Thailand's Bank of Ayudhya (BAY) — in which Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) holds a 76.9% stake — participated in the latest funding round for the Asia-Pacific-focused crypto exchange Zipmex. The $41 million raise, which saw the participation of two publicly traded Thai media firms and overseas venture capital (VC) funds — in addition to BAY — accounts for the lion’s share of Zipmex’s total $52 million in funds raised to date. BAY’s corporate venture capital arm, Krungsri Finnovate, invests in startups across various fintech areas, including blockchain, lending, e-commerce and cross-border remittance. Commenting on the news of the Zipmex …

United Kingdom-based multinational banking firm Standard Chartered has launched a blockchain-powered trade finance platform through a joint venture with Chinese supply chain finance technology provider Linklogis. Dubbed Olea, the platform will aim to meet the needs of institutional investors that are “seeking opportunities in an alternative asset class with businesses requiring supply chain financing,” according to a report from The Korea Herald published on Monday. The joint venture operating the platform will be headquartered in Singapore, where Ng from Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures will lead as its CEO. Letitia Chau, vice chairman and chief risk officer of Linklogis, will serve …

The Ethereum (ETH) network is currently the dominant layer-one protocol in terms of smart contract deployment and active users, but the race to become the 'world’s computer' is far from settled because competing protocols are gaining traction by offering solutions to high transaction costs and slow confirmation times, the biggest problems facing the network. One project that has been on the rise over the past month is Tezos, a proof-of-stake blockchain network that is designed to evolve over time without the needing to undergo a hard fork. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that since hitting a low …

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand continues introducing new regulations for the cryptocurrency industry, citing investor protection concerns. On Wednesday, the Thai SEC proposed a set of additional regulations related to custody of investors' cryptocurrency holdings held by digital asset business operators. The newly proposed rules refer to custody of fiat money for digital asset accounts as well as cryptocurrency lending, or earning interest on crypto holdings. The SEC is specifically looking to prohibit crypto companies from using investor assets for the “benefit of another client or other persons,” or seeking benefits from both investors’ fiat money and …

Deutsche Boerse-backed digital asset firm Crypto Finance AG and Swiss business-to-business transaction bank InCore are launching a new tokenization tool based on the Tezos blockchain. InCore Bank officially announced on Tuesday a new collaboration with Crypto Finance AG and Swiss IT consulting firm Inacta to introduce new digital financial products based on Tezos, a decentralized, open-source, proof-of-stake blockchain network. The involved companies have developed a new Tezos token standard for asset tokenization built on the Tezos FA2 standard, a multi-asset interface for Tezos allowing developers to invent token types like nonfungible tokens. Using the Tezos FA2, Inacta has developed the …

Wells Fargo, one of the oldest banks in the United States, has registered a new pooled investment fund that offers its wealthy clients indirect exposure to Bitcoin (BTC). Wells Fargo’s filing of a “Notice of Exempt Offering of Securities” — also known as a Form D — with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, reveals that the fund is called “FS NYDIG BITCOIN FUND I,” reflecting the fact that it is being incorporated as a limited partnership with investment services company NYDIG and alternative assets manager FS Investments. The notice indicates that Wells Fargo Clearing Services will receive placement …

American banking giant JPMorgan Chase has reportedly blocked all account activities of Compass Mining, a Bitcoin (BTC) mining company based out of Delaware. The information came to light when Compass Mining CEO Whit Gibbs announced: “Shoutout to Chase for shutting down Compass Mining accounts for doing our part to replace the old guard with self-sovereign, future-focused supporters of hard money. Get behind #Bitcoin or get out of our way.” Compass Mining has been involved in offering mining rigs and hardware hosting services for Bitcoin mining. Under the pretext of supporting the Bitcoin hash rate and network, the company allows individual …

The Bank of Thailand (BoT) has published the results of a new study into how to manage the implications of issuing a retail central bank digital currency (CDBC) for the country’s financial sector. As distinct from a wholesale CBDC, which is limited to use by financial institutions and intermediaries, a retail CBDC is widely available for use by the general public. The Bank of Thailand, like many other central banks worldwide, has been engaged in CBDC research and development and now plans to begin testing a CBDC next year. Unlike the BoT, not all these central banks have committed to …

Fidelity’s plan to corner the cryptocurrency market appears to be more ambitious than previously imagined, as the asset manager looks to provide more institutional pathways to digital assets. In a recent interview with the Boston Globe, Christine Sandler, head of sales and marketing for Fidelity Digital Assets, said that institutional interest in crypto is growing. For most investors, the primary entry into crypto has been Bitcoin (BTC) and, to a lesser extent, Ether (ETH). Tom Jessop, who heads Fidelity Digital Assets, said the pandemic was a major motivator for investors to finally get into crypto: “What really got people off …

Global banking giants are reportedly increasing their involvement in the emerging crypto and blockchain firms by way of early- and late-stage funding for projects and businesses in the industry. According to research by Blockdata, a blockchain market intelligence outfit, 55 out of the top 100 banks by assets under management (AUM) have some form of exposure to the novel technology. This involvement reportedly cuts across direct and indirect investments in crypto and decentralized ledger technology firms by the banks themselves or via their subsidiaries. Blockdata’s research places Barclays, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs among the most active backers of crypto and …

Three South Korean banks with crypto exchange partnerships have reportedly made $14.71 million in transaction fees in the second quarter of 2021. According to The Korea Herald, Shinban Bank, K bank and NH Nonghyup Bank announced a total revenue of 16.9 billion South Korean won in Q2. The “big four” crypto exchanges in South Korea — Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit — have partnered with the banks for sourcing users’ real-name accounts. Based on the data collected by Yun Chang-hyun, the second quarter performance exceeded the first quarter’s approximately $6.8-million (7 billion won) mark, more than doubling transactions despite ongoing …

Goldman Sachs-backed digital payment company Circle has officially disclosed plans to become a full-reserve national digital currency bank in the United States. Announcing the news on Monday, Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire noted that Circle is willing to operate under the supervision and risk management requirements of the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Treasury, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. “We believe that full-reserve banking, built on digital currency technology, can lead to not just a radically more efficient, but also a safer, more resilient financial system,” Allaire stated. The CEO added …