Tag: crypto news

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WazirX Lays Off 60+ Employees – Top Crypto Updates

WazirX lays off 40% of its employees: Report

Indian crypto exchange WazirX has laid off several employees, the company said in a statement shared with CoinDesk. Around 50-70 employees, or 40% of the exchange’s workforce of 150, were laid off amid adverse economic conditions, the ongoing crypto winter, and India’s anti-cryptocurrency stand. WazirX’s daily trading volumes have been declining from a one-year high of 478 million in October 2021 to 1.5 million in October 2022.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin falls 0.4%, ETH down 1.6%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $19,203.16, a decline of 0.45% over the previous day. Ethereum is down 1.61% over the last 24 hours to $1,292.03. Solana fell 1.9% to $32.23, while Cardano is trading lower by 2.1% at $0.422. Avalanche (AVAX) fell 2.4% to $16.61. The global crypto market cap stands at $926.71 billion, a 1.01% decline over the previous day.

Coinbase suffers ‘major outage’ for customers with US bank accounts

Leading crypto exchange Coinbase paused transactions for users in the US due to technical issues. In a tweet, the company said users were unable to take payments or make withdrawals involving US bank accounts. It identified the issue as a problem with “ACH withdrawals, deposits, and buys failures.” Automated Clearing House Network (ACH) is a system used for transferring funds electronically in the U.S. between bank accounts. The issue has now been rectified.

Celsius ex-CEO withdrew $10M before it froze customer accounts: Report

According to a Financial Times report, Alex Mashinsky, who resigned as CEO of Celsius on Sept. 27, allegedly withdrew $10 million from the crypto exchange in May. This was just weeks before the crypto lending company filed for bankruptcy and froze withdrawals in June. A spokesperson for the ex-CEO said he “withdrew a percentage of crypto in his account, much of which was used to pay state and federal taxes.”

Read more here.

Crypto banking platform Juno raises $18M in Series A funding

Crypto digital banking firm Juno has raised $18 million in a Series A funding round to expand products and operations. It also plans to launch its first tokenized loyalty program. This round was led by ParaFi Capital’s Growth Fund and included well-known crypto industry figures from Coinbase, Polygon, and Messari.

Juno is a digital banking platform that encourages users to spend crypto in their everyday transactions. Its flagship product, the Juno card, allows users to transact with Circle’s stablecoin USDC.

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FTX Wins Bid to Buy Voyager Digital’s Assets – Top Crypto Updates

FTX wins bid to buy Voyager Digital’s assets out of bankruptcy

Crypto exchange FTX won the bidding war to acquire the assets of bankrupt Voyager Digital. The agreement is valued at about $1.4 billion, comprising an ‘additional consideration’ worth about $111 million and the $1.3 billion market value of all the crypto on the bankrupt platform. Crypto lender Voyager Digital filed for bankruptcy in July.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin, ETH up 7%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $20,188.98, an increase of 7.46% over the previous day. Ethereum is up 7.41% over the last 24 hours to $1,383.34. Solana rose 7.7% to $34.74, while Cardano is trading higher by 4.6% at $0.461. Polkadot (DOT) jumped 8.62% to $6.77. The global crypto market cap stands at $972.32 billion, a 5.78% increase over the previous day.

Crypto lender Nexo hit with enforcement actions from 8 states

State securities regulators in California and several other states took action against Nexo Group (the parent company of crypto lender Nexo), calling the company’s Earn Interest Product an unregistered security. “These crypto interest accounts are securities and are subject to investor protections under the law,” said the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) in a press release.

Nearly $1 million in crypto stolen during Ethereum ‘vanity address’ hack

According to blockchain security firm PeckShield, crypto worth $950,000 was stolen in an attack using a vanity-address generator called Profanity. The hackers took 732 $ETH on Sep. 25 before moving the funds to the U.S. government-sanctioned crypto mixer Tornado Cash. A “vanity address” is a crypto address with defined parameters created by the users of the address. 

Disney’s latest job posting hints at major plans for NFT, crypto adoption

The Walt Disney Company posted a job listing for a principal counsel specializing in non-fungible tokens (NFT) and decentralized finance (DeFi). This hints at the company’s broader Web3 expansion across the Disney ecosystem. The position would provide guidance on global NFT products across its business branches, including Disney Media & Parks, Experiences, and Products.

