Cryptocurrencies

Fidelity Digital Assets will allow clients to trade Ether from Oct. 28, according to a company email shared by Fidelity’s customers via Twitter. See related article: Fidelity considers Bitcoin trading on brokerage platform: WSJ Fast facts Institutional investors will be able to buy, sell and trade ETH, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. “With the […]

In a Q&A with Forkast, First Digital Trust Chief Executive Officer Vincent Chok shared his views on Hong Kong getting back into crypto, regulations, and how the crypto pie in Asia is big enough for rivals Singapore and Hong Kong.

Japan’s Virtual and Crypto assets Exchange Association (JVCEA), the self-regulatory body that oversees local crypto exchanges, will allow platforms to list cryptocurrencies without an existing lengthy screening process, according to Bloomberg. See related article: Japan pushes for tougher crypto AML regulations amid N. Korean cyberattacks Fast facts The easing is expected to take place as […]

Hong Kong-based digital asset management firm JKL Group will set up a US$50 million fund to buy more mining machines to further expand its mining facilities, despite the current crypto winter.

Kwon Do-hyung, the cofounder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Terraform Labs Pte. Ltd., also known as Do Kwon, left Singapore last month and landed in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, South Korean prosecutors confirmed with Forkast.

The crypto sector operates mainly in English, but more than 6 billion people — many of whom crypto would benefit the most — use other languages, writes Wei Zhou of Coins.ph.

Bitcoin and Ether both fell in Thursday morning trading in Asia and with the exception of stablecoins, all other top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization lost ground.

What constitutes as stealing isn’t as black and white to all of us – what happens if crypto exchanges accidentally refund a little too much money?

Top blockchain and crypto news: Mark Zuckerberg’s empty metaverse. South Korea to roll out blockchain IDs. Macau bets on digital money.

Bitcoin also received additional entries to the annual list, now a record holder for the “oldest cryptocurrency,” the “most valuable cryptocurrency” and the “first blockchain.”

Bitcoin fell in Wednesday afternoon trading in Asia along with the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, with XRP holders suffering the steepest losses at 3.93%.

Kwon has been issued with an Interpol “red notice” requesting his extradition on charges brought by South Korea related to the implosion of the Terra Luna cryptocurrency project he founded

German crypto bank Nuri (formerly known as Bitwala) has asked customers to withdraw their funds by Dec. 18 so that the “business can be terminated and liquidated.”

This isn’t the first time the bloc has examined cracking down on Bitcoin mining, and it comes amid a growing push from regulators to examine the industry’s carbon footprint.

Bitcoin and Ether both fell in Wednesday morning trading in Asia amid news the European Union is considering a bill to restrict the mining of energy-intensive cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin. Most of the rest of the cryptocurrency top 10 by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, also declined, with the exception of Polygon. See related article: Bitcoin, […]

The first XRP Ledger (XRPL) Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible sidechain has gone live on the parallel test network, XRPL Devnet, Ripple developers announced on Monday.

Hong Kong seems set to put out a new welcome mat for the blockchain and crypto industries, but will it work after concern about regulatory restrictions convinced many cryptocurrency operators to leave?

Bitcoin and Ether rose as all top 10 tokens by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, gained in Tuesday morning trading in Asia. Polygon led the list. Solana followed on news a leading non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace will suspend transaction fees. See related article: Gold commodities market could enter the blockchain, according to new industry initiative Fast […]

Global payments company Mastercard intends to enable financial institutions to offer crypto services to customers with its new Crypto Source program. See related article: Binance partners Mastercard to launch card in Argentina for bill payment, everyday purchases Fast facts The program will allow financial institutions to tap into Mastercard’s partners to buy, hold and sell […]

As India prepares to begin its one-year presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) beginning Dec. 1, it will look to work toward a global, tech-driven regulatory framework for cryptocurrency, India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. See related article: India’s finance minister calls on G20 to share information on crypto Fast facts “During our engagements, […]

Bitcoin inched up slightly Monday, with the majority of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization remaining stable, the only considerable price change coming from XRP’s 3% drop.  See related article: South Korea seeks software to track US$7.2B in illegal crypto Fast facts Bitcoin rose 0.83% in the past 24 hours to trade at US$19,296 […]

The market may be in the doldrums, but there’s no better time to clean house and build for the future, writes Clayton Roche of UMA. Here are 5 areas of opportunity.

