Cryptocurrencies

The Bank of Thailand today published the results of its retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) study and public survey, which the central bank says will guide the development of the country’s CBDC pilot test. Fast facts The Bank of Thailand underscored that a CBDC for the general public “must not adversely affect monetary policy […]

A district court in Shanghai has ruled that Bitcoin is virtual property, not a currency that is allowed to circulate, according to a statement released earlier this week. Fast facts A Minhang district court in Shanghai stated this week that it heard a case in which a plaintiff purchased Bitcoin mining machines from a defendant […]

In what will likely be a relief for many Salvadorans, El Salvador’s finance minister said the use of BTC will remain “totally optional” and businesses will not be sanctioned for not using it when the country’s controversial BTC law comes into effect on Sept. 7, reports Yahoo News. Fast facts The country’s adoption of BTC […]

Top blockchain and crypto news: A darkweb stain is scrubbed away. Solana’s moment in the sun. Alibaba huddles with Tencent.

Money laundering token tracer developed using AMLBot application programming interface was suspended within eight hours of public exposure.

Asia is now tops in the world in cryptocurrency adoption. Vietnam, India and Pakistan are now the top three countries in the world in crypto use — and other Asian countries aren’t far behind, according to Chainalysis’ 2021 Global Crypto Adoption Index published today. Fast facts Thailand, China and the Philippines also ranked in the […]

In China, digital yuan testing, which increasingly looks like a soft rollout, is continuing full steam ahead, with more banks allowing their customers to top up their e-CNY wallets. Fast facts An additional 13 banks have started to allow their customers to recharge their wallets directly in the e-CNY app, bringing the total number of […]

Poly Network wants to hire the hacker who stole over US$600 million worth of tokens from the platform last week — as its chief security advisor, according to a tweet by the company. Fast facts In response to the job offer, the hacker posted a joke on the Ethereum blockchain that was shared in a […]

Following a few years of inactivity, the Dogecoin Foundation is being reestablished with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin serving as the organization’s “blockchain and crypto adviser,” according to an announcement posted Tuesday on the foundation’s website. Fast facts Originally founded in 2014, the non-profit organization aims to support the Dogecoin ecosystem and community with a particular […]

With the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan capturing headlines around the world, Jack Butcher, the founder of New York-based graphic design agency Visualize Value, has partnered with the Cooperative for American Remittances (CARE) humanitarian charity to launch a non-fungible token fund to provide “care packages” to displaced Afghan families. Fast facts The NFT care packages are […]

Notwithstanding Iron Finance’s collapse, stablecoins can play important roles for consumers and the economy, writes Julian Hosp of Cake DeFi.

India crypto bill awaits approval while Poly Network hack saga continues

If cabinet approves crypto bill by November, it could be introduced as early as parliament’s winter session.

Ripple claims the SEC’s request for 1 million more of the company’s internal messages is costly and unlikely to resolve disputes at the heart of the litigation.

The number of digital yuan patents is growing, with patent applications related to digital currency numbering 271 since the beginning of last year, data compiled by Mpaypass.com show, as tests of e-CNY continue under the Chinese government’s watchful eye. Fast facts The data shows that the total number of patent applications since 2020 has surpassed […]

Twitter’s much anticipated decentralized social media standard, Bluesky, finally has a project lead in crypto developer Jay Graber, Graber announced yesterday on her own Twitter account. Fast facts Bluesky was announced in late 2019, and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said decentralization could address some of the key issues surrounding social media, such as moderation. “Centralized […]

The hackers claim that trust issues with the Poly Network team are slowing down the complete handover of stolen assets.

