The U.S. Treasury Department’s proposed rules which would require users to comply with KYC requirements if they seek to send their crypto to a private wallet could end up being ineffective, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. In its published response to the rule, Elliptic said that the rules could “adversely impact” the effectiveness of existing Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations. Earlier this month, the Treasury Department released an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking which laid out that users of centralized cryptocurrency exchanges who wish to move their holdings onto their own private wallet, or to […]
Jaspreet Kalra
92 posts
Opyn, a marketplace for decentralized finance (DeFi) options, has rolled out new features in its updated protocol that aim to make the crypto options markets more efficient and liquid. While Opyn entered DeFi with an insurance-like product for governance tokens such as Compound’s COMP, its focus has since pivoted to the options market in the digital asset space. According to Zubin Koticha, co-founder of Opyn, the pivot is driven both by user interest and by the sort of hurdles DeFi currently faces. “The biggest issue with DeFi is that [in] traditional finance, you don’t need super over-collateralization,” said Koticha. Differing capital […]
A South Florida federal district judge sentenced a Washington, D.C., man to six years in federal prison for operating a $25 million diamond investment scheme that included a crypto component. He must also pay over $23 million in victim restitution. The accused, Jose Angel Aman, and his partners were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II of the Southern District of Florida for soliciting funds from people in the United States and Canada for purported diamond contracts. Aman and his partners promised investors the money was safe and backed by an inventory of actual diamonds, the U.S. Department of Justice […]
Google Pay and Walmart’s PhonePe continue to dominate the digital payments sector in India built on the country’s United Payments Interface (UPI), a shared payments infrastructure initiated by the state and joined by 200 Indian banks. According to data released by UPI’s governing body, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Google Pay accounted for about 45% of UPI’s transaction volume and PhonePe came in second with little over 41% of the pie for November. Developed by the NPCI and regulated by the Indian central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, UPI enables both digital payments and peer-to-peer inter bank transfers. […]
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire believes the incoming Joe Biden presidential administration in the U.S. will “ultimately be supportive of cryptocurrency because it represents a seismic shift as large as the commercial internet.” In a Monday interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Allaire spoke about how he thinks the incoming administration may regulate the emerging cryptocurrency and digital assets sector, and what may be in store for stablecoins. Circle is a payments services company that operates the USDC stablecoin as part of the Centre consortium. The Biden administration is “going to be focused on infrastructure changes that make America more competitive, and this […]
The Libra Association may have rebranded itself as Diem but that means little to German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz. According to a Reuters report, Scholz said in a statement that Libra’s rebranding as Diem was merely a cosmetic change. “A wolf in sheep’s clothing is still a wolf,” he said following a video conference of G7 finance ministers on Monday. He added, “It is clear to me that Germany and Europe cannot and will not accept its entry into the market while the regulatory risks are not adequately addressed.” In his statement, Scholz also stressed the importance of ensuring currency […]
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance will likely earn between $800 million and $1 billion this year, as market uncertainty drives interest – and trading – in cryptos, according to CEO Changpeng Zhao, Bloomberg reported. That’s up from about $570 million in 2019, according to the report. So far this year, the price of bitcoin (BTC), by far the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has risen over 170% since the year started, and earlier this week set a new all-time high before giving back some gains. Exchange volumes have exploded as well. Launched in 2017, Binance is one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges by […]
Investors are hoping bitcoin becomes a “store of value” but the largest cryptocurrency is still very volatile, Tom Jessop, head of Fidelity Digital Assets (FDAS), said during the Reuters Global Investment Outlook Summit 2020 on Thursday. “We use the words ‘potential store of value’ as bitcoin is still extremely volatile, and by any standard perhaps would not achieve the mantle of a true store of value,” said Jessop, whose company, a unit of Fidelity Investments, offers cryptocurrency trading and custody services for financial firms and corporations. His remarks were reported by Reuters. Jessop added that while bitcoin’s volatility prevents it from […]
With the holiday season approaching and cryptocurrencies led by bitcoin (BTC) surging in price, charities are warming to the opportunity to accept donations of the digital tender. Slated for Dec. 1, the crypto rendition of the annual worldwide charity event #GivingTuesday – #BitcoinTuesday – is back for another year, spearheaded by crypto donations platform The Giving Block. According to the organization, while last year’s Bitcoin Tuesday event managed to attract only 12 non-profits, this year over 120 such organizations including Save the Children, No Kid Hungry and The Tor Project have signed up for the event. The non-profits will accept donations […]
