Blockchain & Digital Assets

January 31, 2024 @ 10:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Binance Labs, the venture capital and incubation arm of Binance, has invested in Puffer, a decentralized and permissionless native liquid restaking protocol (nLRP) that combines Ethereum liquid staking with native restaking on EigenLayer. The invested funds will be used “to develop Puffer’s open-source technologies, its… Read More

January 31, 2024 @ 10:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Transak, the payments infrastructure provider for crypto and NFTs, has announced a collaboration with Visa, an enabler of digital payments, in order to implement Visa Direct capabilities and help enhance its global off-ramp service. This collaboration marks a significant milestone by “enabling users in over… Read More

January 31, 2024 @ 6:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Kaiko, a cryptocurrency market data provider, announced its integration with Bullish, one of the fastest-growing, regulated digital assets exchanges, to enhance market data services with the inclusion of Bullish’s exchange metrics to Kaiko’s data feed. This integration offers a broader range of trade and real-time… Read More

January 31, 2024 @ 11:19 am By JD Alois  |  

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) posted two consultations on crypto this week—one consultation on reverse solicitation and another on the classification of crypto-assets as financial instruments. The European Union (EU) has approved bespoke rules for crypto under MiCA or Markets in Crypto Assets regulation…. Read More

January 31, 2024 @ 8:59 am By Omar Faridi  |  

OKX Ventures, the investment arm of crypto exchange and Web3 technology company OKX, announced that it has invested in bitSmiley, a stablecoin protocol in the Bitcoin ecosystem. bitSmiley is a company that “provides comprehensive Bitcoin DeFi solutions, aiming to fill the gap of stablecoins and… Read More

January 31, 2024 @ 7:37 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Nuant are pleased to announce their strategic partnership with Aisot Technologies, an AI-powered portfolio optimization specialist. This collaboration marks a significant advancement “in sophisticated financial tools, elevating risk assessment and strategy performance for institutional investors.” On one side, Nuant says they “elevate digital asset management… Read More

January 30, 2024 @ 10:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Mesh, the modern embedded finance solution that makes digital asset transfers and account aggregation seamless, today announced an investment from PayPal Ventures. This investment helps to reinforce Mesh’s position as a key player “in embedded finance and highlights PayPal’s commitment to fostering innovation in the… Read More

January 30, 2024 @ 3:09 pm By JD Alois  |  

As was reported yesterday the founders and promoters of Hyperfund, an alleged $1.89 billion crypto fraud, face both a civil action by the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as criminal charges brought by the US Department of Justice. Sam Lee has been charged in… Read More

January 30, 2024 @ 7:56 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Stephen Pair, co-founder and CEO of BitPay, recently shared his views and insights with Crowdfund Insider. Stephen Pair from Bitpay talked about the current state of crypto adoption and how the financial services sector can be enhanced with digital currency transactions. Stephen also talked about… Read More

January 30, 2024 @ 7:42 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Bitpanda is announcing the launch of Bitpanda Wealth, which is described as the specialized service tailored specifically to meet the unique needs of High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs), Family Offices, External Asset Managers and Corporate Treasuries. Responding to the demands of investors in our current markets in… Read More

January 30, 2024 @ 7:33 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Portal, a Fintech pursuing “financial self-sovereignty” with technology to access Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency markets, announced it has exited stealth mode and raised $34 million in seed funding. Investors that participated in the round “include Coinbase Ventures, Arrington Capital, OKX Ventures and Gate.io, as well… Read More

January 29, 2024 @ 10:24 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against HyperFund and its principles alleging a $1.7 billion “Crypto Pyramid scheme.” Founders Xue Lee (aka Sam Lee) and Brenda Chunga (aka Bitcoin Beautee) were said to have promoted HyperFund which allegedly claimed guaranteed returns for… Read More

January 29, 2024 @ 10:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Bank of England and HM Treasury have published their response to the consultation on a digital pound that was launched in February 2023. No final decision has been made “to pursue a digital pound – also called a central bank digital currency (CBDC).” Work… Read More

January 29, 2024 @ 8:10 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Matty Taylor (former Head of Growth at Solana Foundation), Clay Robbins (former Principal at Slow Ventures) and Nate Levine (former software engineer at Stripe) announced the launch of Colosseum, a new organization founded to discover, accelerate and invest in builders who are “looking to develop… Read More

January 28, 2024 @ 9:23 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bitget, the cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company, announces a significant enhancement to its platform wallet security “with the upgrade of Multi-Party Computation (MPC) technology, which means that Bitget upgraded all users’ wallet addresses to MPC addresses.” This update exemplifies Bitget‘s dedication “to user security, incorporating… Read More

January 28, 2024 @ 7:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Elwood Technologies LLP, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that provides institutional-grade access to digital asset exchanges and liquidity venues, announced it has been authorized as a service company by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This authorization applies to Elwood’s execution management system (EMS) in “relation… Read More

January 27, 2024 @ 4:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Eco Inc, the crypto payments company with $95 million in funding from a16z, Coinbase Ventures, and other top technology investors, announced the acquisition of Join, a stablecoin-powered shopping app. This acquisition aligns with Eco’s vision to “create a more efficient, decentralized payment system, breaking away… Read More

January 27, 2024 @ 11:37 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Kraken, one of the world’s longest-standing and “most secure” crypto platforms, announced it is further strengthening its leadership team with two key appointments that will help position the company for continued growth amid evolving regulatory environments globally. With the appointment of Gilles BianRosa as Chief… Read More

January 27, 2024 @ 9:56 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Masa Network, builder of the decentralized data marketplace, announced $5.4M in its seed fundraising round led by Anagram, co-founded by Solana Foundation President Lily Liu and former Polychain President Joe Eagan. Additional investors reportedly “include Avalanche Blizzard Fund, Digital Currency Group, GoldenTree, OP Crypto, Unshackled… Read More

January 27, 2024 @ 4:55 am By Omar Faridi  |  

TaxBit, the provider of tax and compliance solutions for digital assets, announced today that it has been selected by Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange, as its CESOP reporting solution. Gemini’s decision to integrate with TaxBit expands “the two companies’ long-standing relationship, underscoring its dedication to regulatory… Read More