In another criticism of El Salvador’s planned Bitcoin adoption, global credit scoring agency Fitch Ratings has warned the move will likely adversely affect credit ratings of the country’s insurance sector, due to heightened foreign exchange and earnings volatility risk. Fast facts Fitch Ratings explained in a press release on Monday that once a law comes […]

Digital asset investment products saw outflows of US$22 million last week — the sixth consecutive week of outflows, according to CoinShares, Europe’s largest digital assets fund manager. Fast facts Total outflows for the past six weeks amount to US$115 million and mark the longest run of consecutive outflows since January 2018, CoinShares reported. However, the […]

Solana prices are soaring to all-time highs and SOL is now a top-10 crypto. In this Forkast.News explainer, learn why investors are heaping love on this Ethereum rival.

Solana hits all time high as GoSats launches bitcoin reward card

In welcome news for the U.S. crypto industry, the Treasury Department is slated to clarify that only crypto companies that fit its definition of “brokers” will have to comply with new tax reporting requirements outlined in the country’s US$1 trillion infrastructure bill, Bloomberg reports. Fast facts Quoting an anonymous Treasury source, Bloomberg reported that crypto […]

Cardano breached the US$2 mark for the first time in almost three months as key developers announced a release date for the planned “Alonzo” hard fork on Friday, which will allow full smart contract functionality on the network. Fast facts Slated for full release on September 12, the upgrade to Cardano’s mainnet completes the Alonzo […]

Asian nations are leading the world in retail crypto investment, according to a recent report by Finder.com, which found that of 27 countries surveyed, the top five were all in Asia. Fast facts Vietnam was by far the leader in crypto adoption, with 41% of respondents saying they owned at least one cryptocurrency. Indonesia and […]

Solana price hits new record and enters top 10, beating Uniswap, following launch of blockchain communication bridge Wormhole and sellout debut of Degenerate Ape NFTs.

GoSats, an Indian Bitcoin rewards app, has launched a new cash back card that will allow Indians to earn up to 100% of their spending in Bitcoin and provide a chance to win one full Bitcoin on every spend, GoSats announced in a tweet. Fast facts The GoSats prepaid RuPay debit cards will be released […]

As cryptocurrencies gain increasing adoption, the profile of crypto investors in Singapore — one of Asia’s biggest hubs for traditional finance as well as the emerging crypto industry — is broadening from younger investors to mature investors who see crypto as a viable long-term investment, according to the State of Crypto in Singapore report published today. […]

London hard fork is live and Ethereum users are hoping high gas fees will be a thing of the past. Will ETH improvements phase out layer-2 scaling protocols? Polygon’s co-founder thinks not.

Global investment in blockchain and cryptocurrencies leapt in the first half of 2021, with US$8.7 billion raised and 548 deals sealed, according to consulting firm KMPG’s latest Pulse of Fintech H1’21 report. Fast facts Global fintech investment in H1 2021 reached US$98 billion in 2,456 deals, compared to US$121.5 billion for the whole of 2020, […]

Samsung Electronics will participate in the Bank of Korea’s central bank digital currency pilot program to test the practicalities of digital currency remittances without internet availability, according to a report by the Korea Times. Fast facts An unnamed source familiar with the issue told the Korea Times: “Samsung Electronics has recently decided to participate in […]

Poly Network has confirmed that all its remaining stolen assets on Ethereum, worth around US$269 million, barring US$33 million worth of Tether that was frozen post-attack, have been returned to a multi-signature wallet controlled by itself and the hacker. Fast facts The hacker had returned more than 50% of the assets stolen on the Polygon […]

Argentinian President Alberto Fernandez has indicated he is open to adopting Bitcoin as legal tender and a central bank digital currency, according to a media report yesterday, just two days after the head of the country’s central bank, Miguel Pesce, described cryptocurrencies as a threat to economic stability. Fast facts During an interview with media outlet Caja […]

Poly Network assets returned also OKEx lists Baby Doge

As African countries such as Morocco, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa continue to explore the feasibility of central bank digital currencies, the Bank of Ghana is set to launch a retail CBDC pilot project, the bank has announced. Fast facts For the pilot, the central bank has partnered with German firm Giesecke+Devrient, which will provide […]

