Bitcoin (BTC) price began highly bullish Monday after an abrupt turnaround of its previous bear market saw it gain $1,200 this over the weekend. Market visualization. Source: Coin360 Politics dictates Bitcoin price gains Data from Coin360 showed the extent of Bitcoin’s change of fortunes, which have so far culminated in a local high of $11,635. The upward trajectory strongly contrasts with action seen last week, BTC price only finding resistance at $9,000 after a weekend of sharp price drops. Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360 Unsurprisingly, traders were buoyant, shaking off bearish sentiment to predict fresh highs and continued bullish …

Hong Kong’s flagship airline Cathay Pacific has introduced the first blockchain project to manage unit load devices (ULDs). Cathay plans to roll out the tech across the entire network The new project intends to eliminate paper-based processes by implementing a blockchain application that allows to instantly manage ULDs through a smartphone, according to a report by air cargo publication Air Cargo News on Aug. 1. Cathay, a founding member of major global aviation alliance Oneworld, reportedly launched its blockchain ULD project in July, targeting first transactions in Hong Kong and selected locations in the United States on the initial stage. …

Singapore’s plans to exempt certain digital currencies from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) would benefit cryptocurrency-related businesses, according to a partner in PwC Hong Kong’s corporate tax practice. As reported by Hong Kong’s English language newspaper South China Morning Post on July 29, Gwenda Ho argued that the Singapore government’s proposal to drop the seven per cent GST for cryptocurrencies when using them to pay for goods and services would have a positive impact on crypto exchanges, asset managers and blockchain entrepreneurs. Per Ho, the adoption of the proposed law would also put Singapore’s sales tax regime on an …

Blockchain financial services firm Diginex Ltd. is scheduled to go public through a reverse merger with investment holding company 8i Enterprises Acquisition Corp. Subsequently, the firm will be listed on the Nasdaq, Bloomberg reported on July 10. Diginex is reportedly going to close a reverse merger deal with 8i, which will reportedly amount to $276 million including debt. Diginex shareholders will reportedly get 20 million ordinary shares of 8i, valued at $10 per share. According to Diginex’s CEO Richard Byworth, the deal is set to ensure broader market visibility for the company. As such, Diginex will be “the first fully-diversified …

A former governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has indicated that Beijing may delegate the issuance of digital currency to commercial entities, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post newspaper reported on July 11. Zhou Xiaochuan, who stood down as head of the central bank in 2018 after 15 years, revealed the country may adopt a new approach for its sovereign digital currency scheme — taking inspiration from Hong Kong’s monetary system and Facebook’s Libra project. In Hong Kong, three banks issue their own banknotes and collateralize them by holding U.S. dollars in reserve, while the territory’s monetary …

Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange announced that it will spend 27% of past and future Tokinex revenue on burning LEO tokens, according to an official blog post on July 8. Bitfinex unveiled LEO in May as the native utility token for its initial exchange offering (IEO) platform Tokinex. Parent company iFinex committed to burning LEO tokens, until commercial circulation runs dry, in the LEO token whitepaper: “On a monthly basis, iFinex and its affiliates will buy back LEO from the market equal to a minimum of 27% of the consolidated gross revenues of iFinex (exclusive of Ethfinex) from the previous month, until …

Chinese cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain is revisiting plans for an initial public offering (IPO,) Bloomberg reported on June 21. The company had filed to list an IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, but the application expired on March 26. Now, Bitmain is reportedly planning to file listing documents with the United States Security and Exchange Commission, potentially paving the way for a share sale to take place later this year. While the company was hoping to raise $3 billion from its planned Hong Kong IPO, the Bloomberg report suggested that this fundraising target will be reduced to between $300 …

Family-owned property firm Stan Group — which represents the assets of “shop king” real estate scion Tang Shing-bor — is set to meet with Hong Kong’s securities watchdog in January 2020 to seek approval for the sale of tokenized real estate assets. Hong Kong English-language newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported the news on June 12. Stan Group is reported to have a real estate portfolio estimated at over HK$50 billion ($6.38 billion). Against the backdrop of reportedly lacklustre sentiment in the local property market amid escalating trade tensions between the United States and China, the firm is seeking …

This article has been updated to correct that BitMEX is not Hong Kong-based. Peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX has reported an influx of attacks on user account credentials, according to an official blog post on June 11. In addition to covering a litany of best practices for user security, the cryptocurrency exchange stressed the importance of using two-factor authentication (2FA) in particular. The report summarizes 2FA as follows: “2FA, sometimes referred to as ‘two-step verification’ or ‘multi-factor authentication’, adds an additional layer of security to your account by requiring not only your username and password at login, but also the …

Ex-Bitmain CEO Jihan Wu could launch his newest venture next month, according to a report by The Block on June 5. One unnamed source told the website that the crypto services startup, called Matrix, “will be the biggest over-the-counter (OTC) desk and asset manager overnight.” Matrix’s OTC offering is likely to be boosted by its close ties to bitcoin (BTC) mining company, Bitmain. The new business will reportedly offer custody and lending services to the Beijing-based giant, receiving a liquid pool in return. Another of the four unnamed sources told The Block that such high levels of liquidity could result …

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong has expressed concern over the lack of regulation for dealing with fraud in the crypto space, local news agency The Standard reports May 30. SFC enforcement chief Thomas Atkinson has recently pointed out problems associated with the existing regulatory uncertainty over initial coin offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrency trading. Atkinson, who resigned from Canada’s largest securities enforcement authority, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), back in 2016, emphasized that the structure of certain crypto exchanges is “beyond the scope of the SFC,” the report notes. The official urged local lawmakers and authorities to …

The co-founder at Hong Kong-based blockchain investment firm Kenetic has predicted that bitcoin (BTC) will rally as high as $30,000 by the end of 2019. Kenetic Capital’s Jehan Chu provided his stance on major issues around bitcoin in an interview with “Bloomberg Markets: Asia” published on May 28. According to Chu, bitcoin will continue its bullish direction along with the rest of crypto market in 2019 due to three main factors, including the drive of mass adoption by global giants such as Facebook, JPMorgan, Rakuten and Fidelity, who have recently turned their interest towards crypto. Chu added that his bullish …