Cryptocurrencies

Chinese authorities’ latest regulatory offensive against the crypto industry may not be as bad for the sector as it appears.

Marathon Digital Holdings has announced a deal with Compute North to host 73,000 of Marathon’s Bitcoin miners at a new data center in Texas.

Bitcoin has rallied to nearly US$40,000, boosted by tweets from Tesla founder Elon Musk and MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor announcing that they have met with North American miners of the cryptocurrency to promote a renewable energy initiative.

Hong Kong is poised to ban small investors from buying cryptocurrencies, while making exchanges get licences. Industry experts discuss how this might play out. 

The current dip aside, what are Bitcoin and Ethereum’s longer-term price forecasts? Finder’s brain trust of 35 crypto experts peers into a crystal ball.

As the crypto sell-off continued over the weekend, Bitcoin once again proved its resilience relative to other cryptocurrencies in not bleeding as much.

Bitcoin and altcoin prices take heavy hits and sell-off deepens as more bad news, including a blatant DeFi exit scam, continue battering crypto markets.

Crypto exchange Bybit is launching cloud mining to provide exposure to Ether. What happens when Ethereum moves from proof of work to proof of stake?

Kicking the digital won’s development into higher gear, Bank of Korea is calling for bids to be a technology supplier for its digital currency (CBDC) project.

Cryptocurrency exchanges in Hong Kong will have to obtain licenses from the territory’s markets regulator and limit their service offerings to “professional investors”, according to the results of a consultation published today.

The crypto market has rebounded after one of its biggest crashes. Bitcoin is a ‘safe haven’ for many investors.

Coinbase Pro adds Solana’s native token, opening the doors for US investors after SOL outperforms Bitcoin and most other cryptos amid market crash.

Diversification to allocate funds to Bitcoin is an “opportunity that (fiat) money cannot buy”, says DBS Bank’s chief investment officer.

Bithumb, one of South Korea’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, is attempting to disassociate itself from its former chairman amid fears that its links to him may pose a threat to its license to operate.

Hong Kong-listed beauty app Meitu and other companies that have invested in cryptocurrencies have seen millions of dollars wiped off the value of their stock following the huge global Bitcoin sell-off this week.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury is calling for business to report cryptocurrency transactions worth more than US$10,000 to the Internal Revenue Service.

The Booker Group announced that it now holds approximately US$35 million in crypto and plans to invest US$3 million into DeFi in Q2.

Other top blockchain and cryptocurrency news: BlockFi’s accidental BTC millionaires. China’s Inner Mongolia asks citizens to report illegal crypto mining.

Newly elected South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum appears to be leading an embrace of the cryptocurrency sector among lawmakers.

In a win for the SEC, a judge knocks back Ripple’s request to stop the SEC from asking foreign regulators for info on Ripple and XRP transactions overseas.

The Chinese region of Inner Mongolia is urging members of the public to report all cases of cryptocurrency mining, setting up a reporting hotline, an office address and an email address to solicit tips for law enforcement authorities.

Chinese cryptocurrency miner BIT Mining has signed a deal to build a data center in Texas.

DeFi project Maple Finance is launching a $17 million lending pool to provide crypto startups with capital. Is this the start of a DeFi credit underwriting trend?

The world’s biggest cryptocurrency may have found a new trading range after being battered yesterday following an apparent Chinese clampdown on cryptos, partly reversing losses of around 30% seen when investors dumped their coins on Wednesday.

Former CFTC chairman Chris Giancarlo and Accenture’s David Treat are not in a CBDC race, but a ‘contest’ to develop money that reflects societal values.

China’s newest warning against crypto sends market into nosedive and Bitcoin dips below US$40,000 for the first time since February.

Professional crypto traders appear to be taking the recent plunge in the price of Bitcoin in their stride as they look ahead to an upswing in the cryptocurrency’s fortunes.

Around US$1.5 billion of Bitcoin long positions were liquidated today across some of the world’s top crypto exchanges, including Binance and FTX, according to Bybt data.

In a paper released today by a Senate committee, the Australian government announced it is seeking help in establishing a crypto regulatory framework.

XRP’s price has slumped almost 7% in the past 24 hours after a so-called whale transferred US$93 million of the cryptocurrency to an unknown wallet on May 18, according to blockchain analytics platform WhaleAlert.

Qingdao-headquartered tech company SOS Ltd. has announced the launch of more than 6,000 ETH and BCT mining rigs, claiming 90% renewable energy sources.

Fan Long, a co-founder of Chinese public blockchain network Conflux, says China’s latest broadside against the use of cryptocurrencies in the financial sector should not be interpreted as a sign that Beijing is intent on shutting down digital currencies.

American Bitcoin miner Riot Blockchain’s mining revenue skyrocketed almost tenfold to US$23.2 million in the first quarter of 2021, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

China has slapped a ban on finance sector businesses, including payment firms, from offering cryptocurrency services.

As Singapore builds Project Dunbar, a cross-border multiple-CBDC platform, its government dives into DeFi learning and ponders a CBDC for the masses.

The final phase of Polkadot’s rollout — with parachains — just kicked off. Here’s what you need to know about Polkadot and parachains, and why it matters.

The appetite in the United Arab Emirates for cryptocurrency investment is growing, with younger Emiratis more bullish about digital assets than their Western counterparts, according to a study by financial services firm Holborn Assets.