Hong Kong-based crypto finance firm Amber Group has announced a collaboration with the Institute of Risk Analysis, Prediction and Management (Risks-X) on a crypto risk management research project, according to a company statement. Fast facts Risks-X is a research institute collaboration between ETH Zurich, a public research university in Zurich, and the Southern University of […]

Accounting and consultancy giant Accenture has become the latest major victim of a ransomware attack. After Accenture initially reported that it had repelled a hacker group named Lockbit, encrypted files belonging to Accenture began to be published today, according to a report by Decrypt. Fast facts An Accenture spokesperson said in a statement: “Through our […]

Poly Network hackers have returned stolen assets worth around US$340 million so far.

San Francisco-based payments technology company Ripple this week announced that South Korean money transfer company, Global Money Express Co. Ltd (GME Remittance), has joined RippleNet to expand remittances between South Korea and Thailand. Fast facts Some 184,000 Thai nationals live in South Korea, and they account for the third largest group of foreign nationals in […]

The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies has just broken the milestone of US$2 trillion for the first time since May, reflecting a bullish trend since earlier this month. Fast facts On Wednesday night Hong Kong time, the total crypto market cap reached US$2.007 trillion and stood at US$2.002 trillion on Thursday at noon, according to […]

In a much-anticipated reply, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler has written to Sen. Elizabeth Warren saying “crypto investors are not adequately protected.” Fast facts “In my view, the legislative priority should center on crypto trading, lending, and [decentralized finance] platforms. Regulators would benefit from additional plenary authority to write rules for and […]

Amid a surge in the price of Dogecoin, Seychelles-based crypto and derivatives exchange OKEx has listed Baby Doge Coin — a new cryptocurrency “created by fans of of the widely popular Dogecoin” — for spot trading, according to a company news release. Fast facts OKEx’s listing had a brief positive impact on Baby Doge’s price […]

With Ethereum 2.0 still in development, rival blockchains like Cardano, Binance Smart Chain, Solana and Polkadot are hot on Eth’s tail. Who might prevail, and why?

Top blockchain and crypto news: NFT wave buoys OpenSea. Are dollars and sense a lifeline for Tether? Tencent gets a target on its back.

Poolin, a major mining pool in China, has set sail for America. ‘Large players are all over the U.S. now looking for deals.’

Impact of one of the biggest heists in the industry looks set to be mitigated as hackers agree to return funds.

As Cardano’s Alonzo Purple upgrade launches and the full roll-out of smart contract support is teased, the price of ADA — the native cryptocurrency of the Cardano blockchain network — surged more than 20% in the past 24 hours. ADA was trading at US$1.71 at press time — its highest in over two months, according to […]

The US Securities and Exchange Commission wants to review ‘terabytes’ of Ripple’s Slack chats for evidence of XRP-related wrongdoing. How much is too much?

Despite a recent recovery in crypto prices, digital asset investment products last week saw outflows of US$26 million, according to CoinShares, Europe’s largest digital asset fund manager. It was the fifth consecutive week in which institutional money flowed out of cryptocurrencies, mainly Bitcoin. Fast facts Bitcoin — the largest cryptocurrency by market value — bore […]

Amid a period of increasing regulatory interest in stablecoins, Circle, the digital payment company that issues USDC, the world’s second-largest stablecoin , has announced plans to become a full-reserve national digital currency bank in the U.S. Fast facts In a company blog post, CEO and co-founder Jeremy Allaire said the company was prepared to operate […]

After hovering aroud the US$35,000 mark through most of June and July, Bitcoin’s price has started rising again this past month. In the past 24 hours, Bitcoin’s price broke US$45,000 for the first time since mid-May amid the market-wide crash from the historic highs in April, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Fast facts Conversely, gold […]

Several cryptocurrency payment methods exist around the world, but new service is the first major one of its kind in India.

A landmark US$1 trillion infrastructure bill moved one step closer to becoming law on Sunday, notably without carve-outs for cryptocurrency miners and network validators. What does it mean for the industry?

