Bitcoin (BTC) has topped the crypto charts in a survey from down under. According to 2,000 Australians surveyed by the Independent Reserve Cryptocurrency Index (IRCI), Bitcoin is number one for brand recognition, ownership and overall sentiment. Bitcoin with the most brand awareness, and by a long shot. https://t.co/LqhYPXe3p8 — Stephan Livera (@stephanlivera) November 28, 2022 In the report, while 92% of Australians have heard of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin enjoys the highest levels of brand awareness. Accordingly, 90.80% of respondents had heard about Bitcoin. Stephan Livera, a popular Bitcoin podcaster from Australia, shed light on the figures. Livera told Cointelegraph, “Bitcoin continues …

Australians have been warned to stay away from suspicious-looking fake Bitcoin paper wallets, which work by luring victims into accessing a lucrative crypto wallet but will ultimately drain them of their own crypto holdings. According to a Nov. 22 post on the Facebook page of the NSW Police Force, the scam starts as a paper cryptocurrency wallet with a QR code, which is made to appear like a legitimate Bitcoin paper wallet. These are strewn by scammers in public locations such as streets or parks. An individual that locates the paper wallet and scans the QR code is directed to …

The CEO of fintech firm Block Earner has lashed out over the “lack of clarity” in Australia’s financial licensing regime after his company was sued by the country’s financial services regulator for providing unlicensed crypto-based investment products. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) announced on Nov. 23 local time that it started civil legal proceedings against the company because it offered three crypto-linked fixed-yield earning products without an Australian Financial Services (AFS) license. ASIC stated that the products should have been licensed as they were “managed investment schemes” where investors contribute money that is pooled together for an interest …

The turbulent climate of the crypto industry is not putting a full stop to builders in the space. Arkon Energy, an Australian renewable data center infrastructure company, recently raised millions to expand its Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations and acquired another European-based data center. The funding round was completed with $28 million raised by the data center infrastructure company, which uses 100% renewable electricity to mine BTC. Arkon extracts renewable power trapped in electricity markets to sustainably lowers its costs. Arkon CEO Josh Payne said this type of market creates the perfect storm for growth due to many factors: “The current …

The long-anticipated plans by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) to use blockchain to bring its clearing and settlements system into the 21st century have just been canceled. In a Nov. 17 statement, ASX announced it had paused all current activities of its “CHESS replacement project” following an independent review from technology consulting firm Accenture, which identified “significant challenges with the solution design and its ability to meet ASX’s requirements,” stating: “Current activities on the project have been paused while ASX revisits the solution design.” For the last five years, ASX had been working on a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) solution …

Australia’s financial markets regulator has suspended FTX Australia’s financial license following the appointment of a voluntary administrator to help nearly 30,000 Australians and 132 Australian companies get their funds back from tFTX. The announcement was made by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on Nov. 16 local time, which suspended the Australian Financial Services (AFS) license of FTX’s local entity until May 15, 2023. Before its suspension, FTX Australia’s AFS license permitted it to create a market for derivatives and foreign exchange contracts to Australian-based retail and wholesale clients. Australian traders who signed up to trade digital assets were …

Charities accepting crypto donations are setting themselves up for an entirely new demographic of funders — who just so happen to be one of the most giving, according to charity organizations. Alex Wilson, the co-founder of The Giving Block, a crypto donation platform providing back-end support to charities, told Cointelegraph that the crypto community is still a market many charity organizations have nointeracted with. The top charity organizations in the world by funds received including United Way Worldwide, Feeding America, and UNICEF. All three of them accept cryptocurrencies as a means of donation. The Giving Block co-founder said the crypto …

Australia’s market regulator has released a list of the “top-10 ways to spot a crypto scam," amid a detected rise in crypto-related investment scams this year. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission's (ASIC's) public advisory statement was published as part of Scams Awareness Week 2022, an initiative that teaches Australians how to identify all forms of scams. The campaign takes place between Nov. 7 to 11. ASIC said that Australians had already lost more through “investment scams” in 2022 than the total $701 million figure in 2021, while ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court attributed cryptocurrencies to the steep incline in …

Two digital asset exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers in Australia are set to leave the market amid heightened regulator scrutiny and a deepened crypto winter, though some remain bullish about the market's prospects. In the last week, Australian crypto ETF providers including Holon Investments and Cosmos Asset Management have indicated they may be stepping back from the crypto ETF scene. On Nov. 6, Holon said it might close its three retail crypto funds following a hardline stance from the Australian financial regulator which has accused the fund of failing to "describe the risks to investors in its target market determination filings," …

Australia’s financial services and markets regulator has issued another glaring warning towards issuers of crypto-based financial products, particularly those inappropriately marketing high-risk products. Joe Longo, chair of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) in an opening speech at the ASIC annual forum on Nov. 3 local time said it will use current laws to police “risky and complex products” to protect consumers. He added, “crypto and the crypto ecosystem continue to pose challenges and opportunities for regulators and policymakers alike” saying the risks with crypto investing are “often opaque” with the assets being “highly volatile, inherently risky, and complex.” …

When programmer Jonathan Silverblood flew to Townsville, Australia from his Finland home for a two-and-a-half-month holiday in August, he had one main task — pay for everything he could using Bitcoin Cash (BCH). The coastal city of Townsville is known as the “Bitcoin Cash City,” a name derived from a conference of the same name that first launched in 2019. It is understood to have a strong number of merchants that accept the Bitcoin-forked token. Silverblood said while attending the conference in 2019, he was intrigued by the number of merchants and vendors offering BCH as a payment option in …

The companies behind the Cosmos Purpose Ethereum Access ETF, Cosmos Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF, and Cosmos Global Digital Miners Access ETF filed a request to revoke their quotations on Cboe Australia, according to letters disclosed on Nov. 2. The decision to revoke the quotes reflects the crypto winter's impact on demand for crypto assets, not the management teams' belief in the space's future, according to reports. Each of the three funds has a net asset value under $1 million. On Oct. 31, Cosmos had requested that trading of its Bitcoin and Ether ETFs be halted. A trading halt was also …