Blockchain & Digital Assets

May 10, 2023 @ 8:40 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Xapo Bank, a licensed private bank that aims to combine traditional banking with access to Bitcoin and stablecoins, claims to have become the first bank in the world to integrate Tether (USDT) payment rails. Xapo Bank is regulated and based in Gibraltar. Earlier this year,… Read More

May 10, 2023 @ 5:20 am By Omar Faridi  |  

  Digital Asset and market participants announce their plans to launch the Canton Network, the industry’s “first” privacy-enabled interoperable blockchain network designed for institutional assets and built “to responsibly unlock the potential of synchronized financial markets.” Canton Network participants reportedly “include 3Homes, ASX, BNP Paribas,… Read More

May 9, 2023 @ 9:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Uppsala Security, a provider of award-winning security tools and services for Crypto AML/CTF, Transaction Risk Management, Regulatory Compliance and Transaction Tracking has announced a partnership with CODE, a South Korean-based virtual asset service provider (VASP) compliance solution. As part of this partnership, CODE has “launched… Read More

May 9, 2023 @ 9:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Bank of Canada is launching an online public consultation on “the features that could be included in a digital Canadian dollar.” The consultation opened on May 8, 2023 and runs until June 19. The way Canadians pay for everything from the daily necessities “to… Read More

May 9, 2023 @ 10:10 am By JD Alois  |  

The Bitcoin network has endured rising congestion due to several reasons, including a new NFT-like minting protocol. Binance struggled in recent days to process BTC transactions so much that it had to pause these transfers – a surprising move by the world’s largest crypto exchange… Read More

May 9, 2023 @ 8:40 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Bittrex, Inc. released the following statement today regarding Bittrex U.S.’ decision to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy: “Having previously announced that Bittrex, Inc. would be ceasing all operations in the U.S. effective April 30th, we have now made the decision to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy in… Read More

May 9, 2023 @ 7:53 am By Omar Faridi  |  

MakerDAO, which claims to be the “longest-standing” DeFi lending protocol and creator of DAI, the original decentralized stablecoin, has announced the official launch date of Spark Protocol, a MakerDAO-centric decentralized application. Starting from May 9th, Spark Protocol will “serve as the underlying infrastructure for Spark… Read More

May 8, 2023 @ 11:29 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Digital Pound Foundation, an independent forum supporting the implementation of a well-designed digital Pound, is pleased “to announce the expansion of its Board of Directors with the appointment of two new Board seats as it continues into its second year of full-time operations.” Adding… Read More

May 8, 2023 @ 10:59 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Haru Invest, a digital asset management platform, announced the launch of its crypto mining product Haru Mining in partnership with Canadian crypto miner Pow.re. Haru Mining explains that it “represents a strategic expansion of Haru Invest’s suite of digital asset investment services, opening users to… Read More

May 8, 2023 @ 10:45 am By Omar Faridi  |  

SI Tickets, the ticketing site from Sports Illustrated, announced the launch of “Box Office by SI Tickets,” a self-service event management and primary ticketing solution built in partnership with web3 firm ConsenSys and powered by Polygon’s blockchain technology. Box Office is described as “the first… Read More

May 8, 2023 @ 10:22 am By JD Alois  |  

Announced last week, the House Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion has scheduled a hearing on digital assets. The hearing entitled The Future of Digital Assets: Measuring the Regulatory Gaps in the Digital Asset Markets, is a joint hearing with the Agriculture Subcommittee… Read More

May 8, 2023 @ 9:49 am By JD Alois  |  

Describing it as a learning experience, Binance has announced that all pending Bitcoin transactions have now been processed after a bumpy day when the crypto exchange paused BTX trades. All pending $BTC withdrawal transactions have now been processed. Once again, thank you for your patience… Read More

May 8, 2023 @ 9:18 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Cryptocurrency exchange CryptoOrange has partnered with payments platform, Paysafe (NYSE: PSFE), in order “to offer new ways for its customers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies internationally.” Paysafe, which claims to have an extensive track record of serving merchants and consumers in the global entertainment sectors… Read More

May 8, 2023 @ 9:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Fireblocks, which claims to be among the “highest-valued” digital asset security infrastructure platforms, recently announced the launch of its Fireblocks Compliance Solutions Suite in order “to streamline and simplify how institutions meet digital asset regulatory requirements and stay ahead of industry threats.” With the industry… Read More

May 7, 2023 @ 3:24 pm By JD Alois  |  

Binance, the top crypto exchange in the world, halted Bitcoin transactions temporarily today due to a “congestion issue.” In a Tweet, Binance announced the issue, which was resolved about two hours later. Binance has yet to reveal the issue that caused the interruption. We've temporarily… Read More

May 7, 2023 @ 3:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

SCRYPT, the Swiss-licensed crypto trading firm offering digital asset solutions for institutions, announced a strategic partnership with London-based Fiat-as-a-Service platform Fiat Republic in order “to supercharge SCRYPT’s fiat on/off ramp capabilities, as well as improve automation of customer settlements to its institutional trading platform.” This… Read More

May 7, 2023 @ 3:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

BOTLabs GmbH, developer of KILT Protocol, and Deloitte Consulting AG announced the integration of KILT blockchain technology for issuing reusable digital credentials to support KYC and KYB processes. These credentials “have multiple use cases including regulatory compliance for banking and Decentralized Finance (DeFi), age verification… Read More

May 6, 2023 @ 9:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) notes that it’s time to update the system. They also pointed out that the majority of financial systems were built over 100 years ago. According to the firm, the rules are “outdated, the technology has been slow to catch up, and all over… Read More

May 5, 2023 @ 7:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

At the end of 2022, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Roger Marshall partnered on a bill targeting the digital asset industry. The bipartisan legislation, the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act, seeks to  close “loopholes in the existing anti-money laundering and countering of the financing of terrorism… Read More

May 5, 2023 @ 2:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Securitize, a firm digitizing the issuance, management, and trading of real-world assets, today launched a new feeder fund offering tokenized exposure to an evergreen private credit fund from leading private markets investment firm Hamilton Lane (Nasdaq: HLNE), available “exclusively” on the Polygon blockchain. Hamilton Lane… Read More