Crypto market cap breaks US$3 trillion: APAC crypto cards to launch

Transcript

Crypto markets are keeping our newsroom buzzing today.

Welcome to The Daily Forkast November 9 2021. I’m Megha Chaddah of Forkast.News covering all things blockchain, filling in for Editor-in-Chief Angie Lau.

Crypto markets continue to break records, with Bitcoin and Ethereum hitting new all time highs and the global crypto market cap breaking through the US$3 trillion mark.

We’ll take a look at that and a whole lot more coming up.

Let’s get you up to speed from Asia to the world.

First up, amid ongoing global logistics issues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, a group of companies have teamed up to use blockchain technology to speed things up.

Nine companies from China, Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia have announced they are establishing a blockchain platform designed to make trading bulk commodity cargos simpler and more efficient.

Named TradeGo, the platform will remove the need for old fashioned paper and instead use blockchain technology to digitize documents which will help speed up customs clearance and delivery.

Among the names involved are Sinochem Energy, Mitsui and Co., Macquarie CGM and Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures. You can find more on that story at Forkast.News.

And the crypto market is showing no signs of slowing down amid swathes of green in the crypto top 10.

According to data from CoinGecko, the global market cap hit almost US$3.1 trillion Tuesday morning Asia time.

Forkast.News Lachlan Keller has more.

Bitcoin hit a new all time high of US$68,641 Tuesday lunchtime Asia time. This is the second time in less than a month that Bitcoin has reached a new level after breaking the high watermark from the bull run it saw at the beginning of the year.

One expert told Forkast.News, that El Salvador’s recent adoption of Bitcoin, large companies adding it to their treasuries, continued institutional adoption and the approval of Bitcoin futures ETFs have all contributed to the price action:

“This series of events indicated to the market that institutional players and regulators worldwide have warmed to Bitcoin and see it as an investable asset. The market then takes this as a tacit approval, which then sees more inflows into spot markets globally, driving the price higher.”

Ethereum has also been on a tear, gaining 10% since the start of the week, to hit an all time high of US$4,857 Tuesday lunchtime.

Yew says that while hitting a total crypto market cap of US$3 trillion is remarkable:

“It’s also important to consider that there are different types of assets and they’re all very distinct in its purpose, its ideology, its audiences and its price discovery mechanism when compared to Bitcoin. So new investors should keep in mind that while there are many types of products in the crypto-verse, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the prices will correlate and should correlate with each other.”

Yew warned that even the most reputable traditional operators could find themselves in a dire situation without expert help in managing digital assets.

For Forkast.News, I’m Lachlan Keller.

Meanwhile, financial services giant MasterCard has partnered with three companies in the Asia-Pacific region to launch crypto funded payment cards.

Hong Kong-based Amber Group, Thailand’s Bitkub and Australia’s CoinJar are the first APAC based cryptocurrency platforms to join Mastercard’s global crypto card program.

Forkast.News Carolyn Wright has the details.

The partnership will allow Amber, Bitkub and CoinJar customers to apply for crypto funded MasterCard credit, debit or prepaid cards, allowing them to instantly convert their cryptocurrencies into traditional fiat currency.

That fiat cash can then be spent with merchants either online or offline, anywhere MasterCard is accepted in the world.

As demonstrated by recent market action, interest in crypto is growing all the time. And according to the MasterCard New Payments Index released in May, 45% of those surveyed in the APAC region said they were likely to consider using cryptocurrency in the next year. That’s a huge increase over the 12% who said they had used it in the year before.

And according to competitor Visa, more than US$1 billion was spent on their crypto linked cards in just the first half of this year. Visa has already partnered with more than 50 crypto platforms, including Coinbase and Crypto.com, on its card programs.

For Forkast.News, I’m Carolyn Wright.

And finally, just a reminder to join Forkast.News at our global Bitcoin and Beyond virtual summit, November 10, Asia time.

We’ve got some of the biggest names in blockchain joining us, including Don Tapscott, Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX and Alex Mashinsky of Celsius. All newsmakers and blockchain leaders. It’s a live event with an opportunity to engage with them and us.

Sign up at bitcoinandbeyond.io.

And that’s The Daily Forkast from our vantage point right here in Asia. Hit like, hit subscribe, appreciate it always. Help us reach our goal to reach more of you. For more, visit Forkast.News. I’m Megha Chaddah. Until next time.