Author: Kryptonews

South Korea’s National Assembly has approved an overhaul of the country’s crypto licensing regime, tightening entry requirements for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) and expanding scrutiny to include controlling shareholders.On Thursday, lawmakers passed an amendment to the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, a cornerstone of Korea’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) framework for digital assets. The committee substitute bill was approved at a plenary session and is expected to take effect six months after the law is enacted.The new rules widen background checks for crypto firms applying to operate in South Korea. Regulators will now vet not just…

Shifting from Tron to Solana taps into one of the most vibrant and high-performance ecosystems in crypto. If you’re eyeing Solana’s rapid growth in DeFi, gaming, or scalable apps — or aiming to ride its momentum — a direct TRX to SOL conversion positions you effectively. Instant non-custodial platforms streamline the move, delivering assets straight between wallets with privacy and speed intact.Tron has built a robust foundation in 2026 for cost-effective, high-volume transactions, powering stablecoin dominance and content platforms with energy-efficient consensus. Solana counters with unparalleled throughput, enabling real-time interactions that redefine user experiences across sectors. This synergy encourages many…

Bybit, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges by trading volume, plans to launch retail banking services on its platform starting in February, the company said Thursday.Bybit unveiled the product, called “My Bank powered by Bybit,” during a live online keynote on Thursday.Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said the service will provide users with a personal IBAN, allowing them to send and receive funds across banks in multiple currencies, starting with the US dollar.The move marks Bybit’s latest effort to expand beyond crypto trading, coming about a year after it was hit by a $1.4 billion hack.Bybit is working with banks…

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art announced today that it will return three bronze sculptures to India, continuing a recent series of restitutions that last month included Khmer-period works returned to Cambodia. The three bronze figures —“Shiva Nataraja” (ca. 990), “Somaskanda” (12th century), and “Saint Sundarar with Paravai”—were sacred objects originally carried in temple processions before they were stolen. According to the museum’s provenance research, the works were linked to art dealers known to have trafficked looted antiquities. In 2023, the museum partnered with the Photo Archives of the French Institute of Pondicherry to determine their origins, ultimately finding…

Hang Seng Investment Management has rolled out a new physically backed gold exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Hong Kong, with an option for future tokenized access to the asset.The Hang Seng Gold ETF, which began trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday under stock code 3170, is designed to track the LBMA Gold Price AM, the widely used morning benchmark set in London. The fund is structured as a passive ETF and holds physical gold bars that meet London Bullion Market Association good delivery standards, according to product details. Gold held by the ETF is stored in vaults in…

XRP’s XRP$1.8865 price has fallen about 4% this month, starting the new year on a negative note. Yet on-chain data shows a positive trend underneath. The number of “millionaire” wallets, or those holding at least 1 million XRP, has increased for the first time since September 2025, according to data source Santiment. Their number rose by 42 this month to 2,016, ending four months of declines. XRP is the payments-focused cryptocurrency used by fintech company Ripple to facilitate cross-border transactions.”A net of +42 wallets with at least 1M XRP have returned to the ledger, an encouraging sign for the long-term,”…

The number of XRP wallets holding more than 1 million tokens has been gradually increasing since the start of the year and could bode well for the asset’s long-term prospects, according to crypto analytics platform Santiment. “XRP’s price is down a modest -4% since the start of 2026, but its amount of ‘millionaire’ wallets are rising for the first time since September,” Santiment said in a post on Wednesday.Crypto traders often track large-holder accumulation, using it as a signal for where the asset’s price could head in the future. Santiment said that 42 more XRP (XRP) wallets holding over 1 million…

Abu Dhabi–based Universal Digital has launched USDU, the first US dollar‑backed stablecoin to be registered by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) as a Foreign Payment Token under the Payment Token Services Regulation (PTSR). According to a release shared with Cointelegraph, the registration makes Universal the UAE’s first Foreign Payment Token Issuer and creates a clear, regulated US dollar‑denominated settlement option for digital assets in the UAE.A spokesperson from Universal told Cointelegraph that the PTSR had given a transition period for payment token issuers to become PTSR-compliant and that, among all the USD stablecoins, USDU was the first…

How to buy Pepe coin is a common question among new crypto investors exploring meme coins beyond Dogecoin and Shiba Inu. PEPE gained massive attention for its viral branding, fast price movements, and strong online community. Still, buying it safely matters just as much as buying it early. This guide breaks everything down, from where to buy PEPE, which payment methods to use, and how to store it securely. You’ll also learn whether it’s worth investing in Pepecoin in 2026.Where to Buy Pepe Coin SafelyThere are two ways to buy Pepecoins safely. You can choose between centralized exchanges (CEXs) and decentralized…

The co-founder and board of crypto infrastructure platform Cere Network have been hit with a $100 million lawsuit claiming they undertook a pump-and-dump scheme that stole millions of dollars from investors.In a lawsuit filed in a San Francisco federal court on Tuesday, Vivian Liu, who said she worked for and invested in the company, claimed Cere co-founder Fred Jin, his brother, his wife, and the company’s board stole $41 million from investors.According to the lawsuit, Jin promised ahead of a public token launch for the platform in November 2021 that he and early Cere investors could not sell their tokens…