Blockchain & Digital Assets

February 6, 2022 @ 6:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In order to help with protecting endangered animals, UK’s TV station, WildEarth, has introduced its own set of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Notably, 40% of the main sale proceeds will be directed towards various custodians of the land on which the animals are currently living. Graham… Read More

February 6, 2022 @ 1:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Earlier this week, payments platform Modulr announced a partnership with Ripple, which claims to be the leader in enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions, in order to enable payments into the UK and Europe. Trust Payments, the international unified payments group, is reportedly the first customer… Read More

February 5, 2022 @ 12:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Liquid Group and all of its operating subsidiaries including Quoine Corporation (Cryptocurrency Exchange Business Kanto Finance Bureau Director No. 00002) and Quoine Pte. in Singapore are reportedly being acquired by FTX Trading Ltd. The acquisition is “expected to close in March 2022, subject to customary… Read More

February 5, 2022 @ 12:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, the US Department of Treasury issued a statement on illicit activity in the “high-value art market.” More specifically, activities that include money laundering and terrorist financing risks. The study found that while there is some evidence of money laundering risk in the high-value art… Read More

February 5, 2022 @ 1:07 am By Omar Faridi  |  

London-headquartered Fintech Fiat Republic recently announced that it has acquired $3.5 million in seed funding from EU tech investors Speedinvest, Seedcamp, and Credo. The startup, which is building a compliance-first, e-money-regulated banking and payments API, is looking to “drastically reduce the time and cost of… Read More

February 4, 2022 @ 3:20 pm By Martin Cheek  |  

The role that cryptocurrency plays in money laundering is hotly debated. Some say that the anonymity afforded by currencies like Bitcoin makes it easier for criminals to shift funds undetected, while others argue that the blockchain and it’s unchangeable, publicly visible ledger actually provide far… Read More

February 4, 2022 @ 1:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Public Mint, the fiat-native public blockchain and money system, has started using Celsius, the platform for lending and earning yield on digital currency, adding to Public Mint’s diversified, high-yield returns program known as EARN. The partnership with Celsius diversifies EARN’s offerings, which enables users to… Read More

February 4, 2022 @ 12:47 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

India is to tax and regulate Bitcoin and crypto after previously considering a ban, which could be the next step towards making it legal tender in the country, suspects deVere Group CEO Nigel Green. Green’s assessment comes as Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a… Read More

February 4, 2022 @ 12:17 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

New research from GNY, a blockchain-based machine learning business, reveals that of those people who trade at least $1,000 a month in Bitcoin, 25 per cent are trading $4,000 or more.  Just 11 per cent say they trade around $1,000 a month, with 34 per… Read More

February 4, 2022 @ 9:55 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Outstanding shares of crypto-asset marketplace Bakkt Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKKT) have fallen to an all-time low, eliminating about $10 billion in market value after achieving a record high (after the company’s highly-anticipated public market launch in October of last year). The Bakkt platform, which is… Read More

February 4, 2022 @ 9:14 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The 1inch Network has introduced a new investment tool. According to an update shared with CI, this investment tool “takes advantage of more efficient use of capital than in regular AMM pools.” As explained in the announcement, the 1inch Network is consistently working on solutions… Read More

February 3, 2022 @ 9:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

MRHB DeFi, which claims to be the first decentralized finance ecosystem platform focused on ethical, sustainable and halal cryptocurrency-related opportunities, has secured $5.5 million via a series of private and public rounds which culminated in an initial DEX offering (IDO) that was “oversubscribed” on the… Read More

February 3, 2022 @ 8:26 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

New research from European digital asset hedge fund manager Nickel Digital Asset Management reveals institutional investors and wealth managers have dramatically increased their allocation to cryptocurrencies and digital assets over the past 12 months. The survey of professional investors from the US, UK, Germany, France,… Read More

February 3, 2022 @ 6:24 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Federal Reserve of Boston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have published a whitepaper on the possibility of a central bank digital currency or CBDC. The document has been anticipated for some time as the collaboration was announced in 2020. The initiative has… Read More

February 3, 2022 @ 11:05 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Realux, which claimed to be a real estate crypto project, reportedly paid social media influencers to support the idea that the initiative might help with addressing the wealth inequality issue by democratizing the real estate industry. However, the Realux project founders and team appeared to… Read More

February 3, 2022 @ 11:01 am By JD Alois  |  

Arca, a compliant digital asset manager, has announced that it has closed its NFT fund, raising $50 million. The fund was said to be oversubscribed and access was limited to existing Arca LPs. In a release, Arca said the NFT fund joins a growing number… Read More

February 3, 2022 @ 9:06 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at digital asset firm Gemini notes that there has been a considerable decline across the wider crypto market, including Bitcoin, since the beginning of 2022. However, Gemini points out in a report shared with CI that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are “thriving.” The update… Read More

February 3, 2022 @ 9:02 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Wormhole, which is described as a communication bridge between Solana (SOL) and other DeFi/blockchain platforms, claims that bad actors stole around $320 million in virtual currency. The wormhole network was exploited for 120k wETH. ETH will be added over the next hours to ensure wETH… Read More

February 2, 2022 @ 7:17 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Kirobo, a decentralized finance application developer, has partnered with Evai, an AI-driven decentralized crypto asset rating platform. Besides a shared client base and investment opportunity agreement, the partnership includes a series of mutual integrations, bringing the users of Kirobo’s Liquid Vault built-in instant analytics on all… Read More

February 2, 2022 @ 3:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at ComplyAdvantage has released their new report, titled The State of Financial Crime 2022. ComplyAdvantage’s outlook for 2022: From supply chains in crisis to “high-wire” geopolitical standoffs and the implementation of updated regulatory frameworks, it’s going to be “a landmark year for compliance… Read More