Amid the ongoing nonfungible tokens (NFT) boom, people in Asia-Pacific (APAC) countries appear to be the most curious about NFTs, according to Google Trends data. Google Trends data shows that China, Singapore and Hong Kong are the three top countries in the world in terms of the number of “NFT” searches on Google over the past year. According to the data, China has posted the highest number of such searches, with the Google search index amounting to 100 points. Singapore and Hong Kong follow with 67 and 62 points, respectively. Other major “NFT”-searching countries include Venezuela, Philippines, Cyprus, Canada, New …

Hong Kong, one of the most significant and leading financial centers in the world, has played a large role in the development of cryptocurrencies. For instance, the Chinese territory has birthed some of the most established and successful crypto companies to date including the crypto derivatives exchange FTX, along with the digital asset platform Crypto.com. Yet, as trillions of dollars are traded regularly through crypto exchanges founded in Hong Kong, the “Vertical City” also contains an abundance of physical over-the-counter crypto shops as well. Henri Arslanian, PwC crypto lead and former chairman of the Fintech Association of Hong Kong, told …

Cryptocurrency-to-fiat infrastructure provider XanPool continues expanding operations in the Asia-Pacific region by securing fresh funding. The Hong Kong-based startup raised $27 million in a Series A funding round led by Valar Ventures, a venture capital firm co-founded by PayPal co-creator Peter Thiel. Other participating investors included crypto-focused venture capital firm CMT Digital alongside angel investors such as TransferWise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus, XanPool announced Friday. Running operations in 13 countries across the Asia-Pacific region, XanPool is looking to further consolidate its presence with new funding. Jeffery Liu, CEO of XanPool, told Cointelegraph that the startup operates in countries like India, Hong …

The Chinese government-backed blockchain project, the Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), continues expanding its global presence by setting up two new portals in Turkey and Uzbekistan. Red Date Technology, the architect behind the BSN project, has signed an agreement with a Turkish consultancy firm, Turkish Chinese Business Matching Center (TUCEM), to launch two international BSN portals in Turkey and Uzbekistan in late December 2021. Established in 2006, TUSEM became a major economic cooperation hub between Turkey and China. The company will be the exclusive operator of the two new BSN portals offering blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) in Turkey and Uzbekistan. The new portals …

Bitmain, a Chinese manufacturer of cryptocurrency mining equipment, has been forced to stop its business in China from Oct. 11 following the crypto ban imposed by local authorities. In addition to China’s blanket ban on crypto operations, the company has attributed the move to stop shipping Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency mining rigs as a response to China’s carbon-neutral policies. According to Bitmain’s announcement: “From October 11, 2021, Antminer will stop shipping to mainland China. For customers in mainland China who have purchased long-term products, our staff will contact them to provide alternative solutions.” While the company has yet to reveal …

A subsidiary of the blockchain software provider Powerbridge Technologies, Powercrypto Holdings, has announced the launch of a sustainable cryptocurrency mining initiative for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) in Hong Kong. The company plans to deploy a total of 2,600 first-grade mining rigs, comprising of 600 BTC mining machines operating at a hash rate of 60 PH/s, as well as a further 2,000 ETH mining machines, which harness a hash rate power of 1,000 GH/s. According to the announcement, Powercrypto’s ultimate ambition with the inauguration of this venture is to increase the BTC and ETH hash rate level across the North …

On Monday, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released an official white paper exploring the potential of a retail-focused central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital Hong Kong dollar (e-HKD). According to the document, the HKMA will seek to understand the “potential architectures and design options” from a technical and regulatory policy perspective, with the ambition of creating a dual-tier system — the first being designed for a “central bank to issue and redeem CBDC,” and the second being retail-centric for “commercial banks to distribute and circulate either rCBDC or CBDC-backed e-money.” Hong Kong debuted its investigation into CBDCs in …

As the prospect of Chinese property giant Evergrande defaulting on $305 billion worth of debt looms, pundits are weighing in on how the firm’s bankruptcy could impact the legacy and crypto markets. Speculation as to whether the real estate investment giant will default has coincided with a downturn across the crypto and stock markets, leaving many analysts divided on whether traders should be buying the dip or looking to take profits in preparation for further bearish momentum. At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is down by around 13% since the downturn started on Saturday, while the S&P 500 is …

The Securities Exchange and Commission of Thailand has a license to an asset-backed token offering service based on the Ethereum blockchain. Fraction, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based fintech firm Fraction Group, has received a license allowing it to list and trade tokens for fractional ownership of physical or digital assets, the firm announced Thursday. The license was granted through the Thai SEC’s official portal for initial coin offering established back in 2018. The license lays out the foundation for Fraction’s upcoming service for asset digitization and fractionalization, referred to as an initial fraction offering (IFO). The firm …

Hongkong Land, a property landlord in Hong Kong, has leased out commercial office space to a local crypto-asset firm named HashKey Group following clarity around cryptocurrency regulations. Neil Anderson, director of Hongkong Land, believes that the decision to lease commercial property to crypto businesses was heavily reliant on the recent crypto regulations set by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC): “The SFC’s recent decision to regulate digital asset exchanges in Hong Kong gives us confidence that this new asset class has a regulatory framework, and therefore a future within the finance industry.” Hong Kong regulators require crypto businesses to be …

Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) has launched a new blockchain-based platform that could potentially track one-third of shipping containers across the globe. The GSBN was incorporated in March 2021 by eight global national freight maritime cargo companies to build a blockchain platform that digitizes shipping processes, such as document issuance, clearance and logistics data. Members of the Hong-Kong-based nonprofit consortium GSBN are said to “account for one in every three containers handled in the world,” and this may soon be verifiable on the blockchain once the platform is fully utilized. The GSBN announced the launch of the new blockchain platform …

A senior executive for Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission, or SFC, believes more needs to be done to tackle cryptocurrency fraud, offering clues about future guidance on digital asset trading in the special administrative region. Deputy chief executive Liang Fengyi said the SFC is obligated to expand the scope of cryptocurrency supervision in the city-state, especially as it pertains to unlicensed trading, according to an English translation of an article published in local newspaper ETNet. She explained that, since crypto assets are not recognized as securities or payment methods, they fall outside the jurisdiction of the SFC. As a …