Crypto & Digital Currency news
January, February & March 2021
The crypto headlines featured each link to the digital currency news article, report or download behind them. Items listed were reported in January, February and March of 2021 and provide an overview primarily of Asia’s cryptocurrency news headlines, whilst also including ‘outside world’ crypto news for additional reference.
Our Q1 2021 crypto news collection pulls news from across 17 main locations across South & Southeast Asia, and including Australia and NZ, with the aim of providing an at-a-glance overview of each location’s developments in cryptocurrency and digital currency initiatives. We collect digital currency news items with a ‘wide angle’ view, covering implementations and initiatives rather than zeroing in on a single industry.
Click on any of the crypto news headlines below and you’ll go directly to the free-to-read online article behind them – no middleman service, no interstitial ads, no time wasted.
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- ICYMI: Argo Blockchain inks MOU with blockchain and crypto firm DMG Blockchain Solutions to launch bitcoin mining pool completely powered by clean energy
- ICYMI: Morgan Stanley the first major US bank to offer wealthy clients access to crypto funds, launching access to three funds that enable ownership of bitcoin
- “…highlighted the digital yuan’s potential in Africa in a recent report, pointing out that Huawei Technologies’ new smartphones have a built-in digital yuan wallet.”
- ICYMI: East Caribbean Central Bank completed first retail transaction of its DCash digital currency, aiming to roll out in Antigua & Barbuda, Grenada, Saint Kitts & Nevis and Saint Lucia
- Download: Crypto 2020 Outlook, from Bitcoin Suisse – In-Depth Industry Insights into Markets, Technology and Regulation (pdf)
- ICYMI: Tesla invests $1.5BN in Bitcoin with plan to accept cryptocurrency payments for its products in the near future
- ICYMI: Mastercard reportedly to give merchants option to receive cryptocurrency payments later this year
- Cryptocurrency: PayPal Checkout to allow bitcoin, ether, bitcoin cash and litecoin to be seamlessly converted to US dollars or other fiat currencies when making purchases
- Visa CEO: “First, there are cryptocurrencies that represent new assets such as Bitcoin. Second, there are digital currencies…backed by existing fiat currencies. We see all currencies in that first segment as digital gold.”
- A look at 5 reasons why the crypto insurance market is likely to reach new heights in 2021
- NFT 101: “NFTs are a type of token that are going to completely revolutionize entire industries by changing the way we share and consume pretty much everything.”
- Non-fungible tokens and investment mania: “It’s just a pent-up cycle where the money has nowhere to go, so it’s doing stupid things”
- Download: 2020 Global Crypto M&A and Fundraising Report, March 2021, from PwC (pdf)
- Download: “Crypto, What Is It Good For? An Overview of Cryptocurrency Use Cases” from the World Economic Forum (pdf)
- A round-up of recent cryptocurrency and digital currency news headlines and the articles behind them, gathered over the last month
- Download: 2021 Global Crypto User Index, from Binance (pdf)
- ICYMI: Square app CFO says 1M users of its Cash App service bought bitcoin for the first time in January
- eToro survey finds some of the largest, most risk-averse asset managers – including pension funds and endowments – now looking at crypto as an asset class
- Consensus, online event from CoinDesk, set for May 24-27, looking at all aspects of the evolution of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology
- ICYMI: PayPal aims to play significant role in utility of central bank digital currencies, looking at being ‘the digital wallet for global CBDCs’
- “Despite a rough start to the year, the number of crypto fundraising deals rose by 33% compared to 2019, reaching over $3 billion in venture capital…”
- Download: Institutional Cryptoasset Trading – a report examining 5 essential areas of the crypto market that could impact institutional participation (pdf)
- ICYMI: Opera web browser partners Simplex, fiat-to-crypto onramp solution provider, allowing users to buy cryptocurrencies using fiat and store them in browser wallet
- Cryptocurrency: A look at 6 developing trends likely to emerge in the crypto world in 2021, touching on 5G, taxation and more
- ICYMI: Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether now a mode of payment at Dubai’s KIKLABB, gov’t licensing body, for all payments related to trade licenses and visa fees
- So, what exactly are ‘stablecoins’? CB Insights takes a look
- Digital currencies and the future of the monetary system’, seminar remarks from the Bank for International Settlements (pdf)
- ICYMI: diem, formerly Facebook’s Libra project, may launch initial product this quarter, partnering with Fireblocks crypto custodian and First Digital Assets Group payments platform
- ICYMI: Tokens and accounts in the context of digital currencies, from the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System
