Cryptocurrencies

From Phillips auction house in Hong Kong to Art Fair Philippines, non-fungible tokens are redefining how Asia appreciates, buys and profits from art.

Crypto exchanges in India have partnered with the Internet and Mobile Association of India to form a self-regulatory body.

Millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin paid to ransomware hackers who shut down the main fuel pipeline on the U.S. East Coast last month has been recovered.

China has released guidelines aimed at boosting the country’s blockchain development.

As 50,000 Bitcoiners and crypto superstars whoop it up at Miami’s Bitcoin 2021 fest, a smaller group of BTC fans hold their own at the Fringe in Hong Kong.

Nearly 40% of Australians born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s would rather invest in cryptocurrencies than real estate, according to a nesurvey.

XRP last week saw inflows of US$7 million into investment products, the most since April, according to CoinShares.

Canaan, one of the largest crypto mining rig makers in the world, is opening its first-ever service center outside China—in Kazakhstan.

Chinese social media Weibo bans crypto accounts as employees of South Korean crypto exchanges can no longer trade on their own platforms.

CoinShares has announced that its Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin physically-backed exchange traded products have cross-listed on Germany’s Börse Xetra exchange.

El Salvador is proposing a bill to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in the Central American nation. In a videotaped announcement shown at the Bitcoin 2021 Conference in Miami, President Nayib Bukele said he would submit the bill this week.

Users of cybersecurity product NortonLifeLock will soon be able to mine Ethereum on their home computers through a new feature named Norton Crypto.

Following a digital yuan giveaway announced for Beijing last week, Shanghai will distribute 350,000 red envelopes to people across the city during next week’s Dragon Boat Festival.

Crypto mining equipment manufacturer Goldshell has announced that it will launch a new line of mining rigs designed specifically for home use in Asian markets.

Australia’s first capital growth fund to offer institutional exposure to BTC has announced its received inquiries from some of the country’s largest companies.

Global crypto exchange Luno is in talks with conglomerate Lippo Group to launch operations in Indonesia in order to enter the Southeast Asian market.

Is Bitcoin’s carbon footprint a growing risk to Earth, or is it a red herring? On this year’s United Nations World Environment Day, crypto mining is a hot topic.

Hong Kong arranged a Bitcoin gathering ahead of Bitcoin 2021 Conference in Miami as Phillips auction house offers Banksy’s work for crypto.

After Tether’s legal settlement with New York, USDT’s growth is exploding—dispelling concerns over Tether’s reserves, says Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino.

It is important to distinguish between developing a digital currency for currency digitalization and digitalization of assets or cryptocurrencies so that China can be more focused on preventing risks in the financial sector, said Fan Gang, a Peking University professor and a prominent advocate in China for economic reform. Fast Facts: In a keynote speech […]

Regulators Hainan province have issued a warning against illegal fundraising schemes using crypto or blockchain..

Many of Britain’s crypto firms are failing to meet required anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws, says the country’s watchdog.

BitFlyer announced today that it is launching a Bitcoin-to-Japanese yen pair for currency traders in the U.S.

Governments meet up with the crypto industry to discuss how to regulate the booming industry as BC Group’s OSL ties up with SC Ventures.

To defend themselves against SEC lawsuit, Ripple’s CEO and chairman ask court for help getting XRP info from a who’s who list of offshore crypto exchanges.

From digital bonds to real estate, blockchain-enabled security token offerings and tokenization are redefining corporate fundraising and investing.

Can Ethereum, also known as the ‘World Computer,’ function outside this world — in space? A SpaceX rocket launch today will put that to the test.

Standard Chartered and BC Group to launch digital asset trading platform for corporate and institutional clients in Europe and the UK.

Chinese Bitcoin mining hardware maker Canaan says overseas sales accounted for almost four-fifths of its revenue during the first quarter of 2021.

Green crypto mining operations should be spared China’s recent crackdown on the sector, according to the CEO of Canaan Inc.

Input Output Hong Kong and Nervos announced today that they will be launching a cross-chain bridge to connect the two networks.

Other top blockchain and crypto news: Thailand’s SEC tries to rein in DeFi via regulation. Will China’s future DCEP digital yuan offer smart contracts?

China is set to hand out 200,000 virtual red envelopes, each containing 200 yuan (US$31.30) of the country’s prototype digital currency, to Beijing residents.

Illegal gambling in Asia is on the rise, facilitated in part by sites accepting bets in cryptocurrency.

Dogecoin has gained an additional measure of credibility, with crypto exchange Coinbase announcing that it will add DOGE to its professional trading platform.

Ethereum has hit a market-share high of 27% of all digital asset investment fund products following recent price corrections.

Bitcoin’s proposed Taproot update for smart contracts and privacy has wide verbal support from miners, but will they put their crypto where their mouth is?

