Cryptocurrency Exchanges

The Major Payment Institution license from Singapore’s central bank allows the exchange to expand its digital payment token services in the Lion City.

The prospect of FTX’s return to the competitive exchange landscape is being keenly watched by stakeholders, reflecting on its meteoric rise, groundbreaking approach, and tumultuous fall.

It’s a week for regulatory enforcement in the cryptocurrency space as blockchain takes center stage in the Philippines.

The JPEX scandal sheds light on the vulnerabilities in Hong Kong’s crypto marketplace, prompting reflection on regulatory safeguards as the city aspires to be a global digital asset hub, former SFC regulator Angelina Kwan says.

A U.S. federal judge has denied the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission immediate access to Binance.US’ software, in response to the regulator’s motion demanding more detailed information from Binance and greater availability of its executives for depositions.

Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange JPEX is shutting trading its platform amid a probe by the Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission that said the firm was operating as an unlicensed entity, according to media reports. 

Bitcoin started the week below US$26,000 while Ether dropped to US$1,611. Toncoin and XRP lead losers in the last 24 hours.

With nine months under its G20 presidency belt, India’s approach to cryptocurrency governance remains static. Amid regulatory ambiguity, the nation’s crypto industry struggles to cope with stringent tax rules.

Bitcoin, Ether and most other top 10 cryptos dropped on Thursday after a Wednesday rally on news of Grayscale receiving a favorable ruling against the SEC.

CoinSwitch, an Indian cryptocurrency exchange backed by Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital, has laid off 44 employees from its customer support team due to a drop in customer queries with falling trading volumes.

The Hong Kong branch of SEBA Bank has received an in-principle approval from regulators to provide virtual asset trading services in the jurisdiction.

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.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Singapore steps up stablecoin rules. DeGods decline. Hong Kong’s third crypto license.

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

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.

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

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.

Scrutiny on the stablecoin’s reserves has intensified since USDT’s latest depegging scare. Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether and Bitfinex, delves into the composition of USDT reserves, explaining how the firm ensures dollar redemptions, irrespective of secondary market prices.

The global cryptocurrency industry is valued at US$180 billion, with over 10,000 companies employing a total of 190,000 employees, according to a July 5 report from crypto intelligence firm K33 Research. See related article: Singapore, Thailand clarify crypto rules; NFTs become new cultural frontier Fast facts See related article: South Korea, Singapore, Thailand clarify crypto […]

Cryptocurrency service providers in Singapore will have to keep customer assets under a statutory trust before the end of the year, for safekeeping purposes, the city state’s central bank announced Monday.

Ledger announced the launch of Ledger Enterprise Tradelink, a secure and regulation-friendly trading system for institutional investors.

Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange OKX, which says it is the world’s second-largest crypto platform by trading volume, opened an office in Dubai on June 15 as part of its global expansion and aims to raise staff numbers to 30 to tap opportunities in the region.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Wall Street backs new crypto exchange. NFT traders remain cautious. Alibaba’s incoming chairman is a crypto fan.

EDX Markets, a cryptocurrency exchange with backing from major Wall Street players such as Citadel Securities, Fidelity and Charles Schwab, officially launched on Tuesday.

Independent Reserve may have a new Hong Kong office in the “next few months,” the Singapore chief of the Australian crypto exchange said in an exclusive interview. Focusing on institutional clientele, the exchange aims to double trade volumes and expand its user base this year.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Binance, Coinbase in SEC firing line. Solana NFTs slump as Bitcoin’s surge. New dawn in Hong Kong crypto regulations.

The SEC sued Binance on Monday, amid mounting regulatory scrutiny of crypto exchanges. Industry experts shared insights on what this could mean for Binance and how it could drive crypto innovation out of the U.S.

OSL is one of only two digital assets trading platforms in Hong Kong licensed to offer services to professional investors.

Seychelles-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange Bitget announced on Tuesday that it successfully registered as a virtual asset service provider in Poland.

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has been accused of blending client funds with its own corporate revenue in violation of U.S. financial regulations, according to three unnamed sources cited by Reuters.

Hong Kong will allow licensed cryptocurrency trading platforms to offer services to retail investors and will implement a slew of measures to protect individual traders, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said on Tuesday.

Bitcoin gained 1.71% and Ether climbed 2.35%. Polygon gained the most in 24 hours followed by Tron.

As U.S. regulators file lawsuits against cryptocurrency platforms, prompting some digital asset companies to seek more favorable jurisdictions, a fleet of cities in Asia are putting out the welcome mat, seeking to attract the jobs and investment that Web3 technologies promise. Right now, Hong Kong seems to be grabbing the limelight, but it has competition.

Bitget is looking to hire 300 more people across operations, compliance, research and development, and customer support, the cryptocurrency exchange said.

The U.S. Department of Justice is aiming to crack down on cryptocurrency exchanges that help criminals facilitate money laundering

Welcome to The Daily Forkast – May 11, 2023 – presented by Jeff Cheung for the latest in the crypto markets. Bitcoin saw a minor spike in it’s price after the U.S. consumer price index for April was released, but dipped again as crypto exchanges Jane Street Group and Jump Crypto announced it would cease […]

U.S. crypto exchange Bittrex Inc. has filed for bankruptcy just days after closing operations following an SEC lawsuit and citing unclear crypto laws.

