Cryptocurrencies

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

The next half decade will see mass adoption of decentralized technology, writes Max Kordek of Lisk. Here are the leading uses.

Nasdaq-listed Marathon Digital Holdings, one of the biggest Bitcoin mining companies in North America, has announced a deal to buy an additional 30,000 mining machines from Bitmain to boost its mining capacity. Fast facts Marathon has entered into a contract with Bitmain to purchase 30,000 Antminer S19j Pros worth a total of US$120.7 million, the […]

The city of Miami is set to launch its own cryptocurrency, MiamiCoin, tomorrow. The token will allow people to invest in the city to fund infrastructure projects and events, according to a report by Decrypt. Fast facts The token is being released in partnership with CityCoin, a project that facilitates cities releasing their own tokens […]

Global payments giant Square — which recently made moves into decentralized finance — is acquiring Australian “buy now pay later” fintech company Afterpay for US$29 billion (AU$39 billion) to expand its range of services, according to a recent company press release. Fast facts The purchase will enable Square’s CashApp and Seller business units to offer […]

Crypto-related crime has hit record levels in Hong Kong for the first six months of this year, with one victim losing HK$124 million (US$15.95 million) to fraudsters, according to the South China Morning Post. Fast facts Hong Kong police recorded 496 such cases totaling HK$214.4 million (US$27.58 million) in just the first half of this […]

People’s Bank of China vows to keep sector under ‘heavy pressure’ as it pushes digital yuan.

A provision in an infrastructure bill being debated by the U.S. Senate has prompted concerns in the crypto industry as it boosts Internal Revenue Service reporting requirements for investors and brokers. Fast facts According to the New York Times, the provision is an effort to help fund a US$ 1 trillion bipartisan bill and could […]

Celsius Network CEO says crypto lenders are using Wall Street’s ‘safest’ business tactic to provide high interest rates to customers. What are the risks?

The global Bitcoin hashrate is now on an uptrend as miners pushed out by China resettle on friendlier shores and resume investing big money in mining equipment.

Despite China’s crackdowns on Bitcoin mining and growing consternation about crypto mining’s carbon footprint, some miners are betting big on a rosy future.

The fee-free trading platform’s initial public offering promises plenty of action for retail investors, but pitfalls may lie in wait amid trading volatility and wider adoption of business model.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Is Amazon taking up BTC? Robinhood’s share sale deserves scrutiny. Did Huobi jump or was it pushed?

San Francisco-based payments technology company Ripple has partnered with SBI Remit, Japan’s largest money transfer provider, mobile payments service Coins.ph and digital asset exchange platform SBI VC Trade to use XRP for remittances between Japan and the Philippines, according to a company statement. Fast facts The partnership — Ripple’s first on-demand liquidity service implementation in […]

EthSign — a Singapore-based electronic signing platform built on the Ethereum blockchain — today announced additional seed round funding from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Draper Associates. Fast facts EthSign is a decentralized application that allows users to comment on, edit and access each version of an electronic agreement securely. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, […]

Ethereum’s future is top of mind for a group of fintech experts polled by Finders. Where do they think Ethereum prices are headed, and will Ethereum overtake Bitcoin?

OKG Technology Holdings, the parent company of crypto exchange OKEx, suffered an 89.8% year-on-year slump in revenue from operating Ethereum stablecoin USDK, its FY 2021 annual report shows. Fast facts Its USDK revenue was just HK$159,000 (US$20,470). Currently, USDK, which launched in 2019, has a market cap of US$28.68 million and a circulating supply of […]

Jasmine Telecom Systems, a publicly-listed unit of Thai telecoms operator Jasmine International, is set to ride the Bitcoin mining wave, with plans to install tens of thousands of mining machines over the next few years. Fast facts JTS is kicking off plans to deploy 500 mining machines in a data center in the third quarter […]

Electric carmaker Tesla on Monday reported that it held US$1.3 billion of Bitcoin, according to the company’s Q2 2021 financial results update. Fast facts There was no change to Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings from the previous quarter, but the company took a Bitcoin-related impairment hit of US$23 million due to the fall in Bitcoin prices, according […]

For the third consecutive week, digital asset investment products last week saw outflows — this time, to the tune of US$28 million, according to CoinShares, Europe’s largest digital assets fund manager. Bitcoin saw the majority of outflows, but multi-asset investment products remained positive with inflows of US$3.1 million. Fast facts Bitcoin investment products saw US$24 […]

Bit Mining pivots overseas as Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin joins animated crypto series ‘Stoned Cats’ cast.