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Filecoin Reports Strong Growth Ahead of FVM Launch – Top Crypto Updates

Filecoin reports strong growth ahead of FVM launch

Decentralized filesharing protocol Filecoin saw a nearly seven-fold growth of data suppliers since the start of 2022. The project plans for a major upgrade in early 2023. The network’s storage providers were increasing at a rate of 20% each month, with most activity in North America, Korea, and Hong Kong. 

This comes ahead of the launch of Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM), a software platform for developers to create decentralized applications (dApps) based on the Filecoin network.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin falls 1.3%, ETH down 3%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $18,784.28, a decline of 1.35% over the previous day. Ethereum is down 2.95% over the last 24 hours to $1,288. Solana fell 4.7% to $32.24, while Cardano is trading lower by 3.18% at $0.441. Polkadot (DOT) fell 1.45% to $6.22. The global crypto market cap stands at $917.41 billion, a 1.98% decline over the previous day.

ZebPay’s CEO Avinash Shekhar quits; to launch own Web3 startup

Amidst uncertainties and challenges in India’s cryptocurrency ecosystem, crypto exchange ZebPay’s Avinash Shekhar has decided to quit as CEO. He will now work on his own startup, which will be operating in the Web 3.0 and crypto tax compliance space. ZebPay will hold a minority stake in this new start-up. Shekhar will continue to be ZebPay’s board member and consultant for the long term. 

Coinbase sued over patent infringement

Veritaseum Capital LLC has sued Coinbase, alleging that the crypto exchange has infringed on a patent awarded to Veritaseum founder Reggie Middleton. According to Veritaseum, Coinbase has used the patent for some of its blockchain infrastructure, and the company is seeking ~$350 million in damages.

Interpol issues red notice for Terraform founder Do Kwon

Interpol has issued a red notice for Terraform founder Do Kwon. It requested law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and arrest him. Do Kwon’s blockchain startup collapsed earlier this year, wiping out $40 billion of investor wealth. In the past few weeks, South Korean prosecutors have intensified their investigation into Kwon, and said he was “not cooperating” and “clearly on the run”.

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Helium Shifts to Solana Blockchain – Top Crypto Updates

Helium ditches own blockchain in favor of Solana

Helium community members have voted to move the decentralized WiFi network from its blockchain (officially known as HIP 70) to the Solana blockchain. The HIP 70 proposal concluded voting early Thursday morning with ~81% voting in favor of migration. Developers behind Helium proposed the migration to Solana to help scale the protocol through more efficient transactions as well as interoperability.

The move will transfer all tokens, applications, and governance to the Solana network.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin falls 0.3%, ETH down 4%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $18,765.81, a decline of 0.38% over the previous day. Ethereum is down 4.1% over the last 24 hours to $1,267.68. Solana fell 0.68% to $31.30, while Cardano is trading higher by 0.14% at $0.443. Polkadot (DOT) rose 1.7% to $6.29. The global crypto market cap stands at $912.30 billion, a 0.7% decline over the previous day.

Bitcoin bear market is ‘healthy’ for crypto industry long term: Binance CEO

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said a four-year crypto market cycle is normal, and a bear market is healthier in the long term than a seemingly never-ending upward trend. He added that investors should not look at token prices as signs of how the crypto market is doing. Instead, he suggested investors look at the number of users buying & using crypto and the number of different blockchains and Web3 projects.

Jesse Powell steps down as CEO of Kraken

Jesse Powell, the controversial co-founder of crypto exchange Kraken, will step down as the company’s chief executive. He aims to spend more time on the company’s products, user experience, and broader industry advocacy. Powell will become chairman of Kraken’s board of directors.

Ethereum NFTs driving crypto adoption in Central, South Asia: Report

As per a Chainalysis report, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) may be the biggest driver of crypto adoption in Central, Southern Asia, and Oceania (CSAO). NFT-related actions accounted for 58% of all web traffic going to crypto services from this region in Q2 2022. Another 21% of traffic in the quarter went to websites of play-to-earn blockchain games like Axie Infinity and STEPN.

