Companies

Indian crypto companies flock to Dubai, escaping high local taxes and finding solace in the emirate’s favorable regulatory environment.

Welcome to Forkast IQ, presented by Forkast’s Megha Chaddah, where we look beyond the headlines to get you insights that power smarter decisions. In this special edition, Forkast News spoke to one of the leaders of the Web3 industry, Yat Siu, co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands.

Silicon Valley venture giant Andreessen Horowitz plants flag in London: fuels UK’s ascent as a Web3 innovator.

BlackRock’s Ether ETF filing comes as the U.S. SEC entered an eight-day window to potentially approve pending Bitcoin ETF applications.

FTT rose over 65% despite FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s guilty verdict last week.

The SEC has reportedly been in contact with Grayscale since its court victory in August.

Prosecutors have reportedly identified new suspects after searching nine locations related to JPEX.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Hong Kong mulls Bitcoin ETFs, Ordinals flip Ethereum NFTs, IPO comes full circle.

Blockchain-based gaming and remittances among top drivers toward adoption in central and South Asia.

The move is part of SC Ventures’ expansion into the United Arab Emirates.

HSBC’s new service is expected to launch in 2024.

Binance said it aims to onboard the next billion Web3 users with its new wallet.

Circle has previously tried to go public through a blank-check deal back in 2022.

The partnership aims to reduce the high costs and lengthy transfer times associated with traditional remittance payments.

The last time Bitcoin transaction fees were this high was on June 6.

Proof Group is also part of the group that won the bid for bankrupt crypto lender Celsius.

The central bank expects to release the final set of regulations by 2025.

Magic Eden Ethereum will be the first major marketplace to contractually obligate creator royalties.

Siu said this marks the crypto industry’s evolution from the FTX collapse and the Terra-Luna meltdown.

SBF is found guilty of fraud, Hong Kong hosts Fintech Week, Neo advances Web3, Backpack launches NFT exchange, and more.

The US$5 million fund aims to help Vauld users who can’t withdraw their assets from the platform.

SOL rose over 319% in 2023 so far, despite concerns around FTX’s lawsuit.

The XRP token now stands to benefit from legal and regulatory clarity in the DIFC, according to the announcement.

Bankman-Fried’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 28, 2024.

PayPal said that it is collaborating with the SEC’s request.

The registration enables PayPal to advertise its crypto services to U.K. customers.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Bankman-Fried’s memory lapses, betting on the return of NFTs, ETF dreams and Bitcoin’s Uptober

Bankman-Fried trial nears end: defense claims good faith as prosecution alleges misuse of funds.

Circle said the account closures do not apply to businesses or institutional Circle Mint accounts.

This marked Bankman-Fried’s fourth and final day of testimony before Wednesday’s closing arguments.

Prosecutors pointed out inconsistencies in Bankman-Fried’s public statements before FTX collapsed in a four-hour grilling.

In a rare move, Judge Lewis Kaplan sent the jury home early so he can decide what is and isn’t admissible in FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s testimony.

Mastercard’s potential tie up with custody service providers may turbocharge crypto wallets’ growth with its global payments prowess.

Amid news, fake or otherwise, of an imminent approval for at least one spot Bitcoin ETF, Bitcoin’s price has skyrocketed. Could a year of pain in the crypto industry be over?

Global regulatory pressure on the world’s largest exchange continues to take its toll.

Coins.ph, a cryptocurrency exchange based in the Philippines with millions of users, appeared to have lost 12.2 million XRP tokens, The Block reported on Friday.

The pillars of Wall Street are muscling their way into crypto and decentralized finance. Who stands to benefit the most?

Bitcoin gained over 10% this past week, boosted by Grayscale’s renewed spot Bitcoin ETF application.

Web3 leaders gather in the Future Blockchain Summit in Dubai and we take a deep dive on the woes of crypto’s largest exchange, Binance.

Binance announced it has secured new fiat partners for euro services after its former partner cut ties with the exchange last month.

The XRP token rose over 6% on the day after the SEC dismissed the charges against Ripple’s top executives.

FTX’s former general counsel Can Sun testified he was “shocked” by $7 billion in missing customer funds as the prosecution’s case starts to draw to a close.

Grayscale said that its fund is ready to operate as an ETF upon regulatory approval.

The lawsuit alleges that the companies defrauded over 230,000 investors.

Coinbase said that the regulatory clarity MiCA provides to the industry is “hugely welcome.”

Top blockchain and crypto news: Is Japan a new frontier for Binance? AI art sweeps NFT sales. ETF buzz electrifies Bitcoin.

Taproot Assets will “accelerate the process of bringing Bitcoin to those billions of people,” according to Lightning Labs.

The U.K. is also listed as the 14th economy on Chainalysis’ Global Crypto Adoption Index.

The survey aimed to measure the public attitude towards virtual asset investments, following the JPEX incident.

Nishad Singh testified he bought a house a month before FTX’s collapse despite learning of the exchange’s misuse of customer funds weeks prior.

Israeli police requested information on 200 additional crypto accounts.

Users can still withdraw cryptocurrencies, according to the exchange’s updated terms of use.

Few tokens and too many exchanges are a bad recipe for Japan’s smaller crypto trading houses. The experts say there’s room for up to five only. So what happens to the little guy now that the world’s largest exchange Binance has rolled back into town?

OSL’s parent firm said investors should exercise caution due to the “unusual movement” in the company’s stock price.

The exchange added that it will also stop releasing new products and services in the country.

Bitcoin briefly spiked to US$29,388 after the fake post, before tracing back the gains.

FTX co-founder Nishad Singh testified on Bankman-Fried’s “excessive” spending including political donations coordinated in a group chat titled “Donations Processing.”

Singapore’s major payment institution license will enable Upbit to continue offering regulated digital asset services while awaiting its full license.

From tech monopolies to the synergy of AI and blockchain, Alex Tapscott, author of “Web3: Charting the Internet’s Next Economic and Cultural Frontier,” dissects the trajectories of the digital landscape.

Crypto is “part of the future,” said Melissa Wisner, vice president of crypto risk at Ciphertrace, during her panel discussion at D3 Bahamas.

Bitcoin was subdued by the mounting geopolitical concerns around Israel’s war with Hamas and the ongoing FTX lawsuit.

Alameda Research reportedly did not know about the misuse of FTX user deposits until last November.

The research firm said that on-chain data point toward Russian hackers, instead of the previously-suspected North Korean Lazarus Group.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Gaza tensions, digital tremors, NFTs are not dancing in September, Joe Lubin talks traditional system’s twilight.

The current crypto bear market caused Coinbase’s trading volume to drop to levels not seen since 2020.

Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis said the island nation will continue to be a pioneer in the digital asset space.

FTX’s collapse and the crypto winter helped regulators familiarize themselves with the rapidly evolving crypto industry, said Christina Rolle of the Bahamas Securities Commission.

Caroline Ellison details how Sam Bankman-Fried planned to raise capital from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman as FTX struggled to repay lenders.

JPMorgan’s Onyx blockchain showcased near-instant collateral transfer in BlockRock’s tokenized share transaction with Barclays.

Coins.ph joins forces with Circle to introduce USDC remittances, targeting a more efficient and affordable money transfer solution for millions of Filipinos abroad, supporting the UN’s goal of trimming remittance costs by 2023.

The congressional committee accused Changpeng Zhao and three other executives, along with 45 individuals, of running a financial pyramid scheme in the country.

Caroline Ellison, Sam Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend and former CEO of Alameda Research, details how the trading firm took around $14 billion from FTX customers to repay lenders.