Blockchain & Digital Assets

March 26, 2023 @ 3:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

After months of litigation, Celsius recently revealed it has reached an agreement with the Custody Ad Hoc Group and the UCC on a Settlement that reportedly “returns most digital assets in the Custody Program to account holders who opt in to the Settlement.” Custody users… Read More

March 26, 2023 @ 7:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Pundi X is now registered with FINTRAC as the Money Service Business in Canada. This registration enables Pundi X “to conduct virtual currency and payment service provider businesses in the country, and marks an important milestone in the company’s expansion efforts.” Zac Cheah, CEO and… Read More

March 25, 2023 @ 7:45 am By Omar Faridi  |  

MetaMask Institutional, the web3 wallet for organizations developed by ConsenSys, and the first multi-custodial institutional web3 offering on the market, launched its institutional staking marketplace in partnership with Allnodes, Blockdaemon, and Kiln. The marketplace will also “leverage ConsenSys’ own technology with ConsenSys Staking (formerly Codefi… Read More

March 24, 2023 @ 5:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

TYB is now available on the Shopify App Store, making it the “first” end-to-end Web3 community-powered loyalty solution available to Shopify’s merchants through an Avalanche-based platform. The app allows Shopify merchants “to implement TYB’s community-integrated-commerce tools to directly connect with and reward fans for taking… Read More

March 24, 2023 @ 5:16 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Crypto-asset firm Tether claims it has approximately $1.6 billion in excess reserves in order to fully back the issuance of its USDT stablecoin. Tether expects to record a $700 million profit in this latest March 2023 quarter, which will be taking its total excess reserves… Read More

March 24, 2023 @ 8:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Exit scams, popularly referred to as rug pulls, are “an ongoing criminal scheme in Web3,” according to an update shared by CertiK. CertiK writes in a blog post that a rug pull “involves fraudsters robbing a crypto project by liquidating their holdings without warning and… Read More

March 24, 2023 @ 8:09 am By Omar Faridi  |  

  After trying to evade law enforcement for around six months, Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon has now been taken into police custody in Montenegro. Kwon and Terraform Labs were responsible for TerraUSD, an aspiring algorithmic stablecoin, and sister crypto Luna, which collapsed last year… Read More

March 23, 2023 @ 11:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

It’s already “trusted,” fully regulated and bringing simplified and secured investing to 20+ million customers, the team at Bitpanda wrote in a blog post. Now, they’re announcing that Visa (NYSE: V) has partnered with Bitpanda, bringing Bitpanda Technology Solutions to its vast network of institutional… Read More

March 23, 2023 @ 5:36 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Nomura‘s digital assets subsidiary, Laser Digital, announces a strategic investment in ClearToken, a startup that will introduce a clearing house to the digital asset marketplace, enabling “the scale and structure required for mass institutional engagement with digital assets.” As part of Laser’s strategic investment, its… Read More

March 23, 2023 @ 11:57 am By JD Alois  |  

The Wall Street Blockchain Alliance (WSBA) has published a set of “Crypto Industry Principles” that are described as “foundational statements of best practices” for the digital asset sector. WSBA is a non-profit advocacy group that supports the utilization of blockchain technology in financial markets. The… Read More

March 23, 2023 @ 8:44 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Cryptocurrency ATM operator General Bytes says a certain vulnerability allowed a hacker to drain around $1.5 million. The General Bytes team also confirmed that their Cloud servers were breached. In a blog post, the firm noted that on the night of 17-18 March, it was… Read More

March 23, 2023 @ 8:30 am By Omar Faridi  |  

As of March 16, 2023, NYCCoin (NYC) and MiamiCoin (MIA) were no longer available to trade, buy, or sell via Okcoin. However, you can still “hold these coins in your account or withdraw them and trade them on the ALEX decentralized exchange.” The trading suspension… Read More

March 23, 2023 @ 8:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Telegram users are now able to send Tether’s USDT stablecoin to each other. As part of a recent notification, the messaging app provider told its users that the app’s wallet feature can support USDT-TRON, commonly referred to as the TRC-20 standard. The ability to accept… Read More

March 22, 2023 @ 11:49 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Swiss payment startup Centi announces the launch of its Swiss Franc pegged stablecoin, backed 1:1 by a Swiss bank, which will “serve as the basis for Centi’s groundbreaking Global Payment Network.” Combining the efficiency of blockchain technology with the rigor of Swiss banking, Centi has… Read More

March 22, 2023 @ 11:03 pm By JD Alois  |  

Roofstock says it has sold another tokenized home. The property is located in Georgia and leveraged RealT – a real estate tokenization service = to assist in the transaction. The settlement was via an NFT sold on OpenSea “enabled by”Roofstock onChain – part of Roofstock…. Read More

March 22, 2023 @ 10:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Arf, the Swiss-regulated global settlement banking platform, with support from the Stellar Development Foundation, is now offering what it claims is “the world’s first unsecured, short-term, USDC-based working capital financing solutions for licensed financial institutions.” Making cross-border payments faster, cheaper, and more transparent and inclusive… Read More

March 22, 2023 @ 5:51 pm By JD Alois  |  

Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) has posted a statement indicating it has received a Wells Notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A Wells Notice is effectively a heads-up that the SEC is conducting an investigation for any potential infractions. While not a definitive indicator of a looming… Read More

March 22, 2023 @ 4:52 pm By JD Alois  |  

Eight Influencers Charged for Promotion of Digital Assets: Lindsey Lohan, Jake Paul, DeAndrew Cortez Way (Soulja Boy), Austin Mahone, Michele Mason (Kendra Lust), Miles Parks McCollum (Lil Yachty) Shaffer Smith (Ne-Yo), Aliaune Thiam (Akon).   The Securities and Exchange Commission has posted another digital asset… Read More

March 22, 2023 @ 12:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Estonia-based crypto startup CryptoWallet.com has reportedly become one of the first crypto companies to receive a stamp of approval from Estonia’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). CryptoWallet.com claims it “renewed its crypto license despite strict regulatory measures introduced last year to maintain compliance and transparency within… Read More

March 22, 2023 @ 10:28 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Luno has announced that their co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Marcus Swanepoel is moving into a new role as Executive Chairman and Chief Operating Officer. Luno is a crypto exchange that is part of the Digital Currency Group (DCG). James Lanigan, who has been with… Read More