In a new court filing, SEC tries to keep out 6 representatives of 17,100 XRP holders from joining as 3rd party defendants in the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple.

A group of cryptocurrency developers has launched a new coin named $STOPELON, aiming to limit Elon Musk’s influence over the cryptocurrency market.

Tesla founder Elon Musk has lost his position as the world’s second-richest person following a 2.2% decline in the electric carmaker’s share price.

Ripple rebuts SEC’s attempt to obtain Ripple’s confidential communications with lawyers over XRP’s legal status and seeks to bolster ‘fair notice’ defense.

FUD has taken over Bitcoin’s FOMO sentiment as iconic YouTube video ‘Charlie Bit Me’ gets immortalized as an NFT.

ADA price holds strong as investors shift to greener cryptocurrencies and Cardano smart contracts get set to launch blockchain into DeFi and NFTs.

A dispute over a Bitcoin mine’s environmental impact leads to a push to ban crypto mines in New York state. Will other places follow Albany’s lead?

It’s only a matter of time that digital currency ‘is going to overshadow all the other forms of money,’ says Neeraj Khandelwal of CoinDCX.

To improve public trust, South Korea is barring police officers from buying cryptocurrency. Could this presage a broader clampdown on crypto in the country?

The Asian crypto industry reacts to the US Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service money laundering probe into Binance. In South Korea, the nation’s largest internet company plans to join Bank of Korea’s CBDC ventures. Over in Singapore, Southeast Asia’s largest lender DBS Bank expands its crypto services for its private bank clients by […]

What will happen to your Bitcoin keys and crypto wallets when you die? Southeast Asia’s largest bank will now take care of it all for the super wealthy.

An Australian computer scientist has become the latest person to claim to have developed Bitcoin, an assertion he hopes might bring him a £4 billion (US$5.6 billion) windfall. Craig Wright, who claims to have invented Bitcoin, and the identity behind the Satoshi Nakamoto pseudonym, has filed a lawsuit in a UK court to retrieve a […]

Singapore’s DBS Private Bank has announced the launch of Asia’s first bank-backed trust offering for cryptocurrencies. The service, operated via the lender’s wholly-owned licensed trust subsidiary, DBS Trustee, allows clients to invest, custodize and manage their digital assets. The service will handle only those cryptocurrencies hosted on the DBS Digital Exchange — Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin […]

Asia’s crypto industry reacts to Tesla backtracking Bitcoin payments, while Animoca Brands raises US$88,888,888 in a new funding round.

Elon Musk drops ‘fossil fuel’ Twitter bomb on Bitcoin, triggering a BTC price crash and dragging down Ethereum, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.

Global US dollar reserves touched a 25-year low in Q4 2020, according to a new IMF report. Will a digital euro and e-RMB muscle in?

Other top blockchain and cryptocurrency news: How Dogecoin copycat SHIB coin vaulted into crypto’s top 20. China unveils fingerprint ID for digital yuan.

Shiba Inu is the new “Doge killer” and Chinese investors “can’t get enough” of it, says Gate.io, as #SHIB trends in Weibo.

Ethereum prices rally to new all-time high as Bitcoin’s dominance keeps sliding. Is Ethereum’s upcoming EIP 1559 upgrade boosting its value proposition?

Crypto veterans are appalled by the sudden popularity of $hitcoins like DOGE and SHIB. But others say memecoins are making investing more accessible.

Chutian Dragon and IDEX Biometrics offer DCEP digital currency wallets with fingerprint recognition. The companies say the feature enhances security.

Dogecoin is on its weekend hangover as trading volumes in India’s WazirX for DOGE reaches new heights. Meanwhile, ESG investments tackle crypto.

In the latest volley in SEC v. Ripple Labs, the SEC contends that Ripple has waived its attorney-client privilege over legal advice on XRP’s status.

Is it all those new Ethereum ETFs, rising demand for Ethereum from DeFi and NFTs, or lower gas fees fueling ETH’s price jump to yet another all-time high?

Aqumon’s SmartGlobalC aims to meet the rapidly growing demand for Bitcoin exposure for traditional investment portfolios in Asia.

While Bitcoin Cash surges, we visit a Japanese coffee shop owner who just started accepting BCH as payment.

XRP sales by Ripple accounted for 0.07% of global XRP volume. Ripple says its sales were to support on-demand liquidity customers.

With Bitcoin Cash prices rising in advance of its May 15 network upgrade, investors want to know: What’s the difference between Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin?

The new self-proclaimed eco-friendly crypto leverages unused disk space — but Chia miners are buying out new hard drives and equipment instead.

Ripple scores another in legal wrangling over SEC lawsuit as SEC now must disclose its confidential internal communications over XRP, Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The Chia craze keeps on going while the Indian crypto industry speaks out against banks blocking crypto transactions.

ConsenSys Codefi’s Q1 report on decentralized finance (DeFi) trends also saw 7x growth in stablecoins and predicts flashbots dominating the Ethereum network.

Other top blockchain and cryptocurrency news: S&P Dow Jones launches Bitcoin and Ethereum indices. Will China crack down on more crypto miners?

Dogecoin breaks another ATH while Chinese electronics vendors say that Chia is the hottest mining project in the mainland.

The days of ‘DeFi’ being an insider buzzword are over. But gas fees remain high and the road bumpy. Will Uniswap V3 and smartBCH change anything?