Blockchain & Digital Assets

April 18, 2024 @ 5:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Circle marked a significant compliance milestone this month by completing a System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 Type 2 security audit under standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The SOC 2 Type 2 is a rigorous examination “conducted by an… Read More

April 18, 2024 @ 12:52 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Failed cryptocurrency lending firm Genesis will reportedly be returning 97% of crypto-assets from a customer program with digital asset platform Gemini by May of this year. This update has been shared after a New York based bankruptcy Judge stated on Tuesday that they have approved… Read More

April 18, 2024 @ 9:44 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Paystand, the global enabler of B2B payments, today announced it has brought full payments integration to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. In addition Paystand will support Dynamics NAV, GP, AX, and Dynamics 365 Finance. It has also established a partnership “with independent software vendor ERP… Read More

April 18, 2024 @ 8:32 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Since 2020, median home prices have risen by 16%, while the median household income has increased by ~1% – from $76,660 in 2020 to $77,283 in 2024. For a median-priced home worth $417,700, a 15% down payment would cost $62,655. Anthony Scaramucci & SkyBridge have… Read More

April 17, 2024 @ 6:24 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Homium, Inc., a home equity mortgage lender and securitization platform, has launched its tokenized home equity loans on Avalanche. Homium’s shared appreciation home equity loans “provide homeowners with a novel way to borrow against their home equity without increasing their monthly debt burden.” Homium’s launch… Read More

April 17, 2024 @ 11:33 am By JD Alois  |  

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the entity that represents all of Canada’s provincial and territorial securities regulators, has posted a note on “crypto asset trading platforms” (CTPs) and the previously adopted “interim approach to value-referenced crypto assets (VRCAs).” In common terms, a VRCA is a… Read More

April 17, 2024 @ 11:18 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a global professional services firm, announced the successful completion of an innovative pilot for placing insurance using blockchain and smart contract technology. The pilot was conducted with Nayms SAC Ltd., “a crypto-compatible insurance marketplace, and Copper.co, a digital assets custodian.” Benefits… Read More

April 17, 2024 @ 8:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Binance Academy, the crypto learning hub of Binance, has partnered with European educational institutions to launch a series of paid university-accredited courses. Their curricula will cover key topics and disciplines of blockchain and Web3, “offering learners a deep understanding of the digital-asset space.” By offering… Read More

April 17, 2024 @ 8:08 am By JD Alois  |  

Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand are taking another swing at regulating digital assets – specifically with stablecoin legislation. The bipartisan bill was revealed today and it attempts to provide a federal path to regulated privately issued stablecoins in a market that is largely overseen… Read More

April 17, 2024 @ 7:38 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Bitpanda recently announce their strategic partnership with Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), which is reportedly Germany’s largest federal bank and with a balance sheet of more than 330 billion Euros (as well as a key institution in the German banking sector). Through this collaboration, LBBW will “utilize… Read More

April 16, 2024 @ 8:08 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

OKX has reportedly launched the public mainnet of their Layer-2 (L2), X LAYER, building with more than 200 dApps across the network. X LAYER is integrated with OKX Exchange (CEX) and the OKX Web3 Wallet. Users can bridge assets from the two platforms to LAYER… Read More

April 16, 2024 @ 6:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

Predictions about Bitcoin’s future price span the spectrum. The most recent bull run has fueled speculation that Bitcoin is poised to move even higher. The upward price expectations are due in part to the launch of regulated Bitcoin spot ETFs in the United States and… Read More

April 16, 2024 @ 12:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

Lisbon, Portgul-based Bison Bank says it has seen revenues increase by 240% in 2023 when compared to the year prior. Bison Bank is focused on providing a range of Wealth Management, Custody, and Investment Banking services to individual and institutional clients. Affiliated firm, Bison Digital… Read More

April 16, 2024 @ 11:39 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Americans are already choosing digital payments over traditional payment methods. Now, as digital currencies such as CBDCs gain interest around the world – as seen even more from the recent SWIFT announcement – demand stateside may create bottom-up pressure on U.S. banks – despite the… Read More

April 16, 2024 @ 11:08 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Blockchain firm Nansen has shared their quarterly updates including a range of new blockchain integrations and features to give clients a market edge. As the first quarter of 2024 comes to a close, Nansen says that they are pleased by the crypto market’s growth. Over… Read More

April 16, 2024 @ 8:32 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Lloyds Bank has completed its first transaction using an electronic Bill of Lading (eBL) on the WaveBL trade documentation platform, in a cross-border deal that featured entirely digital exchanges of documentation. The deal closely follows Lloyds Bank “becoming the first UK bank to join the… Read More

April 15, 2024 @ 10:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Figure Technology Solutions, provider of a disruptive and scaled technology platform built to enhance efficiency and transparency in financial services, announced that it will begin making its DART System, a combined lien and eNote registry service, available to private and wholesale lending partners, “initially for… Read More

April 15, 2024 @ 5:52 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Circle is pleased to announce that native USDC is now available on zkSync and accessible to developers and users – no bridging required. Circle Mint and Circle APIs now fully support USDC on zkSync. zkSync is a layer 2 (L2) rollup that “is hyperscaling Ethereum… Read More

April 15, 2024 @ 11:36 am By JD Alois  |  

Two digital asset firms, R3 and Quant, have been chosen to provide services for the UK’s Regulated Liability Network (RLN). R3 is an enterprise focused permissioned blockchain provider named Corda. Quant is a tokenization service supporting traditional financial institutions. RLN is led by UK Finance… Read More

April 15, 2024 @ 10:38 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Shakeeb Ahmed was sentenced recently to three years in prison by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero for “hacking two separate decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges and stealing cryptocurrency worth over $12 million…. Read More