Axie Infinity’s founder has announced that the company’s non-fungible token market trading volume hit US$1 billion this morning, having already announced that it had more than 1 million daily active players last Friday. Fast facts DappRadar shows the Axie NFT market now has a trading volume of US$1.126 billion, ranking first among all markets. It […]

Cardano’s much-anticipated Alonzo Purple upgrade has begun onboarding users to its testnet, according to a 12-part Twitter thread by developer Input Output Hong Kong. Fast facts Alonzo Purple is the third and final stage of the Alonzo upgrade, following Blue and White, and when complete will be the first fully public Cardano testnet to support […]

Binance bans derivatives in Hong Kong while Ethereum fork boosts trading

E-commerce company’s tie-up with government-owned lender suggests hybrid private-state future for central bank digital currency.

The Business Administration Department at China’s central bank has said it will push forward pilots of the e-CNY digital currency in the Winter Olympics area to cover all payment scenarios. Fast facts To promote the digital yuan for the Winter Games, two batches of e-CNY red packets were distributed in Beijing in February and June, totaling 50,000,000 yuan […]

Since its launch in October 2020, Cambodia’s central bank digital currency project, Bakong, has reached 5.9 million users across the country, according to a report by Nikkei Asia. Fast facts The figure includes users of member bank mobile apps, with the number of Bakong electronic wallet addresses doubling in June from three months before to […]

As court grants CEO request to obtain info from Binance to bolster defense in SEC lawsuit, Ripple seeks to expand use cases for XRP Ledger.

Indian athletes who have won medals at the Tokyo Olympics have been promised free cryptocurrencies by Indian crypto exchange Bitbns, according to a report by the Economic Times. Fast facts Bitbns will create systematic investment plans denominated in Bitcoin and Ethereum worth around US$2,695 for gold medalists, US$1,348 for silver medalists and US$674 for bronze […]

A revealing feature article on the hidden world of “hypecoins” was published by the New York Times yesterday, in which journalist David Segal recounted the process of creating and then selling his own hypecoin, which he called IdoitCoin. Fast facts Hypecoins, otherwise known as memecoins, are tokens with little or no intrinsic value, created only […]

Ethereum’s London hard fork sees a smooth launch as the crypto market sends Ether’s price soaring.

In an effort to curb runaway inflation, Venezuela’s central bank is removing six zeros from its currency and putting a digital bolivar into circulation on Oct. 1, according to reporting by Bloomberg. Fast facts An example of a central bank digital currency, the digital bolivar was announced by the Venezuelan central bank’s Twitter account yesterday […]

Will Google greenlighting US crypto ads, Ethereum’s London upgrade and clearer regulations pave the way for another Ether price rally?

In a long-awaited reversal of a 2018 policy decision, Google will allow crypto exchanges and wallets to advertise on its platform in the U.S. But not everyone’s happy.

Cryptocurrency miners are front-running Ethereum transactions to make profits called MEV that critics decry as unfair. What can be done about it?

Ethereum upgrade closely watched also India launches e-RUPI voucher

Top blockchain and crypto news: Is Ethereum’s price flatlining on eve of revolution? Uncle Sam wants pay to play. China’s Big Tech toes the line with NFTs.

ETH rose in a historic run in anticipation of ‘Ethereum halving’ — but dipped on the eve of the London hard fork. Forkast.News asks top cryptocurrency analysts to find out why.

In a further move towards cryptocurrency adoption, Mastercard has partnered with one of Australia’s oldest crypto exchanges, CoinJar, to launch one of the country’s first crypto payment cards. Fast facts The card became available on Tuesday in a digital form through integration with Apple Pay and Google Pay, and will be available in a physical […]

The Ethereum ecosystem is continuing to see strong growth, with institutional capital ‘flooding’ into decentralized finance and decentralized autonomous organizations flourishing.

The DigitalArt4Climate NFT initiative aims to promote art via blockchain technology to inspire environmental activism around the world.