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China’s top economic planning body has officially designated crypto mining as “obsolete,” reinforcing government efforts to stamp out the industry entirely.  Fast facts

Klaytn, a public blockchain platform under South Korean internet giant Kakao, announced on Monday five partnerships to drive plans to become a global blockchain benchmark for the increasingly competitive gaming and metaverse space in 2022. Fast facts Klaytn is partnering with Japanese tech giant GMO Group, Indonesia’s Innovation Factory, NFT marketplace East NFT, U.S.-based entertainment […]

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will reiterate his pledge to prevent entrenched inflation, in testimony released before his Senate nomination hearing on Tuesday.  Fast facts “We will use our tools to support the economy and a strong labor market and to prevent higher inflation from becoming entrenched,” he said in a statement prepared for delivery. […]

Australian cryptocurrency exchange BTC Markets has partnered with the country’s No. 2 tennis star Ajla Tomljanovic ahead of the Australian Open to release limited edition non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Fast facts The NFTs will be in the form of Proof of Attendance Protocol, akin to a digital concert ticket stub proving attendance,  that will allow owners […]

A new non-fungible token (NFT) collection backed by Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou has dethroned Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) on the OpenSea NFT marketplace in trading volume, reflecting growing interest in celebrity-endorsed digital collectibles. Fast facts The PhantaBear NFT series, co-created by Jay Chou’s hipster brand PHANTACi, sold out its 10,000 algorithmically-created NFTs on Jan. […]

China’s e-CNY app downloaded 16 million times meanwhile in Kazakhstan the outages hit miners

The CFTC is asserting greater regulatory powers over the crypto industry than ever before. But does the agency have the statutory backing to do so?

China’s pilot e-CNY wallet application, currently available in a dozen major cities, topped 16 million downloads in the first week after its launch, according to two data providers. Fast facts

Sega, the Japanese gaming giant, has vowed to backtrack on its NFT (non-fungible tokens) plans if fans continue to criticize the project. Fast facts (Update removes mention of Mortal Kombat)

Limited restoration of internet access in Kazakhstan is not enough to bring the world’s second-largest crypto mining hub back fully online, according to internet tracker NetBlocks.  Fast facts Last week, internet access in the central Asian nation was shut off after protests over fuel prices spread across the country, resulting in more than 100 deaths […]

Payments giant PayPal confirmed it is exploring its own stablecoin after evidence of such a project was found in its iPhone app’s code. Fast facts “We are exploring a stablecoin; if and when we seek to move forward we will of course, work closely with relevant regulators,” PayPal’s Senior Vice President of Crypto and Digital […]

Hyundai plans to open a “Meta-Factory”, meanwhile crypto divergence ahead for the year 2022.

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

What’s behind the crypto cheerleading by U.S. mayors? Are their city coins savvy moves — or will the bespoke crypto end up worthless?

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.

Gaming metaverse the Sandbox announced the partners for its upcoming Hong Kong-influenced virtual cultural hub.

Kazakh riots hit miners, meanwhile Fed hits crypto market

The US tech giant will pour $40M via private placement in Ennoconn, as the iPhone supplier continues to dream big for metaverse.

Bitcoin hashrates tumble as miners unprepared for an outage, experts say.

Hong Kong-listed Chinese food delivery giant Meituan, which occupies 70% of the market share, on Wednesday started to accept digital yuan for payments, as tested by Forkast.News.  Fast facts Users first need to link their wallets to Meituan in the e-CNY app; then they can pay for an order by selecting digital yuan in the […]

Have you already made your first Bitcoin trade? Perhaps you already have and would like to know more about other digital assets. This Forkast.News video explainer explores what investors can hold in their portfolios as alternatives to cryptocurrency. What you’ll learn: What digital assets can you invest in other than Bitcoin and altcoins? What are […]

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

The ability to display, buy and even mint NFTs is seeping into mainstream products from South Korea’s largest corporations.

Christopher Giancarlo, AKA CryptoDad, expects legislators to get comfortable with crypto in 2022 and take a progressive approach to regulation

The Australian Open (AO) is one of the biggest sporting events on the world tennis calendar, and now there is another way to watch, as this year’s tournament will also be held in Decentraland — the decentralized metaverse platform. Tennis fans will be able to participate further through buying non-fungible tokens (NFTs) linked to live […]

Some of India’s largest crypto exchanges, including WazirX, blame ambiguity in the regulation of cryptocurrencies for missed tax payments.

Since China’s crypto bans, Kazakhstan has become a popular destination of energy-intensive crypto mining companies.

China’s e-CNY pilot app is ready for download as Bored Apes headline NFT frenzy.

But e-CNY adoption remains an issue, with mobile payment platforms such as Alipay and WeChat Pay already ubiquitous.

Top blockchain and crypto news: CBDCs at the crossroads. A token gesture from Samsung. NFTs survive in China.

