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Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has removed sanctioned Russian banks from its P2P trading service, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. 

From landmark business decisions to looming central bank announcements, the crypto landscape this week teemed with events that may shape the course of the market.

Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to misusing customer funds. North Korean hackers could cash out US$40 million worth of stolen Bitcoins

Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers can visit him in jail on a daily basis, a U.S. district court ruled on Wednesday, while FTX’s new CEO wants to sell its crypto.

Mastercard and cryptocurrency exchange Binance will end their crypto debit card program in Argentina, Brazil, Columbia and Bahrain from Sep. 22.

The Tornado Cash mixer’s co-founders have been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with money laundering and sanctions violations.

SOL was the biggest gainer in the top 10 following its Shopify deal. Bitcoin and Ether also rose along with most top 10 cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin recaptured the US$26,000 mark today, while Solana fell to a six-week low. BNB was the biggest gainer in the top 10, despite allegations against Binance resurfacing.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, pleaded not guilty to a set of new charges tied to last year’s collapse of his crypto empire.

Binance continues to help a significant amount of Russian funds move abroad through crypto transactions, according to The Journal.

CoinDCX, one of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, said on Wednesday it is laying off 12% of its staff due to the impact of a prolonged bear market and local tax rules. 

Bitcoin holds its ground above US$26,000, but the top 10 cryptocurrencies see a dip. BNB remains subdued as Binance’s payment partner woes intensify.

Coinbase Global announced Monday that it is acquiring an equity stake in Circle Internet Financial, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin.

Despite the outrage against Sam Bankman-Fried and the now-bankrupt exchange, everyone would be better off with a relaunched FTX 2.0, writes Rachel Lin, CEO of SynFutures.

A U.S. district court has concluded that the Treasury Department’s sanctions on cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash are valid.

The U.S. SEC could call for South Korea’s cooperation in questioning Daniel Shin, co-founder of Terraform Labs.

Bitcoin fell over 10% this week and dipped to a two-month low following Evergrande’s bankruptcy filing.

Welcome to Forkast IQ, presented by Angie Lau, where we look beyond the headlines to get you insights that power smarter decisions. Coming up on today’s show:

Macroeconomic factors hit investor sentiment while a U.S. judge’s consent to SEC over its ongoing tussle with Ripple Labs affects crypto prices.

Judge Analisa Torres has granted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the request to file an interlocutory appeal in its lawsuit against Ripple Labs.

Bitcoin, Ether and Top 10 crypto fell on Thursday morning in Asia. Coinbase receives futures approval.

PayPal will pause cryptocurrency sales in the United Kingdom for a minimum of three months starting October 1.

Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., has obtained regulatory approval to offer crypto futures trading services to eligible clients

Binance will shut down its cryptocurrency payment service Binance Connect on Aug. 16, a Binance spokesperson confirmed. 

Bitcoin and Ether fell on Wednesday along with all other top 10 cryptos, NFTs moved down while U.S. stock futures steadied after a rocky Tuesday.

The FTX founder faces charges of wire fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud and money laundering related to the exchange’s collapse in November.

Australian banks are heightening scrutiny on digital asset exchanges and restricting crypto payments due to rising scams and frauds. Caroline Bowler, CEO of BTC Markets highlights the challenges and opportunities faced by the industry in the country.

Bitcoin rose slightly in the past 24 hours while Ether lost. Dogecoin and Solana were the day’s biggest losers, both dropping by over 1%, although both posted gains on the week.

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX, was jailed Friday and his bail revoked ahead of his trial for fraud scheduled for October 2.

Bitcoin briefly rose above US$30,000 twice this week, but failed to remain the support level despite positive catalysts in the industry like the launch of PayPal’s new stablecoin. Bitcoin will have to close the week above US$29,300 for upward momentum, industry experts told Forkast.

Welcome to Forkast IQ, presented by Angie Lau, where we look beyond the headlines to get you insights that power smarter decisions. Coming up on today’s show:

Bitcoin and Ether fell during Friday afternoon trading in Hong Kong, along with all other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Despite its recent crab walk, Bitcoin is in a “bullish scenario” as long as it holds US$27,500, industry experts told Forkast.

Huobi has contacted multiple data platforms to update its cryptocurrency holdings, following market talk that the it might face an insolvency issue.

SEC seeks to appeal a court ruling in July that the programmatic sale of Ripple’s XRP cryptocurrency did not qualify as sales of financial securities.

Recently proposed by Singapore in collaboration with fintech heavy hitters, PBM can be a powerful tool for promoting accountability and efficiency, writes Anndy Lian. But it’s not without risks.

PayPal launches stablecoin. Traditional gamers take on NFTs. Tough times ahead for Huobi.

Coinbase Global announced the public launch of its Ethereum layer-2 blockchain Base on Wednesday.

Rumors of arrest and insolvency plague the Huobi cryptocurrency exchange, which enjoys close ties to the Tron founder Justin Sun. How will Huobi respond?

