Blockchain & Digital Assets

January 15, 2024 @ 8:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

FINRA published its 2024 FINRA Annual Regulatory Oversight Report, formerly known as the Report on FINRA’s Examination and Risk Monitoring Program. The report provides member firms “with key insights and observations from recent activities of FINRA’s regulatory operations to use in strengthening their compliance programs.”… Read More

January 15, 2024 @ 8:14 am By Omar Faridi  |  

CertiK has released the Web3 Security Report for Q3 2023. CertiK explains that the report aims to serve “as an essential resource and record of statistics for understanding security challenges and vulnerabilities in the Web3 space.” The update from CertiK is intended to equip stakeholders… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 5:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

David Carlisle, the Vice President of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Elliptic, noted that on January 10, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) undertook the landmark step of approving 11 spot Bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs). David Carlisle, who brings a wealth of experience… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 4:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

SlowMist has been analyzing the attacks and major incidents of 2023. SlowMist‘s latest report will focus on the anti-money laundering (AML) trends in the blockchain sector for the same year. Thanks to the support of our InMist Intelligence Network partners, SlowMist aided clients, partners, and… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 4:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

VanEck, a global investment fund manager with $76.4 billion USD in assets under management, announced recently the listing of its spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) under the ticker HODL, with Gemini named as custodian. Both Gemini and VanEck claim that they “have been pioneers in… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 4:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

BIGG Digital Assets Inc. (CSE: BIGG), an innovator in the digital assets space and owner of TerraZero, Netcoins, and Blockchain Intelligence Group is pleased to announce select unaudited financial results for Netcoins’ Q4 2023 and the launch of its Crypto Trading API. Assets under Management… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 4:06 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

CoinShares International Limited (Nasdaq Stockholm: CS; US OTCQX: CNSRF) announced it has exercised the option to acquire Valkyrie Funds LLC, the U.S. digital asset manager’s investment advisory business specializing “in actively managed cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds, from Valkyrie Investments Inc.” CoinShares‘ decision to exercise this option… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 3:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Trading and investing platform, eToro, announced the addition of spot bitcoin ETFs to the platform, following the Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval of the products. US users can buy iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) on eToro for whole share… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 3:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bitpanda has commented on why they think spot Bitcoin ETFs are a “game-changer” for the crypto market. Bitpanda notes in a blog post the crypto world has “reached an important milestone as major financial institutions receive approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 4:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Valmar Capital,  a digital assets multi-manager multi-strategy platform that brings together a broad array of crypto-strategies and emerging talent, has taken a look ahead to comment on key anticipated developments to watch in 2024. Valmar Capital, which says its approach is backed by institutional-grade infrastructure,… Read More

January 13, 2024 @ 4:06 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Injective, a blockchain for Web3 finance applications, announced its Volan chain upgrade, marking its “largest” mainnet upgrade to date. Injective has introduced a Real World Asset (RWA) Module, offering a new approach “to creating and managing permissioned assets with extensive customization options.” This module enables… Read More

January 13, 2024 @ 4:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Spectrum Markets, the pan-European trading venue for securities saw a surge in overnight activity on products “linked to bitcoin, in the hours following the SEC’s announcement approving the first spot bitcoin ETF.” The volume of bitcoin-linked instruments “traded on Spectrum Wednesday was five times higher… Read More

January 13, 2024 @ 11:34 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) experienced an embarrassing breach of security when its X (formerly Twitter) account was hacked. The perpetrators took the opportunity to announce the approval of Bitcoin ETFs one day before the SEC intended to announce it publicly. In the following… Read More

January 13, 2024 @ 11:24 am By Omar Faridi  |  

New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris has announced that Genesis Global Trading, Inc. will “pay an $8 million penalty to New York State for compliance failures that violated DFS’s virtual currency and cybersecurity regulations and left the company vulnerable… Read More

January 13, 2024 @ 10:43 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Open Campus announced that Open Campus ID, its decentralized identifier (DID), will launch on 23 January to “connect potentially millions of learners from Open Campus’ network of partners to Web3 education through the Open Campus Alliance.” The Open Campus Alliance is described as “an ecosystem… Read More

January 12, 2024 @ 9:36 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Fenergo, the provider of digital solutions for client lifecycle management (CLM), know your customer (KYC) and transaction monitoring, released its annual findings on global financial institution enforcement actions, which reveal that “the value of penalties imposed on firms surged 57% in 2023.” Penalties for failing… Read More

January 12, 2024 @ 9:00 am By JD Alois  |  

The Biden Administration has not been known for embracing Fintech innovation and, in the past couple of years, has become more hostile towards digital assets in general. One aspect the Biden Administration is pursuing that may undermine crypto is the digital asset mining energy excise… Read More

January 12, 2024 @ 8:59 am By JD Alois  |  

Vanguard, a financial services firm with over 50 million investors, is blocking its customers from purchasing newly listed Bitcoin ETFs. The news was circulating on X yesterday, with Vanguard responding to questions about accessing Bitcoin EFTs as follows: “Thank you for your question! While we… Read More

January 12, 2024 @ 8:37 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Galaxy Asset Management, which claims to be one of the largest digital assets and blockchain investment managers, in partnership with Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ), a global provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), announced the launch of the Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCO). BTCO invests directly in… Read More

January 12, 2024 @ 2:45 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Zebec, a Fintech startup, announces the launch of its Web3 payment and real-time payroll services in Japan. This move marks Zebec’s continued global expansion and “underscores its commitment to fostering collaborative financial innovation worldwide.” Japan, known for pioneering a regulatory framework “for digital finance, offers… Read More