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How has layer-2 innovation saved Bitcoin from becoming a victim of its own success? Blockstream chief Adam Back explains.

In a special Q&A, a core contributor to the rapidly expanding Cosmos ecosystem discusses the ‘internet of blockchains’ and the new cross-chain economy.

Traditional equities and global markets are due for a correction. Valkyrie CEO Leah Wald wonders whether Bitcoin would hold strong in a global sell-off.

Bearish concerns over Federal Reserve rate hikes show a continued correlation with traditional markets, but industry watchers see changing dynamics at play.

Goldman Sachs, one of the world’s largest banks, joins the list of analysts predicting the price of Bitcoin could reach US$100,000, according to a report by Bloomberg. Fast facts According to Goldman Sachs estimates, Bitcoin’s float-adjusted market capitalization is just shy of US$700 billion, which accounts for a 20% share of the “store of value” […]

Rachel Mayers sees corporate and institutional interest in crypto and blockchain create an explosion in use cases and a whole new way of demonstrating consumer loyalty.

2021 was a big year for crypto. As we enter a new year, Forkast.News asks market watchers what might be in store for the next 12 months.

Aventus CEO Alan Vey also predicts the decentralized finance rally is just getting started. Which blockchains does he see growing massively in the new year?

Looking beyond this year’s headlines like El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption, here are the key developments in blockchain technology that will have lasting impact in the new year and beyond.

Countries acted to encourage — or discourage — cryptocurrency and other blockchain-based assets, sending markets wildly up and down.

From China’s ban to FATF’s travel rule, crypto regulations have been top of mind this year. How might regulatory impulses and current trends play out?

2021 will go down as the year the DeFi giant woke up, writes Derek Alia of Futureswap. What lies in store for decentralized finance in the year to come?

As 2021 draws to a close, what are this year’s milestones and trends to watch in the year ahead? Forkast.News consults experts to find out.

While increasing crypto adoption was predictable, 2021 also saw much that was unexpected. Here are the events that shocked even crypto natives.

Dennis Delgado, co-founder of a blockchain developer for supply chain management sees an explosion in new blockchains in 2022 for industry, logistics and manufacturing.

China tries to stamp out Bitcoin mining while increasing its influence over blockchain technology and preparing the digital yuan for launch. What lies in store for 2022?

Curious to use Bitcoin but don’t know where to start? Forkast.News explains how.

Japan’s financial conglomerate SBI Holdings announced a joint investment in Singapore’s virtual asset exchange Coinhako with Switzerland-based Sygnum Bank. Fast facts The investment is made through a fund formed in Singapore named the SBI-Sygnum-Azimut Digital Asset Opportunity fund. SBI expressed certainty in supporting Coinhako’s international expansion and other startups that have growth potential in the […]

What are the responsibilities of blockchain companies when it comes to freedom of expression? A controversial cartoonist finds out the boundaries.

Bitcoin’s current price is not indicative of the crypto’s future prospects, says Mark Yusko, who looks forward to the tokenization of everything.

Not yet done with your holiday shopping? Here are ideas for all the loved ones on your list, whether they are tech-savvy or merely crypto-curious.

Asia’s gaming giant Nexon’s US subsidiary supports cryptocurrencies for players in buying items inside its popular online games.

After two weeks of a downward price spiral, the market showed some signs of life this morning, with most coins managing to rise about 5% coming into business hours Asia time. AVAX, however, the native token of the Avalanche blockchain, gained almost 25% overnight to reach a two-week high of US$106.87 and finding itself in […]

The National Basketball Association has been ahead of the game in crypto adoption, but after a week of major developments, the league is now way out in front.

Gas fee unpredictability is a highly problematic aspect of the Ethereum ecosystem, writes Matt Cutler of Blocknative. What are the solutions?

Metaverse platform Spatial assembled a Series B funding round worth about US$25 million, with new investments from Maven Growth Partners, Pine Venture Partners, South Korea’s KB Investment, Korea Investment Partners, Mirae Asset and others. Fast facts With the Series B, Spatial gathered an accumulated investment amount of over US$49.6 million. Investors from past funds included […]

Top blockchain and crypto news: Can stablecoins bankroll democracy? Nike swooshes into the metaverse. Animoca and Bored Apes venture deeper into the gaming jungle.

