Blockchain & Digital Assets

October 17, 2023 @ 5:02 pm By JD Alois  |  

Figure has completed $16 billion in blockchain native lending transactions since 2018. The data point was shared by founder Mike Cagney, who was responding to a LinkedIn post that said the world is five years away from broad-based utilization of tokenization having any volume or… Read More

October 17, 2023 @ 4:49 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) is working to update the financial system that was built over 100 years ago by using crypto to provide people with more economic freedom and opportunity. To advance this purpose, Coinbase is building what it claims it the most “trusted” crypto products and… Read More

October 17, 2023 @ 2:59 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

OKX Ventures, the investment arm of crypto exchange and Web3 technology company OKX,  announced the participation in last year’s Series B for Celestia Labs. Celestia is described as “the first modular blockchain network, meaning developers can use Celestia as a base layer for consensus and… Read More

October 17, 2023 @ 11:53 am By JD Alois  |  

MiCA, or markets in crypto assets regulation, was approved by the European Union earlier this year. The aim is to provide regulatory clarity for digital assets in the EU. Today, the European Markets and Securities Authority (ESMA) has issued a statement cautioning crypto investors that… Read More

October 17, 2023 @ 8:50 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Binance Labs, the venture capital and incubation arm of Binance, which is being sued by US regulators for a wide range of issues while also dealing with major operational challenges, has invested in Initia, a network designed for highly interwoven modular rollups. The platform enables… Read More

October 17, 2023 @ 8:42 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Tether, the largest stablecoin company in the world, reaffirmed its commitment to working closely with law enforcement agencies across the globe to combat cryptocurrency-funded terrorism and warfare. To date, Tether has “aided 31 agencies worldwide with investigations across 19 jurisdictions, freezing a total of $835… Read More

October 16, 2023 @ 11:23 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Latin America has the seventh-largest crypto economy of all regions Chainalysis studies. it is not far behind MENA, Eastern Asia, and Eastern Europe. Its position compared to other regions has “held relatively steady over the last two years.” Latin America shows the highest preference “for… Read More

October 16, 2023 @ 9:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Sygnum, the digital asset bank, has generated additional CHF multi-billion client demand by complementing its core regulated digital asset offering with traditional securities. As noted in an update from Sygnum: Market traction due to clients’ ability to combine crypto and traditional assets conveniently, simply and… Read More

October 16, 2023 @ 5:19 pm By JD Alois  |  

Binance UK will stop accepting new users as of today (Monday, October 16, 2023). The announcement follows the denial of approval for a third party to provide marketing services to the UK iteration of the world’s largest crypto exchange. This month, the UK Financial Conduct… Read More

October 16, 2023 @ 4:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

BlackRock has denied reports that its Bitcoin ETF has gained approval. Expectations that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will grudgingly approve an exchange-traded product for a spot Bitcoin fund have helped to drive prices higher of BTC in recent days. Initial reports of an… Read More

October 16, 2023 @ 4:24 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Reserve Protocol is now live on Base, marking its first expansion beyond the Ethereum mainnet. This update matters because it aims to empower accessible innovation. As noted in a blog post by the Reserve Protocol team, the “low-cost,” and developer-friendly Ethereum L2 environment launched by… Read More

October 16, 2023 @ 4:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Talos, a provider of institutional digital assets trading technology, announced its integration with Coinbase International Exchange, a licensed digital assets exchange that launched earlier this year. The integration allows mutual clients of Talos and Coinbase International Exchange based in eligible jurisdictions outside of the US… Read More

October 16, 2023 @ 10:06 am By JD Alois  |  

It has been widely reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has decided not to appeal a decision by the courts that reflects favorably on Grayscale’s push to launch a Bitcoin ETF. Grayscale currently lists a Bitcoin Trust on OTC Markets, along with other… Read More

October 16, 2023 @ 8:16 am By Omar Faridi  |  

CoinList, the crypto launchpad and exchange that provides access to  established crypto assets, has launched a family of staking funds that “allow U.S. accredited investors to earn rewards through investment in a fund whose strategy is to stake digital assets.” At launch, the funds will… Read More

October 15, 2023 @ 3:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

During the past month, the crypto industry has experienced rapid growth. OKX Ventures has identified several scenarios where significant progress has been made: SocialFi has introduced “remarkable” products. Friend.tech has reportedly “generated over 10,000 ETH in revenue, with a TVL surpassing 30,000 ETH.” Their total… Read More

October 15, 2023 @ 2:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Neo contributes almost $8M HKD to nurture start-up projects and foster the development of Hong Kong’s Web3 industry. Winners from Neo’s APAC Hackathon will join “an accelerator program alongside candidates from Hong Kong’s leading Web3 developer base.” Neo, the open-source, community-driven blockchain platform where developers… Read More

October 15, 2023 @ 12:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Alchemy Pay, a fiat-crypto payment gateway, has established a partnership with Trekki NFT, and extended the functionality of its NFT Checkout in order “to support and facilitate its minting processes.” These unique NFTs, “bearing a travel theme,” are backed by the global online travel services… Read More

October 15, 2023 @ 11:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

API3’s managed dAPIs are available on Base. Developers on Base can now “access over 120 verifiable, decentralized data feeds powered by first-party oracle nodes, which are operated directly by the data providers.” Base is an Ethereum L2 solution incubated by Coinbase that is “built on… Read More

October 13, 2023 @ 6:42 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

tZERO Group Inc. says its broker-dealer subsidiary, tZERO ATS, will “add investment banking business lines to its existing platform.” In parallel, tZERO ATS will “change its name to tZERO Securities to better reflect the breadth of services it makes available to its customers.” These changes… Read More

October 13, 2023 @ 5:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

Leading stablecoin issuer Tether will soon have a new Chief Executive Officer. Announced today, Paolo Ardoino will replace Jean-Louis van der Velde (JL) as CEO. Ardoino will take over beginning this December. van der Velde will remain CEO of the crypto exchange Bitfinex – a… Read More