Ripple continues its push into the Asian market by acquiring a stake in a cross-border payments firm. According to a blog post, Ripple has agreed to acquire a 40% stake in cross-border payments firm Tranglo, with the aim to expand RippleNet’s On-Demand Liquidity, or ODL, service that uses the XRP cryptocurrency. The completion of this transaction is subject to regulatory approval, with investment firm TNG Fintech Group remaining the majority shareholder in Tranglo. The new acquisition is expected to significantly expand Ripple’s ODL corridors with Tranglo’s payments infrastructure. Founded in 2008, Tranglo is a cross-border payment processing hub supporting business …

From real-name account trading to investigating individuals using cryptocurrencies to evade taxes, government officials in South Korea are enacting stricter regulations to oversee the cryptocurrency industry in the country. These measures often require digital currency businesses to provide detailed customer data and transaction information to the relevant authorities. With these stringent measures often comes an increase in the cost of compliance for exchanges and other crypto service providers. Privacy concerns are another issue amid the swath of information being provided to government agencies. However, this strict regulatory climate has done little to dampen the enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies in South Korea. …

Bart Baker, arguably the most famous American social media influencer in China, is releasing a series of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, in collaboration with DeFine Art. Baker, who has around 24 million followers across multiple Chinese social media platforms, will auction eight unique NFTs as part of the collaboration. One of the NFTs, called "The Bart Baker Experience," will allow the winner of the auction to make a video with Baker that will be circulated on social media and minted into an NFT. The other seven auctions will be for Baker’s most popular videos minted in NFT format. Commenting on …

Despite being in the middle of a $1.3 billion lawsuit with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, it appears that it is still business as usual for Ripple. Speaking to Reuters on Friday, Garlinghouse revealed that the company has not suffered any negative blowback in the APAC business theatre amid the current SEC lawsuit: “It (the lawsuit) has hindered activity in the United States, but it has not really impacted what’s going on for us in Asia Pacific.” In December 2020, the SEC charged Ripple and its principal executives of violating securities laws in the sale of XRP tokens …

Data published by statistics firm Statista has revealed Nigeria is the leading country per capita for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency adoption, with nearly one in three survey respondents indicating they used or owned crypto assets in 2020. According to the survey, the pre-existing prevalence of mobile phone based peer-to-peer payments has led many Nigerians to explore cryptocurrency. Statista noted that many Nigeria responded they had recently installed crypto payment applications on their devices. The findings also note that many Nigerians are exploring crypto assets for international remittances. Adoption in the country shows no signs of slowing, with demand for crypto assets …

Solana has turned its focus towards decentralized finance in Southeast Asia with a new $5 million development fund. The Solana Foundation created the fund in partnership with Vietnam-based investment firm Coin98 Ventures, enabling regional startups building on Solana to receive technical, marketing, and community support, as well as up to $100,000 in funding. The fund will run for the next three years with a specific focus on projects within the DeFi and Web3 spaces, including marketplaces, exchanges, and other DApps or tooling. This is one of the first grants specifying a core region of interest, with a particular focus on …

Research by Messari has delved into the Asian crypto landscape and revealed the region accounts for almost half of all digital asset trading, and boasts six of the top ten largest crypto unicorns. The report, penned by research analyst Mira Christanto, confirmed that China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore, are market leaders with deep pools of liquidity, adding that other Asian countries also have great potential to scale. “With Asia accounting for 60% of the world population, infrastructure companies across the world are interested in tapping the growing market.” China also dominates in terms of whale activity and larger …

Fidelity Investments, one of the world’s largest asset managers, has poured more capital into a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency operator — offering yet another bullish indicator for the evolution of digital-asset markets worldwide. An exchange filing obtained by Singapore-based Business Times shows that Fidelity acquired a 6.29% stake in BC Technology Group after investing $6.71 million in the company. Business Times indicated that Fidelity had increased its exposure to the company, though didn’t specify the initial investment amount. The investment was announced shortly after BC Technology Group disclosed that it had reached an agreement to raise HK$697 million ($89.9 million) in …

A number of popular U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins exist on the crypto market. Stablecoins based on the euro also exist, but are notably less liquid, according to Zahreddine Touag, co-founder and head of trading at Paris-based market making firm Woorton. “There’s not any euro stablecoin that is very liquid,” Touag said on Thursday during a Paris Blockchain Week conference panel, noting multiple points of rationale. The most impactful reason: “It’s very costly to do a euro stablecoin,” he noted, adding: “The primary source of revenue for U.S. dollar coins are the interest rates when you replace the U.S. dollar because you …

The central bank for the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan is working on a draft law to regulate the cryptocurrency industry in the country. According to an announcement on Nov. 13, the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic is developing a draft law that would regulate cryptocurrency exchanges in consultation with industry stakeholders. The bank stated that the draft law would regulate the sale and purchase of cryptocurrencies with the aim of tackling fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes and financial crimes, as well as safeguarding consumer and investor rights. Among the expected benefits of the forthcoming regulations, the bank notes the improved …

Mongolia's largest bank will soon begin offering crypto services including custody, remittance, deposits, loans, and crypto-asset management. According to DDaily, blockchain company Hexlant — founded by former Samsung developers — and white label tech company Delio havagreed to start working with the Ulaanbaatar-based Trade & Development Bank of Mongolia, or TDB Bank. It's one of Mongolia’s oldest banks, with 50 branches across the nation, ranking second out of 17 Mongolian banks in terms of total assets. But the deal is not limited to the three parties aforementioned. The media outlet detailed that MDKI, a Mongolian mineral resource and blockchain company …

Fidelity Investments — one of the largest asset managers in the world — continues to expand its global reach in the cryptocurrency industry through its dedicated crypto subsidiary. According to an Oct. 29 Bloomberg report, Fidelity Investments’s crypto branch Fidelity Digital Asset Services has partnered with a Singaporean startup Stack Funds to expand its custody services in Asia. Within the partnership, Stack Funds will provide access to Fidelity’s custody services to its clients in a bid to meet increasing demand from high-profile investors and family offices in the region. Stack Funds executives said that custodied assets will be subject to …