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has extradited the man accused of being one of the co-founders of the global cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme AirBit Club. The Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Audrey Strauss, said Monday the accused, Gutemberg Dos Santos, was extradited from Panama last week. Along with co-defendants he has been indicted on charges related to his alleged role in an international fraud and money laundering scheme that defrauding individuals by soliciting investments in an allegedly fake cryptocurrency mining and trading company. Describing the scheme, Strauss said the company “promised extraordinary rates of return on phantom […]
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has decided to discontinue sending customers 1099-Ks, the U.S. tax form which led the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to mistakenly think traders had underreported their gains. The exchange will instead use the 1099-MISC form, at least for customers who earn interest on lending and similar products, it said in a Tuesday blog post, The post appeared to suggest that traders who do not meet the criteria for the 1099-MISC will likely not receive any kind of forms from Coinbase to help prepare their returns. When asked for comment, a Coinbase spokesperson simply sent CoinDesk a link to the […]
A subsidiary of SBI Holdings said it’s launched a service allowing users to ‘lend’ bitcoin to the firm and earn an interest at the rate of 1% annually in return. Source link
Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio asked for and received a heaping dose of “radical candor” Tuesday when he said he’d “love to be corrected” on the negative views about bitcoin he expressed last week. In a Twitter thread, the chairman of the world’s largest hedge fund said, “I might be missing something about Bitcoin so I’d love to be corrected.” From arguments of privacy to bitcoin’s use as a hedge against inflation, Dalio’s invitation brought out bitcoin bulls in droves along with a smattering of naysayers. Unusual for Crypto Twitter, the responses were largely respectful, informative and, in many cases, amusing […]
Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming’s incoming U.S. senator, said in an interview Tuesday the key items on her agenda include working to reduce government debt and explaining bitcoin (BTC) to her colleagues when she is sworn in early next year. Speaking to Fox News, Lummis, a Republican and a former member of the House of Representatives, said she believes bitcoin is a great store of value, and she plans on making that point in the Senate. She will succeed Republican Sen. Mike Enzi, who is retiring after four terms. Source link
Tech giant IBM has been granted a patent on a blockchain-based consensus model envisioned for use in handling transactions within multiplayer games with a large user base. The U.S. patent, titled “Gaming consensus protocol for blockchain,” was awarded last week and proposes the model of electing a subset of any game’s users to verify transactions, and then from within that subset choosing a leader to generate a block and broadcast it to the blockchain network. Source link
David Silver, a securities fraud and investment loss attorney known for pursuing lawsuits against cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States, has joined Coinfirm, the blockchain analytics and anti-money laundering platform company. The London-based Coinfirm announced Silver’s appointment to its board of directors in the U.S. on Thursday, saying the co-founder of the Silver Miller law firm will help defrauded investors recover their wrongfully taken cryptocurrencies. Source link
Gary Gensler, a Washington and Wall Street veteran who has closely studied the budding cryptocurrency field, will lead the financial policy transition team for projected U.S. President-elect Joe Biden. A former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Gensler was tapped to lead the agency review team for the Federal Reserve, banking and securities regulators, the Biden campaign formally announced Tuesday, following reports last week he was a contender. As CFTC chairman, Gensler served as a key financial regulator for former President Barack Obama, spearheading new derivatives rules after the 2008 financial crisis. He also served in the Treasury Department […]
Two Beijing-area regional bodies – the Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration and the Tongzhou District government – held a conference Monday that made note of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) Digital Currency Research Institute’s plan to build a legal digital currency test zone and digital financial system in China’s capital as part of the “China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone Overall Plan.” While plans to test the digital yuan in Beijing were discussed in August, the talk at this regional-level conference indicates the pilot is being included in state-level planning, as noted in the policy document about the “pilot […]
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit Thursday to stop Visa’s planned $5.3 billion acquisition of fintech firm Plaid, saying it violates antitrust laws and would eliminate competition in the online debit market. Filed in a Northern California federal court, the lawsuit described Visa as a “monopolist” in online debit transactions and noted its proposed acquisition of Plaid violates both Section 2 of the Sherman Act and Section 7 of the Clayton Act. According to the DOJ’s complaint, Visa currently operates the largest card network in the United States and has a 70% market share of all online […]
