Blockchain & Digital Assets

April 7, 2023 @ 12:29 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Celo Foundation is pleased to announce a new partnership with Google Cloud in order to bolster the growth of mission-aligned projects in Celo’s blockchain ecosystem and to expand the early adoption of Google Cloud services. As cLabs’ preferred Cloud provider, Google Cloud’s secure and… Read More

April 7, 2023 @ 12:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

MEPs approved stricter rules “to close existing gaps in combating money laundering, terrorist financing and evasion of sanctions” in the European Union. This past week, MEPs from the Economic and Monetary Affairs and Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committees “adopted their position on three… Read More

April 6, 2023 @ 10:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has launched its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Implementation Strategy in collaboration with R3, G42 Cloud and Clifford Chance. For Phase 1, R3 and G42 Cloud have been “selected as the technology and infrastructure providers of the initiative… Read More

April 6, 2023 @ 8:46 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Matrixport, which claims to be one of the world’s largest and trusted digital assets financial services ecosystems, announced that its institutional qualified custodian service, Cactus Custody, has integrated with NEAR Protocol, a Layer 1 blockchain ecosystem. The partnership “enables seamless support of the NEAR Protocol… Read More

April 6, 2023 @ 7:56 pm By Gabriella Kusz  |  

For more than a decade, cryptocurrency has been referred to by some as a digital “Wild West.” Those who use that terminology refer to the lack of regulation that applies to the crypto space. They are also typically implying that wandering into the realm of… Read More

April 6, 2023 @ 6:14 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier today, the US Department of Treasury posted a report on DeFi entitled “2023 DeFi Illicit Finance Risk Assessment.”  For the first time, Treasury addressed the concept of DeFi  – a sector of digital assets that engenders challenges for regulators. Treasury noted that DeFi is… Read More

April 6, 2023 @ 1:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

LayerZero Labs, the team behind the messaging protocol LayerZero, announced the closing of a $120 million Series B funding round, valuing the company at $3 billion. The investment round “saw participation from 33 investors, including a16z crypto, BOND, Christie’s, Circle Ventures, OpenSea Ventures, Samsung Next,… Read More

April 6, 2023 @ 1:29 pm By JD Alois  |  

DeFi, or decentralized finance, took fire from the US Department of Treasury today as part of an ongoing policy attack targeting the crypto industry. Treasury published the “2023 DeFi Illicit Finance Risk Assessment,” the first report on DeFi that outlines the risk of the popular… Read More

April 6, 2023 @ 11:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

CoinTrade, an app-based trading platform, cryptocurrency exchange and staking services provider owned by Mercury Co., Ltd, has announced its integration with Fireblocks, a platform to create innovative products on the blockchain and manage day-to-day crypto operations. Whilst the digital assets industry has evolved rapidly over… Read More

April 6, 2023 @ 10:56 am By JD Alois  |  

Announced today, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has revoked the Australian financial services (AFS) license held by Oztures Trading Pty Ltd, trading as Binance Australia Derivatives. ASIC states that the cancellation took effect as Binance had requested the move. Binance will cease providing… Read More

April 6, 2023 @ 8:08 am By Omar Faridi  |  

PostFinance, one of Switzerland’s major financial institutions and largest retail banks, partners with Sygnum, which claims to be one of the world’s first digital asset banks, “to offer its customers a range of regulated digital asset banking services via Sygnum’s B2B banking platform.” PostFinance‘s partnership… Read More

April 6, 2023 @ 7:54 am By Omar Faridi  |  

21Shares AG, which claims to be the world’s largest issuer of cryptocurrency exchange traded products (ETPs) and a subsidiary of 21.co, unveiled the 21Shares Stacks Staking ETP (ASTX) – the “world’s first” ETP offering exposure to Stacks. Stacks is “a crypto asset protocol that unlocks… Read More

April 5, 2023 @ 6:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Global Fintech Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) announced that UBS (NYSE:UBS) and a global Asian bank have successfully “executed the first cross-border intraday repo transaction on Broadridge’s blockchain enabled Distributed Ledger Repo (DLR) platform.” This intraday trade “marks the launch of the next phase in… Read More

April 5, 2023 @ 4:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Input Output Global, Inc. (IOG), a software research & development company, and one of the builders behind sustainable blockchain platform Cardano, has appointed Eran Barak as CEO of Midnight, “its new data-protection focused protocol.” Barak has previously “held senior roles in the financial services industry.”… Read More

April 5, 2023 @ 3:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

Republic Note will be available to the broader investing public beginning next Monday, according to the company. No longer described as a token, Republic Note has now been labeled a digital security. “R/Note” aims to provide investors with exposure to the economic upside of some… Read More

April 5, 2023 @ 2:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

Operation Cookie Monster Genesis Market, a dark web operation that catered to criminals looking for stolen identities to pilfer bank accounts or pursue ransomware operations, has been taken down in a coordinated operation that involved many different enforcement agencies around the world. The Federal Bureau… Read More

April 5, 2023 @ 12:53 pm By JD Alois  |  

Metaco has revealed a partnership with Liechtenstein private bank VP Bank (SWX: VPBN). According to a statement distributed by Metaco, the bank will incorporate Metaco’s Harmonize platform to enable digital asset custody and tokenization services, including financial assets, minting, burning, and storage of tokens. VP… Read More

April 4, 2023 @ 10:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

CertiK, the provider of blockchain security solutions, is pleased to announce the launch of Skynet for Community, the “first-of-its-kind” security, due diligence, and insights platform for the Web3 ecosystem. Skynet for Community “simplifies Web3 project research, analysis, and monitoring for users, investors, and community members.”… Read More

April 4, 2023 @ 10:07 pm By JD Alois  |  

Pine Protocol has announced its launch on the Polygon blockchain. Polygone enables Ethereum scaling solutions powering some big platforms like Aave, Uniswap, and OpenSea. Pine Protocol is a “decentralized non-custodial protocol that facilitates NFT asset-backed loan transactions between lenders and borrowers.” Borrowers may leverage their NFTs… Read More

April 4, 2023 @ 8:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

  Crypto Con: “Sha Zhu Pan” or pig butchering in Chinese Fraudsters and crooks tend to rehash their scams over time; the only thing that changes is the technology and tools utilized to separate money from the unsuspecting. Yesterday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ)… Read More