Asia

January 7, 2019 @ 6:00 pm By Lorna Smith  |  

Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) are booming in offshore financial centres. In 2017, only a small minority of cryptocurrency transactions were taking place offshore but just a year later, according to a study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and CryptoValley, the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Singapore… Read More

January 7, 2019 @ 2:17 pm By Cali Haan  |  

“Bitcoin became an investment black hole,” in 2018, says Beijing Times reporter Pan Yichun, and according to several Chinese analysts, the prospect of significant Bitcoin price gains in 2019 are small, though there may still be opportunities brought by “small bulls” in the market, Beijing… Read More

January 7, 2019 @ 8:02 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Chinese fintech Pintec Technology Holdings Limited (PINTEC) announced on Sunday it has formed a partnership with Beibei Group, a family-focused consumer platform in China for maternal and child products, for new consumer financing. PINTEC reported it has developed the online installment payment solution for Beibei Group. The solution has… Read More

January 6, 2019 @ 2:29 pm By JD Alois  |  

In a press release, the China Banking Association (CBA) announced the launch of the long-anticipated “China Trade and Finance Interbank Trading Blockchain Platform.” Officially, the project kicked off on December 29th. The centrally controlled project was was established to standardize the digitization of “transaction information of… Read More

January 4, 2019 @ 11:39 am By Cali Haan  |  

At the top of markets in December 2017, mining an Ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network, cost about 240,000 Korean won ($213 USD), and that Ether could be sold for 2.3 million won ($2093 USD). At that time, South Korea was the third… Read More

January 4, 2019 @ 9:37 am By JD Alois  |  

Huobi DM, Huobi Group’s new cryptocurrency contract trading service, is reporting cumulative trading volume topping $12 billion in its first full month of operation. According to Huobi, their contract trading service enables users to take long and short positions on Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and EOS (EOS),… Read More

January 3, 2019 @ 11:35 pm By Cali Haan  |  

“We are for biscuits, not Bitcoins.” V Shankar, CEO of a large “South-South” equity investment fund called Gateway Partners, was shouting into the wind last year when he advised investors to stay away from the trendiest investments: cryptocurrencies, Argentina, and Tesla. But he has been… Read More

January 3, 2019 @ 11:16 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Police in the Kashmiri city of Jammu have warned citizens there to avoid investing in cryptocurrencies because of “heightened risks” in relevant markets, Business Standard reports. According to the Inspector General (IG) of Jammu crime branch: “The general public is informed not to make any type of investment in… Read More

January 3, 2019 @ 9:32 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Singapore-based International CryptoX (INCX) recently announced the launch of its new compliance-focused cryptocurrency exchange. INCX revealed it is partnering with Bittrex to use its technology to offer customers a secure, reliable and advanced trading experience. INCX describes itself as an exchange platform that will primarily focus on customers in… Read More

January 3, 2019 @ 2:24 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Paytomat, a Singapore-based decentralized crypto payment system, announced on Thursday it has added Bitcoin Diamond (BCD) to its point-of-sale (POS), wallet, and settlement system, which includes both crypto-to-crypto and crypto-to-fiat settlements. Founded in 2016, Paytomat is currently used by more than 300 merchants, brick-and-mortar and e-commerce alike…. Read More

January 2, 2019 @ 8:20 pm By Cali Haan  |  

“Deteriorating profitability” resulting from stiff global competition from other miners and sharply falling cryptocurrency prices have prompted the Japanese e-commerce and Internet firm DMM to abandon its efforts in the crypto-mining sector, Toyo Kazei reports. DMM now joins Japanese Internet firm GMO, which also recently… Read More

January 2, 2019 @ 4:29 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Didi Chuxing, a mobile-based transportation platform, announced on Tuesday the launch of a financial services module in its China app. According to Didi, the new service now offers, among others, mutual protection and crowdfunding products for critical illnesses, credit and lending, wealth management and auto-financing… Read More

January 2, 2019 @ 10:43 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

LeadBest, a Taiwan-based company that is focused on the primary token issuance market to solve pre-and-post investment needs, announced on Tuesday it has formed a partnership with securities token platform Polymath to create a new token ecosystem. While sharing more details about the partnership, Heslin Kim,… Read More

December 31, 2018 @ 9:13 am By Cali Haan  |  

Rumours of widespread layoffs at Bitmain, the world’s largest manufacturer of cryptocurrency mining equipment and largest operator of crypto-mining pools, are now being followed by stories the company’s two famous founders -Micree Zhan and Jihan Wu- will be leaving their posts as Bitmain co-directors, Weixin… Read More

December 31, 2018 @ 8:12 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL) announced on Monday it has made a $20 million minority equity investment in Singapore Life Pte. Ltd., a life insurtech company based in Singapore. The insurance giant also reported its operating subsidiary American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus plans to enter into a reinsurance agreement on certain protection… Read More

December 30, 2018 @ 9:45 am By Cali Haan  |  

A Taiwanese businessperson named Yang has been accused of stealing NT$ 100 million (about $3 million USD) in electricity from landlords at 17 locations where he was running surreptitious cryptocurrency mines across the country’s capital city of Taipei, Yahoo Taiwan reports. The man, who may… Read More

December 29, 2018 @ 12:00 pm By Xu Gao  |  

Another Fintech Incubation Center Officially Begins Operation in Guangdong Province On December 20th, the Fintech incubation center (hereinafter referred to as “incubation center”) of Guangdong Financial High-tech Zone was officially put into operation, which will provide office space, policy guidance, project financing supports for Fintech… Read More

December 28, 2018 @ 11:22 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

The Chinese Consortium Chain FISCO BCOS made its international debut at 2018 Singapore Fintech Festival. The organization reported that on December 21, the final round of FISCO BCOS Blockchain Application Contest was held in Shenzhen, China. ODRChain, which is described as a mature and in-operation project implementing a public consortium chain… Read More

December 28, 2018 @ 10:00 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

STO Global-X, a Singapore-based technology company, announced on Thursday the global release of its institutional-grade, end-to-end digital asset exchange solution, STO Global Exchange (STGX). The launch is done through STO Global-X’s partnership with BMI Capital Partners International and Coinstreet Partners. According to STO Global-X, the STGX platform… Read More

December 27, 2018 @ 8:02 pm By Cali Haan  |  

An investigation by the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges of 23 of 80 listed companies publicly claiming to have incorporated blockchain tech has revealed that 13 of them, or about 57%,  “have not achieved..results (in) blockchain,” Sina reports. Half of the companies that failed to deliver… Read More