Cryptocurrency exchange and finance platform Crypto.com, said Wednesday a third-party auditor has given it high ratings on privacy and security, based on a set of standards developed by a unit of the U.S. Department of Commerce. According to Crypto.com, auditor SGS performed the assessment and found the platform has the highest rating, “Adaptive (Tier 4).” Source link
PayPal’s decision last week to embrace crypto may help with mainstream adoption, but it could also mean additional tax work for users unfamiliar with the crypto landscape. Over the next few weeks PayPal will be rolling out buy, sell and hold features for cryptocurrencies on its platform to U.S. users, but the service will not allow users to withdraw or deposit holdings. According to Internal Revenue Service rules, cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC) are treated like property; therefore, each time someone buys, sells or exchanges a digital asset it is considered a taxable event wherein the capital gains tax applies. Under PayPal’s […]
The central bank won’t pursue a CBDC for the duration of Governor Benjamin Diokno’s term, which ends in 2023. Source link
Villanova University’s College of Engineering is sending a private Ethereum blockchain into space to test whether distributed ledger technology (DLT) can help satellites exchange data. Working in collaboration with the non-profit Teachers in Space, Villanova’s engineering school secured a flight for its blockchain on a Firefly Aerospace rocket slated for launch on Nov. 20 from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The rocket will carry a “Serenity” satellite that will include Villanova’s private blockchain mounted on a Raspberry Pi, a credit card-sized single board computer. Hasshi Sudler, an adjunct professor at Villanova who is leading this project, said the large […]
Following a similar move by one of its rivals, popular cryptocurrency options exchange Deribit will require all of its users to be ID verified before the end of the year, according to a report by The Block. The largest crypto options exchange by trading volume will ask its users to submit government-issued photo identification, such as a passport or driver’s license, as well as a proof of residence, under its revamped know-your-customer (KYC) program. Source link
BTC Direct said it plans to use the funds to expand its workforce and develop new products, among other things. Source link
Ripple, the U.S.-based currency exchange and remittance network, is donating $10 million to Mercy Corps, a humanitarian aid non-profit, to “expand financial inclusion and increase economic empowerment globally.” Ripple, through a non-profit unit, works with non-government organizations, universities and industry partners to “bring the 1.7 billion unbanked adults into a modernized, global financial system that leverages the promise of financial technology,” the company said in its release. Mercy Corps will partner with RippleWorks in several countries to support development of fintech solutions involving blockchain and digital assets. Source link
Blockchain infrastructure firm Bloq is rolling out a new product to make it easier to invest in decentralized finance (DeFi) by asking users to stake their crypto, indicate a risk preference and letting the platform conduct the due diligence and actual farming for them. Announced on Wednesday, Bloq’s new platform, dubbed Vesper, is marketed as an easy-to-use platform for DeFi products. The platform will offer users the option to stake ether (ETH), wrapped bitcoin (wBTC) or USD Coin (USDC) using one of its “holding pools,” starting mid-November. Jeff Garzik, co-founder of Bloq, said that after depositing their crypto, users could indicate […]
Peer-to-peer crypto marketplace Paxful said it’s partnering with BiLira, the group behind the Turkish lira-backed stablecoin bilira (TYRB), and crypto trading platform Cointral as part of a push to trade cryptocurrencies in Eastern Europe. Paxful said the move follows strong growth in trading registrations by Turkish users over the past year. Both BiLira and Cointral are based in Turkey. In an emailed statement, Paxful said it recorded an average monthly trading volume of over $65,000 in Turkey. Source link
In the seven months since India’s top court allowed banks to legally service crypto platforms, users and trade volumes at local exchanges have increased. But regulators have said little about the rules for crypto trading. Confusion can be detrimental to market growth. So to introduce more clarity, some in the Indian crypto community are pitching a way to let platforms stay active but in a cordoned part of the market, supervised by the regulators – otherwise known as a sandbox approach. Initiated by crypto exchange BuyUCoin, the sandbox proposes a regulatory framework to bring crypto assets under existing regulations while also […]
U.K. based fintech bank Revolut has partnered with Fireblocks, a digital asset transaction and storage platform, to provide a secure payments infrastructure for the digital bank’s new cryptocurrency services. Announced Thursday, Revolut will use Fireblocks’ wallet and network infrastructure when it offers new crypto services for its 13 million global retail customers. Source link
The seven transactions involved in the movement of these funds on Wednesday were flagged by Twitter-based blockchain tracker bot Whale Alert. Source link
