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Showing posts from March 29, 2021

State Grid Corporation of China Selects Wanchain’s Blockchain Technology to Upgrade National Data Management System

PRESS RELEASE. The State Grid Corporation of China will be adopting blockchain interoperability platform Wanchain’s technology for their national data management system. 30th March, 2021, Beijing, China – Wanglu Tech Ltd. (“Wanchain”) is pleased to announce that the State Grid Corporation of China (“State Grid”) has approved the results of its contracted feasibility study. The study systematically analyzed the impact of integrating blockchain technology into State Grid’s national data management system and concluded that Wanchain’s blockchain technology is ideal to upgrade the world’s largest utility company’s national data management system. Study Highlights The feasibility study results highlight the unique requirements of State Grid’s national data management system and outlines the specific consensus mechanisms and encryption algorithms best suited to integrate with existing systems. On the basis of these results, State Grid selected Wanchain’s interoperable blockchain ...

Spanish Island Government Decides to Sell Its Bitcoin Investment by Citing ‘Ethical’ Reasons

Bitcoin is not liked by everyone from the Island Council of Tenerife, Spain. At least that’s what was suggested by its president, Pedro Martín, who ordered the sale of the local government’s investment in cryptocurrency. Bitcoin Is an ‘Opaque’ Currency, Martín Says Martín, from the Spanish Socialist Worker’s Party (PSOE), issued the order of dismantling the investment made through the Technological Institute of Renewable Energies (ITER) in a previous administration, citing “ethical” reasons. In detail, according to El Economista , the Island Council of Tenerife’s president considers it an “opaque” currency that cannot be declared in the tax filings. Although the president did not disclose the exact number of bitcoins ( BTC ) acquired by the council, it was reported that the liquidation could yield almost one million euros ($1.17 million), which could be around 20 BTC . During an interview with a local radio of the Canarias Islands, Martin said the council realized an audit of t...

Cosmos launches Inter-Blockchain Communication to enable cross-chain DeFi

Cosmos is now building a cross-chain DEX for IBC-enabled blockchains, dubbed Gravity The self-described “Internet of blockchains,” Cosmos, has launched its Inter-Blockchain Communication standard, or IBC, enabling crypto assets to be transferred easily between independent blockchains. Comos’ IBC went live on March 29, enabling token transfers between Cosmos and other IBC-compatible blockchains. The feature, which has been in development for five years, was voted in via community governance with 112 million votes supporting the activation and 75 million opposed. Over a two-week period, a Cosmos proposal needs to secure at least 512 ATOM tokens deposited in support of it for voting to proceed. The number of tokens an individual or group holds determines how much influence their vote will have on the outcome of a proposal. Cosmos asserted that IBC facilitates new applications by facilitating both fungible and non-fungible tokens between chains and paving the way for cross-chain exc...

Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui launches the country's first 'a-1' rated security token

Sumitomo Mitsui has partnered with Securitize to launch Japan’s first security token that complies with the country’s Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. Japan-based bank Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, or SMTB, has launched its first asset-backed securities token in partnership with Securitize on March 29. The instrument is the first security token compliant with the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA) to launch in the Japanese Market. The token has received an “ a-1 rating ” from Japanese rating agency, Rating and Investment Information, Inc, suggesting the product is very likely to fulfill its short-term obligations. The token was created by tokenizing paper-based beneficiary certificates representing investor ownership to an underlying asset. SMTB has also created a trust company to manage its underlying securitized investments. SMTB issued the product using Securitize’ security tokenization platform. Securitize was founded in the United States in 2017, before launch...

Three-quarters of circulating BTC last changed hands for less than $10,800

After a recent spike in profit-taking, long-term Bitcoin investors are back to offloading coins at the same rate they were in 2020. Research from on-chain analytics provider Glassnode has found that roughly three-quarters of circulating Bitcoin last moved on the blockchain when prices were below $10,800, suggesting most market participants are long-term holders. Glassnode’s March 29 ‘ Week on Chain ’ report found that 25.43% of circulating BTC last traded between the prices of $10,800 and $58,800. With Bitcoin trading for $10,800 just six months ago, the data suggests one-in-four circulating BTC last changed hands during either Q2 2020 or Q1 2021. The report notes the number of long-term Bitcoin bulls continues to increase, with many coins that have remained dormant since early in the current market cycle now being classified by Glassnode as long-term holdings, or LTH — coins that have not moved on-chain for at least 155 days. As a result, the number of coins being classified as...

