Blockchain & Digital Assets

April 16, 2020 @ 10:42 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Cryptocurrencies and their underlying blockchain technology are often criticized for not having enough practical use cases. There are still relatively few merchants or retailers who will accept virtual currencies as payment, because of the challenges associated with off-ramping into fiat currencies, which are more practical… Read More

April 16, 2020 @ 8:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

WeBank, one of China’s first all-digital challenger banks, has revealed that it will begin exploring  the potential integration of DAML, which is an open-source smart contract programming language developed by Digital Asset (the company). The DAML software has been developed in order to help software… Read More

April 16, 2020 @ 8:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

dForce, a Chinese decentralized finance (DeFi) solution provider, has secured $1.5 million in capital. The DeFi platform’s latest round was led by Multicoin Capital. Huobi Capital and China Merchants Bank International (CMBI), the investment division of one of the largest financial institutions in China, also… Read More

April 16, 2020 @ 2:31 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Blockchain software firm BitGo announced on Thursday it has acquired Lumina, which is a comprehensive crypto-naive financial platform. BitGo also revealed that it has completed the first phase of product integration, expanding its services to give institutional investors a dashboard for managing, accounting, and tracking… Read More

April 16, 2020 @ 2:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed fraud charges against Alan Friedland and his companies, Fintech Investment Group, Inc. and Compcoin LLC. The CFTC claims that Friedland and his Florida based firms fraudulently solicited over $1.6 million in connection with a leveraged or margined… Read More

April 16, 2020 @ 11:01 am By JD Alois  |  

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has distributed a statement on Libra’s application for a “payment system license.” Initiated by Facebook, Libra is a digital currency attempting to facilitate payments globally outside of the traditional payments rails. The Libra Association is headquartered in Geneva,… Read More

April 16, 2020 @ 10:34 am By JD Alois  |  

The Libra Association, Facebook’s push to create a global non-sovereign digital currency, is applying for a Payment System License from the Financial Markets Supervisory Authority (FINMA) in Switzerland. In addition to applying for the FINMA license and updating the white paper, the Libra Foundation reports… Read More

April 16, 2020 @ 9:50 am By JD Alois  |  

Digital currency, like Bitcoin, CBDCs or stablecoins, will get a boost from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The report, conducted during January and February, was sponsored by crypto.com. The EIU consulted with Eva Julin, deputy head general… Read More

April 15, 2020 @ 10:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Germany-based Black Manta Capital Partners has introduced a $12 million security token offering (STO) for the Berlin real estate market. The initiative is reportedly a collaboration with Tigris Immobilien, a German real estate company. Approximately 2000 sq meters of real estate property, which mainly consists… Read More

April 15, 2020 @ 10:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A state-managed bank in China seems to have launched a mobile-based test app that supports the People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) virtual currency initiative. A website link allows users to download a payments app that has been provided by the Agricultural Bank of China (according… Read More

April 15, 2020 @ 7:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is out with an ominous note predicting a rise in cryptocurrency-related scams fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic. The FBI expects that the bad guys will take advantage of the FUD to steal your money and then launder it through the… Read More

April 15, 2020 @ 6:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against the Maker Foundation, which supports the ongoing development of MakerDAO, a leading decentralized Ethereum (ETH)-powered lending facility. The suit alleges that the foundation intentionally misrepresented the risks potential investors in the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem could face. The… Read More

April 15, 2020 @ 5:16 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Algorand (ALGO), a leading proof of stake (PoS)-based blockchain platform, recently revealed that it’s developing a trusted, public, and permissionless infrastructure (with the help of its community members) for the borderless global economy. The Algorand team announced: “In support of our mission, we are launching… Read More

April 15, 2020 @ 4:31 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (TSX.V:HIVE) (OTCQX:HVBTF) recently announced it acquired 30 Megawatts (MW) Cryptocurrency, which is located in Canada, for C$4 million. 30 MW was purchased from Cryptologic. HIVE reportedly issued 15,000,000 common shares to Cryptologic, which are notably subject to a four-month lock-up agreement,… Read More

April 15, 2020 @ 11:23 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb announced on Tuesday it has integrated with blockchain-based digital identification organization, MyID Alliance. Bithumb claims it is the first Korean virtual asset exchange to implement the distributed identification (DID) service performed by the organization. Bithumb Korea will notably participate as… Read More

April 15, 2020 @ 10:23 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

ShapeShift AG, an instant exchange for Bitcoin digital currency and other blockchain assets, announced this week it has acquired Israel-based non-custodial software wallet, Portis. ShapeShift reported it integrated with Portis’ wallet SDK into the new ShapeShift platform this past November. ShapeShift revealed that prior to… Read More

April 15, 2020 @ 8:39 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is planning to secure $450 million in capital for its second digital asset-focused fund, according to a recent report from the Financial Times (FT). Sources familiar with the matter told the FT that the giant VC firm… Read More

April 14, 2020 @ 11:09 pm By JD Alois  |  

The ongoing lawsuit regarding a SIM Swap scam filed by Michael Terpin against AT&T Mobility took another step forward this week. Earlier this year, it was ruled that plaintiff Terpin can proceed with statutory, contract, and tort damages claims against AT&T Mobility for $24 million… Read More

April 14, 2020 @ 11:03 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the nation’s central bank with over $3.2 trillion in reserves, recently held a discussion in the capital city of Beijing. The PBoC’s officials confirmed during the conference (held on April 3, 2020) that the reserve bank would continue to… Read More

April 14, 2020 @ 10:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Seychelles-based Huobi Group, a blockchain and digital assets firm, is introducing an on-chain analytics tool, called Star Atlas, for monitoring and identifying illicit cryptocurrency transfers. The exchange’s Star Atlas tool allows users to track on-chain crypto-asset transactions in real-time. With the launch of this new… Read More