The platform said the move was in line with growing market trends, but some are concerned about what it means for the industry.

The city of Macau, a special administrative region of China and home to a thriving casino industry, is seeking to grant digital currency status as legal tender, the Executive Council of Macau announced on Friday. See related article: Macao needs China’s heft in tech to introduce CBDC, official says  Fast facts See related article: Macao […]

Bitcoin and Ether were trading higher along with top 10 tokens by market capitalization excluding stablecoins in Monday morning trading in Asia, as the world’s largest cryptocurrency remained above US$19,000. XRP was the only token on that list to fall. See related article: Ethereum supply would have grown by 350,000 tokens under PoW Fast facts […]

A recent token launch on Ethereum pushed the network into a deflationary state and the blockchain’s shift to PoS may lower supply even further.

Fintech’s growth in the EU has been described as “unprecedented”, but a report warns of consolidation in the years to come.

South Korea’s Supreme Prosecutors’ Office is looking to hunt down illegal crypto funds by purchasing a software program that tracks down crypto transactions and sources, a local media outlet reported Friday. See related article: DPRK hackers sneak US$52 mln in crypto into S.Korean exchanges: Chainalysis Fast facts The tracking program is expected to be used […]

Tether, issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, said in a blog post it has cut its commercial paper holdings to zero and replaced them with U.S. Treasury bills. See related article: Are stablecoins like Tether ready for regulatory scrutiny?  Fast facts See related article: SEC fines former Tether auditor over accounting malpractice 

Bitcoin advocates have once again launched their annual campaign to have Satoshi Nakamoto — the pseudonymous creator/s of Bitcoin — named as the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. See related article: What’s next for Binance after $100 million BNB hack? Fast facts On Oct. 10, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded […]

Bitcoin traded back above US$19,000 in Friday morning trading in Asia, rebounding with U.S. equities from a sharp drop that followed a September inflation reading in the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) report on Thursday that was higher than expected. BNB and memecoin Shiba Inu were two other tokens among the top 10 by market […]

Bitcoin dropped 3% after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the consumer price index (CPI), a key inflation indicator, rose 0.4% in September from August.  See related article: Fed’s inflation fight batters crypto market as pressure mounts Fast facts The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization traded at US$18,432 at 10:30 p.m. Hong […]

Nearly half of 55 fintech and crypto experts believe Ethereum has been underpriced since the network became a proof-of-stake blockchain through “The Merge” upgrade last month, according to a recent report from financial service firm Finder. See related article: Why YOU should back Ethereum’s Fork Fast facts While 46% of the surveyed panelists said Ether […]

The Indian police unit in Firozabad city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh has launched an online complaint portal powered by Ethereum scaler Polygon. See related article: Blockchain in India got off on wrong foot, says former finance chief  Fast facts The pilot portal, policecomplaintonblockchain.in, leverages blockchain technology’s immutability, which means complaints cannot be […]

Crypto.com said on Wednesday that the exchange will invest €150 million (US$145.5 million) in France to set up a European headquarters in Paris and expand operations in the region. See related article: Crypto.com enters South Korea market with two local startup acquisitions Fast facts The Singapore-based exchange said it will focus on compliance, business development […]

One company says it’s bringing solutions for confused investors in digital assets in India who grapple with hours of tax calculations.

Coin Center, a non-profit think tank on cryptocurrencies and public policy, announced Wednesday it was filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), alleging the agency overreached its authority when it sanctioned cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash in August. See related article: What is the future for cryptocurrency mixers after […]

Crypto-asset related activities may pose “novel risks” to banks and their customers, prompting the U.S. Federal Reserve to develop further regulations, Fed vice chair for supervision Michael Barr said in a speech Wednesday at D.C. Fintech Week. See related article: U.S. Fed has growing interest in CBDCs, says Jeng at Crypto Council for Innovation Fast […]

Centralized lenders like Celsius and Voyager have proven hugely problematic, but DeFi also has big issues. What if we pursue a hybrid approach?

Bitcoin gained in Thursday morning trading in Asia, with the world’s largest cryptocurrency holding above support at US$19,000. Ether, second on the list of top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, also gained. Other coins on the top 10 moving higher included Solana, XRP and Tron. Cardano fell. See related article: Binance to hard […]

As blockchains experience outages, what steps should developers take to best prevent future incidents?

