Companies

Crypto literacy of Indian regulators is evolving and crypto players are trying to keep industry clean via self-regulations, says Nischal Shetty of WazirX.

Institutional digital asset manager Grayscale announced today that it is exploring 13 more assets for its trusts, mainly related to decentralized finance.

Australian investors adversely impacted by repeated system failures on Binance are considering taking a class action lawsuit to recoup their losses.

Singapore-based decentralized exchange SynFutures has closed a $14 million series A round to bring crypto derivatives to new users around the world.

Self-published tokens get barred from South Korean exchanges as Hong Kong’s air quality recording meets blockchain technology.

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission today revealed plans to ban cryptocurrency exchanges in the country from listing their own coins.

SynFutures, a Singapore-based decentralized derivatives exchange, today announced the closure of a US$14 million series series-A funding round led by Polychain Capital.

50 crypto exchanges apply for ISMS in South Korea while Hong Kong sees the birth of a blockchain passport for Covid vaccinations.

Nasdaq-listed Diginex, a Singapore-based digital asset financial services company, today announced a rebranding of its businesses, including the EQUOS cryptocurrency exchange, as EQONEX.

Coinbase will add Shiba Inu, Chiliz and Keep Network to its professional trading platform with full trading beginning at 9am PT if liquidity conditions are met.

A judge has denied the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s request for documents related to Ripple’s XRP transactions and lobbying efforts that took place after the SEC filed its lawsuit last December, according to a new legal filing. Fast facts: “As discussed in the Court’s earlier Opinion and Order denying access to Ripple’s privileged communications, […]

Chinese authorities provide more details on its notice issued to the local mining industry while South Korean exchange start ‘coin thinning’.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Ethereum software company ConsenSys today announced the launch of a Covid-19 digital health passport.

Input Output Hong Kong has announced on Twitter that it has launched AlonzoBlue2.0 to the Cardano testnet.

Ethereum saw its largest institutional outflows on record last week as outflows from Bitcoin eased, according to a report by CoinShares.

A judge overseeing discovery in the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs has granted the SEC’s request to extend deadlines by 60 days as well as a request by co-defendants Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and executive chairman Chris Larsen to obtain information from 16 cryptocurrency exchanges outside the United States. Fast facts: […]

Ant Group, Ping An Group and Tencent Cloud ranked as the top three among 50 leading Chinese industrial blockchain enterprises in 2020.

China’s crypto mining crackdown continues while Indian finance authorities probe one of the nation’s largest exchange WazirX.

China’s central bank has unveiled four specifications of digital wallets for the country’s state-issued digital currency, the e-CNY.

India’s central bank has clarified that cryptocurrencies are not illegal, but that does little to prevent lenders from refusing to provide crypto-related services.

Huobi Group has announced the launch of a Blockchain Assets Center to provide a standardized, streamlined process for projects seeking to list on its cryptocurrency exchange, Huobi Global.

With Kusama slot parachain auctions underway, the first starting next week, Plasm and Shiden networks prepare for a multi-chain future with Polkadot.

India’s Enforcement Directorate has issued a show cause notice to cryptocurrency exchange WazirX for alleged foreign exchange violations involving 27.9 billion rupees (US$382 million).

Twitter’s founder and CEO says the integration of Bitcoin layer-2 payments — the Lightning Network — into the social media platform may be on the horizon.

A former governor of the People’s Bank of China said today that some cryptocurrencies have forfeited their opportunity to return to use as methods of payment.

Chinese crypto mining rig maker Bitmain is reportedly set to meet with miners and industry participants next week to discuss relocating mining operations overseas.

GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, is investing in BC Group—the parent company of OSL, Hong Kong’s first licensed cryptocurrency exchange.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has launched a public consultation on preliminary proposals for the treatment of banks’ crypto asset exposures.

The BIS, together with the central banks of France and Switzerland, are collaborating on a wholesale central bank digital currency experiment for cross-border settlements.

Retirement investment platform ForUsAll is partnering with Coinbase to expand access to cryptocurrencies through the U.S. 401(k) pension scheme.

Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, says technologies such as blockchain will help Asian nations to reduce carbon emissions.

Paris-based crypto hardware wallet provider Ledger announced today the completion of a US$380 million series-C fundraise.

Beijing-based Red Date Technology — the face of China’s ambitious nationwide blockchain service network — receives a big investment boost.

