Cryptocurrencies

Fund manager Fintonia has launched two new Bitcoin funds — Fintonia Bitcoin Physical Fund and Fintonia Secured Yield Fund — for institutional investors. Fast facts The physical fund buys and holds actual Bitcoin, rather than investing in a Bitcoin-linked derivative product. The fund’s Bitcoin will be stored with a licensed and insured custodian, according to […]

To mark the release of the third installment in the latest Spider-Man trilogy, theater giant AMC and Sony Pictures are offering 86,000 non-fungible tokens for fans who pre-order tickets to the film, which opens on Dec. 16, AMC CEO Adam Aron announced via Twitter. Fast facts Amid rising concerns of the environmental impact of NFTs […]

The impact was relatively short-lived, and many major tokens had already retraced most of their positions from Friday coming in Asia business hours.

Metaverse picks up momentum, on the other hand Binance tweet gets yellow card

SafeMoon, known for high fees and social media hype, is now 85% below its all-time high. What lies in SafeMoon’s future?

Andrés Iniesta, former FC Barcelona veteran and current midfielder for Japan’s Vissel Kobe, promoted crypto exchange Binance via Twitter, which prompted a securities market regulator to write a cautionary reply tweet against crypto. Fast facts Iniesta wrote on Twitter Wednesday, saying: “I’m learning how to get started with crypto with Binance,” also posting pictures of […]

The total amount of Ether — the token of the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency Ethereum — “burned” since the introduction of Ethereum Improvement Protocol (EIP) 1559 as part of the London hardfork has hit the 1 million ETH milestone, according to figures from blockchain data aggregation site WatchtheBurn. Fast facts With the total amount of ETH […]

Interest in cryptocurrency is being driven in part by ultra-low interest rates, Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Michele Bullock has said, while indicating the RBA is considering the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for use in wholesale markets, according to the Australian Financial Review. Fast facts Speaking at a Women in […]

Tether, issuer of the world’s most popular stablecoin USDT, has responded in multiple tweets saying it will work with policymakers, after the U.S. Senate Banking Committee earlier this week sent letters to several stablecoin issuers — including Tether — to inquire about their operational features. Fast facts In the tweets, Tether said it appreciates the interest from […]

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee has sent letters to several stablecoin issuers to inquire about their operational features. Fast facts In a Monday tweet, Ron Hammond, director of government relations at the Blockchain Association, said the stablecoin issuers include Coinbase, Gemini, Circle, Paxos, TrustToken, Centre, Binance U.S. and Tether. “This is likely a sign of […]

Cardano ADA and Tron TRX will no longer be available to eToro’s US customers next year while CRO reflects Crypto.com ‘going from strength to strength.’

Arbitrum is leading the way in Ethereum scaling, according to a new report by Nansen, a blockchain analytics platform. What are the challenges that lie ahead?

Bitcoin and Ethereum prices fell nearly 24% in India as investors sought to get ahead of a possible crypto prohibition.

Shenzhen’s special zone for cooperating with Hong Kong, Qianhai District, will allocate 10 million yuan (US$1.57 million) to motivate enterprises to develop e-CNY-compatible businesses, especially in cross-border e-CNY and fintech labs. Fast facts The Qianhai Administration introduces the policies in a document released on Monday called “Interim Measures for Managing Special Funds for Supporting Financial […]

Top blockchain and crypto news: Fed nominations suggest no sudden moves. El Salvador’s Bitcoin lava affair. Dodgy dealings in China’s digital yuan.

Regal, a subsidiary of Cineworld Group, has partnered with digital payments network Flexa to allow customers to pay for movie tickets, popcorn and more with cryptocurrencies in its theaters. Fast facts The firm will accept cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Dogecoin, stablecoins such as Dai, USD Coin and Gemini Dollar, as well as digital […]

The decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that formed to buy a rare copy of the U.S. Constitution will soon be shutting down after failing to win an auction for the document last week, despite raising over US$40 million in ETH to do so, as the Verge reports. Fast facts As Forkast.News reported last week, 17,437 members […]

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has accused the owners of Gold Coast-based business A One Multi of scamming 92 investors out of AU$25 million (US$18 million) and are now in possession of a cold wallet believed to hold almost US$20 million in Bitcoin purchased with the defrauded funds, according to a report by […]

The Pacific island nation of Palau has partnered with San Francisco-based blockchain payments company Ripple on a U.S. dollar-backed digital currency for the country — the world’s first government-based national stablecoin — using the XRP Ledger, according to a Ripple announcement. Fast facts Ripple will provide Palau with technical, business, design and policy support for […]

The US Internal Revenue Service is taking a hard look at cryptocurrency transactions to crack down on tax dodgers. How can crypto holders protect themselves?

