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Taiwan is set to enact new anti-money laundering rules that take effect July 1 to further boost AML requirements for crypto exchanges.

Bitmain has signed a deal to sell 30,000 of its Antminer machines to TeraWulf, a U.S. crypto miner that claims to use mostly clean energy.

Institutional demand for cryptocurrency appears to be slowing, according to a report by analytics company Glassnode.

Bithumb — South Korea’s second-largest crypto exchange — has rubbished claims that it is charging token issuers fees to list their coins on its platform.

Nasdaq-listed Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, announced today its plans to expand its business internationally as it seeks to improve its asset-listing process and build a crypto app store. Fast facts: “We’re seeing crypto quickly mature from its initial use case of trading bitcoin to the trading of thousands of new […]

With Theta’s new mainnet 3.0, the network aims to be the go-to blockchain-powered content delivery platform for online streaming. Will Theta succeed?

In the last installment of a 3-part series on blockchain in Asia, Forkast.News examines: Everyone knows money has value. But does it also have ‘values’?

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 […]

Millennials and Gen Z Millennials have earned the reputation of disrupting or killing traditional industries, and the financial sector is no exception.  The disconnect between millennials and traditional investments is the result of various factors, such as their firsthand experience with the long-term effects of the 2008 global recession on assets and investments, as well […]

How value is created Our methodology for calculating the value of this market includes tokenized commodity, energy, currency (i.e., stablecoins), gold and real estate projects. Calculations include publicly listed projects found via Blockexplorers. It excludes cryptocurrency, as it’s a native digital asset, as well as DeFi projects because of their extreme volatility. All tokenized assets […]

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX today announced that American football star Tom Brady and his wife, Gisele Bündchen, are taking equity stakes in it, in a multi-year partnership.

Although institutional interest in Bitcoin is rising, there is still the volatility conundrum to consider. Bitcoin’s market fluctuations, however, make it a poor store of value. But, at the same time, there is an advantage to keeping capital stored in crypto: cashing out crypto into fiat is almost always a taxable event and not ideal […]

Interview with Trent Barnes, Principal at Zerocap Tokenization brings new models for raising capital, as well as institutional-grade opportunities Forkast.News: How does a digital asset become “institutional-grade”? What sort of criteria are institutional-level traders looking for? TB: The criteria would include clear guidelines and regulatory frameworks as to how digital assets are treated, deepening pools […]

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.

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission chief, Ashley Alder, kicked off a firestorm during Hong Kong FinTech Week 2020 by announcing a plan to regulate all cryptocurrency exchanges that operate in the city or target its citizens.  These new proposed rules would replace a voluntary framework introduced in 2019 that allowed exchanges to opt in […]

Top three digital asset market trends shaping the future Three key trends in the digital asset market are: Tokenization of widely traded traditional assets, such as stocks and bonds; Tokenization of previously untraded or under-traded assets, such as real estate and fine art; Institutional adoption and trading of digital tokens. During the past year the […]

Singapore cryptocurrency exchange Coinhako today announced a 500% increase in trading volume during the first five months of 2021 compared to the whole of 2020.

Chinese cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has stopped providing crypto derivative trading services to users in China and Taiwan.

Nansen, a Singapore startup, is the latest darling of venture capitalists like Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) bullish on the growing field of crypto analytics.

Ethereum is bearing the brunt of negative sentiment on crypto, with net outflows from institutional products related to the token hitting a record of US$50 million last week.

Samsung Asset Management, South Korea’s biggest asset manager, has launched a fund tied to a virtual world known as the metaverse.

Bitcoin’s hashrate fell to 58.7971 exa hashes per second on Sunday — the lowest point since August 2019.

Interview with Thor Chan, CEO of AAX Forkast.News: The value of digital assets has exploded during the last year, and we are now at levels well above previous forecasts. What are you seeing in the market right now? Thor Chan: We think that the global crypto market is growing. More money is flowing in, and […]

Managing trading volume and geography The importance of having the right infrastructure to drive an exchange – any exchange, not just ones for digital assets – cannot be overstated. It provides the engine that lies behind every software platform.  Investors need to know they can execute trades without outages or other interruption. As well, they […]

Prototype launches in Hong Kong, with children able to collect digital currency and NFTs instead of arcade coupons.

Interview with Lorne Chambers, Global Head of Sales and Marketing, LSE Forkast.News: How does LSEG Technology’s matching engine ensure orders are closed with as little latency as possible? How does this prevent the phenomenon of negative convexity, where the market moves away from the position staked out by the trader? Lorne Chambers: The architecture of LSEG Technology’s […]

This report is about the development of digital assets, cryptocurrencies and tokenization and how that all-important confidence is established. Thank you for your interest in digital assets and the role of digital asset exchanges, custodians and the value digital assets offer to investors looking to diversify.  For any currency, digital or otherwise, confidence in the […]

How China’s deployment of the digital yuan intertwines economics with geopolitics and concrete with virtual infrastructure, from Cambodia to the Caribbean.

