Blockchain & Digital Assets

April 21, 2025 @ 9:06 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The digital assets and blockchain ecosystem in early 2025 has experienced considerable volatility and it has been impacted by global economic / political uncertainty as well, based on insights drawn from CoinGecko’s 2025 Q1 Crypto Industry Report and Sumsub’s Crypto Industry Report 2025. These research… Read More

April 21, 2025 @ 8:37 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The fintech sector continues to reshape global finance, with Royal Park Partners’ Fintech Report offering an analysis of its trajectory. The report highlights key trends, transactions, and challenges shaping the Fintech (financial technology) industry, emphasizing the resilience and adaptability of fintech firms in a dynamic… Read More

April 21, 2025 @ 8:10 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Circle Internet Group, Inc., a global financial technology company and stablecoin market participant, today announced Circle Payments Network to connect financial institutions – banks, neo-banks, payment service providers, virtual asset service providers and digital wallets – and enable real-time settlement of cross-border payments using regulated… Read More

April 20, 2025 @ 8:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Supreme Court of India dismissed a petition filed by 54 victims of the WazirX hack on April 16, 2025, seeking action against the crypto exchange and its associates. The decision underscores the persistent regulatory ambiguity surrounding cryptocurrencies in India, leaving victims of the $235… Read More

April 20, 2025 @ 7:19 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Another milestone for tokenized real-world assets, gold-backed assets surging, a Canadian Solana ETF approval, and increased acceptance of cryptocurrency payments are among the DeFi topics that caught the experts’ attention this week. Tokenized RWAs cross $20B threshold “The tokenized RWA market crossing $20 billion in… Read More

April 20, 2025 @ 6:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Charles Schwab Corp. is set to make a leap into the cryptocurrency market. During a recent earnings call, CEO Rick Wurster announced a plan to introduce spot crypto trading for the firm’s clients within the next 12 months. This move signals a step forward for… Read More

April 20, 2025 @ 6:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The cryptocurrency market has been rocked yet again by the dramatic crash of Mantra’s $OM token, which plummeted over 90% in a single hour on April 14, 2025, wiping out approximately $6 billion in market capitalization. This unprecedented event has understandably sparked widespread scrutiny, with… Read More

April 20, 2025 @ 3:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ethereum and Cosmos, two major blockchain networks, are inching closer to seamless integration, which is a development that could redefine decentralized ecosystems, according to an update from CertiK. According to a recent CertiK research report, efforts to merge these protocols—through EVM-compatible chains, consensus-layer swaps, and… Read More

April 20, 2025 @ 2:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) has exposed a $4.3 million scam targeting Canadian investors. The operation, dubbed “Operation Avalanche,” revealed a sophisticated scheme orchestrated by overseas crime groups using a tactic known as “approval phishing.” This fraudulent method reportedly tricked 89 unsuspecting victims into… Read More

April 20, 2025 @ 6:27 am By Michael Wong  |  

Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) said it would strengthen its regulatory function by moving its public officer asset declarations online through a new On-line Assets Declaration System (OADS), aiming to deepen transparency and enforce compliance in the fight against corruption. Abdullahi Bello Usman, CCB… Read More

April 19, 2025 @ 10:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Circle, the issuer of USDC, has unveiled the Refund Protocol, a smart contract system designed to bring non-custodial refunds and on-chain dispute resolution to stablecoin payments. As explained in a blog post by Circle, this innovation addresses a critical gap in stablecoin transactions, which have… Read More

April 19, 2025 @ 10:50 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A Brazilian court has reportedly sentenced Joel Ferreira de Souza, the lead launderer behind the Braiscompany cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, to an unprecedented 128 years, 5 months, and 28 days in prison—one of the longest sentences for financial crimes in Brazil’s history. Alongside de Souza, two… Read More

April 19, 2025 @ 10:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A key milestone for digital assets infrastructure is here: Treehouse Labs has  closed a new funding round, valuing the company at US $400 million. Led by the venture arm of one of the world’s largest life insurance and financial services firms – managing over $500… Read More

April 19, 2025 @ 4:53 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

This week, HashKey Capital launched the HashKey XRP Tracker Fund. The company said it is the first investment fund in Asia designed to track the performance of XRP. One of the world’s leading digital assets infrastructure providers, Ripple, is an early investor. The HashKey XRP… Read More

April 19, 2025 @ 3:47 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

YouHodler’s chief of markets, Ruslan Lienkha, recently spoke about Bitcoin’s place in investment markets. What does Bitcoin’s near four-year dominance suggest about investor confidence amid global market uncertainty? The current trend in Bitcoin dominance differs significantly from the previous cycle. Unlike past bull markets, Bitcoin… Read More

April 18, 2025 @ 9:27 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Smart Controls, a solution developed by Paystand, a blockchain-enabled B2B payments provider, helps companies navigate tariffs, In the wake of escalating market fluctuations driven by the Trump administration’s updated tariff policies, midsized companies face unprecedented supply chain shifts—tariffs have become the new black swan. As… Read More

April 18, 2025 @ 6:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Particula, a risk assessment and analytics provider for digital assets, announced the completion of a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) with S&P Global Ratings, a provider of credit ratings, market data, and risk analytics. The initiative explored the potential of data-driven analytics to “support the automated risk assessment… Read More

April 18, 2025 @ 12:55 pm By JD Alois  |  

Nansen is out with a report on the Stable Act, the legislation that creates a regulatory environment for fiat based stablecoins, and who is most likely to benefit. The report notes that yield-bearing, decentralized offerings will be no more as the digital dollar must be… Read More

April 18, 2025 @ 11:47 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Canada appears to be taking significant steps to integrate cryptocurrencies into its financial ecosystem, with recent updates from the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) and Coinbase providing more clarity for investors navigating the seemingly complex world of crypto assets. These developments underscore Canada’s commitment to fostering… Read More

April 18, 2025 @ 11:29 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Hidden Road, the credit network for institutions, announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Hidden Road Partners CIV US LLC, has secured approval from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to operate as a FINRA-member broker-dealer. This approval reportedly enables Hidden Road to expand its recently launched… Read More