Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM'S economic growth momentum will continue in 2020 on the back of strong macroeconomic forecast, a growing middle class, rapid adoption of cutting edge technologies, and a surging manufacturing industry. Consumption, a key driver of Vietnam's economic growth...

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has granted its first authorization to a cryptocurrency company. Crypto Fund AG, a subsidiary of Crypto Finance AG, has become the country’s first crypto asset manager to be approved by the financial regulator, it said on Tuesday. Crypto Fund, one of the three companies within Crypto Finance, gives institutional investors access to the crypto asset markets through a range of fund products. Jan Brzezek, CEO and co-founder of Crypto...

Considered amongst the most advanced startup ecosystems in the world, Israel is now quickly emerging as a leading blockchain hub. Israel’s development of cutting-edge technologies in software, communications and the life sciences have evoked comparisons with Silicon Valley. Nicknamed the Startup Nation, Israel currently has the highest density of startups per capita in the world, ranks 10th in the 2018 Bloomberg Innovation Index, and is first in the world in expenditure on research and...

Indonesian point-of-sale (POS) terminal maker Pundi X Labs (Pundi X) has unveiled the development of a new smartphone as well as an operating system and communication protocol for mobile devices based completely on blockchain technology. Pundi X claims the XPhone lets users call, send messages, and transfer files all by using blockchain instead of traditional carriers. The startup said on Wednesday that it has successfully made the first phone call on an operating system powered by a fully...

A young startup named Menachain Solutions DWC-LLC is building a cryptocurrency and blockchain-based payment platform targeted at the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and its large population of unbanked. Based in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Menachain says it is focusing on developing “the most commonly used cryptocurrency in MENA” with the purpose of supporting the region’s digital transformation and serving its large population of unbanked. 84% of MENA’s population are...