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Top blockchain and crypto news: Blur wash trading explodes. Coinbase extends developer foray with Base test. Hong Kong crypto embrace gets Beijing’s nod.

American payments giant Visa is not slowing down its cryptocurrency plans despite last year’s bear market, according to the firm’s crypto head Cuy Sheffield.

Bitcoin remained resilient around the US$24,000 level on Tuesday despite Wall Street’s worst day of the year so far. Industry experts are eyeing a potential retest of the US$25,000 psychological level, as a failure to reclaim it may result in a downtrend to around US$21,500.

Teneo, the liquidator of the bankrupt crypto lender Three Arrows Capital plans to sell non-fungible tokens estimated to be worth millions of dollars.

Bitcoin was down and Ether was up on Friday morning in Asia, while most top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization fell.

The sales volume of Creepz by Overlord surged by 239% in the 24 hours to 11:00 p.m. on Thursday in Hong Kong, after its creator announced a partnership with music streaming giant Spotify.

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has partnered France-based global payments giant Ingenico to offer in-store crypto payments in France using Binance Pay.

Crypto scammers are deploying fraudulent tokens that appear affiliated with the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, taking advantage of the tech’s investment hype.

The Bitcoin Network has recorded over 154,554 inscriptions since the launch of Bitcoin Ordinals on Jan. 21, a fork that enables digital assets to be inscribed on satoshis (sats)

Bitcoin and Ether prices rose in Tuesday afternoon trade in Asia, while all other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies were mixed. XRP led gains at 2.37%, while Solana and Polygon dropped saw the largest declines.

El Salvador, the first country in the world to make Bitcoin legal tender, is planning on opening a “Bitcoin embassy” in Texas.

The Blockchain Association Chief Policy Officer Jake Chervinsky said the U.S. Congress will ultimately set the laws in the country to govern the cryptocurrency industry and not the Securities and Exchange Commission

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is considering a ban on cryptocurrency staking for retail customers in the country, said Brian Armstrong, the chief executive of Coinbase Global Inc.

Wallets linked to Alameda Research became active over the past week, transferring millions worth of FTX’s native token, FTT, according to Arkham Intelligence. 

Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has partnered with Korean drama distributor Studio Dragon to issue NFTs inspired by popular Korean drama series, including the hit Crash Landing on You, the exchange said on Monday.

Top blockchain and crypto news: BTC mining ETF outperforms. SBF under pressure as accusations mount. ‘China’s Instagram’ embraces NFTs.

Bitcoin has long been the world’s largest cryptocurrency blockchain, but non-fungible tokens or NFTs were always the domain of Ethereum. A new protocol could change that, and some in the Bitcoin community are not too pleased.

Lawyers for the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, FTX.com, filed a document with a list of its institutional creditors on Thursday, which included major technology firms, publications and government bodies.  

Bitcoin edged higher to the US$23,000 resistance line, while Ether traded little changed in mixed early morning trading in Asia on Tuesday.

Bitcoin traded little changed Monday morning in Asia, holding above a four-month high of US$22,000 amid a broader rally over the weekend, helped by comments from a U.S. Federal Reserve official backing a smaller interest rate increase at the central bank’s meeting at the end of this month.

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX told creditors that it lost around US$415 million worth of cryptocurrencies to hacks since it filed for bankruptcy.

The Lazarus Group, a North Korean cybercrime organization, has transferred 41,000 Ether (US$63.9 million) stolen from the 2022 Harmony bridge hack onto cryptocurrency exchanges Binance, OKX and Huobi, according to blockchain data shared by Twitter sleuth ZachXBT.

NFTs, tokenization and blockchain-based cross-border payments will see big paradigm shifts, but their success will depend on regulation, investment and adoption, writes Stephen Richardson of Fireblocks.

South Korea’s attempts to extradite the founder of the collapsed Terra-Luna stablecoin will remain hamstrung while the courts in Seoul dispute the charges against him.

Crypto.com will lay off 20% of its workforce, its co-founder and chief executive officer Kris Marszalek said Friday in a Twitter post.

Bitcoin and Ether prices rose in Thursday morning trading in Asia along with most other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies, continuing almost a week’s run of price gains on signs of slower inflation in the U.S.

Top blockchain and crypto news: DCG under investigation. Lido DAO surges as Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade looms. Hong Kong burnishes crypto credentials.

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?

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.

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.

Yosuke Matsuda, the president of Square Enix, has reaffirmed the gaming company’s commitment to blockchain technology.

Bitcoin and Ether prices rose in Tuesday morning trading in Asia, along with all the non-stablecoin top ten cryptocurrencies.

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.

On-chain data showed that Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-bankrupt FTX exchange, sent around 570 Ether worth US$684,000 to a Seychelles-based exchange and Ren Protocol’s Bitcoin bridge on Wednesday

Cryptocurrencies had a turbulent 2022 to say the least. Blockchain technology made progress but that failed to offset the multiple bankruptcies and hacks that plagued the industry through the year.

