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Information Technology (IT) firms in South Korea set up shop in the realm of the metaverse, with their first step being non-fungible token (NFT) platforms.

Why archiving the internet is vital for the future, how a decentralized web can help, and why looking at history is a good way to predict the future

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

While the idea of the metaverse has many people talking and Chinese tech giants showing signs of making a foray into the space, a Beijing-based state-owned think tank has warned of the national security risks that the metaverse could bring. Fast facts In a research report titled “Metaverse and National Security” published Saturday by China […]

Sebastien Borget, COO and co-founder of The Sandbox tells Forkast.News how NFTs and an open and decentralized metaverse is transforming the way we live, work and play.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Is Tesla’s turbocharge a boost for Bitcoin? Mastercard’s Bakkt with a new crypto deal. Chinese NFTs on knife-edge.

New virtual worlds are full of opportunities, writes Sandra Helou of Zilliqa. But what if real-world problems get magnified in the metaverse?

New technologies like blockchain and AI are transforming financial services, writes Myles Bertrand of Mambu. But APAC banks are lagging behind.

Chinese internet giant Tencent reportedly plans to bet big on the metaverse — a trending idea on building a virtual world typically with the support of virtual and augmented reality technologies — and is looking to build an advanced gaming studio for that, the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with […]

Top blockchain and cryptocurrency news: Bitcoin grows up. Facebook’s metaverse journey. China’s crypto investors find a workaround.

After iron-fisted regulations closed down many exchanges, remaining trading platforms look for alternatives to transaction fees.

South Korean presidential hopefuls lean towards delaying crypto tax to impress younger voters.

Sotheby’s, the 277-year-old auction house, is launching its own immersive digital experience to offer prospective buyers a new way of engaging with the latest art-world craze — non-fungible token (NFT) artworks — according to a press release shared with Forkast.News. Fast facts Sotheby’s is creating a metaverse to allow users to explore and learn about […]

In this special Q&A, industry leaders tell Forkast.News why global stablecoin regulations can help catalyze crypto adoption.

The NFT boom is transforming the art world, writes Laura Ballman and Michael Greenwald. Collectors would be wise to learn all they can about this new technology.

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

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

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

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.

While a US digital dollar is stuck at pole position, China’s digital yuan is nearing the finish line. Michael B. Greenwald of Tiedemann Advisors explains why it matters to the future global economy.  

Cobo, a Singapore-based crypto custody and asset management platform, today announced the completion of its US$40 million Series B fundraise to accelerate the rollout of its decentralized finance (DeFi) as a service (DaaS) product. Fast facts In an interview, Cobo Chief Operating Officer Lily Zhuo told Forkast.News that Cobo’s DeFi as a service (DaaS) product, […]

Why is content moderation a cosmically huge problem, do humans need to be involved and how can the decentralized web ensure it’s a place for everyone.

It’s hot on Bitcoin Beach and the Twitterverse, but the new legal tender doesn’t have uptake elsewhere in the Central American country.

As Cardano’s Alonzo upgrade goes live, founder Charles Hoskinson of IOHK calls DeFi a ‘bubble.’ How does he think the regulation that is sure to come will reshape DeFi in the future?

China’s largest brokerage firm, CITIC Securities, said in a research report the metaverse will enter an exploration stage in the next three to five years and could become a way of life in 20 years. Fast facts The report said the development of the metaverse can be divided into three stages. The first stage will be completed […]

What was internet censorship like in the early days, how has it changed, and what role does decentralization play.

The Central American nation opens up the next chapter in the history of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency.

What is the relationship between crypto assets and stock prices? An analysis week’s market trends.

The ideal metaverse is open and interoperable, says Jamie Burke of Outlier Ventures. Here’s how blockchain gaming and NFTs are closing in on that future.

Notwithstanding Iron Finance’s collapse, stablecoins can play important roles for consumers and the economy, writes Julian Hosp of Cake DeFi.

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.

Top blockchain and crypto news: NFT wave buoys OpenSea. Are dollars and sense a lifeline for Tether? Tencent gets a target on its back.

CoinDCX, an Indian cryptocurrency exchange, has become the country’s first crypto unicorn with a US$90 million Series C fundraise, the company announced today. The funding was led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital. The fresh funding pegs CoinDCX’s valuation at US$ 1.1 billion. Fast facts Founded in 2018, CoinDCX offers a range of crypto […]

To assuage critics and to abide by a legal settlement, Tether Holdings Limited, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin USDT, has released a report by an independent accountant, which found that Tether’s tokens are 100% backed by its reserves. Fast facts In its review of Tether’s latest Consolidated Reserves Report, Cayman Island-based accounting firm […]

The Ethereum ecosystem is continuing to see strong growth, with institutional capital ‘flooding’ into decentralized finance and decentralized autonomous organizations flourishing.

The next half decade will see mass adoption of decentralized technology, writes Max Kordek of Lisk. Here are the leading uses.

