Region

Bitcoin investors in China saw greater returns in 2020 than almost any other nation — second only to the US.

UNICEF Venture Fund is awarding up to $100,000 to blockchain startups, including India’s GovBlocks, in its latest funding round. Here are the other projects.

Hong Kong will be initiating a study on a digital Hong Kong dollar as part of its plans to “future proof” the city for central bank digital currencies.

Regulatory uncertainty pushes India’s crypto industry towards self regulation as a secret Ethereum miner gets busted in Seoul Arts Center.

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

California-born singer looks to rekindle relationship with his fans as he pledges to donate the proceeds from his NFT sale to a Taiwan-based NGO.

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.

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.

Cryptocurrency exchange Fasset has received three licenses from the Labuan Financial Services Authority in Malaysia for business operations in the country.

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.

Following blockchain’s mention as a next-wave technology in China’s five-year plan, Huawei unveils applications for government and in-house services.

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.

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission has announced plans to ban executive employees and exchange operators from trading on their own platforms, prompting a chorus of complaints. Fast Facts: The FSC’s Financial Intelligence Unit recently met with officials from cryptocurrency exchanges to explain upcoming amendments to the Act on Reporting and Use of Certain Financial Transaction Information, […]

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.

Microblog platform Weibo has blocked more than 30 influential Chinese cryptocurrency-related accounts amid a series of actions by Beijing against crypto mining and trading.

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.

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..

S. Korea residents with accounts in foreign crypto exchanges may have to report their crypto holdings starting in 2022. Above what amount is taxable?

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.

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

Eleven users of Upbit have filed a class action lawsuit against its owner, Dunamu Inc., seeking damages over a suspected technical failure.

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.

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?

WazirX launched the country’s first NFT marketplace on Tuesday, featuring artists from India and other South Asian nations.

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.

ATO will contact 400,000 Australian crypto holders over concerns that they may not be fully aware of their crypto tax obligations. Tax cheats beware!

Thailand becomes one of the first governments to attempt DeFi regulation as India’s RBI clarifies that banking ban no longer exists.

South Korean banks processed over 64 trillion won (US$57 billion) of deposits and withdrawals linked to crypto exchanges in the first quarter.

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.

Thailand’s Securities regulator has announced that digital tokens issued and offered for transactions must have its approval.

Singapore’s DBS Bank has announced its first security token offering on the DBS Digital Exchange.

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.

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.

South Korea is in the process of tasking a branch of the Financial Services Commission with regulating cryptocurrency exchanges.

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

Since Beijing’s announcement of tighter restrictions on cryptocurrency trading earlier this month, investors have found a workaround in over-the-counter and peer-to-peer transactions.

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

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.

Turkish regulators have tightened their grip on cryptocurrencies, but small traders and investors appear to have barely noticed.

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

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.

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.

Energy regulators in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, which has abundant hydropower resources, will hold a seminar on June 2 to assess the province’s cryptocurrency mining industry, fanning hopes among miners that the beleaguered sector may be given a reprieve from its recent hardships in China.

The power of tokenization can fundamentally transform the fabric of the financial system, Singapore’s DBS Bank CEO Piyush Gupta told the Consensus by CoinDesk 2021 conference taking place this week.

A proper regulatory system for cryptocurrencies and virtual assets can facilitate development, protect investors, and adhere to international regulatory standards, says treasury chief Christopher Hui

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

Chinese crypto mining firm BIT Mining is investing US$9.33 million to construct and operate a mining data center in Kazakhstan.

The Chinese region of Inner Mongolia – once a thriving cryptocurrency mining hub that has recently enacted a series of measures to rein in the sector – has unveiled eight new proposals designed to give added force to its recently imposed, all-out ban on crypto mining.

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

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

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.

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

Hong Kong reacts to the region’s pending legislation on limiting crypto investment to professional investors while a conglomerate enters South Korea’s crypto custody scene.

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

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.

The price of Bitcoin fell by over 10% following an announcement by China’s State Council today that it is planning to crack down on Bitcoin mining and trading and “resolutely prevent the transmission of individual risks to society.” Fast Facts: The 51st meeting of the State Council Financial Stability and Development Committee called for the […]

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.

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.