Regular art and digital art face a similar hurdle: insufficient liquidity. A new contract rolled out by Ark.Gallery hopes to inject some fluid in the CryptoPunk market by letting people place blind bids backed by ether (ETH), called bounties, for the increasingly in-demand digital collectibles. Launched Friday, the bounties give CryptoPunk owners the option to instantly cash out by accepting any of the live bids, as opposed to listing their product and waiting on bids in a marketplace. On the buyer side, instead of placing bids on multiple collectibles (thereby locking up more ETH) users can place a bounty on “any […]
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce discussed some major trends in the digital asset world during a chat with journalist Laura Shin, at the LA Blockchain Summit on Tuesday. While the talk kicked off with Peirce’s letter of dissent against the recent SEC decision to levy a $6.1 million fine on Unikrn, the commissioner spoke about a range of topics including decentralised finance (DeFi), her safe harbor proposal for token issuers, and, whether token airdrops and DeFi governance tokens could run into securities regulations. Right at the beginning of the talk, Peirce noted the views laid out in the chat […]
Ransomware attackers use malicious software to block access to data and demand ransom in return, oftentimes deploying the threat to make proprietary data public. Source link
Encryption startup NuCypher has finished distributing its network’s native token, NU, to over 2,000 prospective node operators who staked more than $125 million worth of ether (ETH) during the month of September. NuCypher’s system will hit Ethereum’s mainnet on Oct. 15. Primarily marketed as a solution for developers building decentralized applications (dapps), NuCypher helps firms encrypt data before they upload it to decentralized storage networks, while also retaining control over who can read the data once its uploaded (using an advanced form of flexible cryptography called proxy re-encryption). On the other side, participants who run the network’s nodes earn fees in […]
Blockchain-enabled video network Theta has partnered with Chainlink to help push back on video advertising scams, the likes of which often pop up promoting “cryptocurrency giveaway” dupes. Announced on Friday, the solution to counter scam-ads uses video performance data from Theta’s network to assign a “reputation score” for each streamer based on their viewership. Generated using Google’s big data solution, BigQuery, the score is then broadcast onto the Ethereum network using Chainlink’s oracles where advertisers can examine it while deciding to whom to give ads. Source link
A new cryptocurrency trading platform is gearing up to offer zero-fee trades to users in six countries in the Gulf Region. Announced on Thursday, the platform Fasset Exchange (FEX) has started sign-ups for its private beta and is planning a public rollout later this year. Source link
Cryptocurrency exchange and custodian Gemini announced on Thursday that its UK users, individual and institutional, will now be able to trade and store crypto using the Pound sterling (GBP). Source link
Cryptocurrency exchange and wallet platform Coinbase announced on Wednesday it has hired three new executives to serve as VPs for Product, Engineering, and Design & Research. Source link
The Chamber of Digital Commerce, a blockchain advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., announced Wednesday that former acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has joined the group’s board of advisors. In a press statement emailed to CoinDesk, the blockchain advocacy group also said Visa, Goldman Sachs and Six Digital Exchange (SDX) have joined the group as executive committee members. Source link
The District Court for the Southern District of Florida has denied Craig Wright’s request for summary judgment in a case that involves claims over ownership of about 1.1 million bitcoin (worth over $11 billion). In an order signed on Monday, Judge Beth Bloom at the Florida court denied Wright’s motion seeking summary judgment that would have prevented the matter from proceeding to a full trial. Source link
APY.Finance, a yet-to-launch decentralized finance (DeFi) yield farming aggregator, announced Monday that it has completed a $3.6M seed funding round joined by investors including Arrington XRP Capital, Alameda Research, Cluster Capital and CoinGecko. Source link
Once the registration statement becomes effective, Enigma would be required to file annual and quarterly reports with the regulatory body for its token. Source link
ParaSwap has raised $2.7 million in seed funding from 32 investors including Blockchain Capital, Alameda Research, CoinGecko and more. Source link
Under the partnership, Anchorage will provide crypto custody services to Jewel, which is applying for its full bank license in Bermuda. Source link
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled unregistered securities offering charges against online gaming and gambling platform Unikrn for conducting an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2017. Commissioner Hester M. Peirce, an outspoken advocate for cryptocurrencies, dissented. According to a press release Tuesday, the SEC alleged that between June and October 2017, Unikrn Inc. raised approximately $31 million through the UnikoinGold (UKG) token sale in violation of registration requirements. The SEC’s press release said that while the firm promised to use its funds to add more features to the platform and develop additional applications, it failed to register the sale […]
A provider of an ecosystem for the “sharing and rental economy,” ShareRing will join China’s government-backed blockchain initiative. Source link
