13th largest token by market cap, according to data from CoinMarketCap.com. Fast facts This […]

Ethereum prices surged to new heights ahead of next week’s Altair Beacon Chain upgrade but then pulled back. How do crypto experts make sense of it?

In a special Q&A, CEO Louis Liu describes the hoops FOMO Pay jumped through to win Singapore’s first crypto license and calls its regulator a ‘collaborator.’

Money, culture and community are now converging in NFTs and the token economy, writes Lily Z. King. Welcome to a new world where ‘money Lego’ meets ‘culture Lego.’

Amid a national conversation on debanking of crypto businesses, one of Australia’s “Big Four” banks — ANZ — has settled a case brought by local exchange operator Allan Flynn, who argued ANZ debanked him due to his occupation in cryptocurrency. Fast facts Flynn, crypto trader and owner of the Australian exchange CanberraBitcoin, announced the settlement […]

SushiSwap, a Japanese decentralized exchange, has dismissed the claims of a white hat hacker who says two contracts on the exchange have a vulnerability that puts US$1 billion worth of user assets at risk. Fast facts An anonymous white hat hacker published a report on Thursday claiming there is a loophole in the emergency withdrawal […]

Audius is enjoying outsized buzz. Should Spotify be scared? In this Forkast.News explainer, learn how this blockchain startup could threaten music industry money — and power.

SOL had been on a tear but is now losing ground. Is Solana a victim of its own success — or does the network have deeper problems?

A few altcoins managed to stand out coming into the working week as Solana’s tear comes to an end.

Gajesh Naik and Laya Mathikshara, two Indian 13-year-olds, are getting global recognition — and making astronomical sums — through their ventures in crypto and NFTs.

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.

The hunt for hackers who stole an estimated US$97 million from the Japanese crypto exchange Liquid last week has hit some snags as the cybercriminals have been actively hiding their tracks with a crypto mixing tool as they move to transfer their loot into other wallets. Fast facts According to public blockchain information on Etherscan, […]

The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. has partnered with one of Japan’s largest banks to gain market entry. What does the move say about the Japanese market as the industry is rocked by yet another crypto exchange hack?

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

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.

Gold and cryptocurrency have more in common than not, and savvy investors would do well to hold both, writes Sylvia Carrasco of Goldex.

In an effort to curb runaway inflation, Venezuela’s central bank is removing six zeros from its currency and putting a digital bolivar into circulation on Oct. 1, according to reporting by Bloomberg. Fast facts An example of a central bank digital currency, the digital bolivar was announced by the Venezuelan central bank’s Twitter account yesterday […]

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

Sales of non-fungible tokens for “Stoner Cats,” the new adult cartoon featuring Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin alongside Hollywood A-listers, resulted in losses totaling 344.6 ETH (US$790,000) to fans yesterday due to the influx of buyers who overwhelmed the Ethereum network and failed transactions, according to data from Dune Analytics. Fast facts The show, which sold […]

In the second installment of a 2-part report, Lucas Schweiger of Blockdata examines the most notable current trends in blockchain and capital markets.

CoinShares, Europe’s largest digital asset investment firm, today announced that is acquiring Elwood Technologies’ Exchange Traded Fund Index Business and its equity research unit in a US$17 million equity swap. Fast facts The deal will see CoinShares adding over US$1 billion in assets under management through the Invesco Elwood Global Blockchain Equity UCITS ETF, which […]

In the wake of crackdowns on crypto mining in China, investment firm IBC Group has announced it plans to shut all BTC and Ethereum mining operations in the country and relocate elsewhere.

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank’s Latin America fund has plowed US$200 million into Brazilian crypto exchange Mercardo Bitcoin, according to a Reuters report. Fast facts The investment is SoftBank’s largest in Latin America to date, and brings the valuation of Mercardo’s parent company, 2TM Group, to US$2.1 billion, making it the eighth-most valuable fintech firm in the […]

Do cryptocurrencies follow broader market trends? Cryptocurrency has long been perceived as a hedge against the fluctuations of the broader equities market. The idea of cryptocurrency as an alternative investment has taken off during the Covid-19 pandemic as equity prices rose to stratospheric highs despite the fundamentals of the economy significantly weakening.  An example that […]

South Korea’s top asset managers are racing to get into the metaverse game while Forkast.News visits a decentralized theme park in Hong Kong.

European digital asset manager CoinShares hasannounced a partnership with German financial news portal Finanzen.net to bring crypto exchange traded products to investors with no trading fees.

Dashing hopes of greater regulatory clarity for the cryptocurrency industry, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently released annual regulatory agenda does not mention Bitcoin or cryptocurrency regulations.

Bitcoin transactions in El Salvador during May increased by more than four times compared to a year ago, yet fiat remittances still represent the vast majority of transactions in the country.

GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, is investing in BC Group—the parent company of OSL, Hong Kong’s first licensed cryptocurrency exchange.

Can Ethereum, also known as the ‘World Computer,’ function outside this world — in space? A SpaceX rocket launch today will put that to the test.

From mass liquidations to meme trading, the characteristics unique to the crypto market can now be seen in traditional markets, says FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.

The U.S. dollar reigns supreme as the current world reserve currency. Could the USD’s status change with the rise of CBDCs like China’s DCEP digital yuan?

Hong Kong is poised to ban small investors from buying cryptocurrencies, while making exchanges get licences. Industry experts discuss how this might play out. 

FTX crypto derivatives exchange pioneered TRUMP crypto futures and now dwarfs Coinbase in trading volume. Is going public in FTX’s near future?

Ethereum prices rally to new all-time high as Bitcoin’s dominance keeps sliding. Is Ethereum’s upcoming EIP 1559 upgrade boosting its value proposition?

Is it all those new Ethereum ETFs, rising demand for Ethereum from DeFi and NFTs, or lower gas fees fueling ETH’s price jump to yet another all-time high?

The private sector-led Digital Dollar Project is planning CBDC pilots for the US. How are central bank digital currency efforts and progress different in Asia?

DOGE fans push Dogecoin price to all-time high (ATH) after eToro lists the joke coin for 20 million users, days before ‘Dogefather’ Musk appears on SNL.

More than selling art and basketball mementos in a new way, NFTs can also transform copyright enforcement, royalties, real estate and financial markets.

Solana blockchain — a rising alternative to Ethereum for DeFi and NFTs — hit an all-time high this week while other cryptocurrencies stagnated. How come?

Coinbase’s estimated $100 billion direct listing debut could be the tipping point for crypto going mainstream. But is Coinbase really worth that much?

Other top blockchain and cryptocurrency news: Hong Kong is new test bed for China’s e-CNY digital currency. Decentraland’s token bridge to Polygon.

HashKey Group’s Angelina Kwan, a former regulator who helped write laws relevant to the crypto industry, also explains why Hong Kong leads the world in fintech regulations.

Hong Kong Monetary Authority intensifies its CBDC efforts with a new study into ‘hybrid’ digital currencies and private CBDC-backed stablecoins.

As XRP holders step closer to intervening in SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple, the payment platform gears up to grow its CBDC business with a new white paper.