Blockchain & Digital Assets

August 26, 2020 @ 3:16 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Blockfolio, a U.S.-based network for mobile cryptocurrency portfolio tracking and management, announced on Wednesday it has been acquired by cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, FTX. Founded in 2014, Blockfolio claims that millions of users trust its platform to stay connected to the “pulse” of the cryptocurrency… Read More

August 26, 2020 @ 2:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Decentralized finance (DeFi) projects continue to secure funding, despite the economic uncertainty created due to COVID-19. As covered, capital secured by DeFi lending projects surged 150% in April of this year, but more general Fintech and digital assets initiatives had recorded a 57% drop in… Read More

August 26, 2020 @ 11:03 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

BitGo, digital asset financial services provider, announced on Wednesday it has formally applied before the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) for a New York Trust to operate as an independent, regulated qualified custodian under New York State Banking Law. BitGo reported that… Read More

August 26, 2020 @ 8:01 am By JD Alois  |  

Wirex, a UK-based Fintech, has announced a partnership with Railsbank to provide Wirex cards in the APAC region. The move is emblematic of the rapid shift away from Wirecard (WDI:DE) a German Fintech now in bankruptcy proceedings. Wirex also facilitates cryptocurrency payments. Railsbank is a… Read More

August 26, 2020 @ 7:35 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Brooklyn, New York based ConsenSys, a blockchain software company focused on Ethereum (ETH) development, has acquired JPMorgan’s (NYSE: JPM) Quorum, which aims to serve as an enterprise-variant or version of the Ethereum protocol. As mentioned in a release shared with CI, even before the first… Read More

August 26, 2020 @ 7:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Our attitude or approach towards cryptocurrency investments are determined by our understanding or knowledge of basic financial concepts (financial literacy) and our ability to assess the potential risks involved with investing in Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets. This, according to researchers Georgios Panos and… Read More

August 25, 2020 @ 10:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Radix DLT Ltd, the developer of a “high-throughput” or high-performance protocol for creating decentralized applications (dApps), crypto, or blockchain-based tokens and coins, reveals that it has implemented four new technology solutions that could help decentralized finance (DeFi) achieve mainstream adoption. The Radix team notes that… Read More

August 25, 2020 @ 10:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The developers of Ontology (ONT) have noted that they’re focused on establishing trust in the automotive industry through the implementation of a blockchain-enabled, decentralized digital identity solution that allows driving data to be recorded, stored, and verified in “a safe and secure” manner. The developers… Read More

August 25, 2020 @ 8:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

MANTRA DAO (distributed autonomous organization) describes itself as a community-governed decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that aims to make staking, lending, and governance more accessible to traders and investors. The MANTRA team notes: “MANTRA DAO leverages the wisdom of the crowd to create … a transparent,… Read More

August 25, 2020 @ 7:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at Messari, an online database for the digital asset sector that offers key data insights, pricing, and research on cryptocurrencies, has argued that Yearn.Finance’s YFI token is one of the least costly or reasonably priced assets in the emerging decentralized finance (DeFi) sector…. Read More

August 25, 2020 @ 6:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Aave protocol, an open-source and non-custodial DeFi protocol to earn interest on digital asset deposits while also being able to borrow assets, has been awarded an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license by the UK’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Aave Ltd received… Read More

August 25, 2020 @ 8:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), a global financial institution owned by reserve banks that aims to support international monetary and financial cooperation and acts as a bank for central banks, has noted that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are now “in the limelight.” However,… Read More

August 24, 2020 @ 10:38 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Blockchain security and analytics firm Chainalysis announced on Monday it has formed partnerships with Australia-based payments provider Assembly Payments and cryptocurrency exchanges CoinSpot and CoinJar to improve compliance standards. Chainalysis reported that CoinSpot and CoinJar will use Chainalysis KYT (Know Your Transaction) and Chainalysis… Read More

August 24, 2020 @ 10:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Qatar has been ranked or classified as a high-income economy by the World Bank. Although the Middle Eastern country only has a GDP of around $200 billion (a lot less compared to many trillion-dollar economies), it’s home to just over 2.7 million people so the… Read More

August 24, 2020 @ 9:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Taro Aso, the Japanese Finance Minister, has reportedly said that blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) could potentially help with combating the COVID-19 pandemic. Aso believes that DLT-powered solutions may be used for contact tracing while ensuring the privacy of user data. Aso, whose comments… Read More

August 24, 2020 @ 3:05 pm By JD Alois  |  

LIFULL Co., Ltd., operator of a Japanese real estate listing website “LIFULL HOME’S” has partnered with Securitize to offer digital securities based on real estate assets. According to a note from Securitize, LIFULL and Securitize are emblematic of the evolution of the global digital securities… Read More

August 24, 2020 @ 11:26 am By JD Alois  |  

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, a law firm that is active in the Fintech sector, has announced several new hires to boost its Fintech practice. According to a note from the firm, corporate partner Marc Boiron and litigation partner Rebecca Rettig have joined Manatt’s financial services… Read More

August 24, 2020 @ 11:05 am By JD Alois  |  

Aspen Digital, a digital security, is now trading on tZERO – a regulated ATS and subsidiary of Overstock (NASDAQ:OSTK). Aspen Digital is utilizing the Tezos blockchain and is said to be the first digital security based on Tezos to trade on a marketplace. The shares… Read More

August 24, 2020 @ 10:54 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Ukraine’s reserve bank claims that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) may work well when the private sector is involved. The country’s central banking institution had launched a pilot program back in 2018 that had focused on developing a digital version of Ukraine’s national currency (the… Read More

August 24, 2020 @ 9:08 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Brian Armstrong, CEO at San Francisco-based Coinbase, a leading digital asset exchange, claims that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has been “very restrictive and hostile” to cryptocurrency during the past few years. Armstrong says that Apple is “still blocking some functionality right now, including the ability to… Read More