The National Unity Government recognizes Tether as an official currency, defying the cryptocurrency ban imposed last year.

Blockchain gaming studio Vulcan Forged was hacked on Tuesday and 4.5 million PYR, the platform’s native token, was stolen, the company announced on Twitter. Fast facts Vulcan Forged also runs a decentralized exchange and a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace. The attacker gained the private keys to 96 wallets and proceeded to empty them, making off […]

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

Confusion surrounded the Solana blockchain community over the weekend as a sudden drop in transaction speeds was initially believed to be a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, resulting in a lengthy debate as to the cause of the delay. Fast facts Solana-based non-fungible token (NFT) platform Blockasset was one of the first to highlight […]

It’s come full circle: Shiba Inu holders can now spend their SHIB at GameStop — the company that helped trigger the memecoin trend.

Chief business officer of the first SEC-registered digital security says crypto companies got caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

Decentralized autonomous organizations are ripe for robot takeovers, says SingularityDAO’s Marcello Mari. After all, why do decentralized entities need leaders?

$30 million worth of SHIB stolen in BitMart hack sparks hunt for the dognapper, as ecosystem developments fail to return Shiba Inu coin to its former glory.

Blockchain gaming unicorn Animoca Brands announced yesterday a partnership with Aquis Farm — a major racehorse-breeding business owned by Hong Kong’s billionaire Fung family — to bring equestrian activities into the metaverse. The blockchain specialist will leverage Aquis Farm’s equestrian intellectual properties to develop blockchain games and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).  Fast facts “Aquis recognises the […]

India-based Layer 2 Ethereum scaling platform Polygon has acquired zero-knowledge technology developer Mir for US$400 million as part of Polygon’s continued focus on ZK tech. Fast facts Mir will help Polygon build its new project — Polygon Zero, a highly scalable, Ethereum compatible ZK rollup. A zero knowledge protocol is a cryptographic algorithm that allows […]

Chinese property giant Evergrande has defaulted on its debt to global investors, credit rating firm Fitch Ratings reported today. Fast facts Fitch has downgraded Evergrande to “Restricted Default” after its deadline to pay interest due on two dollar-denominated bonds passed on Monday. The actual payments were due a month ago and the grace period expired […]

Hong Kong-based venture capital (VC) firm Chiron Partners announced Wednesday the launch of a US$50 million fund to support the Terra blockchain ecosystem. Fast facts Chiron Partners will use the fund, namely the Chiron Terra Fund I (CTI), to invest in innovative projects built on the Terra ecosystem, such as decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and […]

Animoca Brands — a Hong Kong-based blockchain gaming, metaverse and non-fungible token (NFT) company — said it held US$15.87 billion worth of digital assets at the end of November, reflecting robust growth in its metaverse business units. Fast facts Animoca Brands said in a statement released Wednesday that in the first three quarters of this […]

South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) recently launched an intensive tax investigation into blockchain and crypto venture capital firm Hashed, while its CEO denies any involvement in slush fund raising or tax evasion, according to local media reports. Fast facts Hashed confirmed that it had cooperated with the 4th Bureau of Investigation from the Seoul […]

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

Gaming giant Ubisoft is launching Ubisoft Quartz, a new platform for players to obtain what it calls “Digits” — essentially non-fungible tokens (NFTs) playable in a mainstream game — according to a company statement. Fast facts The first such NFT will appear in beta with Tom Clancy’s “Ghost Recon Breakpoint” on Ubisoft Connect for Windows […]

Crypto ETFs make it easy to invest in digital assets without the complexities, writes Kevin Tai of Linear Finance. Imagine what a crypto index can do.

With suitable regulation in place, DeFi could yet play an important role in the financial system, BIS suggests.

Tourism officials want to attract more crypto-wealthy travelers to Thailand’s shimmering shores. But will the crypto faithful come if Thailand still has a ban on SHIB and Dogecoin?

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.

NFT privacy concerns meanwhile AussieMates raises mental health awareness

Supply chain woes are deepening as seasonal consumer demand meets a logistics logjam. Dennis Delgado of SyncFab explains how blockchain can help. 