Tron’s Justin Sun Unveils NFT Fund Aimed at Art Acquisition

Hot on the heels of a recent winning auction bid for Beeple’s “Ocean Front” NFT, Justin Sun is making another splash in the NFT market following his decision to seed an investment fund that collects high-profile works of art. Fund Just One Leg of Sun’s Ambitions in The NFT Ecosystem Ongoing efforts to digitize art and collectibles have put the spotlight on the blockchain industry once more as dizzying NFT auction results draw high-profile artists and entertainers along with industry insiders competing for market share in the ever-expanding space. In keeping with his boisterous style and ambition to reach every corner of the crypto sphere, Tron’s Justin Sun has revealed his intensified focus on the NFT space following recent auction participation and listing Lindsay Lohan’s digital collectibles on Tron’s blockchain. Sun’s newly launched JUST NFT Fund vies to be the leading fund investing in the NFT space, with a mandate to strictly acquire works from high-profile names with a min...

Payments firm Nuvei launches support for 40 cryptos including Reddcoin and DOGE

Payment provider Nuvei has launched support for nearly 40 crypto assets including lesser-known coins from previous market cycles, such as Reddcoin, Steem, Bitcoin Gold, and Siacoin. E-commerce merchants can now transact in nearly 40 cryptocurrencies through global payment platform Nuvei. According to the announcement , merchants partnered with the payment provider can use an array of cryptocurrencies to send and receive payments across 200 countries, including top assets Bitcoin ( BTC ) and Ether ( ETH ), lesser known cryptos such as Reddcoin and Bitcoin Gold, and even hyper-volatile coins like Dogecoin ( DOGE ). Nuvei’s customers can even use Ripple ( XRP ), despite the asset’s recent legal woes and subsequent delistings from major exchanges. Commenting on the launch, Nuvei’s CEO and chairman, Philip Fayer, described the firm’s support for crypto assets as “empower[ing] our clients, large and small, with frictionless payment experiences and a greater opportunity to partake i...

South African Companies Convert Cash Holdings Into BTC— Crypto Asset Is Hedge Against Devaluation

New reports emerging from South Africa suggest privately held firms are converting a portion of their cash holdings into bitcoin as they seek to hedge against currency devaluation. According to one report, an open-source software specialist firm, LSD Open, could well be the first South African company to make the bold step after it reportedly acquired $134,000 worth of bitcoin. Bitcoin Philosophy As a local report explains, LSD Open completed the purchase in two separate transactions and an average price of just over $34,200 per BTC was paid. At the time of writing, the value of LSD Open’s BTC holdings had grown by almost 70% in just “a matter of weeks.” Meanwhile, the report also discloses that LSD Open’s BTC acquisition had been facilitated by Bitfund, a local cryptocurrency exchange. LSD Open CEO Stefan Lesicnik is quoted explaining how bitcoin’s attributes are aligned with the philosophy of his company. Lesicnik said: Our vision is to make the world more open, and bitcoin...

Cointelegraph Consulting: Hype for NFTs is real, but what about transaction volume?

The top two NFT marketplaces, OpenSea and Rarible, differ considerably in daily transaction volume. Covalent’s latest findings in Cointelegraph Consulting’s biweekly newsletter indicate that the non-fungible token market has whales of its own. The largest user on the OpenSea makes up $192 million in reserve capital while the other users in the top 20% by value transacted only account for $8 million. Similarly, Rarible has a whale with $311 million in its wallet, and other top 20% active users collectively have $9.2 million. OpenSea describes itself as the largest NFT marketplace. Indeed, the firm is the market leader with over $153 million in NFT transactions facilitated across 97,072 different transfers since the beginning of 2021. The major competitor, Rarible, is a not-so-close second with $33,794,800 in NFT transactions across 37,630 transactions since the beginning of 2021. Cointelegraph Consulting’s bi-weekly roundup breaks down the trends in institutional demand...

South Korea's 'Kimchi premium' is back: Is the Bitcoin rally starting to heat up?

Demand for Bitcoin in South Korea is heating up as the country's BTC premium rises over 5%. The "Kimchi premium" is back. Bitcoin ( BTC ) is trading more than 6% higher across major South Korean crypto exchanges as of March 29. Data from CryptoQuant shows that the premium in the South Korean market was nonexistent for many months and, in fact, dropped to around -6% in early February when BTC dipped below $30,000. The so-called Kimchi premium forms when the price of Bitcoin trades higher on South Korean exchanges than other markets. The return of this premium is a bullish sign suggesting that demand for Bitcoin in South Korea is likely outpacing supply. Bitcoin premium on Korean exchanges. Source: CryptoQuant Why the Kimchi premium could be significant to Bitcoin Although South Korea does not account for a majority share of the global Bitcoin market, it remains one of the major exchange markets by daily volume. On CoinMarketCap, as an example, Bithumb is listed...

