Asia

Circle, the stablecoin issuer behind USD Coin (USDC), is teaming up with Tokyo-based financial services firm SBI Holdings to boost the adoption of USDC and Web3 services in Japan.Circle said it concluded a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with SBI Holdings on Nov. 27, which will underpin ...

The weeklong Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit began on Nov. 11 in San Francisco. The highlight of the event will surely be on the sidelines, when United States President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Ping meet on Nov. 15, but with the focus of the organization being on the region ...

The Ministry of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan has officially confirmed they have blocked the Coinbase website in the country. The authorities of Kazakhstan have been blocking local IPs' access to Coinbase since September at least.  According to a Nov. 7 report from a loca ...

The Hong Kong government says the recent $165 million alleged scandal involving crypto exchange JPEX won’t  stifle its Web3 vision for the region. In a Nov. 2 keynote at Hong Kong Fintech Week, the region’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui said the sag ...

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong announced it will update its policies on virtual currency sales and requirements “in light of the latest market developments and enquiries from the industry”.In an Oct. 20 notice, the SFC said under the updated guidelines, certain vi ...

Coinbase has flagged several countries outside the United States where it intends to focus its operations in the near term, citing their comparatively clearer crypto laws.In a Sep. 6 blog post, Coinbase’s international business VP, Nana Murugesan and international policy VP, Tom Duff ...

Tharman Shanmugaratnam, former chair of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, has won the election for the city-state’s presidency with more than 70% of the vote.According to multiple reports from Sept. 2, Shanmugaratnam defeated presidential candidates Ng Kok Song and Tan Kin Lian to becom ...

The Hong Kong arm of crypto-friendly Swiss bank SEBA Bank has received in-principle approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) allowing it to deal in virtual assets.On Aug. 30, SEBA Hong Kong said its in-principle approved license would allow it to operate with cry ...

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank, has announced that it is committing up to 150 million Singapore dollars (around $112 million), to support various financial technology solutions like Web3. In an announcement, MAS highlighted that the funds w ...

Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced the launch of a Japan-based arm roughly two years after receiving a warning from the country’s financial regulator.In an Aug. 1 announcement, Binance said local crypto exchange Sakura Exchange Bitcoin has launched as Binance Japan i ...

Blockchain intelligence platform TRM Labs recently released a report that presents several case studies highlighting the use of cryptocurrency by ISIS affiliates across Asia. It linked on-chain connections between these groups and pro-ISIS fundraising campaigns in Syria.Published on July 2 ...

Myanmar’s first entirely crypto-based banking institution has announced a soft launch for July 22 — a move that could see the country’s shadow government given greater access to financial services and funding.The Spring Development Bank is named after the Spring Revolution, the opposition ...

Crypto firms may appear to have been prepping entry to Hong Kong with unabated excitement, but it’s yet to translate into in-country hires, according to recruitment executives. On June 1, around 150 companies lined up for a local crypto license which permits the operation of a local crypto ...

Account abstraction, also known as “smart accounts” could eventually onboard a billion users from the Asia region to Web3, according to an executive at Ethereum software solutions provider ConsenSys.Speaking to Cointelegraph, the director of strategic initiatives at ConsenSys, Laura Shi, n ...

The crypto space has been in an uneven state around the world, with Web3 startups flourishing in the Middle East and Asia, while North American crypto entrepreneurs face challenges under tough macroeconomic and regulatory conditions, according to Animoca Brands CEO Yat Siu. Speaking w ...

The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology plans to allow schools from elementary to high school level limited usage of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in classrooms. According to a local news outlet, a source close to the matter said that gene ...

United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has announced plans to expand into the Asia-Pacific region.In a June 19 blog post, Gemini said it planned to increase the number of staff at the firm’s Singapore office as well as establish a ...

The cryptocurrency total market capitalization fell to $1.02 trillion on June 15, its lowest level in three months. But while the derivatives market's resilience and end-of-week price gains amid uncertainty in stablecoins' reserves provides hope for bulls, it might be too soon to celebrate.Cr ...

A bearish trend formation has been pressuring cryptocurrency prices for the past eight weeks, driving the total market capitalization to its lowest level in more than two months at $1.06 trillion, a 2.4% decline between June 4 and June 11.This time, the move wasn’t driven by Bitcoin ...

Bitcoin (BTC) abandoned the United States during the 2022 bear market, new research suggests.In a tweet on June 8, on-chain analytics firm Glassnode revealed some surprising conclusions about who is now using Bitcoin.BTC supply moves to AsiaThe past year has seen some seismic ...

Hong Kong — officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China — is a city of over seven million residents on the eastern Pearl River Delta in South China. The city is known for being pro-innovation and technology, and over the past year, it ...

Officials in Japan are beginning to tighten their stance toward artificial intelligence (AI) after the country’s local privacy watchdog warned ChatGPT’s parent company about its data collection methods. On June 2, Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission issued a statement a ...

According to Bloomberg, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) is going to officially allow retail investors to trade in cryptocurrencies from June 2023. The relevant provisions are captured in a new set of rules. Thanks to the development of the cryptoc ...

North Korean-linked hacker groups stole $721 million in cryptocurrency from Japanese entrepreneurs between 2017 and Jan. 1, 2023, according to an Elliptic study published by Nikkei. The amount represents 30% of total losses from DPRK hack ...

The Coinbase CEO will hold meetings with politicians and regulators There are currently about 500 startups based in Dubai And more than 11% of the population owns cryptocurrency Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said that the United Arab Emirates could ...

According to recent data from Coin ATM Radar, Australia has surpassed the Asian continent in terms of total crypto ATM installations, solidifying its position as the third largest ATM network globally. This achievement comes after Australia's active efforts to install new crypto ATMs since the be ...