Cryptocurrency and digital currency news from December 2021 delivered headlines across the fullest range of the ‘digital money’ concept: India’s ongoing moves to address crypto concerns; the possibility of Pacific Island nations adopting digital currency; WhatsApp’s moves into the P2P payments space, backed by cryptocurrency; all things NFT and non-fungible; and many more.
And to get tech news updates from across Asia-Pacific via social media, mobile app, Instagram and more, check Startup News Asia’s channels.
Messari: Crypto Theses For 2022 (pdf)
- A quick 101 guide to stablecoins and how they act as a bridge to the cryptocurrency economy
- Download: Digital Asset Classification Standard, a glossary of terms used, from CoinDesk Indices (pdf)
- How secure are digital assets? “About $1.1BN in attacks have occurred in this [DeFi] area in the past 10 years, according to Crypto Head…”
- Asia’s tech news, issue 120: In this issue: Thai luxury yacht platform, Philippines as investment opportunity, India’s Reserve Bank and digital currency, Metaverse Seoul, Financial Times & UNSDGs…
- India: Reserve Bank proposes widening definition of ‘bank note’ to include currency in digital form in preparation to enable eventual launch of central bank digital currency
- Four Pacific Island nations – Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu – exploring issuing their own digital currencies, partnering Japan’s Soramitsu, firm behind Cambodia’s Bakong CBDC
PwC: Global Crypt Tax Report 2021 (pdf)
- Video: The Financial Times looks at stablecoins – what are they, how they work and why they’re a concern for regulators
- Taiwan: An intro and 101 guide to XY Finance, cross-chain cryptocurrency swap aggregator
- Binance reportedly in talks with Indonesia’s wealthiest family and state-owned telco around establishing a cryptocurrency trading exchange
- Myanmar: A look at how the unofficial National Unity Government now accepts Tether cryptocurrency for “domestic use to…speed up the current trade, services and payment systems”
- ICYMI: Meta embeds Novi payments into WhatsApp in step towards cornering US P2P payments and crypto space
- Jefferies investment bank on the metaverse opportunity: “…all human activity that hasn’t moved online is about to move online in the next 5 to 10 years…”
- ICYMI: Nike acquires NFT startup RTFKT in major metaverse move
- Dancers – the next to take the leap into the Metaverse? “…the principal dancer at The Royal Ballet in London, transformed three performance pieces into NFTs…”
Bloomberg Crypto Outlook, January 2022 (pdf)
- Hong Kong: Monkey Kingdom NFT project hacked in phishing attack, losing $1.3M of the community’s crypto funds, and launches compensation fund in bid to make things right
- Philippines: XLD Finance launches xSpend, allowing users in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines to pay bills using GameFi tokens or stablecoins
- ICYMI: South China Morning Post unveils ARTIFACTs by SCMP, collectible NFTs from the SCMP’s 118 years of archives
- ICYMI: Palm NFT Studio, cofounded by ConsenSys and Ethereum execs, raise $27M led by Microsoft M12 venture fund to provide services for creators to build NFT marketplaces
- How secure are digital assets? “About $1.1BN in attacks have occurred in this [DeFi] area in the past 10 years, according to Crypto Head…”
- Download: Digital Asset Classification Standard, a glossary of terms used, from CoinDesk Indices (pdf)
India: BollyCoin NFT marketplace
- A quick 101 guide to stablecoins and how they act as a bridge to the cryptocurrency economy
- India: “Digital payments in India will more than double to $135.2 billion in 2023 from $64.8 billion…share of worldwide transaction value…to increase from 1.56% to 2.02% in 4 years.”
- Porsche Australia launches 3-item NFT series to celebrate 70th anniversary
- India: PM Modi calls on int’l community to jointly shape norms for tech including social media and crypto to ensure they are used to empower democracy, not undermine it
- Australia’s augmented reality treasure hunt company iHunt4 preps for US growth following selection for display at US National Retail Federation’s Big Show in New York
- India: Metamall raises $4.6M in pre-IDO funding round through token sales, in part allowing users to earn money by leasing, staking, advertising and developing virtual real estate
- Singapore’s Trovio digitisation, tokenisation and provenance services firm merges with Australia’s TCM Capital digital asset manager to form crypto entity valued at $200M
- Indonesia: Binance blockchain and crypto infrastructure firm inks JV with consortium led by MDI Ventures for new Indonesia-based digital asset exchange
The Block Research: 2022 Digital Asset Outlook (pdf)
Asia’s Startup News: Other editions
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