Blockchain technology can make a big impact on the world we live in, according to authors Kosrow Dehnad and Joe Duncan. A prime example: Tesla’s driverless vehicles.

Led by traders in Asia, Bitcoin saw its biggest one-day gain in over a month amid speculation that Amazon is getting into crypto.

US Securities and Exchange Commission staffers say their appointed leaders’ views do not reflect the agency’s stance on Ripple and XRP.

A digital yuan wallet app launched by China’s central bank will include an electricity bill payment feature designed by the country’s State Grid, according to Economic Information Daily, a local financial media outlet.  Fast facts Users will be able to pay their electricity bills through the digital yuan app directly and do not need to […]

China’s trial of e-CNY, the digital version of the national currency, the yuan, has extended to the insurance industry, with conglomerate Ping An encouraging medical staff in the southern city of Shenzhen to pay premiums for a Covid-19 insurance plan using the new currency. Fast facts One Ping An branch in Shenzhen is offering insurance […]

China’s largest telecommunications company, China Mobile, has disclosed a patent on a virtual currency management system that can prevent the theft of hot-wallet keys. Fast facts The system achieves theft-prevention by separating the hot-wallet server interacting directly with a public data server via a system wallet server. The patent disclosure shows that China Mobile filed […]

As Bitcoin’s carbon footprint continues to make ESG investors uneasy, a new clean-energy crypto mining ETF aims to allay their environmental concerns.

Privacy concerns prompt call for Americans to avoid e-CNY as lawmakers point to use of WeChat app to ‘surveil, threaten and arrest Chinese citizens.’

Cryptocurrency investment manager Grayscale has started a fund focused on decentralized finance tokens and based on CoinDesk’s new DeFi-specific index, the company has said in an announcement.  Fast facts The fund offers investors a selection of leading DeFi protocols through a market capitalization-weighted portfolio designed to track the index. It allows investors to allocate funds […]

In a special Q&A, Yale-NUS College professor Andrew Bailey says the world’s oldest cryptocurrency has untapped potential to promote liberty, equality and justice around the world.

Central bank in apparent push for adoption ahead of Olympics as it doubles up on warning over non-state cryptocurrencies.

Britain’s financial crimes enforcement agency is set to launch a campaign costing £11 million (US$15.2 million) to warn young people about the risks of investing in cryptocurrencies.  Fast facts Financial Conduct Authority CEO Nikhil Rathi said social media users aged 18 to 30 would be the target audience. “As with the GameStop episode, more people see investment as […]

CEO Jack Dorsey announced that his mobile payments company Square has created a new division dedicated to decentralized finance (DeFi) on Bitcoin. For now, Dorsey is referring to the new Square Bitcoin DeFi platform as TBD, having not yet decided on an official name.  Fast facts The DeFi space, which has grown exponentially over last […]

Tether stablecoins linked to funds funneled to banks in Singapore and elsewhere amid worldwide cryptocurrency crime increase.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Crypto markets await Bitcoin fund release. USDC issuer opts for the back door. In China, NFT copyrights and wrongs.

As issuer Circle prepares to list and China sounds the alarm over speculation, the mood among regulators is mixed, despite stablecoins’ clear appeal to investors.

Grayscale Investments — the world’s largest digital asset manager — has registered its Digital Large Cap Fund with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission following the filing of a registration statement Form 10 last year. Fast facts The company has also announced it is filing three additional registration statements via the same form for the […]

Ban on branded content covers range of financial services and ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes boosted by influencers with young followings.

In a new report, BIS says countries must work together and design CBDCs with interoperability in mind. Hong Kong and Singapore lead mCBDC efforts.

Warning comes as Beijing ramps up efforts to internationalize China’s currency through launch of digital yuan.

Higher value of Ether investments softens blow to value of Bitcoin holdings.