About thirty investors in India have been allegedly duped of US$54,653 through a crypto cloud mining app, local media reported.   See related article: India financial crime unit cites ‘Chinese-controlled entities’ in alleged crypto fraud Fast facts Investors from Solapur city in India’s Maharashtra state were allegedly duped by fraudsters who lured them to download the […]

Mango Markets, a decentralized platform hosted on the Solana blockchain, was exploited for over US$100 million. See related article: What is the Solana ecosystem and how is it fueling SOL’s stratospheric rise? Fast facts Mango’s token MNGO was severely impacted, dropping 42.9% in the past 24 hours to US$0.023 as of 11:15 a.m. in Hong […]

Bank of New York Mellon Corp., a 238-year-old bank based in the U.S., is now allowing select U.S. clients to hold and transfer Bitcoin and Ether, the bank announced in a press release on Tuesday. See related article: Crypto self-custody is no longer a choice. It’s an imperative. Fast facts BNY Mellon will store private […]

Bitcoin fell but held above US$19,000 in Wednesday morning trading in Asia as the world’s leading cryptocurrency continued its month-long dalliance with that support level. Excluding stablecoins, most of the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization fell, led by Solana. Dogecoin was the only token on the list to gain ground. See related article: BNB […]

Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., has formed a strategic Web 3.0 partnership with Google Cloud, the Nasdaq-listed exchange said in a statement on Tuesday.  See related article: Coinbase gets nod from Dutch central bank to offer crypto services Fast facts As part of the partnership, Google Cloud will allow select customers to […]

Ethereum’s supply growth entered a deflationary state on Saturday, a first for the blockchain since The Merge upgrade that shifted the network to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism in September.  See related article: Scalability is Ethereum’s post-Merge focus: Vitalik Buterin Fast facts Ether’s (ETH) burn rate has gone up along with gas fees (transaction fees) since […]

Companies in Shenzhen in mainland China made up one-third of the transaction volume in a cross-border central bank digital currency (CBDC) bridge pilot project, according to a report by Chinese media outlet 21Caijing, citing Shenzhen’s local financial authority. See related article: Australia Senator proposes regulating Chinese banks in country using e-CNY  Fast facts See related […]

The founder of blockchain network Tron, Justin Sun, and crypto exchange FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried each denied for a second time that they have participated in purchasing a majority stake in Huobi Global, after crypto media outlet Wu Blockchain said on Monday that Sun was actually the Chinese crypto exchange’s behind-the-scenes purchaser, with Bankman-Fried was […]

Bitcoin mining difficulty climbed to a record high on Monday, a large part of which is attributed to Ethereum’s “Merge” upgrade freeing up more room for Bitcoin miners, according to Bloomberg. See related article: Brazil police bust crypto group led by ‘Bitcoin Sheikh’ Fast facts Bitcoin mining difficulty, a measure of the amount of work […]

Bitcoin and Ether fell along with all other top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization in Tuesday morning trading in Asia, with the world’s largest cryptocurrency barely holding at the support line of US$19,000, a mark it has fluctuated around for much of the past month. See related article: Markets: Bitcoin rises but remains below US$20,000; […]

The Monetary Authority of Singapore is exploring blockchain-based payments solution to solve the challenges in cross-border transactions.  See related article: Singapore warms up to crypto industry — on its own terms Fast facts The current state of cross-border payments “is slow, costly, opaque, and inefficient, relying on an archaic network of correspondent banks,” Ravi Menon, […]

The cryptocurrency market in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is expected to grow 10 times, according to a new report from MENA blockchain ecosystem, Crypto Oasis, released Monday at a blockchain conference organized by the Dubai World Trade Centre.  See related article: New hire in Saudi Central Bank to work on crypto regulations: report Fast […]

Despite India’s repeated warnings against cryptocurrencies, crypto exchange giants WazirX remain hopeful of a digital rupee.

Cryptocurrency exchange WazirX will look to integrate India’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) “if all goes well,” vice president Rajagopal Menon told Forkast in a video interview on Monday.  See related article: RBI to begin CBDC pilots, outlines wholesale, retail concepts Fast facts “We would love to onboard the e-rupee and you can buy your […]

Gold bars, cash, jewelry, cars and luxury watches bought with defrauded funds are seized.