Neon, an Ethereum virtual machine on the Solana blockchain, today announced that it is integrating Aleph.im, a cross-blockchain computing network and decentralized indexing provider, for on-chain data on Solana — a first step towards bringing cross-chain decentralized finance (DeFi) between Ethereum and Solana. Fast facts Ethereum is currently the dominant blockchain for general-use smart contracts, […]

Another e-CNY scam busted, meanwhile SCMP to tokenize history

Algorand ‘re-imagines’ blockchain by trying to solve key weaknesses of Bitcoin. Learn about this wannabe Ethereum killer in this Forkast.News explainer.

Inner Mongolia police bust yet another digital yuan money laundering case.

A week after the announcement that the famed Staples Center in Los Angeles will be renamed the Crypto.com Arena, the city plays host to another landmark crypto event, as a player for the NFL team the L.A. Rams has announced he will receive his US$4.25 million salary for the 2021-22 season in Bitcoin. Fast facts […]

Amid a sea of red in crypto markets today Avalanche is bucking the trend, gaining 130% since the start of the month to reach a new all-time high of US$146.22 and leaping over Dogecoin to enter the crypto top 10. This clears that list of memecoins for the first time since Dogecoin’s historic run in […]

Bitcoin continued its descent this morning Asia time and is currently trading around US$57,050 according to CoinGecko data. The largest cryptocurrency by market value saw a brief surge Monday, crossing the US$59,000 mark, but the rally was not sustained. Ethereum, too, is trading lower at US$4,169, down 15% from its Nov. 10 all-time high of […]

Korea stands firm on NFT games, meanwhile Laos introduces crypto regulations

The Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau released a list of a first batch of 16 fintech pilot projects. Among the listed projects, four are based on blockchain and one uses e-CNY, the central bank digital currency. The projects are for exploring regulatory frameworks and tools for fintech. Fast facts The e-CNY-based fintech project will allow users […]

The US Infrastructure Act has provisions that should make crypto advocates shudder, writes Alex Shipp of Offshift. Who will stand up for crypto’s core values?

El Salvador — the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in September — plans on building the world’s first “Bitcoin City,” an entire city to be funded by Bitcoin bonds and powered by geothermal energy from one of the country’s many volcanoes, according to El Salvador’s official presidential Twitter page. […]

How blockchain technology can usher in the next stage of the internet and social media, through decentralized hosting and integration with cryptocurrency.

More than 85 members of the WEF Digital Currency Governance Consortium contributed eight white papers on CBDC and stablecoins.

Every morning at Upbit, the nation’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, a brief and odd surge in random altcoin prices takes place. Which crypto will it be tomorrow?

Bank of Korea’s (BOK) deputy governor Bae Joon-suk says its central bank digital currency (CBDC) development is “not one step behind that of any other country.” However, South Korea still has no plan to adopt a state-backed digital currency. Fast facts Bae spoke at Bank of Korea’s online conference on payment and settlement systems yesterday, […]

Out of nowhere, a leaderless ‘flash mob’ of crypto investors pops up to buy a rare copy of the US Constitution. What are DAOs and how do they work? Forkast.News explains.

Bitcoin continued its downtrend today to reach a low of $55,861, its lowest price this month. The world’s first cryptocurrency has dropped by 18.6% since reaching a fresh all-time high of over US$69,000 last week. Bitcoin’s price low comes amid struggles in the overall crypto market, which has lost over US$400 billion from its total […]

17,437 virtual strangers chipped in over $40 million to jointly buy a rare copy of the US Constitution. They lost their bid but now has everyone asking: What is a DAO?

Acala, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform built for the Polkadot ecosystem, this week won the first slot in the Polkadot parachain auction with over 32 million DOT (approximately US$1.3 billion) — the native cryptocurrency of Polkadot — contributed by over 81,000 stakeholders. Fast facts The highly-anticipated first Polkadot parachain auction saw a close fight between […]

Taproot unlocks Bitcoin opportunities meanwhile Mintable aims big

While fears of a complete ban on virtual currencies have been dispelled, Indian investors are still in the lurch about what may or may not be allowed.

Algorand (ALGO) — the native cryptocurrency of the Algorand blockchain — soared 50% from just under US$1.70 noon Asia time today to a new two-year high of US$2.66, according to CoinGecko data. But the surge was short-lived, with ALGO currently trading just under US$2 as of publishing time. Fast facts Algorand’s surge amidst the wider […]

Billions have been stolen through hacks from decentralized finance protocols, with Ethereum seeing the bulk of losses, according to a report by Elliptic.

How to sift through millions of NFTs before buying? NFT marketplace Mintable is hoping to attract more users with these new organizing and ranking features.

Bitcoin’s scarcity premium puts crypto into direct competition with gold and treasuries.

Seasoned investors are no strangers to the sometimes sudden and extreme ups and downs of the crypto market. Some cryptocurrency prices have been known to fluctuate 20% to 30% within a single trading day. What causes these wild price swings? What you will learn from watching this Forkast.News video: What drives cryptocurrency price movements? How […]

Central banks around the world are exploring digital currencies, writes Aymeric Salley of StraitsX. Here’s why Southeast Asia may be especially ripe for them.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Spot ETFs stymied as SEC stands firm. Is Bitcoin’s Taproot upgrade worth the wait? China’s crypto mining goes underground.

