Blockchain & Digital Assets

August 25, 2024 @ 6:52 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has uncovered unsatisfactory practices at several “deemed-to-be-licensed” cryptocurrency exchange platforms during recent on-site inspections, according to a Bloomberg report. These findings come as the city pushes forward with its ambition to become a leading digital-asset hub, but faces… Read More

August 25, 2024 @ 12:32 pm By Michael Wong  |  

California-based crypto startup Sorella Labs has announced raising $7.5 million in its latest funding round anchored by tech investment firm Paradigm. The round, which will be used to finance the expansion of the startup’s operations and development efforts, was also backed by a host of… Read More

August 25, 2024 @ 11:56 am By Omar Faridi  |  

4 in 5 consumes are spending the most time on X, Telegram and YouTube for crypto, according to an update from CoinGecko. The social media platforms most used for crypto “are X (formerly Twitter), Telegram and YouTube, which represented a combined 84.0% of the crypto… Read More

August 25, 2024 @ 11:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Soneium by Sony Block Solutions Labs has officially been introduced in order to support the future of Web3. Soneium, by Sony Block Solutions Labs is “building a public Ethereum layer 2 next-generation blockchain ecosystem designed to invoke emotion and empower creativity.” Soneium will connect the… Read More

August 25, 2024 @ 9:37 am By Michael Wong  |  

Pavel Durov, the Russian-French billionaire founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested at Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening. At one point, Durov sought to issue a native crypto TON (Gram), but following an enforcement action by the Securities and Exchange… Read More

August 24, 2024 @ 10:48 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Zumo, the B2B digital assets infrastructure, has signed the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Declaration, reinforcing its commitment to a greener financial services industry as it extends its reach further into the region. The Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Declaration “is a voluntary membership-based initiative launched by… Read More

August 24, 2024 @ 12:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Agora has launched its “fully collateralized” US digital dollar, AUSD, on the Avalanche network. Built on the philosophy that money should be neutral, AUSD brings to “bear an open model that incentivizes businesses–from exchanges and applications to Fintechs and payment providers–to contribute to and service… Read More

August 24, 2024 @ 11:51 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Superstate Industry Council is welcoming the second cohort of institutions. This diverse group of institutions joins them in “shaping Superstate’s product roadmap and driving the adoption of tokenization within traditional financial services and capital markets.” Since the council’s inception in March 2024, dozens of organizations… Read More

August 24, 2024 @ 8:44 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Sygnum, a global digital asset banking group with ~$4.5 billion in client assets, has issued the industry-first syndicated loan backed by Bitcoin (BTC) to premier crypto lender Ledn, which will be used to fund the growth of Ledn’s retail lending operations. Syndicated among Sygnum’s institutional… Read More

August 24, 2024 @ 7:36 am By Omar Faridi  |  

China’s supreme court has updated its interpretation of the nation’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws in order recognize “virtual asset” transfers for the first time ever. China passed its AML law on January 1, 2007, making the most recent update its first major one in 20… Read More

August 23, 2024 @ 11:15 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Tether, which claims to be one of the largest companies in the digital asset industry, announced plans for the addition of a new stablecoin that is pegged to the United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED). Set to be launched in collaboration with UAE’s multi-billion dollar tech… Read More

August 23, 2024 @ 10:56 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Anchorage Digital, the crypto platform for institutions, is pleased to announce its first stablecoin rewards program, enabling institutions to earn competitive rewards on PayPal USD (PYUSD) balances held at Anchorage Digital or in our recently launched institutional self-custody wallet, Porto. PYUSD remains fully accessible and… Read More

August 23, 2024 @ 10:55 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Franklin Templeton, a global investment firm with $1.6T in assets under management, has expanded its L1 blockchain footprint by extending the availability of its first-of-its-kind on-chain money market fund to the Avalanche network. The Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX or the Fund) was… Read More

August 23, 2024 @ 8:30 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Arch Lending, the crypto-backed loan provider, announced $75M in funds raised, including an oversubscribed $5M equity seed round and a $70M loan financing facility. The equity round was co-led by Morgan Creek Digital and Castle Island Ventures with participation from Galaxy Ventures, BitGo Ventures, and… Read More

August 22, 2024 @ 9:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Copper.co, a firm focused on digital asset custody, collateral management and prime services, has added custody and staking support for MINA, the native currency of Mina Protocol, a next-gen zero knowledge (ZK) blockchain. This integration expands options “for institutional clientele to participate in the Mina… Read More

August 22, 2024 @ 9:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team behind Story Protocol is announcing $140M in total fundraising to build Story, which is described as the world’s IP blockchain. As explained by the Story Protocol developers, Intellectual property (IP) is one of the world’s biggest asset classes. Training data, AI models, memes,… Read More

August 22, 2024 @ 2:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Cumula 3, a provider of cloud-based solutions for NetSuite, announces a strategic partnership with Paystand, a provider of B2B payment solutions. Cumula 3 will integrate Paystand‘s advanced payment platform into its “portfolio of software and services for NetSuite customers, enabling them to leverage simplified transactions,… Read More

August 22, 2024 @ 10:32 am By JD Alois  |  

The Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) has now approved two Solana-based ETFs (SOL). The first was approved earlier this month, offered by a Brazilian asset manager QR Asset, according to reports. The second was approved this past week. Solana joins a global movement of… Read More

August 22, 2024 @ 10:15 am By JD Alois  |  

In 2020, the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) added OmegaPro and affiliated platforms to its “blacklist” of trading platforms that consumers should avoid. Unfortunately, that was insufficient to deter people from throwing good money… Read More

August 22, 2024 @ 7:58 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Bitpanda and Coinmotion have revealed a new partnership. Coinmotion is a crypto broker operating in the Nordic region. Bitpanda is a successful Austrian firm that has expanded its reach into services beyond crypto and other countries. Bitpanda Technology Solutions will be utilized by Coinmotion to… Read More