Bitcoin has gained slightly but was still trading below US$20,000 on Monday morning in Asia, having fallen below that support line late last week after fluctuating around that level for most of the past month. Ether and the rest of the crypto top 10 by market capitalization also rose slightly, with XRP seeing by far […]

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon begin to pilot the digital rupee for specific use cases, it said in a concept note on its central bank digital currency (CBDC). See related article: Sweden’s central bank to test use of retail CBDC for instant payments Fast facts India’s central bank said in the concept […]

The National Assembly wanted to get to the bottom of the Terra-LUNA collapse on Thursday. At the end of a long and speech-filled day, lawmakers left empty-handed.

Yoo (full name was not revealed), the head of general affairs at Terraform Labs Pte. Ltd. and close associate of unlocated chief executive officer (CEO) Kwon Do-hyung, or Do Kwon, has been released from custody since being arrested Thursday as part of an ongoing investigation into Terra-LUNA. Yoo is not contending his alleged association with […]

Emerging markets dominated the 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index, with Latin America second in transaction volume growth.

Bitcoin dipped under the US$20,000 support line in Friday morning trading in Asia, a price it has repeatedly fluctuated around for several weeks. Ether, the second largest token by market capitalization, was little changed and up about 2% on the week. Most other coins in CoinMarketCap’s top 10 by market capitalization were flat to lower. […]

The European Council on Wednesday approved a proposal for cryptocurrency regulation known as the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA), in the first move towards establishing a licensing mechanism for crypto exchanges and assets in Europe.  See related article:  Bitcoin, proof-of-work ban removed from European Union’s MiCA Fast facts Lawmakers at the European Parliament are […]

Widespread damage from the Terra-LUNA collapse can be attributed to a poor local regulatory framework, said Lee Sir-goo, CEO of South Korea’s blockchain and fintech company Dunamu Inc. at a special session of the National Assembly. See related article: S.Korea gov’t failed, special prosecutor needed on Terra-LUNA, lawmaker says Fast facts Lee appeared before lawmakers […]

Ripple Labs has spoken against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s opposition to motions from two firms that had requested to file amicus briefs in support of Ripple, in the lawsuit that the SEC filed in 2020 against Ripple. See related article: SEC opposes motions from two firms seeking to back Ripple in XRP lawsuit […]

Validators of Terra blockchain had no knowledge of the US$60 billion collapse of Terra-LUNA prior to the crash, said South Korean blockchain infrastructure provider DSRV Labs chief Kim Ji-yun. in response to the National Assembly’s parliamentary audit on the Financial Services Commission on Thursday. See related article: Terra CEO Do Kwon to lose his passport […]

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said illegal crypto-related businesses are operating in the city state and it is working with the police to identify and prosecute them. See related article: Singapore’s MAS says needs to do better job explaining crypto policy Fast facts In a reply to a Parliamentary question, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, senior minister […]

A woman in Melbourne, Australia pleaded guilty on Wednesday to her role in stealing millions of dollars from superannuation (retirement) funds and stock portfolios before laundering the proceeds via Hong Kong through the purchase of cryptocurrency and diamonds, as reported by The Age newspaper. See related article: Australian superannuation and institutions await clarity to invest […]

South Korean prosecutors have arrested a Terraform Labs employee, in their first arrest under the investigation of the Terra-LUNA collapse. A bench warrant, which allows law enforcement to take suspects into custody, was issued on Wednesday for the arrested employee. See related article: Terra CEO Do Kwon to lose his passport within a month  Fast […]

South Korean ruling party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun asserted that the country needs to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Terra-LUNA collapse, which affected over 280,000 people locally, in comments at the National Assembly’s parliamentary audit on the Financial Services Commission (FSC), South Korea’s top financial regulator. See related article: South Korea’s investigation of Do […]

Ripple Labs Inc., the firm whose payment network is powered by the self-described carbon-neutral cryptocurrency token XRP, has partnered with Web3 climate startup Thallo and various other companies to build a carbon credit market on the blockchain.  See related article: SEC opposes motions from two firms seeking to back Ripple in XRP lawsuit Fast facts […]

Kim Joo-hyun, the chairman of South Korea’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), said on Thursday the agency will promote blockchain technology and user protections in the crypto market. See related article: South Korea’s all-encompassing crypto law is coming — what we know so far Fast facts “In cooperation with the National Assembly, […]