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SEC to Open Digital Asset Office – Top Crypto Updates

Kiev, Ukraine - September 22, 2017: Studio shot of Golden Bitcoins Coins and dollar bills. The Bitcoin was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 as a digital form of money This is a close up photo of several gold plated bitcoins together symbolizing th

SEC to open digital asset office

The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) is planning to launch a new office dedicated to reviewing filings related to digital assets. The Office of Crypto Assets to the Division of Corporation Finance’s Disclosure Review Program (DRP) will be responsible for reviewing the company filings of crypto issuers. The SEC said this move will allow the DRP to “better focus its resources and expertise to address the unique and evolving filing review issues related to crypto assets.”

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin up 1.8%, ETH falls 1%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,888.69, an increase of 1.8% over the previous day. Ethereum is down 1.01% over the last 24 hours to $1,740.31. Solana rose 1.75% to $35.05, while Cardano is trading higher by 0.02% at $0.507. Avalanche (AVAX) rose 1% to $20.53. The global crypto market cap stands at $1.06 trillion, a 0.63% increase over the previous day.

ED has unfrozen bank accounts after investigation: WazirX

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has unfrozen crypto trading platform WazirX’s bank accounts. It can now resume banking operations after almost a month. “After an in-depth internal investigation, WazirX noticed that most of the users whose information was sought by ED were already identified as suspicious by WazirX internally and were blocked in 2020-2021,” said the crypto platform in a blog.

ED is conducting investigations on 16 fintech companies to crack down on Chinese loan apps, many of which are suspected of laundering money. Some of them happened to use the WazirX platform. 

Ethereum geared up for The Merge

Ethereum’s much-awaited software update named ‘The Merge’ is just two days away. The update will shift Ethereum’s mechanism to proof-of-stake (PoS) from existing proof-of-work (PoW). According to the Ethereum Foundation, PoS will cut Ethereum’s energy usage by around 99.95%.

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Busan Taps FTX to Develop Crypto Exchange – Top Crypto Updates

Busan taps FTX to develop crypto exchange

South Korean city Busan signed an agreement with crypto exchange FTX to develop blockchain-based businesses in the coming months. This partnership is in line with the city’s broader plans to become a global blockchain and financial hub. Busan City and FTX will work together to develop and promote various blockchain-focused businesses and establish the Busan Digital Asset Exchange.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin, ETH falls 1%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $20,204.46, a decline of 1% over the previous day. Ethereum is down 0.94% over the last 24 hours to $1,573.41. Solana fell 1.91% to $32.17, while Cardano is trading higher by 0.2% at $0.454. Avalanche (AVAX) has fallen by 3.56% to $19.52. The global crypto market cap stands at $986.23 billion, a 0.8% decline over the previous day.

OpenSea adds Polygon support to expand features

NFT marketplace OpenSea announced the integration of the layer two scaling solution Polygon into its Seaport protocol implementation. The most important new feature is the ability to use the native token of the Polygon network, MATIC, to list and buy on OpenSea. In the coming months, OpenSea will be adding support for Klaytn and other Ethereum virtual machine (EVM)-compatible chains as well.

U.S. Congressional Committee probes Coinbase, FTX, Binance on fraud prevention

A U.S Congressional Committee has sent letters to the leading crypto exchanges in the U.S., requesting “information and documents” showing how each company is working to combat crypto-related fraud. Coinbase, FTX, Binance, Kraken, and KuCoin received a four-page letter requesting all documents related to crypto fraud since 2009.

The Federal Trade Commission estimates crypto fraud will con victims out of a whopping $1 billion in 2022 alone.

Japan’s FSA proposes tax breaks for crypto

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) proposed easing corporate tax rules for crypto assets and lighter levies for individual stock investors. Companies could be exempted from paying taxes for paper gains on crypto coins that they hold after issuing them. The move supports Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s “New Capitalism” vision, which seeks to boost the world’s third-largest economy. He has offered support to help the country’s Web3 businesses grow.

