Companies

Also: Japan’s deputy PM Taro Aso urges greater blockchain cooperation. Inner Mongolia raises bitcoin mining costs. Fintech investments in S. Korea.

Global fintech funding is growing in some surprising areas and signals potential for disruption. Which countries top the list?

In a special Forkast.News interview, the CEO who co-founded Ethereum discusses the deal with JPMorgan, DeFi’s rise, and expectations for Ethereum 2.0.

Other top news: $50 billion in cryptocurrency leaves China. Severe flooding in Sichuan destroys bitcoin mining farms. DeFi in India.

Conflux wins rare endorsements from Shanghai and Hunan provincial governments as other blockchain firms struggle for a toehold on the mainland.

Could blockchain technology and decentralized ID verification have prevented all those VIP Twitter accounts from being commandeered for a bitcoin scam?

Can blockchain stop the paid trolls, bot armies and floods of fake news that are subverting democracy through sites like Facebook?

Other top news: USPS explores blockchain for voting. Coinbase offers crypto loans. Huobi launches Global DeFi Alliance.

As China’s digital currency begins large-scale testing, business giants like Didi and Meituan appear to be signing on. What does China’s central bank say?

Other top news: Teen accused of masterminding Twitter VIP hack heads to court. Huobi launches DeFi lab. Fintech VC in Singapore and Indonesia.

New perpetual contracts — a crypto derivatives product — can be ‘inversed’ and priced in BTC rather than tied to fiat. What does this mean for investors?

Other top news: China imposes standards for blockchain companies. Huobi launches digital asset custody business. Blockchain VC in the Middle East.

Covid-driven monetary policies are spurring growing investor interest in crypto assets and derivatives, says Richard Byworth, CEO of Diginex and EQUOS.io.

As US regulators warm to digital assets, Diginex capitalizes on the world’s most mature financial market by launching platform that allows crypto spot trading.

Latest salvo in Bitmain’s epic civil war: World’s largest crypto mining equipment maker accuses estranged co-founder of absconding with customers and a big chunk of the world’s hashing power.

Ripple recently laid out a framework for India to legalize crypto through regulations. But does the Indian government have the incentives and will to do so?

Other top news: InterContinental uses blockchain to prove hotel cleanliness. Beijing plans for blockchain in city services. VC in India and Israel.

The UN, which now has a CryptoFund, wants to incubate new technology that would benefit children around the world. Apply now, or help get the word out!

Social media platforms like Twitter need more advanced technology, like blockchain, to protect user accounts from attacks, says Voice CEO Salah Zalatimo.

Brian Behlendorf, a longtime open-source evangelist, discusses China’s adoption of Hyperledger Fabric for its Blockchain Service Network (BSN), blockchain trends to watch, and more.

Sheila Warren, World Economic Forum’s head of blockchain policy, also discusses the growing importance of digital currencies and how America is falling behind.

India’s cryptocurrency market has vast potential — what’s holding it back? A continued lack of regulatory clarity as well as crypto education, says CoinDCX co-founder Neeraj Khandelwal.

In this chapter in the saga of the troubled mining company, ousted co-founder Micree Zhan establishes new online presence

Other top news: US still dominates blockchain patents globally. First court case in China litigated with blockchain. VC in Indonesia and Singapore.

Will India ban crypto? Regulatory uncertainty is causing nation to miss out on economic benefits. Smart regulations, says Ripple, may provide a way forward.

The Digital Dollar Project offers a path forward for the US to create a central bank digital currency. But will the government accept private sector help?

Other top news: Chainlink embraced by China’s blockchain network. Could Justin Sun’s infamy outshine TRON 4.0? Fintech in Thailand and Singapore.

India could reap greater economic growth, cut down on corruption and more if it adopts a more progressive stance on cryptocurrency. A leading role in Asia is New Delhi’s for the taking.

Ahead of the revamped blockchain platform’s July 7 launch, TRON’s flamboyant founder woos fans with gifts. But some netizens find him hard to love.

Goodbye long routing numbers. Hello simple ID.

White paper by global blockchain payment platform urges Indian lawmakers to make cryptocurrency legal while providing mechanisms to root out bad actors.

Other top news: Chinese high schoolers cram-studying bitcoin mining. Blockchain-powered lotteries in Cambodia. Startups in India, Singapore and UAE.

India and DeFi could be headed for a symbiotic relationship — unless the government cracks down on crypto again and forces a breakup.

Is it because Huobi has an in-house Communist Party relations office, while rival exchange Binance does not? Gather ’round for a Tale of the Two Cryptos.

The rest of the world may worry over the new e-RMB and what it could do to the US dollar. But inside China, will yet another digital payment system even matter? Forkast.News finds out what the laobaixing think.

Other top blockchain news: China sounds new warning against crypto. Brave browser brouhaha. Startups in Japan and Malaysia.

Crypto and compliance is a hot topic these days, with Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin’s incubator joining the fray with a new toolset.

How Visa, M-Pesa and Binance became wildly successful — and why even the greatest technology still requires thinking through how to get your product into the hands of your customers.

Game of Thrones at the world’s largest bitcoin mining rig maker culminates, in this week’s episode, with a once-exiled company founder storming and seizing back the corporate castle.

More top news: China exploring blockchain to cure gaming addiction. LG joins Hedera Hashgraph. Startups in Japan, Singapore and the Philippines.