The central bank of Thailand announced on Friday it has launched the “DLT Scripless Bond Project” aimed at building a secure and efficient government bond infrastructure. Source link
Investment management firm Wave Financial said Friday it has received its first round of investment from clients, and has purchased a 1,000 barrels of Kentucky whiskey it plans to tokenize for prospective investors. According to a press statement emailed to CoinDesk, Wave Financial purchased the whiskey from the Wilderness Trail Distillery of Danville, Ky., and plans to tokenize the holding in a year or two. Gold, cryptocurrency and real assets such as spirits have become favored alternative investments, according to the company. By tokenizing barrels of whiskey, in this case, investors gain exposure to, and benefit from, price appreciation of that […]
Crypto exchange Kraken announced Thursday that former Casa CEO Jeremy Welch has joined its team as VP of product. Source link
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken will operate in Japan for the first time in two years. The company said Tuesday its Japanese subsidiary, Payward Asia Ltd., completed the regulatory registration process and has been granted a permit to operate as a crypto asset exchange business in the country. Source link
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. Source link
The board of directors of bitcoin mining manufacturer Canaan approved a buyback program Monday for its lagging shares. Source link
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. Source link
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. Source link
Three men accused of passing themselves off as pastors to get churchgoers and other investors to put money into what prosecutors say was a $28 million Ponzi scheme have been indicted by a federal jury in Maryland. According to the indictment unsealed on Friday, Denni Jali, a South African citizen who used to live in Maryland, together with Maryland residents Arley Ray Johnson and John Erasmus Frimpong, persuaded people to invest in a cryptocurrency and foreign-exchange trading fund they ran. Instead of investing it, the three men allegedly used the money to fund their extravagant lifestyles, the indictment notes. Source link
The regulatory body had deemed the exchange dormant because it had no trading activity in the three years following its registration with the CFTC. Source link
Oasis Network, a privacy-centric data-sharing network, said it will integrate Chainlink’s price feeds into its network. Source link
Robinhood announced on Thursday it hired Norm Ashkenas and Kelly Zigatis as chief compliance officers of its Financial and Securities teams. Source link
Marketed as a lightweight blockchain, the Coda Protocol team wants to train node operators ahead of its expected mainnent launch in Q4. Source link
Mathew J. D’Souza, crypto entrepreneur and CEO of Blockware Solutions, died on Aug. 21 after a seven-year fight with leukemia. He was 29. D’Souza’s firm, a major U.S.-based mining rig distributor, announced his death and said a memorial service would be held in Park Ridge, Ill., where the company is based, on Wednesday. Despite a short life, he was greatly accomplished. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy (with Honors) in 2012 and a Master of Accounting Science in 2013 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before entering the crypto world, D’Souza worked with accounting firm KPMG. In crypto, however, […]
Beijing-based decentralized finance (DeFi) aggregator Bella Protocol announced Monday a $4 million seed round led by Arrington XRP Capital. Source link
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. Source link
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. Source link
Publicly traded brokerage firm Interactive Brokers has agreed to pay multi-million dollar penalties to the SEC, Finra and CFTC for failure to flag suspicious transactions and lapses in AML compliance. Source link
FinCEN is warning cybercriminals are exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic, and asks firms to be especially vigilant regarding their dealings with virtual currencies. Source link
Users will now be able to buy and sell XLM on Revolut’s platform, the fintech firm announced Tuesday. Source link
In a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Ripple, YouTube argues it isn’t liable for crypto scammers using its platform. The motion filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, argues that under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, “interactive computer services,” like YouTube, cannot be treated as publishers of third-party content and hence aren’t liable for it. Disclosure The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital […]
Kais Mohammad, aka “Superman29,” has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges he ran an unlicensed Bitcoin ATM network that laundered up to $25 million, including funds that originated in criminal activity. According to a recent press release by the Department of Justice, the Orange County, California, resident is pleading guilty to one count each of money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program. Disclosure The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk […]
Stocks, ETFs and crypto investment platform Robinhood told prospective UK customers the launch in the country has been indefinitely postponed. Source link
Bitbond, a Germany-based firm that provides blockchain enabled tokenization services, announced on Tuesday that it had become a member of the German bank association Bankenverband. Disclosure The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. Source link