India loves religious festivals, but are its citizens ready to attend such celebrations in virtual reality? An Indian startup reckons they are and launched its first effort this year, saying 20,000 avatars showed up.

Bitcoin slipped and Ether inched up in Asian trading on Friday afternoon, with Dogecoin leading gains across the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Bitcoin and Ether gained in Asian trading on Wednesday afternoon, with Dogecoin continuing to lead declines across the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies

The supply of Bitcoin owned by retail investors has reached an all-time high of around 17%, according to blockchain research firms Glassnode and IntoTheBlock.

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has acquired Indonesia-based crypto exchange Tokocrypto, according to a CNBC report

Bitcoin and Ether fell in Asian trading on Friday afternoon, with Litecoin leading declines across the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptos

Julia Leung, the next chief executive of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) due to start her three-year term on Jan. 1, called for stricter crypto regulation when speaking at the city’s Fintech Week last month.

Bitcoin and Ether weakened in Asian trading on Thursday afternoon, with Solana rising amid drops across other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin held onto gains in Thursday morning trading in Asia, though had pulled back from an earlier spike above US$18,000 as the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates in line with expectations.

Top blockchain and crypto news: SBF denied bail, US extradition likely next. The Block chief quits over secret FTX loans. Hong Kong readies digital asset rules.

Members of a U.S. Congressional hearing expressed frustration about the timing of Bankman-Fried’s arrest, saying they wanted him to testify under oath so the public could get the answers they are seeking about the collapse of FTX.

The Binance cryptocurrency exchange “temporarily paused” USDC stablecoin withdrawals while it carried out a “token swap,” the company announced Tuesday.

Bitcoin and Ether rallied in Asian trading on Tuesday afternoon. BNB was the biggest loser across the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies

The fall from grace: Once one of the most admired figures in crypto, the former head of the FTX exchange is unlikely to see his Bahamas penthouse anytime soon after being arrested Monday on U.S. charges that are expected to lead to his extradition.

Sam Bankman Fried, founder and former CEO of FTX exchange, was arrested and taken into custody by the Royal Bahamas Police on Monday.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-bankrupt FTX exchange, has missed the deadline set by the U.S. Senate Committee to confirm his appearance at an upcoming hearing.

Hong Kong passed the amendment to the bill that includes a licensing regime VASP on Wednesday, which will come into effect on June 1, 2023.

The embattled founder of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX may be subpoenaed if he declines to testify at the two hearings on the platform’s meltdown in Washington DC next week.

Bitcoin edged up above US$17,000 in Wednesday morning trading, a level it has fluctuated around for much of the past week.

Bitcoin and Ether rose in Asian trading on Monday afternoon. Most other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies strengthened, led by gains in Litecoin

Coinbase Global Inc. Chief Executive Brian Armstrong said Sam Bankman-Fried’s explanation of sloppy accounting as the reason US$8 billion moved from his crypto exchange FTX to brokerage arm Alameda Research doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Ankr will buy US$5 million worth of BNB – the token of cryptocurrency exchange Binance – to compensate liquidity providers affected by Friday’s exploit

Bitcoin and Ether fell in Asian trading on Thursday afternoon, with other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies also mostly down

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, said he did not know of any improper use of customer funds at his company, in an interview with ABC News. 

Bitcoin and Ether increased in Asian trading Thursday afternoon, with all other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies mixed

Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg said that he remains optimistic about the future of the metaverse over a “five-to-ten-year horizon” despite widespread skepticism of his company’s venture into the technology.

Bitcoin and Ether rose as Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that the central bank may start easing interest rate hikes.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Grayscale’s cryptic reserves. Binance rides to the rescue? China hit by protests and digital dissent.

The chief executive officer of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, regrets sending ‘too late’ a tweet that contributed to the collapse of FTX.com.

Calls for tougher rules on cryptocurrency have been echoing ever louder through the offices of global financial regulators since the collapse of the FTX exchange. But the firm did not invent dodgy business practices, so what can regulators and the industry do?

As FTX victims and creditors sift through the pieces, how much of this blowup should regulators have seen coming — and could it happen again?

Top blockchain and crypto news: Fear stalks crypto as Genesis wobbles. FTX cleanup begins. China’s NFT scene shrinks.

Input Output Global Inc. (IOG), the firm behind the Cardano blockchain, is releasing a new data-protection and privacy-centric blockchain and accompanying token.

Yes, there is rivalry between the two global finance hubs. But their strengths are also complementary for Asia to become an even bigger crypto powerhouse, writes Lily Z. King.

Temasek says its belief in Sam Bankman-Fried may have been ‘misplaced.’

Bitcoin outflows from centralized crypto exchanges rose to a historic high this week, as investors turned to self-custody options following the collapse of FTX.

Top blockchain and crypto news: FTX fallout spooks sector. Crypto.com’s $400 million ‘accident.’ Hong Kong’s new digital asset drive.