- ICYMI: Facebook-backed Diem, formerly Libra, clears regulatory hurdles to finally launch a dollar-backed stablecoin in Q1 2021
- Download: Digital transformation and the rise of fintech – Blockchain, Bitcoin and digital finance 2021, from JP Morgan (pdf)
- ICYMI: Visa pilots Visa Crypto APIs program, giving banks the ability to let customers buy and sell digital assets such as bitcoin
- ICYMI: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Jay-Z partnering for ₿Trust, an endowment to fund bitcoin development focused on India and Africa
- New Zealand: NZ Funds Management’s KiwiSaver growth fund has placed 5% of retirement plan’s assets into Bitcoin
- China: Agricultural Bank of China reportedly trialing digital yuan services, enabling a number of ATMs in Shenzhen, and establishing dedicated innovation office
- China: Beijing Gov’t to give away $1.55M to residents during Chinese New Year as further step in digital currency trials, with 50K individuals receiving $30 in e-CNY lucky draw
- China: Suzhou city to add to digital currency trials with $5M airdrop, with 150K citizens set to receive digital currency by lottery, with a set time period within which to spend
- China: Ant Group’s MYbank and Tencent’s WeBank reportedly to join trials of the digital yuan, adding digital wallets to People’s Bank of China’s digital yuan app
- China: Largest digital currency trial yet set for Chengdu, with over 40 million digital yuan allocated
- ICYMI: PayPal continues moves into crypto space with acquisition deal for Curv cryptocurrency security storage startup
- India: Legislation coming to ‘prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India’ but allow ‘for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses’
- Download: Indonesia Crypto Outlook Report 2020 (pdf)
- South Korea: A brief look at why cryptocurrency trading is so popular in South Korea
- Musicians and Audio NFTs – an overview of Audio Non-FungibleTokens, limited edition audio/visual experiences issued and sold as tokens on Ethereum
- “Cryptocurrency enthusiasts envision a future where artists are paid fairly, secondary ticket market is not ravaged by scalpers, and the value of digital memorabilia soars”
- Non-Fungible Tokens 101: A Primer On NFTs For Brands And Business Professionals, from Forbes
- ICYMI: Canada’s VersaBank to issue a Canadian dollar stablecoin named VCAD, one-to-one backed by Canadian dollar deposit at the bank
- China: 500 Limited online sports lottery service provider to issue near $14.4M worth of Class A ordinary shares in order to acquire bitcoin mining machines
- “If central bank digital cash is to rapidly replace banknotes, a shadow economy worth trillions of dollars may creep deeper into the darkness.”
- ICYMI: Quartz business journalism platform sells article for $1800 as NFT, the world’s first for a news article, with proceeds going to Int’l Women’s Media Foundation
- ICYMI: DC Comics, owner of Batman and Superman, reportedly exploring a move into non-fungible tokens around sales of crypto-powered digital artwork
- Hong Kong: Babel Finance making life easier for bitcoin miners and other crypto participants by accepting mining machines as collateral against USD loans
- Mark your calendar: Asia Crypto Week currently set for November 22-28, running from Hong Kong – details TBC
- An overview of how Indian crypto businesses are coordinating in an effort to convince the government that regulation is better than the all-out ban proposed
- India: Dubai’s FD7 Ventures crypto investment fund opens Bengaluru office, launching $250M micro-fund to invest in altcoin projects
- “In December 2020, Deadmau5 sold 6K collectables as NFTs with collective value estimated at $96,940. Grimes auctioned 10 NFTs for $6M, including unique images and short videos…”
- Singapore Crypto Trading Summit set for January 27th
- The Ownership Economy: Cryptocurrency And The Next Frontier of Consumer Software
- China: Inner Mongolia region to ban new cryptocurrency mining projects and shutter existing activity alongside pulling back on other energy-consuming industries
- Digital currency in Africa: “…China has discreetly accumulated significant influence over Africa’s technology stack…50% in the mobile handset and 70% in mobile network layers.”
- ICYMI: An overview of the current state of play for Facebook-backed Diem, formerly Libra
- ICYMI: SWIFT global cross-border payments firm establishes JV with China’s central bank digital currency research institute, seen as move to explore global use of digital yuan
- China: Blockchain-based Service Network aiming for beta release of central bank digital currency in H2 2021, with intent to incorporate CBDCs from other nation-states
- India: “If the bill becomes law, India would become the only major Asian economy to ban private cryptocurrencies rather than regulating them like corporate stocks.”
- NFTs: “A fast-growing market for digital art, ephemera and media is marrying the world’s taste for collectibles with cutting-edge technology.”
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