Funds collected by the scam that breached twitter this week appear to be on the move, cryptocurrency tracing firm Elliptic said. According to transaction data associated with crypto wallets used in the security breach, a total of about $123,000 was collected by the attackers. Of that about 22%, 2.89 BTC, was transferred late last night to an address Elliptic said it “strongly believe(s)” is a Wasabi wallet. Disclosure The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of […]
While the crypto wallets associated with the scam registered over 400 transactions, the attackers seem to have made away with a relatively small haul. Source link
Blockchain enabled fantasy soccer platform Sorare announced today that it has raised $4 million in a seed funding round led by e.ventures. In an announcement emailed to Coindesk, the firm said that in addition to venture capital investors like e.ventures and Fabric Ventures, a former member of German national soccer team, Andre Schurrle, has also invested in the firm. Using the ethereum blockchain, Sorare generates unique digital trading cards representing professional soccer players that can be traded by users. A user plays as the team manager and can use their five cards to compete in the weekly league competitions. Recently, Sorare […]
According to the crypto exchange’s report, June was the most uneventful month for Bitcoin (BTC) trading since February and was marked by a reversal in correlation trends with gold and the S&P 500. Source link
Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex will have to face allegations from New York State that it hid millions in lost funds, according to a ruling by the State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division on Thursday. iFinex, which operates both Bitfinex and Tether, argued the funds had been deposited with a Panama-based company and were later seized by authorities in different countries. The firm had earlier also said that it has been working to recover the funds seized by the Portuguese, Polish and American governments. In its decision, the appeals court rejected the argument that Tether was neither a commodity nor a security, and affirmed […]
Chicago based firm Ceres wants to build a “seed to sale” transaction network for cannabis on the blockchain using its dollar-backed stablecoin – if the digital security is approved for sale by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Launched in 2017 by West Point graduates and former U.S. soldiers Greg Anderson and Charlie Uchill, Ceres recently filed paperwork with the SEC to conduct a Reg. A sale, seeking permission to sell both a token and a coin. The token would represent an equity holding in the company, but the firm plans to use the coins as an actual transaction tool […]
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, said it would prioritize strengthening its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing efforts through digital transformation as new leadership gets under way. Disclosure The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. Source link
Blockchain technology firm Bison Trails announced its support for features of Eth2 ahead of Ethereum’s planned upgrade. Disclosure The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. Source link
Ransomware group Netwalker is believed to be behind the attack on UCSF, which temporarily restricted access to the medical school’s data. Source link
Brooklyn-based blockchain firm Kadena hopes its new app can verify that COVID-19 tests are the real deal by letting users track test kits. Announced Thursday, Kadena said the open-source application would be available to use on its testnet immediately, and would provide a secure way for medical professionals and patients to communicate and store test results. Helmed by former JPMorgan blockchain leads, Kadena markets itself as a high-throughput alternative to the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains. Its plan to ensure the authenticity of coronavirus tests is to use QR codes to track the kits from the manufacturer to the healthcare provider, making […]
Institutional digital asset technology firm Metaco is partnering with the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center (FSBC) to find ways of bolstering its services using the think tank’s research. The Switzerland-based company announced Wednesday that it would be tapping research conducted by the FSBC to better inform the security and service design of its infrastructure tech. According to Philipp Schulden, head of operations at FSBC, research work done under the partnership will largely focus on the kind of infrastructure needs a tokenized economy would have such as custody, transfer, trading and initial tokenization of assets. One of the research centers at the Frankfurt […]
The Bank of Thailand is developing a prototype payments system which would rely on a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The central bank announced Thursday that it would target businesses, and would design a payment system that could be integrated with the procurement and financial management system of Siam Cement Group, Thailand’s oldest cement manufacturer, and its suppliers. The bank said the digital currency prototype is being developed by Digital Ventures, a fintech-facing venture capital wing of the Siam Commercial Bank that invested in Ripple in 2016. According to the statement, the project will also include a feasibility study on the […]
