Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Bybit has added support for the Japanese yen and South Korean won in a bid to expand its roots in Asian markets. In an announcement on Aug. 26, Bybit said the addition of these two new fiat currency payment options takes the total number of supported fiat currencies to 43. Bybit made a debut with fiat payments in June, allowing traders to buy Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) using 20 different fiat currencies, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou told Cointelegraph. “With the latest update we now offer conversion to BTC, ETH, and USDT from 43 fiat currencies,” he …

Blockchain-enabled approaches to advancing the transition to renewable energy sources are making inroads in new regions. On Aug. 25, Australian blockchain firm Power Ledger announced its forthcoming launch of a marketplace for trading renewable energy certificates (RECs) across Thailand and the Southeast Asian region. The project builds on Power Ledger’s long-standing collaboration with Thai renewable energy firm BCPG. Their earliest joint project dates back to 2018, when they conducted a peer-to-peer renewable energy trading trial in one of Bangkok’s central precincts. Since then, Power Ledger has worked together with BCPG and the Thai Digital Energy Development (TDED) on developing a …

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) announced that the test run of its central bank digital currency is currently limited to small retail transactions. According to the Global Times on Aug. 24, the central bank has clarified some details regarding the recent digital yuan — also known as digital currency electronic payment, or DCEP — in order to address rumors regarding the scale and scope of recent pilot projects. Per the report, some Chinese internet users claimed that a person in Shenzhen received a large amount of PBoC’s digital currency after selling local real estate. Wang Peng, an assistant professor …

XRP, the world’s third largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, is not competing with national digital currencies like the forthcoming digital yuan, according to a senior executive at Ripple. Emi Yoshikawa, senior director of global operations at Ripple, claimed that XRP does not compete either with central bank digital currencies (CBDC) or stablecoins. In an Aug. 19 interview with Japanese crypto exchange FXcoin, Yoshikawa said that XRP is complementary to the global progress in CBDC and stablecoin development. The exec stated that XRP should be considered as a “bridge asset” in international settlement: “There are various types of crypto assets, but …

Ethereum recently turned five years old, and coincidentally, it also appears to have reached an inflection point for user adoption. In the second quarter of 2020, daily active Ethereum users nearly doubled to 1.26 million, up from 637,000 in the first quarter, according to a recent report from Dapp.com. The sudden spike is widely attributed to the release of Compound’s COMP governance token. In the same report, several other numbers stand out. Notably, after Ethereum, the two blockchains with the most daily active users are Klaytn and Terra, with Klaytn having been far ahead of Ethereum in daily active users …

The Corona pandemic prompted many Asian countries to adopt blockchain technology to secure their data via the Internet against hackers and cyber thieves, according to a report from the Nikkei Asian Review. This increase in adoption comes as The Business Research Company said the global blockchain market is expected to hit $15.88 billion in 2023. Tomohiro Maruyama, senior manager of PwC Consulting, told Nikkei that he believes the large-scale digital transformation caused by COVID-19 has led to blockchain’s use to protect against fraud. He called on other companies to adopt blockchain to secure their data, business and meetings via the …

China’s Commerce Ministry announced today that it will expand the trials of the nation’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) to include Beijing, as well as Tianjin and Hebei provinces. According to an Aug. 14 report by the Wall Street Journal, there is not yet a set time when the expanded pilot program of the Chinese CBDC will begin. Still, the nation’s Ministry of Commerce announced that the policy framework should be complete by the end of 2020. As Cointelegraph reported earlier this week, the expanded pilot will also include the Hong Kong Greater Bay area — consisting of nine cities …

Capital flight out of Asia is one of major reasons for Bitcoin (BTC) hitting new 2020 highs in August, a major Bitcoin advocate believes. Max Keiser, a famous American broadcaster and known Bitcoin bull, is confident that rising tensions in Asia are one of factors for Bitcoin’s rally up to $12,000. “You can’t take it with you, unless it’s Bitcoin” In an Aug. 10 tweet, Keiser argued that Bitcoin is a solid method to move big amounts of money abroad while crossing borders. According to Keiser, a number of people in Asia are using Bitcoin to move their money out …

Bitcoin (BTC) is the most popular cryptocurrency for trading in every region of the world, but North American investors are the cryptocurrency’s biggest fans, a new report says. On Aug. 6, major crypto analytics firm Chainalysis published a report devoted to key trends in the North American crypto market. According to the report, North American investors “disproportionately favor Bitcoin” over other cryptocurrencies like Ether (ETH) or XRP. Bitcoin represents 72% of all crypto trading in North America While Bitcoin is the most traded crypto in the world, North America accounts for 72% of all of the asset’s transaction volume, the …

A K-drama series titled “Romantic Hacker” is set to air online in October across South Korea. It focuses on crypto and blockchain-related topics and is linked to a romance story. The show is slated to film in August. According to Sports Donga, K-pop star Kwon Hyun-bin will be featured in the series as the male lead, “Jaemin.” The story follows the hack of a crypto trading platform called “Jeju International Crypto Exchange.” Jaemin will fight a gang of highly skilled hackers that attempt to steal the money from the exchange. Although the talent agency in charge of hiring actors and …

The Chinese Supreme Court believes that cryptocurrency property rights should be strengthened. In a document published on July 22, China’s Supreme Court calls for strengthening the protection of property rights pertaining to — among other things — “digital currency, network virtual property, and data.” The official court opinion aims to “promote the improvement of a modern property rights system with clear ownership.” The document also mentions the intention to strike against the “use of public power to infringe private property rights, illegal seizure [...] and freezing of private enterprise property.“ Furthermore, the court’s statement calls for the punishment of all …

Retail and enterprise blockchain adoption trends dominated the discussions on days three and four of the ongoing virtual conference Unitize, organized by BlockShow and San Francisco Blockchain Week and sponsored by crypto derivatives exchange ByBit. The key topic that dominated discussion was blockchain adoption, which continues to spread across the globe, with governments and corporate establishments developing solutions based on distributed ledger technology. Exploring the blockchain development landscape Speaking during one of Wednesday’s panels at the conference. Yi Ming Ng, a member of the Tribe Accelerator project in Singapore, and Marloes Pomp, a blockchain consultant with the Dutch government, shed …