While hopes of Robinhood listing Shiba Inu have been pumping the price of the asset for some time, it is AMC Theatres that will start accepting Shiba Inu for payments next year. Fast facts AMC Theatres, the largest movie theater chain in the U.S., will accept Shiba Inu as payment for movie tickets and concessions […]

Investment firm VanEck’s Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (XBTF) closed Tuesday 1.94% down in price to US$59.73 for its initial day of trading on the Chicago-based CBOE global exchange, according to MarketWatch’s data.  Fast facts On Nov. 15, VanEck announced the launch of XBTF as the “lowest-cost Bitcoin-linked ETF” compared to its competitive rivals. The company […]

In a speech, Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin notes the rise in cities experimenting with crypto, DAO and NFTs. What are the possibilities of blockchain cities?

The projects topped 300 rivals in their potential to improve the future digital Singapore dollar in payment services and financial inclusion. Who were the other winners?

Scams like the Squid Game Token rug pull are every investor’s nightmare. How to avoid hoaxes and not feel like a fool? Forkast.News explains.

Ethereum Layer 2 solutions — protocols built on top of the Ethereum blockchain that handle transactions off the Ethereum mainnet — have been on the rise as developers work on improving Ethereum’s scalability as its number of users and applications continue to grow. Polygon, a Layer 2 Ethereum scaling platform, today announced the launch of […]

While a significant legislative achievement for U.S. President Joe Biden, the US$1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill signed into law on Monday included provisions relating to cryptocurrency tax reporting requirements that has many in the industry nervous. Fast facts As Forkast.News previously reported, provisions were added to the bill as it was being drafted in August […]

As Circle expands into Asia as part of a global expansion plan, what does the investment in a yen-back stablecoin mean for the market?

Chinese police have busted yet another tele-fraud case related to e-CNY money laundering as the country continues to test the digital currency.

Cryptocurrency prices dropped again this morning Asia time, with Bitcoin and Ethereum trading 7% and 8% lower respectively in 24-hour trading, according to CoinGecko data. In the meanwhile, a new CoinShares report on institutional investing in cryptocurrency found record inflows year-to-date, suggesting that big investors overall are still bullish on crypto. Fast facts Bitcoin — the […]

A crypto investor in Hong Kong was rescued six days after being kidnapped earlier this month when he tried to meet a buyer offline who promised to purchase his Tether tokens.

The creator of the Mirror protocol and its CEO Do Kwon have little recourse but to comply with the SEC subpoena to produce documents and testify.

Taproot goes live, meanwhile Hong Kong crypto kidnap

While Ethereum leads the market in smart contracts, Bitcoin’s Taproot upgrade could help the world’s oldest blockchain emerge as a future contender. Here’s why.

A recent survey in South Korea revealed a majority of its wealthier investors are not willing to make investments in virtual assets, due to concerns over experiencing losses. Fast facts KB Financial Group’s Korea Wealth Report 2021 surveyed 400 South Korean citizens with over 1 billion Korean won, or about US$847,816 in financial assets. Out […]

As central bank digital currencies begin picking up steam around the world, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced on Friday the digital wallet for its own digital currency, the eNaira, has been downloaded 488,000 times in 160 countries — in just 19 days after its launch. Fast facts According to local news reports, after President […]

The Algorand Foundation, a Singapore-based blockchain organization supporting the development of the Algorand ecosystem, has partnered with the Blockchain Association Singapore to drive the development of blockchain technology in Singapore and the wider Southeast Asia region. Fast facts In a memorandum of understanding signed on Nov. 12, the ecosystem partnership will see the Algorand Foundation […]

The SEC rejected a Bitcoin spot ETF, citing the possibility of fraud, which briefly sent BTC prices down.

The religious body’s decision comes after the country saw crypto transaction growth earlier this year.

More than 100,000 consumers used China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) to make some 240,000 purchases on China’s top e-commerce platform JD.com on the annual shopping festival Double 11 [11.11], according to the platform’s report. Yet that is likely only a fraction of total Nov. 11 digital sales. Fast facts Double11 refers to a Chinese […]

Rounding out an impressive year for the world’s No. 5 blockchain, Solana held its first global offline conference in Lisbon this week. Here’s a look at some of the key moments.

If the term ‘crypto mining’ sounds confusing to you, you’ve come to the right place. In this Forkast.News video explainer, we break down how it all works.

Only two days after hinting via Twitter that leading social media platform Discord may support Ethereum, company co-founder and CEO Jason Citron has clarified the platform “has no current plans” to integrate the two. Fast facts Tweeting in response to the original post, Citron thanked community members for their perspectives and reiterated the firm is […]

China’s soft rollout of the first major economy’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) continues apace. Yi Gang, governor of the People’s Bank of China, and Mu Changchun, director of the Digital Currency Research Institute of the bank, reported that the average weekly transaction volume of e-CNY is growing by 3 billion yuan (US$469 million) and […]