Blockchain & Digital Assets

June 22, 2023 @ 6:42 pm By JD Alois  |  

Another Pig Butchering scam is in the news again. “Sha Zhu Pan” or “Pig Butchering” is a romance plot designed to fleece the funds of the unsuspecting. In this case, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed an enforcement action against Cunwen Zhu and… Read More

June 22, 2023 @ 3:31 pm By JD Alois  |  

Detractors of digital assets, or crypto, typically point to the utilization of crypto to pursue nefarious activities such as money laundering. Rules exist for financial transactions regarding “know your customer” (KYC) and “anti-money laundering” (AML), but they are enforced to various degrees depending on the… Read More

June 22, 2023 @ 12:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

Prime Trust was founded many years ago at the beginning of online capital formation. At one point, it was one of the most important and successful firms in the securities crowdfunding marketplace providing services for just about all the platforms. As digital assets became a… Read More

June 22, 2023 @ 12:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

Bitgo has decided to terminate its preliminary agreement to acquire Prime Trust. Earlier this month, rumors circulated about troubles at Prime Trust, with Bitgo emerging as a white knight to acquire the firm. BitGo had signed a term sheet to acquire the equity of Prime… Read More

June 22, 2023 @ 9:47 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Oobit, a provider of cryptocurrency payment solutions, is pleased to announce its integration with Fireblocks, an easy-to-use platform “to create new blockchain-based products and manage day-to-day digital asset operations.” This collaboration marks “a significant milestone for both companies as they join forces ahead of Oobit’s… Read More

June 22, 2023 @ 9:10 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Ripple, which claims to be the leader in enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions, announced that its Singapore subsidiary Ripple Markets APAC Pte Ltd, has obtained In-Principle Approval of the Major Payments Institution License application from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This license will allow… Read More

June 21, 2023 @ 2:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Paxos, the regulated blockchain infrastructure platform for enterprises, continues driving value for its commodities market clients through its Post-Trade and Settlement solutions. Financial institutions that deploy Paxos’ Post-Trade and Settlement solutions see “an average 300% return on investment (ROI) within two years due to enhanced… Read More

June 21, 2023 @ 12:36 pm By JD Alois  |  

Bitcoin (BTC) has regained a certain amount of luster in recent days.  In the past 24 hours, Bitcoin has risen from over $27,000 to now topping $30K. Much of this crypto exuberance is due to the announcement that BlackRock had filed to launch a Bitcoin… Read More

June 21, 2023 @ 9:53 am By Omar Faridi  |  

We recently caught up with Valerii Brizhatiuk, Chief Product Officer, Co-Founder at Swisstronik, a layer-1 solution designed to build scalable decentralized applications that ensure users’ data protection and privacy, while remaining in compliance with local regulations. According to the project team, Swisstronik is unique because… Read More

June 21, 2023 @ 9:33 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The dramatic rise of cryptocurrency theft during the last couple years has become a serious concern for US authorities, who are increasing their efforts to crackdown on bad actors and illicit crypto-related activities. This past year, crypto-focused hackers have reportedly been able to steal around… Read More

June 21, 2023 @ 8:04 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Gemini is pleased to announce their expansion plans in APAC as Gemini’s leadership team recently visited the region on their global odyssey “to propel the promise of crypto.” Over the next 12 months, they plan “to increase their headcount to 100+ in Singapore.” Gemini’s APAC… Read More

June 21, 2023 @ 7:49 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Deutsche Bank AG (ETR: DBK) has reportedly submitted an application for obtaining regulatory clearance to serve as a digital asset custodian, based in Germany, the bank revealed on Tuesday (June 20, 2023). As first reported by Bloomberg, this latest development from Deutsche Bank comes only… Read More

June 20, 2023 @ 11:06 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The pilot program will evaluate high value payments use cases “using the Ripple CBDC Platform based on the core technology of the XRP Ledger.” Ripple, which claims to be the leader in enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions, announced its collaboration with the Banco de la… Read More

June 20, 2023 @ 11:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Binance Labs, the venture capital and incubation arm of Binance, which has been sued by US regulatory authorities and faces a wide range of regulatory/operational challenges, has made an investment in the five “best-performing” projects of Season 5 of its Incubation Program. More than 900… Read More

June 20, 2023 @ 5:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

R3, the enterprise distributed ledger technology (DLT) and services firm, announced the next generation of its flagship platform Corda at its hosted event in New York. The updated version has been “designed for global financial market infrastructure providers and central banks to enable applications to… Read More

June 20, 2023 @ 5:16 pm By JD Alois  |  

EDX Markets announced the launch of digital asset trading on its marketplace today. Crypto products available for trading include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). While it is not immediately clear if and when other digital assets will be listed, the… Read More

June 20, 2023 @ 9:21 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is reportedly working on a solution for central bank digital currencies (CDBCs) to support financial transactions between nations, IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva revealed on Monday (June 19, 2023). As reported by Reuters, Georgieva told a conference attended by various reserve… Read More

June 20, 2023 @ 9:19 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital asset firm CoinSwitch is getting ready to introduce a stock trading platform, so that it can meaningfully compete in a market which includes Groww and Upstox, among other service providers in India. According to an update shared by the ET, CoinSwitch intends to submit… Read More

June 20, 2023 @ 9:16 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Mastercard (NYSE: MA) is continuing its move into the volatile crypto sector. The payments giant has submitted a trademark application claiming plans for software for crypto and blockchain/DLT transactions, as well as interconnecting virtual asset service providers for crypto transfers. It appears as if Mastercard… Read More

June 19, 2023 @ 11:29 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Graph, the indexing and query protocol for organizing blockchain data, begins the final phase of its integration onto Arbitrum, the Layer 2 (L2) scaling solution built on Ethereum. Through its transition to Arbitrum One, The Graph reportedly “lowers gas fees, accelerates transaction speeds, and… Read More