Eddie Yue, CEO of Hong Kong Monetary Authority lays out the future of the territory’s digital currency at a Hong Kong Academy of Finance event.

Institutional sentiment appears to be shifting back to being positive toward crypto as crypto investment products saw inflows of US$63 million for the first time in five weeks, according to a report by CoinShares, Europe’s largest digital asset investment firm. Previously, there were four straight weeks of crypto fund outflows. Fast facts: “For the first […]

Top blockchain and cryptocurrency news: Binance bounced out of Britain. Musk moves Shiba Inu prices again. China’s digital currency gets ready to roll.

Adoption of e-CNY for urban transport networks marks first step in wider introduction of state-backed digital money.

Institutional demand for cryptocurrency appears to be slowing, according to a report by analytics company Glassnode.

Bithumb — South Korea’s second-largest crypto exchange — has rubbished claims that it is charging token issuers fees to list their coins on its platform.

In the last installment of a 3-part series on blockchain in Asia, Forkast.News examines: Everyone knows money has value. But does it also have ‘values’?

Through tomorrow, a Senate committee is taking public comments on how best to make Australia into a global crypto leader and fintech hub.

Agricultural Bank of China has set up a fintech innovation center in Xiong’an, a model for a so-called smart city.

Ethereum is bearing the brunt of negative sentiment on crypto, with net outflows from institutional products related to the token hitting a record of US$50 million last week.

Mexico’s finance minister reiterated his country’s ban on cryptocurrencies on Monday, saying they are not legal tender and are not to be treated as currencies within the country

Bitcoin’s hashrate fell to 58.7971 exa hashes per second on Sunday — the lowest point since August 2019.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore is inviting proposals for retail central bank digital currency innovations to improve payment services.

How China’s deployment of the digital yuan intertwines economics with geopolitics and concrete with virtual infrastructure, from Cambodia to the Caribbean.

Kazakhstan is quickly becoming a mining hotspot as China’s mining exodus settles down. In Hong Kong, and update on the e-HKD.

Hong Kong’s financial secretary has reiterated the city’s determination to develop digital versions of the Hong Kong dollar and the mainland Chinese yuan.

Lawmaker Carlos Rejala tamped down speculation that Paraguay might follow El Savador’s footsteps in making Bitcoin legal tender.

Elon Musk set off a new SHIB price rally after tweeting that he would name his Shiba Inu—the dog breed that the joke meme coin is named after—’Floki.’

Long before most governments, the Asian superpower saw the potential in Bitcoin’s technology to spawn the next internet and a new form of money.

Bitcoin was recovered by the FBI from the Colonial Pipeline ransomware cyber criminals DarkSide, sparking privacy concerns around cryptocurrencies.

SEC does not want its former head of Corporation Finance to testify or answer question about XRP. Who is William Hinman — and what might he tell Ripple?

A major Ethereum upgrade via London hard fork — which experts call a ‘seismic shift’ for the industry — is coming soon. Are ‘Ethereum killers’ doomed?

Urged on by the authorities, banks have wasted little time in putting e-CNY infrastructure in place, but now comes the hard part — getting people to use it.

Crypto exchange Gemini has bought US$4 million in carbon credits to offset the environmental impact of its Bitcoin holdings

Following Israel’s recent tests of a digital shekel, the Palestinian Monetary Authority is looking to launch its own central bank digital currency.

Swiss-based Digital Assets AG, a firm focused on the design of tokenized stock infrastructure, has launched over 50 tokenized stocks on the Solana public blockchain.

QR Capital’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund — the first Bitcoin ETF in Latin America — has been listed on Brazil’s stock exchange.

The Bank of Israel is testing its central bank digital currency, the digital Shekel, in a private permissioned ecosystem using Ethereum.

Nearly one in three novice traders reported making no traditional investments outside crypto over the past year, according to a survey published today by Overbit, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange. In contrast, 85.3% of professional traders reported diversifying their investment portfolios to stock, real estate or other traditional assets. Fast facts: The survey of 3,000 traders […]

Auction house Lloyds Auctions Australia has begun accepting cryptocurrency for all purchases on its marketplace.