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FBI Issues Warning Over Vulnerable DeFi Platforms – Top Crypto Updates

FBI issues warning over vulnerable DeFi platforms

The Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a new warning focused on attacks against decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms. Cybercriminals have been exploiting vulnerabilities in the smart contracts that govern them. Between January and March 2022, cybercriminals stole $1.3 billion in crypto, almost 97% of which was stolen from DeFi platforms,” the agency said.

The FBI recommended the careful study of DeFi platforms, protocols, and smart contracts before investing.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin up 3.5%, ETH rises 10%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $20,542.64, an increase of 3.5% over the previous day. Ethereum is up 9.8% over the last 24 hours to $1,595.61. Solana surged 8.1% to $32.97, while Cardano is trading higher by 5.15% at $0.454. Avalanche (AVAX) has jumped 13.5% to $20.44. The global crypto market cap stands at $996.5 billion, a 4.55% increase over the previous day.

Meta adds Ethereum, Polygon NFT cross-posting between Facebook and Instagram

Meta has added the ability to cross-post non-fungible tokens (NFTs) across Facebook and Instagram for select U.S. users. The company wants to make it easier for users to share their NFTs by only requiring a one-time wallet connection on either Facebook or Instagram. The user’s wallet can be automatically recognized if cross-posting is enabled under account settings on either application. 

Crypto lender Hodlnaut placed under interim judicial management

Troubled crypto lender Hodlnaut has been placed under interim judicial management (a form of creditor protection) by a Singapore court. The company will be protected from legal proceedings from third parties. Three weeks earlier, Hodlnaut froze withdrawals due to “difficult market conditions”.

Argentina’s Mendoza Province accepts crypto for tax payments

The Argentine province of Mendoza has enabled the payment of taxes with cryptocurrencies. Users will be able to pay with any crypto wallet, including Binance, Bitso, Buenbit, Bybit, Ripio, and Lemon. Mendoza will only accept stablecoins such as DAI and USDT for tax payments. Crypto payments will be converted to Argentine Pesos by an undisclosed online payment service provider.

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Bitcoin Falls Below $20,000 After Jackson Hole Caution – Top Crypto Updates

Bitcoin falls below $20,000 on post-Jackson Hole caution

Bitcoin extended its fall below $20,000 on Monday as part of a wider crypto market retreat, primarily due to concerns about the Federal Reserve’s rate-hike path. U.S. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium rocked both equity and crypto markets on Friday with comments about economic pain ahead as the central bank raises interest rates to tackle inflation.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin falls 1%, ETH down 3%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $19,845.16, a decline of 1.09% over the previous day. Ethereum is down 2.90% over the last 24 hours to $1,451.4. Solana fell 3.78% to $30.47, while Cardano is trading lower by 3.77% at $0.432. Avalanche (AVAX) has fallen sharply by 10.5% to $17.93. The global crypto market cap stands at $955.7 billion, a 1.29% decline over the previous day.

Singapore plans tougher rules on crypto

Singapore is planning to roll out new regulations that will make it more difficult for retail investors to trade cryptocurrencies at a time. “Despite warnings and measures, surveys show that consumers are increasingly trading in cryptos globally, attracted by the prospect of sharp price increases”, said Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). “They seem to be irrationally oblivious about the risks of crypto trading,” he added.

Mining and hash rate difficulty at all-time high amid Bitcoin crash

Bitcoin’s difficulty and hash rate, which indicate the state of the crypto network, has increased rapidly over the past month. Some analysts have stated that Bitcoin’s difficulty level is expected to hit an all-time high next week. The price of Bitcoin has been under severe pressure after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments on raising interest rates further to tame inflation.

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Polygon Founder Launches $50M Web3 Fund – Top Crypto Updates

Polygon founder launches $50 million early-stage Web3 fund

Symbolic Capital, a new crypto-focused venture capital firm headed by Polygon blockchain founder Sandeep Nailwal, has raised $50 million for a fund to invest in early-stage Web3 companies. Investors in the Symbolic fund included a number of crypto industry participants, protocols, exchanges, auditing firms, and venture capitalists.

[Web3 is an idea for a new iteration of the World Wide Web that incorporates concepts such as decentralization and blockchain technologies to give power back to the users in the form of ownership.]