Adam Traidman of BRD discusses CBDCs in an age of intensifying US-China rivalries, and bitcoin halving’s surprising impact on crypto mining and profits.

More top news: China pours billions into blockchain and other infrastructure. Ant Financial’s new smart contracts. VC in Singapore and India.

Two titans of blockchain discuss China’s DCEP, Covid-inspired technology and more with Forkast.News Editor-in-Chief Angie Lau, in video highlights from Ethereal Summit 2020.

China’s new DCEP — the world’s first major central bank digital currency — just piloted in 4 cities. When it is ready for mass use, could it challenge the US dollar’s hegemony in global trade and finance?

The central bank’s cash-like DCEP sets the stage for China’s next-gen financial infrastructure. Will it threaten the US dollar’s global supremacy? A University of Chicago Booth professor explains.

Other top news: Fintech-friendly policies for Hong Kong-Shenzhen bay area. China makes blockchain jobs more respectable. VC in Singapore and S. Korea.

Cinemas are closed, Netflix is here, but torrent providers renew their careers!

Other top news: IBM’s Covid medical supply network. China now has over 1,000 blockchain firms. Startups in Japan, India and Singapore.

Other top news: Courier giant YTO forms blockchain logistics lab. 224 more blockchain firms get official thumbs up. VC in Singapore, UK and US.

Asia’s first regulator-approved digital asset manager opens the door for wider cryptocurrency adoption.

A co-founder of the original Earth Day urges world leaders to not be complacent about the temporary dip in emissions and lose sight of urgent climate goals.

Other top news: Bitcoin halving frenzy. New Huawei tech zone. Blockchain company busted for defective face masks. VC in Hong Kong and Canada.

This week has been one where big changes came fast and furious on the opposite sides of the central bank digital currency world.  First, alleged screenshots of a mockup of the People’s Bank of China central bank digital currency’s mobile app were published, giving the public a taste of the apparent functionality of the platform […]

Also: Dozens of crypto firms sued in 11 class-action lawsuits. Bitcoin mining company Canaan bleeds red ink. Fintech funding in India, and more.

The U.S. backed away from a digital dollar in its coronavirus relief package. But a tokenized dollar would be better for America — and bring us closer to a true central bank digital currency, says a director of the Digital Dollar Project.

Aside from concerns about mismanagement, what else is causing Canaan to flounder? Forkast.News analyzes Canaan and the many storms — including the Covid economy and the next Bitcoin halving — now rocking the world of crypto mining.

Other top news: Blockchain in TV and film. Going Dutch on Covid. Nodle’s new network. BMW tracking auto parts. House rentals in new intelligent city

Other top headlines from around the world: Microsoft wants to power mining with brain waves. Crypto exchanges Huobi and OKEx under fire. China shifts to digitally sweep ancestral graves.

In this newsletter and podcast, we bring you top headlines around the world, including: A new proposal to create a digital dollar. Coinbase’s legal chief heading U.S. Treasury. A Bitcoin-Red Cross coronavirus fundraiser in Italy. Universal basic income’s revival. Steem’s hard fork into Hive, and more.

Also: Blockchain voting after the Voatz debacle, IOTA limps back after cyber attack, smart cities in China, and Forkast.News insights to help you make sense of the top headlines.

A decentralized, digitized and secure voting system could make elections more transparent, honest and trusted. But can blockchain voting also stem violence against voters — and overcome stains from the Voatz debacle?

Asia’s blockchain and cryptocurrency projects have more vitality than other regions, says the chairman of the Cardano Foundation. But he also notes the variations within the region. How does Hong Kong differ from Vietnam and Singapore?

CEO of Hedera Hashgraph explains how distributed ledgers can help front-line doctors and scientists in the battle against Covid-19, and how the emerging techology may be the future of international disaster relief.

Blockchain technology now offers hope to radically transform the African remittances industry in favor of migrant workers and their families.

India’s crypto sector saw a major boost after its Supreme Court ruled to lift a ban on crypto trading, paving the way for more blockchain development.

Public health coins could motivate more people to interact honestly with the health care system during crises like the coronavirus epidemic.

As bold-face names in entertainment and sports like PewDiePie, Manny Pacquiao and Spencer Dinwiddie dabble in blockchain technology, their use of cryptocurrency signal a growing shift toward grassroots financing and cutting out traditional middlemen. But some celebrities are finding a legal minefield.

As China, Singapore, Canada and other countries develop digital currencies in part to facilitate cross-border transactions, Ripple’s managing director of South Asia and EMEA Navin Gupta said these currencies would primarily only be used domestically.

China hopes to provide affordable basic health care to all its citizens by 2020. Now that the private sector has joined public initiatives, the country is starting to see medical care efficiencies thanks to blockchain implementation.

After their panel on how blockchain technology is changing the world of finance and enterprise at Hong Kong FinTech Week 2019, Digital Asset cofounder and CEO Yuval Rooz and R3 CEO David Rutter answered follow-up questions.

Getting blockchain right is hard enough – not to mention building consortium, says Steve Cerveny, founder and CEO of Kaleido, a Consensys Enterprise Business that offers blockchain as a service.

Blockchain technology and digital assets have the potential to change the entire finance industry. These blockchain-powered payments networks enable cross-border payments to be hassle-free by having a standard set of technical specifications and standards – reducing confusion and ensuring that all members of the network have access to the same technology, says Ripple’s Navin Gupta.