News this week that R3 and IBM are working together raised eyebrows, because each entity has been on different and competing sides since the early days of enterprise blockchain. From next month, the commercial version of Corda (the version big banks and the like are paying R3 for) will be made available via IBM’s LinuxOne servers, delivering a hybrid of on-premise and cloud offerings. R3 announced […]
Ian Allison
52 posts
Call it Crypto Lite – for now. Fintech giant PayPal confirmed its long-awaited move into digital assets Wednesday, offering its 346 million users the chance to buy, hold and sell bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether and litecoin, with the blessing of New York state regulators. While the cryptosphere acknowledges the bullishness of a firm the size of PayPal making a move into the space, there was also […]
A group of former bankers building on R3’s public Corda Network are touting the first digital currency for that ecosystem, dubbed XDC. Announced Tuesday, the Cordite Society, a co-operative registered in the U.K., released the XDC crypto token on public Corda, the open-source version of R3’s network. The new regulation-friendly cryptocoin will open the door, say its creators at Cordite, to various decentralized finance (DeFi) applications […]
Block.one, the company behind the multibillion-dollar-backed EOS ecosystem, has its sights locked on the enterprise blockchain space. Announced Thursday, Block.one has released “EOSIO for Business,” an enterprise-focused version of its software featuring Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS), consulting, technical support and training and certification programs, the company said. Blockchain cloud services can offer businesses a quick and painless way to spin up digital ledgers on their preferred cloud computing […]
The director of Binance UK, Teana Baker-Taylor, is leaving the cryptocurrency exchange after a relatively brief, half-year stint in the role. A spokesperson for Binance confirmed to CoinDesk that Baker-Taylor will depart “in a few days,” adding: “We would like to thank Teana for her hard work and achievements leading Binance UK and wish her all the best for the future.” Josh Goodbody, Binance’s director of […]
As the limitations and costs of running decentralized finance (DeFi) apps on Ethereum continue to ride high, a growing list of projects are lining up on competing blockchains. Adding to this trend, Polkadot-based Reef Finance has closed a $3.9 million seed funding round for its cross-chain suite of DeFi services, the company announced Wednesday. Included in the round were NGC Ventures, AU21 Capital, QCP Capital, Kenetic […]
Some tricks of the trade employed by today’s booming decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms are being used for a completely new paradigm: decentralized data marketplaces. Announced Thursday, blockchain-based data monetization startup Ocean Protocol is teaming up with Balancer Labs to create the first automated market maker (AMM) for data. Ocean Protocol is about helping people and businesses unlock data and monetize it, spreading the benefits of data […]
As decentralized finance (DeFi) balloons to a roughly $10 billion market, infrastructure builders are coming up with ways to reduce the associated risks. Announced Wednesday, wallet and custodial technology provider Trustology has added a “DeFi Firewall” to its suite of institutional-investment tools. The “Firewall” is basically a set of rules or filters selected by a fund, specifying which DeFi protocols or decentralized exchanges they consider kosher. […]
Ethereum data firm Dune Analytics, which has stood out from the pack for its focus on decentralized finance (DeFi) projects, has raised $2 million from a mix of seasoned crypto investors and DeFi angels. Announced Wednesday, the seed round was led by Dragonfly Capital and included Multicoin Capital, Coinbase Ventures and Digital Currency Group (the owner of CoinDesk). The list of angel investors in the round […]
Netherlands-based Blockdata, which provides qualitative insights into the range of large enterprises using blockchain technology, has been acquired by data provider CB Insights. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. New York City’s CB Insights will be opening an office in Amsterdam, while Blockdata will remain a standalone product with its own team. Blockdata’s work will also be available to CB Insights clients, the […]
A leaked version of rules to be issued later this month by the European Commission proposes an all-encompassing set of regulations covering the trading or issuance of digital assets across the 27-nation bloc. Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) draft legislation provides legal certainty around crypto assets – cryptocurrencies, security tokens and stablecoins – along the same lines as Europe’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), a […]
The folks building the next generation of digital money in Switzerland understand the need to collaborate. Stablecoins, digital tokens pegged one-to-one to the Swiss franc (CHF) in this case, are a prime example. SEBA Bank and Sygnum Bank, the two B2B players that hold banking licenses from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority and that specialize in digital assets, are both involved in stablecoin explorations, as […]
“A pandemic-led acceleration of adoption.” That’s how Singapore-based DBS Bank describes the current state of digital assets in its quarterly report on cryptocurrencies published in August. It’s interesting to hear such an observation from a respected multinational bank and its chief economist, Taimur Baig. However, there have lately been murmurings about certain large financial institutions – particularly in places like Singapore, Switzerland and Germany – fielding […]
Blockchain investment firm Digital Currency Group (DCG) has acquired Luno, a retail-focused cryptocurrency exchange with over five million customers spanning over 40 countries. Luno will continue to operate as an independent, wholly-owned subsidiary of DCG, the companies said. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed in an announcement Wednesday. The deal marks another shift in strategy for DCG (which also wholly owns CoinDesk) as […]
A group of VC heavyweights and crypto entrepreneurs, including Blockfolio founder Ed Moncada, are backing a new risk management tool for the exploding decentralized finance (DeFi) space. Announced Thursday, Cozy Finance has raised a $2 million seed round, led by Electric Capital and including Variant Fund, Dragonfly Capital, Robot Ventures, Slow Ventures, Volt Capital, Spencer Noon, Moncada and others. The team attempting to bring some order […]