Chinese cryptocurrency mining rig maker Canaan announced Tuesday that it has entered into multiple partnerships in Kazakhstan and deployed over 10,000 mining machines in the country, as the company steps up efforts to expand globally. Fast facts Canaan said in a statement it has successfully launched the last batch of mining machines online under its […]

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” […]

The crypto market leaders are trading sideways so far in the new year. But NFT trading volume has exploded, with strong Q1 performance expected.

Cryptocurrency is fueling crimes like malicious mining and ransomware attacks, writes Andrew Brandt of Sophos. What can a company do to protect itself?

Yuval Rooz of enterprise blockchain company Digital Asset Holdings, predicts traditional banks like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs will tokenize more assets to provide more privacy and scalability.

In South Korea, a new presidential administration will be chosen in March. Here’s where the four major candidates stand on Korea’s booming virtual asset space.

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.

A CryptoPunk is sold in a Shanghai auction house despite an existing crypto ban in China.

Guangxi, China’s southern provincial-level region, is researching cross-border finance, supply-chain service platforms and e-CNY applications, according to a report by local state-run media Guangxi Daily. Fast facts The Guangxi autonomous region — often seen as a gateway for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) trade — plans to support cross-border circulation of capital, according to the […]

A CryptoPunk non-fungible token (NFT) — CryptoPunk #8690 — was sold at an auction in Shanghai organized by Shanghai Jiahe Auction earlier this week for 5,232,500 yuan (US$823,300), with a starting price of 1.5 million yuan (US$236,000), reflecting growing investor interest in NFTs in China despite criticism from state-controlled media. Fast facts V.V Yu, general manager […]

Today’s consumers are looking for more equitable financial services, writes Sean Rach of hi. Here’s how blockchain can offer a nonprofit banking alternative.

NFTs are finding novel uses across many sectors, from fashion to real estate. What industries stand to benefit most from this technology in the year ahead?

Bitcoin is now a teenager but it’s not a celebration for some as Indian tax authorities raid crypto businesses.

In South Korea, virtual asset investors with more than 500 million Korean won, or approximately US$418,935, worth of crypto assets in overseas accounts must report to their regional tax authorities beginning in 2023. Fast facts According to a new year guidebook by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, any resident or domestic corporation with overseas […]

The Chinese government published a draft regulation on Dec. 31 stating that no organization or individual is allowed to provide internet marketing for illegal financial activities, which include cryptocurrency transactions. Fast facts The regulation, drafted by the People’s Bank of China — China’s central bank — and other Chinese government institutions stipulates that any organization or […]

The world’s largest crypto exchange continues struggling to stay compliant, but it has seen some luck in the Middle East.

Love it or hate it, Bitcoin can be a powerful force for good — and it’s here to stay, writes Peter Vessenes, co-founder of The Bitcoin Foundation.

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.

Yosuke Matsuda, president of Square Enix — the game developer behind Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts — recently reiterated the company’s blockchain ambitions while acknowledging ongoing concerns about the new trend. Fast facts In a new year’s letter posted on the company website, Matsuda emphasized that incorporating blockchain technology into gaming holds “the […]

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?

With wider acceptance as a financial asset, a teenage Bitcoin may not see the explosive 200% average annual returns of the past, but also may experience less price volatility.

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.

Perianne Boring of the Chamber of Digital Commerce sees agencies elbowing each other to oversee the crypto industry while investors start to pay big taxes.

A regulatory hurricane swept away half of South Korea’s crypto exchanges in 2021. Who are the survivors — and are there larger lessons for the rest of the world?

It’s a myth that crypto transactions are anonymous, writes Warren Paul Anderson of Discreet Labs. Confusing anonymity with privacy is what causes trouble.

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

The years of investment and development in NFTs and the metaverse will bear fruit in 2022, according to Cryptoslam CEO Randy Wasinger.

Ethereum was game-chaging at its 2015 launch, but today it’s showing its age. As Eth2 upgrades slowly unfold, who are the top rivals trying elbow out the #2 blockchain?

In December 2020, Stefan Rust successfully predicted a ‘Cambrian Explosion’ of crypto tokens. Now he says 2022 will be when the crypto markets will be ‘flooring out.’

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?

While China made a big moves in banning crypto this year, US lawmakers appear to be warming up to the industry, setting the stage for next year.

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.

Animoca Brands chairman Yat Siu sees a mass migration to the ‘open metaverse’ while the ‘closed’ ones will fail. What does this godfather of blockchain gaming mean by that?

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

Bitcoin adoption soared in 2021 with El Salvador’s currency experiment with the help of the layer-2 scalers. Will Lightning strike twice in 2022? 

Hackers scam 7,000 Solana, or US$1.3 million, from would-be buyers of a new NFT collection of the Monkey Kingdom project.

Alex Tapscott of Ninepoint Partners also shares with Forkast.News his predictions for stablecoins and NFTs in 2022.

China prepares to show off its tech innovation muscles at the Beijing Winter Olympics as it unveils some unusual-looking wallets for its new digital yuan.

Global shifts are underway in crypto regulations, writes Huong Hauduc of Bequant. How might the political and market forces play out next year?

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.