Aleph introduces DApp to 'back up' NFT art pieces

NFT "rug pulls" can be a serious risk when the file is stored on a centralized platform. Aleph.im, a decentralized filesharing platform, has launched a decentralized application, or DApp, that lets users automatically back up the data underlying their nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, on a censorship-resistant, decentralized network. The concept of NFTs has generated considerable buzz in the last weeks due to their application for buying and selling digital art. The immutable token stands in as the unique and non-counterfeitable representation of a specific piece of art, even if the specific art piece is fully digital and could be copied by anyone. While this issue is often highlighted by NFT critics, sometimes the opposite problem exists. Generally, NFT files are created and hosted on the InterPlanetary File System, or IPFS, a decentralized storage network. Files stored on IPFS are immutable and uncensorable, making it a great location for storing the underlying art of an NF...

Bahamas' Sand Dollar nears commercial rollout as interoperability completed

Following cybersecurity assessments, commercial institutions are being cleared to issue the world's first CBDC — the Bahamas' Sand Dollar. The Central Bank of the Bahamas has announced that its central bank digital currency, the Sand Dollar, is expected to achieve full interoperability between its various wallet providers within the week. A recent statement released by the CBoB revealed that Authorised Financial Institutions such as payments service providers are expected to be finalized within the coming days. Essentially acting as wallet providers and prospective issuers of the Sand Dollar, the AFIs in question have been subject to rigorous cybersecurity assessments, the bank stated. Those institutions which adopted the bank’s own app have already been cleared to participate, while those which intend to use their own proprietary apps are still being processed. A deadline of March 31, 2021, is expected to be met. In October 2020, the Sand Dollar became the first CBDC in ...

Travel Giant Webjet (WEB:ASX) Enters Crypto through an Unprecedented $4.1M Deal with LockTrip.com

Australia-based superbrand Webjet recognizes the value potential of the blockchain startup LockTrip and joins its mission by securing the rights for up to a 51% stake in what is a unique deal for the blockchain space. Summary of Article Travel Industry Leader Webjet Limited to invest up to $8.3M into LockTrip Managing Director of Webjet group himself, John Guscic and Director of Corporate Development, Lynne Oldfield to join LockTrip’s Board Webjet to Integrate the LockTrip.com Marketplace and the LOC economy into their OTA (Online Travel Agency) Websites in Australia and New Zealand Webjet and LockTrip to Explore the Opportunity to Migrate Booking Verification System “Rezchain” onto Hydra Chain Webjet ( WEB:ASX ), headquartered in Melbourne (Australia), has announced that it will be entering the crypto space through a strategic marriage with the blockchain-based travel marketplace LockTrip.com. In addition to its product offering up to 60% savings compared to traditional bo...

Payment Giant Visa Integrates USDC Stablecoin Support for Settlement

On Monday, the American multinational financial services corporation Visa announced that digital currency payments have arrived on Visa’s settlement platform. The payment giant revealed that the company will leverage USD coin (USDC), the regulated token built on top of the Ethereum network. A lot Has Changed Since Dee Hock founded Visa Visa has announced cryptocurrency integration with its settlement platform on March 29. The company said a lot has changed since Dee Hock founded Visa, and nowadays Visa must “accommodate new form factors for money.” BREAKING: Visa has become the first major payment network to incorporate a digital dollar (USDC) into their network and settle transactions in the new system, rather than the old banking system. Eventually every payment network will do this. — Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) March 29, 2021 Visa is piloting the new USD coin (USDC) capabilities with the cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com and then will offer USDC settlement capabilities to ...

Stablecoin reserves on crypto exchanges hit new historic high of $10B

Cryptocurrency exchanges continue accumulating massive amounts of stablecoins like Tether and USDC Coin. Stablecoins like Tether ( USDT ) and USD Coin ( USDC ) have hit another milestone in terms of accumulation by exchanges. According to market data provider CryptoQuant, stablecoin holdings on global crypto exchanges soared to a new all-time high on March 28, exceeding $10 billion. Cryptocurrency exchanges are now holding nearly 16% of the total market value of all stablecoins, as stablecoin market capitalization amounts to $63 billion at the time of writing, according to data from CoinGecko. The total trading volume of all stablecoins is estimated at about $88 billion. Source: CryptoQuant According to CryptoQuant data, volumes of stablecoin holdings on exchanges have been repeatedly renewing all-time highs this year, surging more than 100% in two months . As previously reported, stablecoin inflows are often seen as a short-term indicator of bullish action for Bitcoin ( BTC...