Wreck League: New PVP NFT game with custom mechs set to dominate. Partnerships with Yuga Labs and Bored Ape Yacht Club promise big potential in shifting NFT market landscape.

The latest in blockchain gaming has shades of game tech and development from the Web2 era. Is this a regression — or sign of a maturing industry?

Bitcoin rose on Wednesday morning in Asia to trade above US$29,700. Ether also logged gains along with all other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies.

South Korean prosecutors are looking to submit the recent U.S. ruling on Ripple to a Seoul court to prove Luna as financial securities.

Paypal, the California-based online payments giant, announced Monday that it is launching an Ethereum blockchain-based stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar.

Bitcoin edged up on Tuesday morning in Asia after U.S. multinational payment giant PayPal launched a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin on Monday.

Bitcoin and Ether fell during Monday afternoon trading in Hong Kong, with XRP leading losses in the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Investor sentiment remained subdued given regulatory concerns and a lack of positive catalysts, industry experts told Forkast.

Moves by big financial institutions into digital assets are worrisome to crypto purists, but it could be just what crypto needs to shake off its doldrums, writes Konstantin Horejsi of Blocktrade.

Elon Musk appeared to put an end to recent speculation of X issuing its crypto token, in a tweeted reply Saturday to another user on the platform.

Welcome to Forkast IQ, presented by Angie Lau, where we look beyond the headlines to get you insights that power smarter decisions. Coming up on today’s show:

Coinbase launched a bridge for its Ethereum layer-2 blockchain “Base,” on Thursday and set Base’s mainet launch for Aug. 9.

HashKey Exchange and OSL — the only two cryptocurrency exchanges licensed by the Hong Kong SFC — received license upgrades Thursday to service retail investors.

Bitcoin and Ether remained stable Friday morning in Asia as Litecoin led losers among other top 10 cryptos. Coinbase execs bullish after upbeat Q2 results.

Japan’s blockchain group urges tax change. Bitcoin NFT struggles but it may be a sleeping giant. Litecoin falls after halving.

Officials at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) are considering fraud charges against Binance, according to news site Semafor.

Revenue for NFT services on the Bitcoin network, or the aggregate value of marketplace fees and creator royalties, declined over July even as total Ordinals inscriptions crossed 20 million.

Bitcoin was the day’s biggest gainer, rising 2.11% in the past 24 hours. Ether rose 1.11%.

Binance users in China traded about US$90 billion worth of cryptocurrency-related assets in May despite the crypto ban since 2021.

Bitcoin, Ether and most other top ten tokens gained Wednesday morning in Asia, with BNB leading winners after Binance Japan launch.

Binance announced the launch of Binance Japan on Tuesday, offering 34 cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin and Ether prices were largely mixed but running into the red on Friday morning in Asia, looking to end the week with losses after a period of directionless trading.

Across Asia, projects dedicated to asset tokenization have become a cornerstone of the new digital economy, showing the world the technology’s possibilities.

Sky Mavis, the Vietnam-based firm behind breakout play-to-earn title Axie Infinity, has announced a partnership with the CyberKongz non-fungible token (NFT) project to introduce the Genkai collection to the Ronin blockchain for the first time. In this exclusive interview, Forkast Lab’s NFT strategist Yehudah Petscher speaks to Kathleen Osgood – Director for Business Development of Sky […]

Arkham Intel Exchange on Monday said two blockchain sleuths had won the bounty for new evidence of wallets owned by Terraform Labs and its imprisoned co-founder Kwon Do-hyeong.

The SEC has hinted it may be set to appeal a recent court ruling against the agency in its case against Ripple Labs and the XRP token.

Bitcoin fell under US$30,000, despite the SEC accepting eight spot Bitcoin ETF applications for review this week. A weekly close under that psychological level could lead to more panic selling, industry experts told Forkast.

Welcome to Forkast IQ, presented by Angie Lau, where we look beyond the headlines to get you insights that power smarter decisions. Coming up on today’s show:

Bitcoin and Ether both remained below key support levels, as investor sentiment failed to pick up even after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accepted eight spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications for review.

McDonald’s Hong Kong has joined the likes of Adidas, Coca-Cola, Gucci and other global brands with Thursday’s launch of its own metaverse.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Ripple not clear of hurdles | NFTs in historically slow period | Hong Kong banks dither

Bitcoin edged higher on Thursday morning, along with most other top 10 cryptocurrencies, but the token looks to have lost support at the US$30,000 line.

NAB, one of Australia’s “big four” banks, announced it is taking action to block some payments to “high-risk” cryptocurrency exchanges, as part of its new measures aimed at protecting customers from scams.

Bitcoin and Ether rose during Wednesday afternoon trading in Hong Kong, along with all other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Bitcoin and Ether both fell below key price levels earlier but returned above as investors remained optimistic after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accepted the second Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) application for review, from asset manager Valkyrie.