Ethereum hits new all-time high; S Korea says NFTs not virtual assets

Transcript

The crypto all time highs are showing no signs of letting up.

Welcome to The Daily Forkast November 8, 2021. I’m Megha Chaddah of Forkast.News covering all things blockchain, filling in for Editor-in-Chief Angie Lau.

Ethereum, the world’s second largest crypto by market value, hit an all time high for the second time within a week Monday morning Asia time and it’s not the only one. Kadena, a crypto created by former JP Morgan executives, has also been on a tear.

We’ll take a look at what’s driving markets and a whole lot more coming up.

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

Let’s kick off with some of the top stories out of Asia today.

South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit has confirmed that NFTs are not virtual assets, with an official telling local media they will follow the FATF’s updated crypto guidelines, which explains that NFTs used as collectibles rather than as payment or investments will not fall under the category of virtual assets. This may mean they will remain exempt from Korea’s upcoming tax on virtual assets.

And Beijing is going the blockchain way. The city’s municipal government has invited US$37 million worth of bids to purchase a blockchain platform and hardware facilities to handle government affairs. The platform will be used to record resident IDs, sign and approve government documents and offer a coding system for buildings and roads in the city, among many other things.

You can find more on those stories at Forkast.News.

And the cryptocurrency all time highs keep on coming.

Ethereum has been on a record run since late last month, and according to CoinMarketCap, it hit US$4,726 Monday morning Asia Time.

Meanwhile, Kadena soared over 180% in the last seven days, reaching an all time high of US$25.43.

Forkast.News Lachlan Keller has more on what’s behind those moves.

Ethereum’s new record comes after the crypto trading platform Bakkt, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange last month, issued a press release on Friday, saying it is expanding its offerings to include Ethereum.

Bitcoin also rose almost 5% in the 24 hours to Monday morning, and one expert told Forkast.News, we cannot separate what we’re seeing with Ethereum from what’s happening with Bitcoin.

“We’re going through a period of kind of accumulation, which is interesting at these price levels, but that’s what’s happening. And once the kind of supply shock kicks in, then I think within this month we can see bitcoin for sure, go above US$80,000 and that should take Ethereum. I think actually Ethereum can touch US$6,000 by the end of the month”

Caselin sees widespread bullish Q4 sentiment around the flow of announcements coming from the crypto space. With another example being Solana Ventures and FTX push into initiatives around Web 3 gaming, that saw Solana hit an all time high of just a touch over US$260 on Sunday.

“I think over the coming weeks, we should also be paying attention to Polkadot, which, you know, it’s been kind of a slow mover over the past few months and is now really breaking new kind of charting new all time highs”

Caselin says all of this, also fits into the meta narrative that has been spurred on by Facebook’s change of name.

For Forkast.News, I’m Lachlan Keller.

Meanwhile, with the Chinese cracking down on private tutoring sector, one ed-tech company is pivoting into blockchain and crypto mining.

Nasdaq listed Meten has taken the plunge by announcing a strategic partnership with AGM Group Holdings, which includes an initial order for 1,500 crypto mining machines.

Forkast.News Timmy Shen reports from Taipei, Taiwan,

The former edtech company, which officially changed its name from Meten EdTech Education Group to Maten Holding Group back in August, initially announced that it was planning to venture into the blockchain and cryptocurrency business in September.

That statement said the company was contemplating the purchase of mining machines and NFT assets, with a view to putting the machines into operation in the US or Canada.

It has now moved those plans forward by entering into partnership with AGM Holdings with its initial order for a 1,500 Bitcoin mining machines worth a cool US$12 million.

The agreement also has an option for the purchase of additional machines in the future.

Menten had built a network of almost 150 learning centers across China since it was founded in 2006. Driven by demand for private tutoring in a country’s highly competitive education system. However, a crackdown on the sector was announced in July, with the government saying it was aimed at reducing the pressure on both children and parents.

Meten’s stock price had slumped after a net loss of US$30 million for the first half of 2020 was announced in August last year, and that slide continued following the crackdown. However, it has recovered slightly to US$0.62 since the pivot was first mentioned.

Meten says it chose AGM to enter into partnership with because of its expertise in design and production of chipsets.

However, just last week, its chip design partner, Shenzhen High Sharp, was accused of patent infringement by mining hardware manufacturer Cannan.

For Forkast.News, I’m Timmy Shen. Taipei, Taiwan.

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.