Blockchain & Digital Assets

May 23, 2022 @ 12:43 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Zipmex Group, a Southeast Asia-based digital asset platform, has invested in Forward, a Thai-based Fintech company specialized in DeFi Derivatives Trading, “backed by Genesis Block Ventures Capital is now valued at $50 million.” The investment, made by Zipmex’s business unit, Zipmex Labs, aims “to increase… Read More

May 22, 2022 @ 10:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

StoneX Markets LLC, a subsidiary of StoneX Group Inc., a provider of execution, post-trade settlement, clearing and custody services across asset classes and markets worldwide, has announced that it successfully “executed and settled its first cash-settled BTC/USD swap.” The counterparty to the trade was one… Read More

May 22, 2022 @ 10:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

With a goal to build the infrastructure and deliver the tools that will power Web3, Ontology has been “focused on the Decentralized Identity (DID) field since day one. ONT ID is Ontology’s decentralized identity framework, designed to be both trustless and private, empowering users and… Read More

May 22, 2022 @ 6:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

This past week, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Chairman Charles Randell reviewed the challenges of securities regulation in a speech delivered at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London.  The FCA has played a key and vital role in enabling Fintech innovation… Read More

May 22, 2022 @ 2:08 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Nayms recently revealed that it became one of the world’s “first” crypto-native insurance marketplaces to become “fully-regulated” in Bermuda. They now hold both the full Digital Asset Business Act license and Innovative General Business Insurance license, “allowing their insurance partners to conduct regulated insurance business… Read More

May 22, 2022 @ 2:05 pm By JD Alois  |  

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde hammered cryptocurrencies this past week during an interview with a Dutch broadcaster according to a report in Bloomberg. Lagarde, an EU official who has long expressed her interest in digital assets, is quoted stating: “My very humble assessment… Read More

May 22, 2022 @ 12:49 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Security Token Group (STG), a venture studio focused on building financial infrastructure to support the growth and development of the security token industry, is pleased to announce the closure of the company’s $3 million Series A round, “led by Blue Bay Ventures, and including strategic… Read More

May 21, 2022 @ 5:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Round13, a Canadian VC firm with approximately $700 million in assets under management, has introduced a “dedicated” fund to invest in the emerging blockchain and digital asset market. As noted in an update shared with CI, the crypto native fund has “raised US$70 million of… Read More

May 21, 2022 @ 1:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

Inveniam Capital Partners has invested in Rialto Markets and will support the platform with its private market data, according to a release. Details on the investment were not provided. Rialto Markets is a broker-dealer facilitating crowdfunded securities as well as secondary trading in these assets…. Read More

May 21, 2022 @ 1:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Following the Luna de-peg and the collapse of the UST stablecoin last week, Terra co-founder Do Kwon has unveiled a proposal for what he calls “the path forward.” This included forking the Terra chain “into a new chain without the algorithmic stablecoin, with the old… Read More

May 21, 2022 @ 12:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

West Realm Shires Services (FTX US) and FTX Capital Markets announced the launch of FTX Stocks, an equities trading platform offered via the FTX US trading application. The launch will commence in “a private beta phase for select US customers chosen from a waitlist.” FTX… Read More

May 21, 2022 @ 2:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

flatexDEGIRO AG, which claims to be Europe’s largest and “fastest-growing” retail online broker and Boerse Stuttgart Group, Europe’s sixth largest exchange group, recently announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a partnership in crypto trading. This will “give flatexDEGIRO customers direct access… Read More

May 20, 2022 @ 3:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

Max Credit Cards and Bits of Gold have partnered to launch a Visa card in Israel called MaxBack Crypto. The new card is said to be the first crypto cashback card in Israel, designed to allow users to accumulate Bitcoin while they use the card…. Read More

May 20, 2022 @ 10:40 am By Omar Faridi  |  

PopID and SunCash announced that for the “first time” in history, consumers can now use the PopPay face verification platform “to purchase goods and services with a central bank digital currency (CBDC) – digital money issued and backed by a government.” Bahamian consumers can now… Read More

May 20, 2022 @ 9:43 am By JD Alois  |  

  Following a meeting this week being held in Petersberg, Germany, G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors have issued a statement on the outcome of the meeting. While a good portion of the statement revolves around the war in Ukraine and the need for… Read More

May 19, 2022 @ 11:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ripple, which claims to be the “leader” in enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions, announced a partnership with FINCI, the Lithuanian online international money transfer provider, “to deliver instant and cost-effective retail remittances and business to business (B2B) payments via RippleNet’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL), which leverages… Read More

May 19, 2022 @ 10:54 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Paxos, the regulated blockchain infrastructure platform, has teamed up with State Street (NYSE: STT). one of the “leading” providers of financial services to institutional investors, “to integrate State Street’s custodial services into the Paxos Settlement Service.” As part of the pilot, State Street was able “to… Read More

May 19, 2022 @ 10:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

BIGG Digital Assets (CSE:BIGG, OTCQX: BBKCF, WKN: A2PS9W), owner of Blockchain Intelligence Group, has hired Kenneth A. Goodwin, Jr. as the Director of Regulatory and Institutional Affairs. According to BIGG, Goodwin brings extensive experience in global banking and capital markets in his new role. Lance… Read More

May 19, 2022 @ 4:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed an enforcement action alleging that Sam Ikkurty (aka Sreenivas I Rao), Ravishankar Avadhanam, and Jafia LLC, a company Ikkurty owns in Florida, with fraudulently soliciting at least $44 million to invest in a “so-called income fund” that sought… Read More

May 19, 2022 @ 3:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Interledger Foundation (ILF) and its community are building pathways to financial access and opportunity across the globe. The organization supports people and ideas that use the Interledger Protocol (ILP) “to contribute to an open payments network built on equitable access through the internet.” In… Read More