Blockchain & Digital Assets

June 24, 2020 @ 8:00 am By JD Alois  |  

The Algorand Foundation and Circle have partnered to bring a stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC) using the Algorand blockchain. The implementation is scheduled for Q3. The move was described as a shift away for Ethereum and its congested network and affiliated high fees and performance limitations…. Read More

June 23, 2020 @ 11:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

Binance China Blockchain Institute, the research institute of crypto exchange Binance, has announced a partnership with Xinyuan Group (NYSE:XIN), a Chinese real estate company working on incorporating blockchain technology in the global real estate industry including in New York City. Xinyuan Group previously launched “UPRETS,” a… Read More

June 23, 2020 @ 10:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ampleforth, a crypto-asset protocol for “oraclized” money, revealed on June 23, 2020, that it will introduce a new Liquidity Incentive Program, Geyser, which will target Uniswap 2.0, a widely-used non-custodial Ethereum token exchange. As mentioned in a press release shared with Crowdfund Insider: “After providing… Read More

June 23, 2020 @ 8:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ethereum based Opyn, an options issuance platform, has secured $2.16 million in capital via a round led by Dragonfly Capital, a cross-border crypto-asset investment firm. Other investors in Opyn’s latest round included 1kx, an early-stage token fund focused on remittances, computation, storage, prediction, and the… Read More

June 23, 2020 @ 5:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A new type of user reward scheme to distribute the Compound governance tokens (COMP) has led to a significant increase in the amount of value locked into the leading decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol. Traders using Compound are now “farming” COMP tokens. Notably, the total value… Read More

June 23, 2020 @ 10:34 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has obtained a final judgment in an enforcement action against Eran Eyal, the founder and former chief executive officer of UnitedData, Inc., DBA Shopin, for conducting an allegedly fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO). Towards the end of 2019, the… Read More

June 23, 2020 @ 9:00 am By JD Alois  |  

  BlockFi, a digital asset financial services firm, has boosted its Asia presence with the new hire of Rishi Ramchandani as Director of Business Development, Asia. According to BlockFi, Ramchandani most recently led global and Asia equities teams for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. As crypto… Read More

June 23, 2020 @ 8:08 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

PayPal and Venmo are planning to roll out cryptocurrency buying and selling options through their digital payment platforms, Coindesk reported on Monday. The media outlet revealed that although it is not confirmed which crypto will be offered, sources close to the project have stated they… Read More

June 22, 2020 @ 11:23 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Jemma Xu, co-founder and partner at RedBlock Capital, a provider of digital investment services with a presence in Asia, Australia, and the US, says that we now have many technologically advanced securities issuance platforms and secondary exchanges. However, she points out that technology alone doesn’t… Read More

June 22, 2020 @ 10:39 pm By JD Alois  |  

Sparrow, an options trading platform has raised USD$ 3.5 million in a Series A funding round, according to a company release. The round was led by HDR Group, the parent company of BitMEX – a crypto exchange. The funding also included participation from Signum Capital, Du… Read More

June 22, 2020 @ 9:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Thailand-based Fintech firm SYNQA, the parent company of OmiseGo (previously called Omise Holdings), has reportedly secured $80 million in capital via a Series C investment round led by SCB 10x, a subsidiary of the Siam Commercial Bank. Asia-based VC group SPARX also took part in… Read More

June 22, 2020 @ 6:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

Neufund, once a leading voice in the European security token offering market, has decided to pivot away from its digital security mission. Based in Germany, Neufund was founded by CEO Zoe Adamovicz who announced several years ago their intent to conduct the first-ever legally binding… Read More

June 22, 2020 @ 5:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

  The clock is ticking for UK based digital asset, or crypto-asset firms operating in the UK to register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Applications must be submitted by June 30, 2020. In a statement earlier today by the FCA, the agency reminded the… Read More

June 22, 2020 @ 4:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

FC Barcelona, the legendary football club, held its first “flash sale” in partnership with the club’s partner Chiliz who is issuing the digital asset using blockchain. According to FC Barcelona, 600,000 Barça Fan Tokens ($BAR) were purchased in under 2 hours. Tokens were sold at… Read More

June 22, 2020 @ 10:34 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Cryptocurrency exchange PayBito recently announced it has added Ripple’s XRP to its platform. According to PayBito, XRP is a crypto asset that runs on RippleNet, the real-time gross settlement system (RTGS) and remittance network. XRP Ledger is the underlying open-source distributed ledger database of RippleNet…. Read More

June 22, 2020 @ 10:17 am By JD Alois  |  

Trustology has announced a partnership with GCEX, an OTC broker that is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). According to a release distributed by Trustology, the arrangement will enable a secure liquidity network with institutional-grade custody for digital asset trading. The targeted customers includes… Read More

June 22, 2020 @ 9:00 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Cred, a global blockchain-enabled financial services platform serving clients in around 190 countries, has hired Daniel Goldstein as its new CTO. Bethany De Lude has also joined Cred. She’ll be taking over the company’s security operations as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). As mentioned in… Read More

June 22, 2020 @ 7:16 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Tether Ltd, the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin USDT, has reportedly made a $10 million equity investment into the operations of the Celsius Network, a leading digital asset lending platform, which now has a $120 million pre-money valuation and $150 million post-money valuation. Celsius… Read More

June 21, 2020 @ 10:24 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Bittrex, a cryptocurrency exchange based in the U.S., announced on Saturday it is now accepting Mastercard as a source for funding user accounts. Bittrex reported that it will accept Mastercard payments from 36 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East subject… Read More

June 21, 2020 @ 4:36 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Big Four auditing firm Deloitte claims that Fintech industry professionals no longer think that blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) is “groundbreaking and merely promising.” The professional services firm’s 2020 Global Blockchain Survey polled around 1,500 senior management professionals and found that: “Initial doubts about… Read More