Digital asset trust and security company BitGo is reportedly expanding into the Japanese market, The Block reported on Aug. 9. A source familiar with the matter told The Block that BitGo is expanding its presence in Japan. According to the report, BitGo is planning to grow its Japan-based team, including hiring a sales director for the company’s sales team in Tokyo. Per a dedicated job post published by BitGo last week, the sales director will specifically be responsible for the company’s “digital wallet and offline vault solutions across your agreed territory.” In May, BitGo appointed a veteran Wall Street trader …

South Korean business-to-business fashion platform Sinsang Market has joined the Terra Alliance ecosystem, a stablecoin-focused association of large e-commerce companies. As South Korean economics-oriented newspaper EconoNews reported on Aug. 3, the partnership between Sinsang and Terra aims to create a payment system that deploys Korean mobile payment service CHAI. CHAI utilizes Terra’s blockchain technology to ensure fraud-resistant transactions and settlements with merchants in fiat currency. Sinsang will reportedly use Terra’s platform to enable its customers to conduct payments for a personal delivery service. Terra’s platform will ostensibly improve order settlements, payments and deliveries through CHAI. The Terra stablecoin was co-founded …

Singapore-based blockchain company Perlin has acquired blockchain development startup Dispatch Labs, Dispatch Labs CTO Zane Witherspoon told Cointelegraph on July 26. Perlin acquired Dispatch’s talent, provisional and non-provisional United States patents on Dispatch’s blockchain IP, and strategic business partnerships. Former Dispatch CTO Zane Witherspoon will now manage Perlin’s Developer Ecosystem. The company did not disclose the value of the transaction. The acquisition comes in the wake of the news in mid-June that Dispatch incurred considerable losses despite extensive investment and a recovering cryptocurrency market. Although Dispatch Labs received funding from its executive team, subsequently raising over $13 million in a …

Researchers at crypto analytics firm LongHash have found 1 AM UTC to be the hour of greatest volatility for Bitcoin (BTC) over the past two years. 1 AM UTC had more daily highs and lows than any other hour of the day over a period from 2017 to 2019, according to research released by LongHash on July 17. LongHash’s research is based on crypto price archives from major American crypto exchange and wallet service Coinbase. The firm collected data from Crypto Data Download about Coinbase prices over the period from July 6, 2017 to July 2, 2019 and analyzed hourly …

The volume of blockchain in healthcare market worldwide is forecast to reach more than $1.7 billion by 2026. In a press release published on July 16, consulting services to information technologies firm Acumen Research and Consulting (ARC) has projected that the global blockchain in healthcare market on the global scale will reach over $1.7 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 48.1%. Based on geography, America purportedly dominates with the largest share in the global blockchain in healthcare market, wherein the United States is a mature market that hosts the greater adoption of smart technology in manufacturing …

Singapore-based online car marketplace sgCarMart and decentralized data exchange protocol Ocean Protocol are launching a blockchain-powered “Know-Your-Vehicle” data marketplace. The development was announced in a press release on July 5. The so called Know-Your-Vehicle used car data marketplace will purportedly provide a secure way of sharing and accessing of information about used cars in Singapore, where almost 9,000 cars reportedly changed ownership per month in 2018. The product is set to provide customers with the capability of tracking data origin on a vehicle and then trace its history. Subsequently, the parties are looking to use this data in helping other …

Blockchain is one of the top ten most important employee skills in the Asia Pacific region, a new report from professional social network LinkedIn confirmed in June. A regular feature on the network, the 2019 APAC version of “The Future of Skills” lists blockchain among the most sought-after abilities workers will need in the coming years. Specifically, “setting up and managing a distributed and decentralised public ledger” will be a useful skill, while other areas making the top ten include compliance and artificial intelligence (AI). Both areas are closely tied to the blockchain sphere, with the disruptive technology producing a …

Ex-Bitmain CEO Jihan Wu could launch his newest venture next month, according to a report by The Block on June 5. One unnamed source told the website that the crypto services startup, called Matrix, “will be the biggest over-the-counter (OTC) desk and asset manager overnight.” Matrix’s OTC offering is likely to be boosted by its close ties to bitcoin (BTC) mining company, Bitmain. The new business will reportedly offer custody and lending services to the Beijing-based giant, receiving a liquid pool in return. Another of the four unnamed sources told The Block that such high levels of liquidity could result …

The co-founder at Hong Kong-based blockchain investment firm Kenetic has predicted that bitcoin (BTC) will rally as high as $30,000 by the end of 2019. Kenetic Capital’s Jehan Chu provided his stance on major issues around bitcoin in an interview with “Bloomberg Markets: Asia” published on May 28. According to Chu, bitcoin will continue its bullish direction along with the rest of crypto market in 2019 due to three main factors, including the drive of mass adoption by global giants such as Facebook, JPMorgan, Rakuten and Fidelity, who have recently turned their interest towards crypto. Chu added that his bullish …

The central bank of Laos has warned the public against the use, purchase or sale of digital currencies, local news outlet Vientiane Times reported on May 21. The Bank of the Lao PDR has issued a warning to financial market participants and the public against cryptocurrency transactions as they are considered illegal in the country. The bank previously banned financial institutions from conducting any operations with cryptocurrencies, as well as making investments in such an asset. The bank is purportedly concerned about the anonymity of the sender and receiver in a cryptocurrency transaction, which it worries increases the risk of …

A senior executive at one of Asia’s biggest banks has said the $9 trillion trade finance industry needs to be digitized in order to tackle fraud, according to a Bloomberg article published on May 5. Ng Chuey Peng, managing director and head of global commodities finance at Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd. (OCBC), criticized the industry’s reliance on paper receipts, and warned forgeries have become so sophisticated that can be difficult to spot fake documents. Paper records are regularly used for everything from invoices to establishing the ownership of goods, and without them, banks are often unable to lend money …

South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) plans to improve the reliability of data in the arms industry by using blockchain, the agency announced in a press release on April 10. The state arms procurement agency says it is seeking to use a blockchain platform to enable the secure sharing of data about military acquisition projects between relevant governmental organizations and to eliminate data forgery. According to the press release, the new initiative will involve such organizations as the Agency for Defense Development and the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality. Apart from improving the credibility of defense projects with …