Singapore Financial News

Global financial services company JPMorgan continues exploring the benefits of blockchain, deploying the technology to eliminate some restraints of traditional finance.

A fresh Montenegro court ruling means Do Kwon, the Terraform Labs founder and CEO, could be released on bail again.

Binance's recent regulatory hurdles have opened up the path for a potential successor to Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, co-founder and current CEO of the platform.

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Crypto fans are now paying a price for Bitcoin’s weakened correlation with technology stocks. The top digital asset posted a monthly slump in May for the first time in 2023, while the Nasdaq 100 added almost 8% amid hype over artificial intelligence. A 30-day correlation coefficient for Bitcoin and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 is around 0.2 versus 0.8 in May 2022. A reading of 1 indicates assets are moving in lockstep, while minus-1 would show they’re moving in opposite directions. Digital-asset investors delighted in crypto’s waning tie with shares earlier in the year when tokens were surging and leaving equities behind. The implications of the split are less favorable now.

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.__________

While the U.S. has long been known as a center of innovation and new technology, the nation’s regulatory bodies don’t seem to know quite what to make of the crypto industry. The U.S. is lagging behind countries in Europe and Asia in establishing crypto regulations, and it’s not because the industry is broadly resistant. Indeed, crypto insiders would welcome — are asking for — clear and consistent guidelines.

The Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange, Crypto.com, announced on June 1 that it had been granted a major payment institution (MPI) license for digital payment token (DPT) services by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

As Binance Australia is facing a cut off from a key local on-ramp service, traders have been trading Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies at a discount on the platform. 

Richard Teng to head its regional markets outside the United States, at a time when the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange has been facing scrutiny from U.S. regulators over compliance issues. Teng, who revealed his promotion on his LinkedIn profile, is already heading regions like Asia, Europe and the Middle East. He joined Binance as CEO of Singapore in August 2021.Teng will begin his new role on Monday. The development comes at a time when Binance has been under fire for non-compliance issues from U.S. authorities, while it has faced pressure in other countries as well.

Digital art organization Fingerprints DAO has teamed up with Dutch artist Harm van den Dorpel and German car giant Mercedes Benz on a generative art non-fungible token (NFT) collection. 

Formerly known as XinFin, the enterprise hybrid blockchain solution XDC Network broadens its presence on the Japanese market by striking a partnership with SBI VC Trade Co. Ltd, a cryptocurrency exchange subsidiary of Tokyo-based financial holding company SBI. 

A top federal official representing India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), recommended all banks adopt artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology to ensure sustainable growth and stability.

Cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan are preparing for the enforcement of the Financial Action Task Force’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations known as the Travel Rule.

On May 26, the Laotian government reportedly hosted the inaugural Ministerial Conference on Blockchain 4.0 Digital Transformation in the country’s capital, Vientiane. The conference, which was led by Laotian Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, was attended by blockchain experts and various leaders from the main economic departments within the country. 

The world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, has appointed Richard Teng, a traditional finance (TradFi) veteran with strong regulatory experience, as its head of all regional markets outside of the US.

Bitcoin climbed to the highest level in more than two weeks amid a boost to investor sentiment from a deal on raising the US debt limit. The largest digital token added as much 3.2% on Monday and was trading at $28,182 as of 9:32 a.m. in Singapore, oscillating around its 50-day moving average. Smaller tokens ranging from Ether to Binance Coin also posted gains. The debt-ceiling deal between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has helped risk appetite in global markets. But the agreement still has to clear Congress quickly to avert a US default. A recent jump in Treasury yields and bets on more US monetary tightening are other potential headwinds. “This morning’s positive risk sentiment directly relates to the resolution of the debt-ceiling impasse,” said John Toro, head of trading at digital-asset exchange Independent Reserve. “Front-end funding costs remain highly elevated relative to crypto returns, resulting in negative carry for long holders. This will continue to prove a headwind for risk assets and the crypto complex.”

The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently published a white paper titled «Pathways to the Regulation of Crypto-Assets: A Global Approach,» advocating for a collaborative approach towards crypto regulation on a global scale.

Singaporean investment firm Temasek Holdings has lowered the compensation of senior management and the investment team responsible for investing in FTX. 

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.__________

Despite a «wild year» of scandal and failure in 2022 when the FTX exchange and a number of crypto dealers collapsed, Peter Smith, chief executive of London-based Blockchain.com, told the Qatar Economic Forum that there is now «real growth» in the crypto community. Smith, who said nearly a decade as head of Blockchain.com had left him with «no nerve endings», told how other countries were taking advantage of the void left by the US where some regulators were «openly negative about crypto». While some US legislators want to see rules for a cryptocurrency market, regulators there have taken a tough line because of fears of money laundering and scams such as the FTX collapse. Former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried is due to go on trial in New York in October.