Blockchain & Digital Assets

October 5, 2021 @ 1:36 pm By JD Alois  |  

Recently, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler voiced his opinion that a Bitcoin ETF may provide sufficient investor protection for a fund to move forward with the regulatory process. More specifically, Gensler appeared to support Bitcoin Futures ETFs – and not spot-priced funds. Gensler has long stated… Read More

October 5, 2021 @ 1:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

US Bank, one of the largest retail banks in the US, is now supporting cryptocurrency custody, according to a statement by the bank. Available via its Global Fund Services clients, the custody offering is designed to provide a safekeeping solution for Bitcoin with additional digital… Read More

October 5, 2021 @ 1:08 pm By JD Alois  |  

Presearch, an erstwhile challenger to top dog Google that provides user privacy while rewarding users with crypto, has partnered with CoinMarketCap on crypto data. Presearch was recently added as a default search engine on all Android devices in Europe. CoinMarketCap is a subsidiary of Binance… Read More

October 5, 2021 @ 1:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Hats.Finance, a decentralized cybersecurity incentive network that’s governed by its community stakeholders of hackers, projects, and token holders, says that the future of cybersecurity is “incentivized” security. The Hats.Finance team has published a blog post in which it has introduced PPM (Protocol Protection Mining), as… Read More

October 5, 2021 @ 11:47 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Italia Olivicola, the largest organization of olive and olive oil producers in Italy, is working with Euranet, a technology compliance management services provider, to move its supply chain operations onto the Algorand blockchain.  This model was developed employing Euranet’s ChoralChain platform and can be applied… Read More

October 5, 2021 @ 10:00 am By JD Alois  |  

At 12 noon today, the House Committee on Financial Services will hold a hearing with SEC Chairman Gary Gensler testifying on behalf of the Commission. The regulation of digital assets (crypto assets) will be a pointed topic of discussion as has been already indicated in… Read More

October 5, 2021 @ 9:20 am By JD Alois  |  

In prepared remarks distributed prior to the House Committee on Financial Services hearing later today, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler outlined his talking points as he asks the Committee for a significant budget increase while outlining his agenda for his term at the SEC. As should… Read More

October 5, 2021 @ 8:35 am By JD Alois  |  

Fabrick, an open banking platform, and Bitpanda – a digital investing platform offering stocks, digital assets and more, have joined to create a white label solution for Italian banks and Fintechs. The service enables users to give their customers and clients access to the growing… Read More

October 4, 2021 @ 9:53 pm By JD Alois  |  

The House Committee on Financial Services will be holding a virtual hearing tomorrow entitled “Oversight of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: Wall Street’s Cop Is Finally Back on the Beat.” SEC Chairman Gary Gensler will traipse back to the Capitol to update the Committee on… Read More

October 4, 2021 @ 9:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are perhaps the “most exciting” development in crypto in 2021, according to the team at Kraken. The digital assets firm writes in a blog post that many people might believe the future of NFTs is “bright.” However, relatively few understand their true… Read More

October 4, 2021 @ 8:53 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based Ojamu, a blockchain-powered Martech platform, has acquired $1.7 million in capital via an oversubscribed private sale. Ojamu, which is a marketing technology platform that aims to leverage the power of blockchain tech, artificial intelligence, and NFTs to implement digital marketing campaigns for various brands,… Read More

October 4, 2021 @ 5:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Interac Corp., a payments network and digital ID provider, reveals that it has entered into a transaction to acquire the “exclusive” rights to SecureKey Technologies Inc. digital ID services for Canada. SecureKey is an established digital ID and authentication provider that works cooperatively with government… Read More

October 4, 2021 @ 4:04 pm By JD Alois  |  

Trovio Capital Management (TCM) has announced the creation of the Digital Asset Income Fund for investing in stablecoin based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. TCM is a subsidiary of The Trovio Group based in Australia. The Fund is said to be institutional-grade to enable a safe… Read More

October 4, 2021 @ 3:02 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

On Tuesday, September 21, 2021, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had released an advisory on the sanctions risks associated with carrying out ransomware payments and the “proactive” steps firms may take to address these types of risks. This… Read More

October 4, 2021 @ 9:37 am By JD Alois  |  

The US Federal Reserve is poised to publish a report on the possibility of a central bank digital currency or CBDC. The concept has been bandied about by central bankers for several years now as policymakers seek to assess the benefits, and potential pitfalls, of… Read More

October 4, 2021 @ 8:33 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Catherine Gu, Global CBDC Product Lead at Visa (NYSE: V) writes in a blog post that you should try imagining splitting the check with your friends, like when everyone at the table may be using a different “type of money” — some using a central bank… Read More

October 3, 2021 @ 9:49 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings, Switzerland’s crypto-asset bank Sygnum, and European asset management firm Azimut Group have introduced a VC fund of up to $75M that will be based in Singapore. It will focus on making investments in startups operating in the digital assets space…. Read More

October 3, 2021 @ 8:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital assets firm Binance is pleased to confirm that they’ve hired Tigran Gambaryan, a former special agent of the Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Cyber Crimes Unit in Washington, D.C. Tigran joins Binance as Vice President of Global Intelligence and Investigations after working for around… Read More

October 3, 2021 @ 6:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

We recently caught up with Heikki Vänttinen, Co-founder at API3,  a collaborative initiative focused on delivering traditional API services to smart contract platforms in a decentralized and “trust-minimized” manner. It’s governed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), and its code is open-source and its operations… Read More

October 3, 2021 @ 5:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

IHS Markit, a leader in critical information, reveals that it’s teaming up with digital assets firm Coinbase (COIN: NASDAQ), in order to offer tax reporting information and related infrastructure. Through this partnership, IHS Markit will be creating and providing Forms 1099-MISC for Coinbase clients, with… Read More