Almost a month after announcing its proposal to migrate to the Solana Blockchain, the Kin cryptocurrency project announced Friday that the move had been approved by its board and community, and a transition plan would be released in the coming weeks. The Kin Foundation said in a press release that the move to Solana’s blockchain was in response to a growing user base, which was hitting limitations on the Stellar blockchain fork the cryptocurrency is currently built on. According to the firm, the cryptocurrency currently has over 3 million active monthly spenders and has been integrated into 57 different, mostly mobile, […]
After two years of development, one of Japan’s largest investment banks has finally entered the digital asset custody business through a joint venture with two cryptocurrency startups. Komainu, a venture between Nomura Holdings, CoinShares and Ledger, officially launched Wednesday. Based in the U.K.’s Jersey Channel Islands, the new business serves as a custodian and provides regulatory compliance and insurance services to institutional investors for their digital asset holdings. CoinShares CEO and co-founder Jean-Marie Mognetti, who will run Komainu as well, said in a press release the venture will cater to traditional institutional investors such as banks, pension funds and mutual funds […]
Fans of South Korean professional soccer will now be able to collect and trade digital tokens representing league players and use them to play fantasy soccer games run by the firm Sorare. The South Korean soccer association K League announced a licensing agreement with the blockchain enabled fantasy soccer platform on Wednesday. The agreement gives Sorare the right to include over 400 players from the league’s upper division onto its platform, which currently includes players from prominent teams like Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Napoli, according to a press release. Based in Paris, France, Sorare uses the Ethereum blockchain to generate unique […]
The Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) within Thailand’s Ministry of Finance has announced it plans to sell 200 million baht ($6.42 million) in savings bonds using a blockchain-based e-wallet. In a statement released on its website Tuesday, the ministry said the bonds carry an extremely low face value of 1 baht ($0.032) each and would be sold through the state-owned Krung Thai Bank’s blockchain wallet. The statement said distributing the bonds through the blockchain e-wallet was a step towards increasing the efficiency of the government system and an investment in the true digital economy. According to a report by the local […]
Crypto exchange OKEx is partnering with peer-to-peer marketplace Paxful to enable new fiat onramps for its customers. Paxful said in an emailed statement Monday that the move would benefit its own users by providing better liquidity and ease of access. According to the statement, Paxful would work as a fiat-to-cryptocurrency ramp for OkEx and its services will allow users to buy bitcoin with over 160 different national currencies, including the euro, pound sterling, Indian rupee and Thai baht. “With this partnership, we hope to make crypto more accessible as a real-world payment method,” said Ray Youssef, CEO and co-founder of Paxful, […]
Gemini, the U.S.-based crypto exchange and custodian, is planning to expand its services to Singapore with the appointment of Jeremy Ng as its new Managing Director of Asia-Pacific. Ng’s appointment as Gemini’s Asia managing director makes the firm eligible to apply for a license with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under Singapore’s 2019 Payment Services Act. According to the act, a qualifying requirement for a license application is that at least one of the firm’s directors should be Singaporean or a permanent resident of Singapore, where Ng resides. Previously the Asia CEO of Leonteq, a firm specializing in structured financial […]
A blockchain consultancy affiliated with accounting giant Grant Thornton is teaming up with CipherTrace to better track cybercrimes. Catallaxy, a subsidiary of accounting firm Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton, which itself is a member firm of Grant Thornton International, announced the partnership with the cryptocurrency intelligence firm on Thursday. In a press statement, the company said it would be the first time its auditing solution could directly ingest data from a blockchain analysis firm. “This new relationship, which combines leading experts in cryptocurrency, blockchain and auditing, creates the next level of innovation in bringing investigative tools to the market,” said Stephen Ryan, […]
Decentralised storage network provider Filecoin announced the launch of the ‘Incentivized Testnet’, the final phase of testing for its decentralized storage network, on Wednesday. In a press statement emailed to CoinDesk, the firm said that this precedes its expected main network launch this summer. Developed by Protocol Labs, Filecoin’s storage network aims to provide a safeguard against the risk of a single point of failure for data storage by using a decentralised network. Filecoin was also behind one of the major ICOs in 2017 when it raised more than $257 million. According to the firm, the top 100 miners globally as […]
London-based investment firm ETC Group plans to list a bitcoin-backed security on the German electronic trading market later this month. The firm announced Tuesday the exchange-traded product (ETP), called the Bitcoin Exchange Traded Crypto (BTCE), is the world’s first centrally cleared derivative crypto asset, and would be listed on Deutsche Borse’s Xetra market based in Frankfurt, Germany. Central clearing is a tool used in the European derivatives market to bolster stability by ensuring a financial institution takes on counterparty credit-risk. The crypto security is also backed by bitcoin, with each share giving the holder a claim to a specific amount of […]