People may like the idea of blockchains and web 3.0, but they tend to hit an immediate obstacle in the form of private cryptographic keys and mnemonic seed phrases that cannot be lost, forgotten or divulged at any cost. Private key management specialist Torus replaces that jarring user experience with what appears to be a familiar single login, but one that’s reinforced behind the scenes by […]
Concordium, an ambitious project whose founders have close links to companies including Volvo, IKEA, Saxo Bank and Nasdaq, is looking to shake up the seemingly glacial world of enterprise blockchain. The most striking thing about Concordium, which launches its third testnet next month, is the way it pushes what was once anathema to big corporates: public and permissionless blockchains. Businesses, wary of tipping their hands and […]
When Hong Kong regulators gave crypto firm OSL a nod of approval last week, it was the icing on the cake for the HKEX-listed digital asset trading platform. Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) granted BC Group crypto subsidiary OSL an “approval-in-principle” for its license application for Type 1 (dealing in securities) and Type 7 (automated trading service or ATS), as it pertains to crypto […]
The new bitcoin transaction automatically complies with the FATF Travel Rule and will save intermediaries from doing it all manually. Source link
There’s a joke in the world of digital advertising: How many companies does it take to put an ad on a website? In fact, there can be as many as 15 intermediaries participating in this opaque process, sponging up around 30% of the advertising spend. To fix this broken system, the next generation of adtech specialists are again pinning their hopes on blockchain technology. Announced Thursday, […]
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
Africa isn’t included on the virtual asset regulatory map just yet. But crypto businesses seeing strong growth across the 54-country continent are working hard on know-your-customer (KYC) rules to meet the exacting standards set out by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). A broad range of entities operating in Africa, ranging from crypto exchanges to remittance providers to peer-to-peer marketplaces, are exploring KYC options, which could […]
Music is back on the blockchain. Audius, a streaming service that connects music fans directly with artists, has raised $3.1 million in a strategic round co-led by Multicoin Capital and Blockchange Ventures, with participation from Pantera Capital and Coinbase Ventures. Audius has now raised a total of $8.6 million as the platform prepares for prime time, having grown in less than a year to over 250,000 […]
Ethereum’s Devcon 1, held in London in November 2015, was like Woodstock, except perhaps with less nudity. Bankers and Big 4 consultants disguised in hoodies shared space with dreadlocked Ethereum coders, sitting cross-legged in the corners, their laptops open in front of them. Packed into a Victorian banking hall in the heart of the City of London, the audience listened as ConsenSys chief Joe Lubin predicted […]
Crypto companies enthusiastically building solutions to bring the industry in line with anti-money laundering (AML) benchmarks may be creating their own interoperability problem. There are a number of promising and popular solutions coming to the fore, but If a virtual asset service provider (VASP) using one solution is unable to talk to a counterparty using another, the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) requirement to leave an […]
PayPal, the fintech giant planning to bring crypto trading to its massive user base, has chosen Paxos to handle the new service’s supply of digital assets, according to two people familiar with the matter. It’s a plum assignment for New York-based Paxos, which last week launched Paxos Crypto Brokerage and announced its first customer in Revolut US, the American division of the U.K.-based fintech firm that […]
IBM is giving its blockchain track-and-trace capabilities the social-impact treatment with a provenance application that enables coffee drinkers to directly assist the smallholders who farmed the beans. Announced Wednesday, IBM has teamed up with J. M. Smucker Company – the $12.2 billion food giant behind coffee brands like Folgers, Café Bustelo and Dunkin’ – to trace the supply chain of Colombian coffee. The program is meant to […]
Evertas, an insurance provider focused on the cryptocurrency space, has raised $2.8 million in a seed round led by Morgan Creek. 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 […]
There may be an enterprise blockchain arms race brewing in Latin America. LatamLink, an alliance of three organizations involved in the launch of the EOS public blockchain in 2018, is now busy integrating the EOSIO software for enterprise uses. The group seems to be competing for business in the region with ConsenSys, a globally distributed outfit focused on all things Ethereum. Up for grabs is LACChain, […]
Binance Labs, the incubation and seed funding arm of the world’s largest crypto exchange, has made its first investment this year, backing decentralized privacy startup HOPR. Announced Thursday, Binance Labs led a $1 million seed round in HOPR, which also saw investment from Focus Labs, Spark Digital Capital, Caballeros Capital and Synaitken. The seed round followed a fellowship award the startup received last year from BinanceX, […]
Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA), the business end of the second-largest blockchain, has appointed a new executive director, Daniel C. Burnett. Burnett, who previously worked as a standards architect within Ethereum-focused ConsenSys, wants to widen the EEA’s scope beyond banks and blue chips, to include exchanges. Burnett even aims to embrace the brave new world of decentralized finance (DeFi), which has proven to be one of Ethereum’s […]
Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange by trading volume, has donated 27,000 KN95 masks worth over $60,000 to the U.K. National Health Service’s Pru Trust to aid the fight against COVID-19. The Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) is one of London’s largest and busiest teaching hospitals. It’s part of the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which employs more than 11,000 healthcare workers and delivers services […]
Ocean Protocol, a blockchain-based data-sharing platform, has completed a proof-of-concept (PoC) with Daimler, showing how the Mercedes-Benz maker can begin monetizing data streams within the company and across its supply chains. Announced Tuesday, the Singapore-based Ocean collaborated with Daimler AG to explore the decentralized sharing of internal sales and financial data among the multinational’s production hubs, and externally between some of its supply chain procurement partners. […]