Latvian airline airBaltic adds Dogecoin and Ether as payment options

The national carrier began accepting crypto payments in 2014. Passengers flying with Latvian airline airBaltic now have more cryptocurrency payment options. According to an announcement on the airline’s website on Monday, passengers can now pay for flight tickets using Ether ( ETH ) and Dogecoin ( DOGE ). Other accepted virtual currencies include Bitcoin Cash ( BCH ) as well as four U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins: USD Coin (USDC), Binance Dollar (BUSD), Gemini Dollar (GUSD) and Paxos (PAX). The airline began accepting Bitcoin ( BTC ) payments back in July 2014 . Indeed, the Latvian national carrier is touted as being the first airline in the world to offer cryptocurrency payment options. As part of its announcement, airBaltic clarified that despite accepting crypto payments, ticket prices are not denominated in the supported cryptocurrencies. The prices are displayed in euros with cryptocurrency payment gateway service BitPay handling the conversion of virtual currency payments t...

Kakao’s Klaytn expands NFT offerings to OpenSea following 800% quarterly growth

The platform created by Kakao's blockchain wing will reportedly look to extend its NFT functionality with an upcoming OpenSea integration. Klaytn, the blockchain project of South Korean tech giant Kakao, has partnered up with NFT marketplace OpenSea to bring a non-fungible token market to its platform. Klaytn is a smart-contract platform developed by Kakao’s blockchain wing, Ground X, which will develop its own NFTs and offer them out on OpenSea by the end of June, according to a recent announcement . The dollar value of NFT transactions has exceeded $500 million since the turn of the year, when the technology received renewed attention following a string of high-profile purchases by celebrities. While NFT tech can be applied to a number of use-cases , its recent emergence at the forefront of discussion and investment was fuelled largely by its potential as a digital medium for artists. OpenSea is one of the fastest-growing venues for the exchange of NFTs, with its reported M...

South African Regulator Zeroes in on Scams and Unregulated Firms in Its Second Crypto ‘Health Warning’

South African regulator the Financial Sector Conduct Authority recently issued its second crypto “health warning” after it noticed increased reports of crypto-related losses suffered “in the past three months.” In the warning, the regulator reminds investors that since cryptocurrencies are “not regulated by the authority or any other body,” there will be no legal recourse “if something goes wrong.” Unregulated Firms and Promises of High Rewards The FSCA’s second warning comes in the wake of the collapse of the Mirror Trading International (MTI), a bitcoin Ponzi scheme. As reported by Bitcoin.com News, MTI was subsequently identified as the biggest crypto scam in 2020 by a blockchain analysis firm, Chainalysis, in its annual crypto crime report. However, in its latest warning, the South African regulator also zeroes in on scams and promises of very high rewards often made by unregulated entities. The health warning says: The high risk already inherent in crypto assets is furthe...

Crypto mergers and acquisitions doubled to $1.1B in 2020, PwC reports

The average deal size in the crypto industry surged from $19 million last year to nearly $53 million in 2020, according to a new PwC report. The consolidation of cryptocurrency-related companies surged massively in 2020, hitting a new record in deal activity, according to a new report by professional services network PwC. The total volume of mergers and acquisitions in the crypto industry more than doubled from $481 million in 2019 to $1.1 billion in2020, PwC said in a Monday market overview, as seen by Bloomberg. The average deal size in crypto surged from $19 million in 2019 to nearly $53 million, with crypto fundraising increasing 33% in overall value in 2020. Countries in the EMEA region saw a notable spike in the number of deals, while the Americas recorded a threefold growth in deal value. Source: Bloomberg Following new highs last year, deal activity in the crypto industry is likely to continue growing in 2021. PwC global crypto leader Henri Arslanian said that 2021 is ...

90% of Bitcoin mining comes from ‘dirty energy,’ Miami mayor says

The U.S. should address the environmental problems of Bitcoin mining by providing its clean energy to set up mining hubs, Mayor Francis Suarez said. The majority of Bitcoin ( BTC ) is mined outside of the United States using “dirty energy,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has claimed. Suarez discussed the environmental implications of Bitcoin mining in a March 26 episode of the Unconfirmed podcast with cryptocurrency journalist Laura Shin . The mayor said that the U.S. should mine more Bitcoin for to national security reasons. “A part of the problem with Bitcoin is 90% of it is not done in the United States. 90% of it is done in countries that have dirty energy. So that’s the reason why it’s considered to be a dirty activity,” Suarez stated. The official argued that the U.S. would improve this situation by providing its renewable clean energy supply to Bitcoin mining centers and data centers. “We get nuclear power, so we have clean energy. A clean energy supply that’s esse...