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 […]

Table of contents Foreword For any currency, confidence is essential. This report is about the development of digital assets, cryptocurrencies and tokenization and how that all-important confidence is established. by Angie Lau, Forkast Editor-in-Chief Executive summary and introduction The crypto market of 2020 is not the crypto market of 2013. What was once a cryptocurrency […]

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forkast.studioIt’s time for a new kind of conversation We are at a crossroads: societally, politically, economically, technologically, publicly, and personally. All roads are leading to this moment. And so we meet.  The brave new world of disruption has landed. How we “speak” to each other now must reflect this new reality –– from face-to-face human […]

Kazakhstan is quickly becoming a mining hotspot as China’s mining exodus settles down. In Hong Kong, and update on the e-HKD.

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.

Why are so few adopting FATF guidance for VASPs? Money laundering watchdog decries ‘continued misuse of virtual assets through jurisdictional arbitrage.’

Payment for listings raises questions over integrity of cryptocurrencies’ credit scores as compliance deadline nears.

What is blockchain and how can it help smaller companies? A special panel sponsored by Blockchain-based Service Network explores the use cases.

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.

Long before most governments, the Asian superpower saw the potential in Bitcoin’s technology to spawn the next internet and a new form of money.

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

Blockchain Is Not China’s Future — It Is The Present Blockchain technology is a national priority for China, and it’s being integrated in both enterprise and government. Nowhere else in the world has a country approached the development of a technology with such a sense of urgency. Forkast.Insights sat down with top China-based insiders, academics, protocols, […]

Construction meets blockchain in Australian and Binance’s NFT marketplace is open for business.

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?

A major Ethereum upgrade via London hard fork — which experts call a ‘seismic shift’ for the industry — is coming soon. Are ‘Ethereum killers’ doomed?

Urged on by the authorities, banks have wasted little time in putting e-CNY infrastructure in place, but now comes the hard part — getting people to use it.

Chinese crypto mining rig maker Bitmain has decided to suspend global spot sales of its Antminer machines, as some of its clients are reselling their rigs.

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Stories of emerging technology at the intersection of business, economy, and politics. From Asia, to the world. Technology is by its very nature, disruptive. But understanding it also helps us navigate this age of disruption better. Forkast was started in 2018 with a simple premise: Technology should be understood by the people it will impact […]

Chainalysis, the blockchain and cryptocurrency data analytics firm, announced today that it has raised US$100 million in a Series E funding round with a US$4.2 billion valuation. Fast facts: Headquartered in New York, Chainalysis provides blockchain-based software that enables governments and businesses to detect and prevent cryptocurrency crime and money laundering. Chainalysis’ series E round […]

Swiss-based Digital Assets AG, a firm focused on the design of tokenized stock infrastructure, has launched over 50 tokenized stocks on the Solana public blockchain.

South Korea’s Blue House responds to a national petition calling for the financial watchdog head’s resignation.

Blockchain technology promotes a circular economy of reuse that is vital to our planet’s future. Leanne Kemp, CEO of Everledger, explains how it works.

A university in Paraguay has announced that it will begin accepting cryptocurrency as payment for tuition starting from August.

QR Capital’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund — the first Bitcoin ETF in Latin America — has been listed on Brazil’s stock exchange.

A tech-savvy activist is using blockchain technology to preserve content from Hong Kong’s Apple Daily, which was yesterday forced by the government to shut down.

Ant Chain, Ant Group’s technology brand, has launched a new blockchain communication technology at Ant Chain’s first developer conference.

South Korea’s presidential office has reacted defensively to a petition calling for the chief of the country’s main finance sector regulator to step down over comments he made about cryptocurrencies.

Chinese mining rig maker Bitmain is offering assistance to clients that want to relocate their cryptocurrency mining operations from China to other countries.

Top blockchain and cryptocurrency news: Bitcoin’s still winning. Titan’s troubles as a teachable moment. Beijing creates a crypto mining diaspora.

Chinese mining rig maker Bitmain has stopped selling in-stock cryptocurrency mining equipment amid a plunge in the prices following a shutdown of major mining pools in China.

Another legal challenge faces cryptocurrency exchange Upbit. In China, Ant Group is getting into the NFT game — through Alipay.

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

Canaan, one of the world’s biggest crypto mining rig makers, has launched its own crypto mining business in Kazakhstan.

South Korean crypto exchange Upbit — the country’s biggest — is facing a lawsuit filed by a university foundation alleging patent infringement.

The U.S. SEC has settled charges against Loci and its CEO, John Wise, for allegedly making false statements in connection with a sale of digital asset securities.

Indian cryptocurrency investors could face a 2% levy on transactions made through foreign-owned crypto exchanges operating in the country.

Iranian police have confiscated 7,000 cryptocurrency mining machines from an abandoned factory in western Tehran, the largest batch discovered in recent days.

After a spate of bad news, Bitcoin’s price tumbled to its lowest level this year before climbing back up to $34,000. Where are BTC prices likely to go next?

Crypto-related crime in the US increased an average of over 300% per year from 2017 to 2020with a total of 82,135 cases last year alone.

Ethereum is much more than a cryptocurrency, and it has already attracted huge interest among investors. What’s all the fuss about? Forkast.News explains.

Kazakhstan offers nearby bolthole as North America and Europe beckon.

Better known for uses in art and collectibles, non-fungible tokens can also improve supply chains and prevent fraud. Richard Crook of LAB577 explains how.