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin falls 1.5%, ETH down 3.1%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,399.11, a decline of 1.49% over the previous day. Ethereum is down 3.18% over the last 24 hours to $1,649.8. Solana fell 4.2% to $34.67, while Cardano is trading higher by 3% at $0.479. Avalanche (AVAX) has fallen sharply by 5% to $22.49. The global crypto market cap stands at $1.03 trillion, a 1.89% decline over the previous day.

ED raids 5 premises linked to CoinSwitch Kuber

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched five locations linked to crypto platform CoinSwitch Kuber on Thursday. It is the third exchange to be investigated by ED for the alleged diversion of proceeds of crime raised by 365 instant loan apps by offering loans at exorbitant rates of interest.

This comes weeks after the central agency raided the offices of Zanmai Labs, the operating agency of India’s largest crypto exchange WazirX. 

Samsung plans to launch crypto exchange in South Korea by 2023: Report

As per reports, Samsung’s investment arm is eyeing the launch of its own cryptocurrency platform in South Korea. Samsung Securities is one of seven domestic brokerages looking to start operating a crypto exchange in the first half of next year. Talks with local authorities over securing licensing are said to be in advanced stages.

CoinDCX launches DeFi mobile app

Crypto exchange CoinDCX launched Okto, a decentralised finance (DeFi) mobile app aimed at easing the transition of crypto consumers to DeFi. Okto will help users securely navigate DeFi and access thousands of tokens from multiple decentralised exchanges (DEXs) across blockchains with its in-built wallet. It will be available in India within CoinDCX Pro and as a standalone Okto App globally.

Alchemy acquires Ethereum coding platform ChainShot

Blockchain development company Alchemy has acquired ChainShot, an educational platform that helps aspiring Web3 developers enter the crypto space. ChainShot offers courses and an Ethereum developer boot camp that covers blockchain fundamentals. Graduates from ChainShots secure positions at leading blockchain companies and projects, including NFT marketplace OpenSea and security firm OpenZeppelin.

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Ethereum Foundation Confirms Date for Merge Upgrade – Top Crypto Updates

Ethereum Foundation confirms date for merge upgrade

The Ethereum Foundation announced that the ETH merge upgrade will be fully completed between September 10 and 20. The network will move from a proof-of-work consensus mechanism to a proof-of-stake blockchain next month in a much-awaited upgrade known as “the merge.” 

In proof-of-work, crypto transactions are verified through mining. Meanwhile, in proof of stake, a network participant gets selected to add the latest batch of transactions to the blockchain and earn some crypto in exchange.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin up 1.3%, ETH rises 3.4%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,697.9, an increase of 1.3% over the previous day. Ethereum is up 3.45% over the last 24 hours to $1,702.09. Solana rose 2.7% to $36.1, while Cardano is trading higher by 0.97% at $0.465. Uniswap (UNI) is up 2.4% to $7.19. The global crypto market cap stands at $1.05 trillion, a 1.7% increase over the previous day.

Cybercriminals have stolen over $100 Million in NFTs: Report

As per a report by blockchain analysis provider Elliptic, over $100 million in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been stolen in the last year. Nearly $8 million in illicit funds has been laundered using NFTs since 2017. Cybercriminals netted an average of $300,000 per scam. The report reveals that $24 million in NFTs were stolen through scams in May 2022 alone.

Coinbase to launch liquid staking token before Ethereum merge

Coinbase (COIN) will introduce its own liquid staking token called, Coinbase Wrapped Staked ETH (cbETH), ahead of the Ethereum blockchain’s Merge in September. After the merge, the token can be used to stake ether (ETH) through Coinbase. Liquid staking allows investors to generate extra yield on top of standard rewards for staking or locking coins in a network.

Crypto startup weTrade to offer zero trading fees on crypto coins

weTrade, a Bengaluru-based crypto startup, has announced plans to offer zero trading fees for buying and selling coins on its platform. Users will be able to conduct crypto transactions for as low as ₹100. The company has eliminated trading fees for the 50+ coins available on its platform, including Bitcoin, Solana, and Ethereum.