A new NFT platform built on Hedera Hashgraph aims to give patients greater control over their health information. How does it work?

Celsius Network CEO says crypto lenders are using Wall Street’s ‘safest’ business tactic to provide high interest rates to customers. What are the risks?

Huobi deregisters Beijing entity while K-drama takes crypto back in time

Despite growing global interest, CBDCs are not all at the same stage of development. Amit Ghosh of R3 explains how countries in Asia are paving the way.

In a special Q&A, Yale-NUS College professor Andrew Bailey says the world’s oldest cryptocurrency has untapped potential to promote liberty, equality and justice around the world.

Why is social media’s current centralization problematic, and what would a decentralized Twitter or Facebook look like?

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

Ban on branded content covers range of financial services and ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes boosted by influencers with young followings.

Though Dogecoin and NFTs dominate headlines, their underlying technology — blockchain — is transforming our world in more meaningful ways, according to authors Kosrow Dehnad and Joe Duncan.

Centralized data management is outdated and vulnerable to hacking, says Li Jun of Ontology. Here’s how blockchain can make data more secure.

As countries step up their implementation of the Financial Action Task Force’s standards, the list of regulators that have Binance in their crosshairs just keeps growing longer. Fast facts Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission today filed a criminal complaint against Binance — the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume — for operating a digital asset […]

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.

Executive Summary The crypto market of 2020 is not the crypto market of 2013. What was once a cryptocurrency market is now a digital asset market. Blockchain’s strengths in efficiently and transparently tracking assets have given birth to an industry of assets represented by tokens, allowing both a new class of investors to have exposure […]

FCA says Binance is not permitted to offer regulated activities in the UK, but users of the world’s largest crypto exchange remain unaffected — for now.

As China shuts down crypto mining over environmental concerns, miners are moving next door to Kazakhstan, one of the most coal-rich countries in the world.

Bitcoin was recovered by the FBI from the Colonial Pipeline ransomware cyber criminals DarkSide, sparking privacy concerns around cryptocurrencies.

SEC does not want its former head of Corporation Finance to testify or answer question about XRP. Who is William Hinman — and what might he tell Ripple?

Crypto exchange Gemini has bought US$4 million in carbon credits to offset the environmental impact of its Bitcoin holdings

In a new report, Bank for International Settlements extols central bank digital currency (CBDC) as the future of money. Will CBDCs replace Bitcoin someday?

Iron Finance, once a DeFi darling, went from billions to bust in a day. Should investors have seen the crash coming? How stable are algorithmic stablecoins?

After Tether’s legal settlement with New York, USDT’s growth is exploding—dispelling concerns over Tether’s reserves, says Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino.

Google has announced plans to lift a ban on advertising cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges that has been in place for almost three years. A ban on advertising initial coin offerings will remain, however. Fast Facts: An advertising policy update on the company’s main webpage states that advertisers of crypto wallets and exchanges targeting the US […]

Other top blockchain and crypto news: Thailand’s SEC tries to rein in DeFi via regulation. Will China’s future DCEP digital yuan offer smart contracts?

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?

Despite recent outflows from crypto, U.S. dollar-linked stablecoin Tether (USDT) has surpassed US$60 billion for the first time this week.

Coinbase Pro adds Solana’s native token, opening the doors for US investors after SOL outperforms Bitcoin and most other cryptos amid market crash.

Banks in Singapore are leading blockchain and DLT developments while South Korean game developer WeMade entrusts its US$130 million crypto holdings to KODA.

Deutsche Bank Securities Services in Singapore and Singapore fintech firm Hashstacs, or STACS, today announced the completion of a tokenized securities proof-of-commercialization test named Project Benja.

Other top blockchain and cryptocurrency news: How Dogecoin copycat SHIB coin vaulted into crypto’s top 20. China unveils fingerprint ID for digital yuan.

Cryptocurrency startup Dfinity is set to unveil an “internet computer,” which it says can provide a faster, cheaper alternative to Ethereum and can rival Amazon Web Services and other cloud computing companies, according to a report by the Financial Times. The company’s self-described internet computer is a group of technologies designed to support next-generation decentralized […]

Other top blockchain and cryptocurrency news: S&P Dow Jones launches Bitcoin and Ethereum indices. Will China crack down on more crypto miners?

As ETH prices hit a new ATH and continue to the moon, Ethereum’s visionary creator Vitalik Buterin becomes the youngest ever crypto billionaire.

JPMorgan, DBS and Temasek launch Partior to digitize commercial money as stablecoin transaction volume surge in Asia-centric exchanges.

Bitcoin’s soaring prices are attracting traditional investors who want in, but with an entourage rather than solo. When will the velvet ropes lift in US and Asia?

Healthy food chain SaladStop! assesses the carbon footprint of food production and incentivizes customers to bring their own bowls. What can other retailers learn from this?