Asia

December 12, 2024 @ 7:50 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Crypto industry firms Circle Internet Group Inc. and Binance have joined forces in a partnership announced at Abu Dhabi Finance Week that will expand adoption of USDC and support the development of the global digital assets and wider financial services ecosystem. With the growth and… Read More

December 12, 2024 @ 7:49 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Paxos, the regulated blockchain and tokenization infrastructure platform, has partnered with Standard Chartered to enhance Global Dollar (USDG) and Lift Dollar (USDL) reserve management. Through this collaboration, Standard Chartered will provide cash management, trading, and custody services, strengthening the infrastructure supporting the “trusted” digital assets… Read More

December 11, 2024 @ 6:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Airwallex reported strong YoY growth across the APAC region as the global payments and financial operating platform for businesses. In Q3, Airwallex delivered an 83 percent revenue increase YoY and grew transaction volume by “49 percent YoY across the APAC region, as well as significant… Read More

December 11, 2024 @ 5:59 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Alpaca noted that it is cementing its self-clearing foundation through its DTCC membership and product launches, including Options Trading and High Yield Cash Accounts. Alpaca, a brokerage infrastructure tech firm and self-clearing broker-dealer, delivering execution and custody solutions for Stocks, ETFs, and Options, that support… Read More

December 10, 2024 @ 7:17 pm By Michael Wong  |  

CIMB Bank Philippines will not seek a digital banking license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), opting instead to enhance its digital banking capabilities using its existing commercial banking license. The bank believes this approach provides sufficient flexibility to introduce a broader range of… Read More

December 8, 2024 @ 4:11 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Indonesia-based real estate marketplace Lamudi, a subsidiary of Australia’s Digital Classifieds Group, announced the acquisition of Ideal, a Fintech aggregator specializing in mortgage products in Indonesia. This strategic move aims to integrate mortgage facilitation into Lamudi’s platform, offering a more comprehensive solution for property buyers… Read More

December 8, 2024 @ 6:54 am By Michael Wong  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) announced the introduction of two new electronic payment solutions set to launch in mid-2025. These initiatives aim to facilitate the transition from traditional cheques to digital payments for both corporate and… Read More

December 7, 2024 @ 2:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore’s Temasek announced the formation of a wholly-owned private credit platform. Temasek explained that it has been investing in credit funds for more than 10 years, the announcement noted. In 2016, Temasek assembled a credit & hybrid solutions team to buildout its direct and fund investments… Read More

December 6, 2024 @ 9:10 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Ant International has joined Swift’s Network Interoperability Reference Implementation program, becoming part of a select group of global payment service providers (PSPs) working to enhance interoperability across cross-border payment systems. The initiative, announced on Friday, is structured as a pre-pilot designed to improve payment transparency… Read More

December 3, 2024 @ 9:46 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Themis, a global firm that’s focused on financial crime prevention, announces the official launch of Tathabbat. This reportedly marks an important step in Saudi Arabia’s fast-growing compliance landscape, aligning with Vision 2030 as well as the Middle Eastern nation’s ongoing push to adopt innovative Know-Your-Finance… Read More

December 3, 2024 @ 8:18 am By Michael Wong  |  

US e-commerce giant Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)announced that it has invested more than S$2 billion ($1.49 billion) across its retail and cloud businesses in Singapore in 2023, bolstering its presence in the Southeast Asian market and supporting over 10,000 indirect jobs. The investment encompasses capital expenditure on… Read More

December 2, 2024 @ 10:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has recently announced a considerable acceleration of its anti-money laundering (AML) regulatory guidelines for digital currency service providers. The Taiwanese authority has confirmed that it moved the registration deadline to November 30, 2024 from the initial January 1, 2025 date…. Read More

December 2, 2024 @ 10:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

ADGM, the international financial centre (IFC) of Abu Dhabi, announced another quarter of steady growth, with a number of key achievements for the third quarter (Q3) of 2024 across various metrics. The results are said to underscore ADGM’s role in Abu Dhabi’s strategic goal to… Read More

December 2, 2024 @ 10:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Monochrome Asset Management is pleased to announce that it has expanded its custody solution by onboarding BitGo Trust Company, Inc to its list of crypto-asset custodians for the Monochrome Bitcoin ETF (IBTC) and Monochrome Ethereum ETF (IETH). This partnership reportedly aligns with Monochrome’s growth initiatives… Read More

December 2, 2024 @ 10:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Hong Kong is reportedly planning to waive taxes on investment gains made from cryptocurrencies as well as other alternative assets for hedge funds, private equity funds and various family offices as the city-state aims to improve its attractiveness as a wealth management center. In a… Read More

December 1, 2024 @ 8:05 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

The Asian Development Bank and the Mastercard Impact Fund, administered by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a partnership aimed at supporting micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) across Asia and the Pacific. The initiative will initially… Read More

December 1, 2024 @ 7:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

WadzPay Worldwide Pte. Ltd., an innovator in the blockchain tech and financial services company, announced it secured a capital commitment of SGD 50 million in the form of a Share Subscription Facility (SSF) from GEM Global Yield LLC SCS. The SSF will now aim to… Read More

December 1, 2024 @ 6:22 pm By Michael Wong  |  

South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) agreed on Sunday to postpone the implementation of a controversial cryptocurrency tax by two years, responding to mounting investor backlash and political pressure. The decision mirrors the party’s move a month earlier to scrap a planned… Read More

December 1, 2024 @ 2:00 pm By Michael Wong  |  

US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has withdrawn its pre-application to operate in Turkey, according to a report by Turkiye Today. The Capital Markets Board of Türkiye updated its list of companies requesting liquidation on November 29. The update revealed that Coinbase, which had initially filed its… Read More

November 30, 2024 @ 8:59 am By Omar Faridi  |  

A total of 984 venture capital funding deals were announced in India during January-October 2024 which was a YoY improvement of 5.8% in deal volume. This, according to an update from GlobalData. Notably, the total disclosed funding value of these deals in India surged by… Read More