Top blockchain and crypto news: JPMorgan swoops as another bank falls. NFT market rivalry heats up. Bitget seeks Hong Kong exchange license.

Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitget expects more clarity on Hong Kong’s licensing regime from June as the city pushes ahead with plans to attract blockchain and cryptocurrency entrepreneurs.

Leading auction house Sotheby’s said it will sell NFT artworks owned by the bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Bittrex in SEC line of fire. Bored Apes fall after whale sale. Chinese banks court crypto clients.

Nothing in life is free. Be wary of crypto exchanges that offer ‘free trading,’ and ask hard questions about how they make money, writes Ben Caselin of MaskEX.

NYDFS superintendent Harris called the idea of Operation Choke Point 2.0 “ludicrous,” but industry participants largely disagree. Was the shutdown of the three largest crypto-friendly institutions a coordinated effort to unbank crypto?

CoinTrade said it has partnered with crypto custody platform Fireblocks to provide institutional clients with improved security for digital assets.

Paxful Bitcoin exchange announced the indefinite suspension of the marketplace on Tuesday, citing regulatory challenges and staff departures.

Taking bribes in exchange for listing cryptocurrencies has been common practice among South Korean exchanges, one expert told Forkast.

Dubai-based Fasset says Indonesia digital asset adoption is still in early stages, but the country’s young population is taking to crypto faster, encouraging exchanges to move in despite infrastructure constraints.

Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange OKX said it will apply for virtual asset licenses to operate digital asset services in Hong Kong.

Bitcoin and Ether continued to fall in Tuesday afternoon trade in Asia, along with most other top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, after regulators in the U.S. pulled up Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange, for allegedly violating trading mandates.

Zipmex cryptocurrency exchange’s US$100 million venture capital buyout may be in danger, after buyer V Ventures missed the US$1.25 million payment due on March 23

Angelina Kwan, who helped shape early Hong Kong automated trading services and internet trading regulation, told Forkast the upcoming virtual asset licensing regime is almost identical to that for traditional financial institutions.

Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitget said it has invested US$30 million in decentralized multi-chain wallet BitKeep to become its controlling shareholder. 

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) aims to publish cryptocurrency and stablecoin consultations feedback by the middle of this year, it said Monday.

Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com will soon be able to extend its services in Dubai, after it received a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) Preparatory License from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). 

India’s crime fighting agencies have been investigating crypto exchanges and individuals on money laundering charges and have now put the onus on exchanges to report suspicious transactions.

The NY State Attorney General is suing crypto exchange Kucoin for not registering as a securities and commodities broker-dealer and calling itself an exchange.

The Thai Finance Ministry will waive corporate income tax and value-added tax for firms that conduct initial coin offerings (ICOs), according to a spokesperson.

DBS bank’s digital exchange, which serves institutional clients, said macroeconomic conditions last year were not suitable for security token offerings (STO), but it will explore opportunities for such listings in 2023 and plans to add more crypto tokens.

Teneo, the liquidator of the bankrupt crypto lender Three Arrows Capital plans to sell non-fungible tokens estimated to be worth millions of dollars.

Gate Group announced on Wednesday that it is applying for a new cryptocurrency license in Hong Kong, joining a growing list of Web3 firms entering the city.

Amid the rubble of FTX and other centralized exchanges, cross-chain technology and on-chain trading offer more trustworthy alternatives, writes Simon Harman of Chainflip.

Multi-billion dollar bankruptcies, fraud allegations, scandal, and plunging cryptocurrency prices in 2022 all characterized why investors came to distrust centralized exchanges. Yet, some commentators expect platforms to become ever more centralized … and regulated.

The SEC’s latest heavy-handed approach toward crypto will leave investors less protected while benefitting dodgy offshore companies, writes Danny Talwar of Koinly.

The recent spate of crypto exchanges freezing customer accounts should be a wake-up call to investors everywhere. What can you do to better protect yourself?

Binance has stopped providing wallet services to Indian crypto exchange WazirX, asking it to withdraw any remaining assets held in Binance wallets by Feb. 3.

Binance has returned to South Korea after a two-year break by acquiring a majority stake in the local cryptocurrency exchange GOPAX, Bloomberg reported Friday.

Cryptocurrency exchange PayBito announced its plans to integrate ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by research firm OpenAI, on Friday.

Seattle-based cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex is laying off 83 employees, according to the U.S. Employment Security Department’s layoff alert.

India announces its full year budget on Feb. 1, the last before general elections in 2024, and the cryptocurrency and digital asset industry is lobbying the government for changes in tax rules, among others.

Coinbase Global Inc., the world’s second largest cryptocurrency exchange by trade volume, has asked customers in Japan to withdraw crypto and fiat holdings by Feb. 16, as it halts operations “to conduct a complete review” of its business in the country.

Some 90% of user assets at WazirX, India’s largest crypto exchange by volume, are held in wallets at Binance while the remaining 10% are stored in hot and warm wallets, revealed WazirX’s proof of reserves that the company released on Wednesday.