Digital currency, NFTs and more
With the explosion in coverage of the NFT space, alongside discussion of the metaverse, cryptocurrency news headlines were many and varied, touching on forms of digital currency far beyond Bitcoin.
Headlines in the crypto space in November covered areas including: Japan’s moves towards a central bank digital currency; Singapore’s OCBC bank considerations around launching a cryptocurrency exchange; Indonesian Muslim’s concerns around cryptocurrency and Shariah law; the cybersecurity vulnerabilities of the blockchains underpinning digital currencies; and many more.
Daily crypto, NFT and digital currency news is available, free of charge, from Startup News Asia’s social media channels and mobile app; and crypto is also covered in our e-newsletter.
- ICYMI: Square payments giant publishes White Paper outlining planned tbDEX protocol, aiming to make exchanging digital assets such as Bitcoin more accessible
- Australia: CoinSpot has grown to 2M users and to celebrate, they’re giving an Australian resident a Lamborghini
- “The key is that NFTs are not just digital collectibles, they are the ‘ownership layer’ of the Internet.”
- Asia’s tech news, issue 109: Australia’s sustainable fintechs, Bengaluru Tech Summit, Taiwan’s X-Pitch 2021 winners, Indonesia’s crypto ban…
- “The blockchain accounting tech that powers cryptocurrencies could be vulnerable to sophisticated attacks and forged transactions if quantum computing matures faster than efforts to future-proof digital money”
- Asia’s tech news, issue 110: Blockchain in India, Baidu’s metaverse moves, Bangladesh’s startups, entrepreneur wellness in Australia, crypto in Thailand…
- Asia’s tech scene: Taipei Startup Festival, upcoming Singapore blockchain summit, Entrepreneur First’s Web3 platform, Korean blockchain gaming & in-game crypto, Pakistan’s startup scene…
Cool Points Club / Re-imagining climate action with blockchain
- ICYMI: El Salvador to create ‘Bitcoin City’, issuing a $1BN ‘bitcoin bond’ tokenized financial instrument and powering the city – and crypto mining – with energy from nearby volcano
- ICYMI: Identity thieves believed to have exploited El Salvador’s Chivo Bitcoin wallet setup process using stolen ID numbers to claim $30 BTC incentive
- Mastercard partners Hong Kong’s Amber Group, Australia’s CoinJar and Thailand’s Bitkub with plans to launch cryptocurrency-linked payment cards in APAC
- Download: Bloomberg Crypto Outlook, November 2021 Edition (pdf)
- ICYMI: El Salvador to create ‘Bitcoin City’, issuing a $1BN ‘bitcoin bond’ tokenized financial instrument and powering the city – and crypto mining – with energy from nearby volcano
- Singapore: Central bank to launch ‘Project Orchid’ to explore the tech infrastructure and competencies needed to issue a digital Singapore dollar
- Online event: ‘China’s Fintech Future’ set for December 2nd, looking at the country’s central bank digital currency moves and more
Bloomberg Global Cryptocurrencies Outlook 2022 (pdf)
- Japan: New digital currency backed by bank deposits set for trials in Japan in effort involving the nation’s top banks and 70 or so other companies and organizations
- Central bank digital currencies: “If any, the only achievement of ‘CBDC initiatives’ will likely be to create copies of existing digital payment solutions, just worse.”
- Metaverse: “NFTs, like cryptocurrency at large, have been compared to Beanie Babies; both involve adults collecting childish objects without any genuine internet beyond financial speculation.”
- ICYMI: Valora peer-to-peer cryptocurrency app lands celebrity backing, allowing users to send and receive crypto payments via text messages without needing a bank account
- South Korea: K-pop group BTS joins non-fungible tokens stampede with management company Hybe partnering parent firm of Upbit crypto trading platform
- Indonesia: Religious leaders forbid country’s Muslims from using Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, ruling they break Shariah compliance in elements of uncertainty, wagering and harm
- Singapore: Coinhako platform the first local non-bank cryptocurrency exchange to receive in-principal approval from Monetary Authority to provide digital payment token services
AusPost: Australia’s Online Shopping 2021 report (pdf)
- India: Gov’t to ban the use of cryptocurrencies for making payments, and ban ‘active solicitation’ by crypto firms, but will allow and regulate trading of crypto as assets
- ICYMI: Second Annual NFT Awards applications close November 26th, running with the theme of ‘Celebrating the Metaverse’
- “The key thing to keep in mind is that NFTs do not inherently carry limited rights, but rather that NFTs have almost unlimited flexibility in unbundling and assigning property rights…”
- ICYMI: Square payments giant publishes White Paper outlining planned tbDEX protocol, aiming to make exchanging digital assets such as Bitcoin more accessible
- Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp considering establishing a cryptocurrency exchange in response to customer demand
- Thailand: Central Retail Corp, the country’s biggest shopping center developer, is piloting a digital currency with employees, aiming to expand to customers and the public
- “If MiamiCoin grows and coin-denominated contracts become a part of daily city life…Miami will have to decide whether to claim not only a share of MIA’s profits, but some measure of control…”
Deloitte: 2022 Tech, Media, Telecoms Predictions (pdf)
- Asia’s tech news, issue 112: Sri Lanka’s startup moves, Singapore’s CBDC research, Indonesia’s creator economy startup, UN Women Care Accelerator, Filipino venture funding, rural insurance-tech in India…
- Australia: Commonwealth Bank to become the country’s first main-street bank to offer a platform for retail customers to trade crypto, partnering NY’s Gemini Trust exchange
- Australia: Australian Securities and Investment Commission raises oversight of investment side of local cryptocurrency market with licences for crypto-asset holders
- Asia’s tech news, issue 102: China EV woes, CoinSpot’s Australia milestone, Korea & Google Pay, Vietnam’s potential…
- ICYMI: Quentin Tarantino to offer 7 uncut scenes from Pulp Fiction as NFTs for auction on OpenSea, delivered using privacy-focused Secret Network blockchain ecosystem
- India: Lysto NFT startup raises $3M in seed round with sights on enabling anyone in the e-commerce space, from individuals to brands, to raise funds and monetise their offerings
- Taiwan: Blocto NFT and cryptocurrency wallet backed by Mark Cuban, building on recent launch BloctoBay NFT marketplace
- Thailand: GuildFi, developer of ecosystem infrastructure to connect games, NFTs, and communities, raises $6M seed financing
- Online now: DappRadar Blockchain Behavior Report: ‘Interest in the metaverse and play-to-earn booming in Asia’
Vietnam: HCMC Innovative Startup & Tourism Competition
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