Blockchain & Digital Assets

May 16, 2023 @ 7:59 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Austrian digital asset firm Bitpanda is reportedly planning to invest $10 million in order establish a dedicated AI unit. Bitpanda explained that the new unit will aim to provide a suite of AI-enhanced products and investing solutions, including personalized investment ideas, automated portfolio strategies, as… Read More

May 16, 2023 @ 7:58 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Across Protocol and ShapeShift are now using oSnap for optimistic governance execution. After successfully passing through Snapshot governance voting rounds, the two projects “have integrated the UMA-powered solution.” With oSnap, the Across and ShapeShift DAOs can now “execute on-chain governance decisions optimistically based on off-chain… Read More

May 16, 2023 @ 12:14 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Hyphe, the digital asset liquidity provider for financial institutions, has received a certificate of compliance to ISO 27001 Information Security Management by internationally-recognized certification body, BSI Group. The certification “reinforces Hyphe’s commitment to the highest security standards ahead of Europe’s new Markets in Crypto Assets… Read More

May 15, 2023 @ 11:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Astra, a provider of infrastructure for faster payments, today announced a partnership with Fortress Trust, a custodial trust company in the blockchain infrastructure space, to bring enhanced security and real-time settlement to new use cases within financial technology. By combining their respective solutions, the two… Read More

May 15, 2023 @ 9:54 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week a hearing took place that joined the House Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology & Inclusion with the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development entitled “The Future of Digital Assets: Measuring the Regulatory Gaps in the Digital Asset… Read More

May 15, 2023 @ 5:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Nilos, a financial platform for businesses operating with crypto-currencies, has launched its new Virtual EU IBANs aimed at companies dealing with crypto in Europe. The move has been made possible by their new partnership with Modulr, a payment and card-issuing platform. The solution allows businesses… Read More

May 15, 2023 @ 3:41 pm By JD Alois  |  

At one point, China was the top Fintech jurisdiction in the world, dominating online lending and other Fintech verticals along with a robust digital asset sector. That was then, and this is now – Fintech has been siloed into specific, approved businesses, and cryptocurrencies are… Read More

May 15, 2023 @ 12:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

NEAR Foundation, the non-profit that supports the on-going growth and development of the Near Protocol, and Outlier Ventures, the global Web3 investor and accelerator, announced the launch of the NEAR Base Camp accelerator program. The first dedicated accelerator program by NEAR Foundation will “take a… Read More

May 15, 2023 @ 12:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, EY Canada posted a status report on Quadriga – a Canada-based crypto exchange that fell into chaos after the founder died, leaving keys to accounts missing and many questions. It was eventually determined that over CAD $300 million in assets were claimed by… Read More

May 14, 2023 @ 8:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Hex Trust, an institutional-grade digital asset custodian licensed across global financial hubs, has partnered with The Sandbox, a decentralized gaming virtual world to enable fully-licensed and highly-secure custody of assets such as LAND in The Sandbox’s metaverse. Hex Trust has fully “integrated LAND into its… Read More

May 14, 2023 @ 4:42 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Aragon, the platform for building and running decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), has implemented a number of safeguards to protect its treasury in response to a coordinated attack focused on draining value from the project. In the wake of the attack and in order to mitigate… Read More

May 14, 2023 @ 12:06 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

On the back of strong growth in the Middle East, Ripple, the enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions provider, is expanding its presence in Dubai by “opening a new office location in the heart of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and bringing Swell Global 2023, the… Read More

May 13, 2023 @ 4:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

After a bit of a struggle to gain access to the Canadian market, Binance has decided to exit the country. In an extended Tweet, Binance announced its decision. Unfortunately, today we are announcing that Binance will be joining other prominent crypto businesses in proactively withdrawing… Read More

May 12, 2023 @ 5:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this week, during its earnings call, OTC Markets (OTC:OTCM) revealed that on May 5th, it had received FINRA approval to provide services for digital assets which are securities. In the May 9th earnings report, R. Cromwell Coulson, President and CEO of OTC Markets, stated:… Read More

May 12, 2023 @ 2:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fasset, the global digital asset platform for emerging markets, announces its partnership with Minted, a provider of precious metals, in order “to offer increased accessibility and liquidity to the global precious metals market through tokenization at the Dubai Fintech Summit.Under the MOU, Fasset will distribute… Read More

May 12, 2023 @ 10:36 am By JD Alois  |  

The Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry, has announced another hearing on stablecoins. Scheduled by the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion, the hearing is entitled: “Putting the ‘Stable’ in ‘Stablecoins:’ How Legislation Will Help Stablecoins Achieve Their Promise.” The… Read More

May 11, 2023 @ 7:57 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Concordium, the Layer 1, science-backed blockchain creating a safer digital world, and XONE, a mobile game that brings people together through music and entertainment, announced a partnership that brings web3 security and identity solutions to the entertainment industry. XONE’s platform “empowers anyone to build and… Read More

May 11, 2023 @ 1:29 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Standard Chartered (LON: STAN) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) in order “to collaborate on digital assets, including digital asset custody.” Subject to regulatory approval, Standard Chartered plans “to launch digital asset custody services, starting in DIFC and… Read More

May 11, 2023 @ 11:48 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Visa (NYSE: V), a firm focused on digital payments, was one of nine finalists tasked with exploring innovative blockchain-based use cases for the Real Digital (Brazil’s central bank-issued digital currency, or CBDC) as part of the most recent LIFT Challenge. The company partnered with Agrotoken,… Read More

May 11, 2023 @ 7:54 am By JD Alois  |  

The Republic of Estonia has revealed that 100 active firms are providing digital asset services under new rules designed to incorporate stricter AML/KYC requirements. At the same time, the new rules have invalidated 389 crypto firms which were previously authorized but no longer meet the… Read More