A cabinet note suggests the government intends to regulate cryptocurrencies as assets with the Securities and Exchange Board of India at the helm.

Astar Network won Polkadot’s third parachain slot auction today. Polkadot will launch Astar Network and four other parachains on its platform on Dec. 17. Fast facts “This is a huge step for the entire Astar ecosystem, since we have been developing the network for more than 2.5 years to become a Polkadot parachain,” said Sota […]

BadgerDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) focused on bringing Bitcoin to decentralized finance (DeFi), is the latest to suffer an exploit that was estimated to result in losses of US$120 million. Fast facts Crypto security firm PeckShield said in a Thursday tweet the total loss has amounted to at least 2,100 BTC and 151 ETH. […]

Distinguished names in South Korean industry have invested in Hashed Venture Fund II to promote the Web3 ecosystem.

Crypto resilient to Omicron meanwhile Japan speeds up on CBDC

LUNA is now the 12th largest crypto, and Terra’s platform has been called ‘Alipay on the blockchain.’ What are Terra’s investment risks? Forkast.News explains.

A former finance secretary says too much is yet unknown about the new crypto bill for investors to expect the worst.

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.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) featuring famous traditional Chinese paintings by culture studio Rongbaozhai have been successfully transferred from China’s Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) WenChang Chain to the OpenSea marketplace on the Ethereum blockchain, a milestone in the development of interchain NFT technology. Fast facts The transfer was made on Nov. 16 across four blockchains: WenChang Chain […]

The Cosmos ecosystem is expanding rapidly with inter-blockchain transfers on the rise. What makes Cosmos different from other blockchains? Forkast.News explains.

Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed Huobi Technology Holdings today announced that it will be launching Huobi Lending, a cryptocurrency lending service for institutions and high net worth individuals (HNWI) through its new digital asset brokerage platform Huobi Brokerage, according to a company announcement. Fast facts Alongside growing institutional interest in digital assets, crypto lending services leveraging […]

Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum’s Ether (ETH) prices on Tuesday morning Asia time held their rebound from the Black Friday sell-off of global equities and cryptocurrencies following news of the new Covid-19 Omicron variant. Bitcoin was trading at US$57,184 and Ethereum at US$4,445, as of publishing time, according to CoinGecko data. Fast facts Institutional investors appear […]

As the pushback over environmental concerns of the blockchain industry continues, a recent report by Solana says that a single transaction on the network uses less energy than just two Google searches. Fast facts Completed under the guidance of an independent energy and climate advisor, Solana’s November Energy Report found that a single Solana transaction […]

Omicron hits markets meanwhile Japanese novel released as NFT

Singapore-based crypto exchange Coinstore has entered the Indian market despite the regulatory wrangle that points toward an impending ban on all private cryptocurrencies, the company announced today. Fast facts Coinstore has launched its website and mobile application for Indian users and plans to set up offices in Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumbai that will support its […]

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 impact was relatively short-lived, and many major tokens had already retraced most of their positions from Friday coming in Asia business hours.

Metaverse picks up momentum, on the other hand Binance tweet gets yellow card

SafeMoon, known for high fees and social media hype, is now 85% below its all-time high. What lies in SafeMoon’s future?

The total amount of Ether — the token of the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency Ethereum — “burned” since the introduction of Ethereum Improvement Protocol (EIP) 1559 as part of the London hardfork has hit the 1 million ETH milestone, according to figures from blockchain data aggregation site WatchtheBurn. Fast facts With the total amount of ETH […]

As the NFT zeitgeist sweeps the world, the industry’s beating heart is in Asia, writes David Tng of TZ APAC. Here’s how Asia’s NFTs are changing business models.

The metaverse has been the hottest trend in tech this past month and tokens attached to metaverse projects are showing that growth with the Sandbox’s SAND and Decentraland’s MANA are both up over 600% in the past month to reach all-time highs of US$8.51 and US$5.90 yesterday, respectively, according to CoinMarketCap. Fast facts The Sandbox […]

Luxury fashion houses set trends that trickle down to the rest of culture. Here’s where brands like Prada and Burberry are headed on the blockchain curve.