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Celsius Countersues KeyFi for ‘Gross Mismanagement’ – Top Crypto Updates

Celsius countersues KeyFi for ‘gross mismanagement’

Crypto lending platform Celsius filed a countersuit in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Tuesday against Jason Stone and his company KeyFi. In the filing, Celsius alleges Stone falsely represented himself as a pioneer and expert in coin staking and decentralized finance (DeFi) investments. The countersuit alleges KeyFi stole millions of dollars in coins from Celsius-controlled wallets and transferred them to wallets that they owned.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin up 0.2%, ETH rises 1.6%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,322.51, an increase of 0.18% over the previous day. Ethereum is up 1.69% over the last 24 hours to $1,627.57. Solana fell 0.21% to $34.90, while Cardano is trading higher by 0.74% at $0.456. Polkadot (DOT) is up 1.2% to $7.5. The global crypto market cap stands at $1.02 trillion, a 0.69% increase over the previous day.

Coinbase to cut costs, focus on subscriptions

Coinbase is cutting costs and shifting its revenue model, said CEO Brian Armstrong. He wants the crypto exchange to move away from trading fees as its main source of revenue. While such fees bring in revenue during bull markets, cash flow dries up when bearish sentiment takes hold.

In other news, a Coinbase customer is suing the exchange for $5 million for failing to properly secure customers’ accounts and “flouting” federal securities laws.

Metaverse, NFT Tokens have crashed more than 20% this week

Gaming and NFT-related cryptos, including Flow (FLOW), Axie Infinity (AXS), Decentraland (MANA), and Gala (GALA), have posted severe losses over the past week. FLOW, the token powering everything on the layer-1 blockchain flow, has fallen more than 23% over the past week.

The primary reason behind the bearish price action across the market can be linked to calls for further interest rate hikes in September. 

Nearly 15% of Indians traded in crypto in last six months: KuCoin Survey

As per a KuCoin Survey, over 115 million crypto investors in India either hold crypto or have traded crypto in the past six months, accounting for 15% of the Indian population aged 18 to 60 years. Despite the government’s stance on digital assets and the levying of a 30% tax on income from digital assets, the Indian crypto market is expected to reach $241 million by 2030, the report said.

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Invesco Launches New $30 Million Metaverse Fund – Top Crypto Updates

Invesco launches new $30 million Metaverse Fund

Global asset management firm Invesco has launched an investment fund focused on the Metaverse. The Invesco Metaverse Fund is registered in Luxembourg and has a size of approximately $30 million. It will invest in large, medium, and small-cap companies across the Metaverse Value Chain.

The Metaverse refers to an integrated network of immersive 3D worlds and online communities where people interact by using virtual reality headsets and augmented forms of reality.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin down 0.4%, ETH up 1%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,170.1, a decline of 0.4% over the previous day. Ethereum is up 0.99% over the last 24 hours to $1,589.48. Solana fell 1.75% to $34.86, while Cardano is trading higher by 0.56% at $0.453. Polygon (MATIC) is up 1.17% to $0.804. The global crypto market cap stands at $1.01 trillion, a 0.22% increase over the previous day.

Argentina’s presidential candidate sued over alleged crypto Ponzi scheme

Javier Milei, one of Argentina’s presidential candidates, is being sued for allegedly promoting a crypto Ponzi scheme. Last year, he uploaded an Instagram post to his 1.3 million followers promoting CoinX, a crypto investment platform that promised huge returns to users. However, CoinX was forced to close down after Argentina’s National Securities Commission (CNV) warned that the platform had no legal right to operate in the country and ordered it to stop operations.

Crypto trade growing in Asia, need regulatory frameworks: IMF

In a blog titled ‘Crypto is More in Step With Asia’s Equities, Highlighting Need for Regulation,’ the IMF said digitalization of the payment system can foster financial inclusion. But at the same time, crypto assets can pose risks to financial stability.

Asia has rapidly embraced crypto assets, which raises the important issue of the extent of integration of crypto into the financial system in the region.

Read more here.

Telegram to launch marketplace for address auctions

Messaging platform Telegram could soon offer a marketplace to auction addresses, said founder Pavel Durov. He proposed that Telegram could re-introduce elements of Web3 by auctioning off “@ usernames, group, and channel links.” He referenced an earlier auction of wallet domain names on The Open Network, the protocol he developed alongside Telegram.