In a new court filing, Ripple describes the damage the SEC lawsuit has already done to XRP and the payment company’s now-frozen US business.

In a talk this week, Vitalik Buterin explains Ethereum’s growing use in enterprise and the importance of building diverse, open-source communities.

Hong Kong looks to explore CBDC feasibility as Australian millennials favor investing in crypto over traditional assets.

Cardano is set to provide tools for developers, end users and businesses to execute smart contracts in financial agreements through a new suite of products.

UNICEF Venture Fund is awarding up to $100,000 to blockchain startups, including India’s GovBlocks, in its latest funding round. Here are the other projects.

Regulatory uncertainty pushes India’s crypto industry towards self regulation as a secret Ethereum miner gets busted in Seoul Arts Center.

Ripple is inviting feedback from its developer community on a plan to introduce federated sidechains on the XRP Ledger.

From Phillips auction house in Hong Kong to Art Fair Philippines, non-fungible tokens are redefining how Asia appreciates, buys and profits from art.

In collaboration with Wharton business school, WEF releases a toolkit for governments to consider the opportunities and risks of decentralized finance.

XRP last week saw inflows of US$7 million into investment products, the most since April, according to CoinShares.

Canaan, one of the largest crypto mining rig makers in the world, is opening its first-ever service center outside China—in Kazakhstan.

Chinese social media Weibo bans crypto accounts as employees of South Korean crypto exchanges can no longer trade on their own platforms.

CoinShares has announced that its Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin physically-backed exchange traded products have cross-listed on Germany’s Börse Xetra exchange.

Binance today announced a “100 creators” campaign featuring creative talents from around the world as part of the launch of its non-fungible token marketplace on June 24.

Following blockchain’s mention as a next-wave technology in China’s five-year plan, Huawei unveils applications for government and in-house services.

Microblog platform Weibo has blocked more than 30 influential Chinese cryptocurrency-related accounts amid a series of actions by Beijing against crypto mining and trading.

Global crypto exchange Luno is in talks with conglomerate Lippo Group to launch operations in Indonesia in order to enter the Southeast Asian market.

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

BitFlyer announced today that it is launching a Bitcoin-to-Japanese yen pair for currency traders in the U.S.

Governments meet up with the crypto industry to discuss how to regulate the booming industry as BC Group’s OSL ties up with SC Ventures.

To defend themselves against SEC lawsuit, Ripple’s CEO and chairman ask court for help getting XRP info from a who’s who list of offshore crypto exchanges.

From digital bonds to real estate, blockchain-enabled security token offerings and tokenization are redefining corporate fundraising and investing.

Eleven users of Upbit have filed a class action lawsuit against its owner, Dunamu Inc., seeking damages over a suspected technical failure.

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 […]

SpaceChain shoots blockchain to tech to the International Space Station aboard Falcon 9 as Cardano announces first cross-chain bridge with Nervos.

Input Output Hong Kong and Nervos announced today that they will be launching a cross-chain bridge to connect the two networks.

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?

WazirX launched the country’s first NFT marketplace on Tuesday, featuring artists from India and other South Asian nations.

Dogecoin has gained an additional measure of credibility, with crypto exchange Coinbase announcing that it will add DOGE to its professional trading platform.

Ethereum has hit a market-share high of 27% of all digital asset investment fund products following recent price corrections.

Thailand becomes one of the first governments to attempt DeFi regulation as India’s RBI clarifies that banking ban no longer exists.

China-based trading apps Futu and Tiger Brokers have announced plans to move into crypto to compete outside China with apps such as Robinhood and eToro.

‘Know your customer’ is key to anti-money laundering efforts. Isabelle Corbett of R3 explains why blockchain is uniquely suited for KYC/AML.

Singapore’s DBS Bank has announced its first security token offering on the DBS Digital Exchange.

Following the launch of Cardano’s first testnet for its smart contract platform, Alonzo, ADA’s price rebounded by 15% on Monday morning to reach US$1.65.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has failed in a bid to gain access to any legal communications Ripple Labs sought or received as to whether sales of XRP were subject to federal securities law.

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.

SEC says Ripple had plenty of ‘notice’ that XRP transactions could be violating the law via its many enforcement actions against other crypto companies.

Input Output Hong Kong, one of the companies behind the Cardano blockchain, today announced the launch of the first testnet for Cardano’s Alonzo upgrade.