China-based trading apps Futu and Tiger Brokers have announced plans to move into crypto to compete outside China with apps such as Robinhood and eToro.

Bitcoin dropped by 37.5% in May after hitting a low of US$34,195 yesterday, the second-largest drop on record after it fell 40% in September 2011.

India’s central bank has said that banks and other finance sector businesses should not adhere to a prohibition it imposed on lenders dealing in cryptocurrencies.

Gold prices are rising again and at a three-month high. How does gold — a store of value for over 2,500 years —  compare to Bitcoin as a refuge from market turmoil?

Tax season is here and the ATO wants to make sure Aussies pay their taxes for crypto earnings. Also, Privacy coins have surged over the past weeks.

Privacy-centric coins like Monero, ZCash and Dash are seeing big price rises as the IRS and ATO issue warnings on taxable crypto transactions.

Former People’s Bank of China Director Yao Qian says that the country’s digital yuan is not a surveillance tool for the government.

Following the launch of Cardano’s first testnet for its smart contract platform, Alonzo, ADA’s price rebounded by 15% on Monday morning to reach US$1.65.

The latest Bitcoin mining difficulty adjustment, made at 1 a.m. UTC on May 30, saw the difficulty of Bitcoin mining drop 15.97%.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has failed in a bid to gain access to any legal communications Ripple Labs sought or received as to whether sales of XRP were subject to federal securities law.

Banks in India, including some of the country’s largest lenders, are notifying their customers not to engage in cryptocurrencies, adhering to a central bank rule from 2018 that bans them from dealing in cryptos — despite the fact the ban was overturned by the Supreme Court more than a year ago.

Crypto crime is surging in Asia while Bitcoin is being blamed for splitting up married couples in South Korea.

From mass liquidations to meme trading, the characteristics unique to the crypto market can now be seen in traditional markets, says FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.

SEC says Ripple had plenty of ‘notice’ that XRP transactions could be violating the law via its many enforcement actions against other crypto companies.

Input Output Hong Kong, one of the companies behind the Cardano blockchain, today announced the launch of the first testnet for Cardano’s Alonzo upgrade.

Police in South Korea have arrested 14 individuals in a cryptocurrency fraud case estimated to have cost 69,000 investors a total of US$3.85 billion, taking the country’s losses to US$5 billion over the past five years.

Sanctions enforcement affecting the cryptocurrency industry has intensified rapidly in the past two years, according to a new report by crypto compliance consultancy Elliptic.

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has announced that it is committed to becoming carbon-negative within 18 months, following carbon-neutral initiatives launched by other Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchanges FTX and BitMEX.

Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, has said he wants to see regulation to protect consumers built into the operations of cryptocurrency exchanges.

Consumer adoption of cryptocurrencies has grown, with 38% of respondents to a survey saying they have either invested in or bought a cryptocurrency, according to digital wallet provider Skrill, part of payments provider Paysafe.

Vitalik Buterin sets a green future for the Ethereum network while Bitdeer becomes the latest to block Chinese miners.

The U.S. dollar reigns supreme as the current world reserve currency. Could the USD’s status change with the rise of CBDCs like China’s DCEP digital yuan?

Breaking into occasional Mandarin at a Hong Kong conference, Ethereum’s visionary creator tells all — including why Ethereum 2.0 is taking so long.

BitDeer, one of China’s biggest crypto mining operators, blocked access to anyone using a mainland Chinese IP address last night.

Global payments giant PayPal plans to let its users move the cryptocurrency they hold on its platform into third-party wallets.

Cashless payment methods are on the rise as governments step up central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) initiatives.

Other top blockchain and crypto news: Australia signals progressive approach to crypto as Hong Kong moves closer to banning retail crypto trading.

Investors are turning to green alternatives to tackle Bitcoin’s impact on the environment as Indonesia gears up for a CBDC.

Fast-growing Ethereum scaling platform Polygon and decentralized storage network Aleph.im join forces to ‘supercharge’ Polygon’s NFT ecosystem.

Ripple is partnering with Bank Dhofar, Oman’s second largest bank, to facilitate cross border mobile payments through RippleNet.

SpaceChain, a Singapore-based startup that focuses on the integration of blockchain with space technology, will be launching two missions to space next month to deploy decentralized satellite infrastructure and multi-signature services for its corporate customers.

Indonesia is planning to launch a digital version of its national currency, central bank Governor Perry Warjiyo said on Tuesday.

Despite recent outflows from crypto, U.S. dollar-linked stablecoin Tether (USDT) has surpassed US$60 billion for the first time this week.

New and innovative lenders are taking advantage of DeFi’s low costs to offer savings account interest rates that Main Street banks simply can’t match.

China’s miners prepare for migration and Hong Kong reacts to possible retail ban. Meanwhile a South Korean governor becomes a crypto influencer.