Malaysia makes crypto regulation noises
Malaysia’s finance regulator and central bank are putting in place legislation on cryptocurrency and Initial Coin Offering (ICO) assets. Check out their joint statement here.
SEC sets Bitcoin ETF decision deadline for late Feb
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has once again postponed its decision on a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Binance Blockchain Week to take place in January
The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, is set to host its first conference.
Binance Blockchain Week will take place in Singapore from 19th to 22nd January and will include a two-day hackathon.
Bitwise looks to capitalise on market downturn
Bitwise has launched two new beta funds for Bitcoin and Ethereum, lining up alongside its 10 Private Index Fund.
It’s XRP for R3 as it rolls out global payment app
R3 has launched its new Corda Settler, an app that allows for payment obligations raised on the Corda blockchain platform to be made through any of the world’s payment systems. XRP is the first cryptocurrency to be supported by the Settler.
Huobi bags Gibraltar DLT licence, plans exchange roll-out in 2019
Huobi Global has released details on its Gibraltar-issued distributed ledger technology licence and plans for a cryptocurrency exchange.
“Our Gibraltar DLT licence will allow us to open a fully-regulated exchange for our global institutional clients and retail clients alike, so this is a big win for Huobi and a very positive step forward for our global strategy,” says Lester Haoda Li, Head of Global Institutional Business.
“It’s no secret that we think that well-designed regulatory regimes are a key part of the future for the cryptocurrency industry. Among other benefits, our DLT licence will allow us to open doors to more institutional investors who were previously unable or unwilling to get involved in an unregulated sphere.”
Further details here.
EU countries make blockchain declaration
Seven EU member nations, France, Italy, Spain, Malta, Cyprus, Portugal and Spain, have signed a joint declaration to promote the adoption of blockchain and establish Southern Europe as a leader in the emerging technologies space.
Get ready for Binance Chain
Binance will launch its own blockchain, Binance Chain, in the coming months, it revealed in a tweet this week.
Auchan green lights blockchain solution roll-out in five countries
Auchan is implementing TE-FOOD’s blockchain solution in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Senegal to improve the transparency of product history.
This follows an 18 month pilot in its Vietnam branch. The solution recently debuted in France for organic carrots and will be followed by potatoes and chicken in December and February. Italy will soon join in with tomatoes and chicken, Spain with Iberian pork products and locally grown exotic fruits, and then the focus will be on the chicken supply chain in Portugal and Senegal.
Consumers can use their mobile phones to scan QR codes on products and view the history. The authenticity of the data will be verified on the FoodChain, TE-FOOD’s traceability information ledger.
Hello to Hyperledger Ursa
The Hyperledger Technical Steering Committee has approved the Ursa project.
Overstock buys into GrainChain
Medici Ventures, the blockchain accelerator and subsidiary of Overstock, has purchased $2.5 million in equity in GrainChain.
“Agriculture is the backbone of our global civilisation, but producers operate on razor-thin margins and are up against a host of factors far beyond their control,” says Jonathan Johnson, President of Medici Ventures. “GrainChain helps to support those producers by simplifying and securing the measuring and payment process and bringing unprecedented transparency to the industry.”
Big hitters back ErisX
Crypto exchange ErisX has raised $27.5 million from investors including ConsenSys, Bitmain, Fidelity Investments and Nasdaq Ventures.
“The formation of ErisX is an important step in continuing the convergence of digital and traditional asset classes in global institutional financial services,” says Joseph Lubin, CEO of ConsenSys. “We are excited to invest and to be working with the extremely credible team. We look forward to seeing ErisX drive significant growth in institutional flows in both spot and futures digital asset markets in 2019.”
Blockchain-based KYC trial wraps in France
26 French companies and five banks have completed a Know Your Customer (KYC) trial based on R3’s Corda solution. Further details here.
US healthcare alliance testing blockchain for improved data quality
Ascension and CVS Health-Aetna are joining five other US healthcare giants in a blockchain technology pilot, Modern Healthcare reports.
Along with the Synaptic Health Alliance group, Humana, Multiplan, UnitedHealth Group’s Optum, UnitedHealthcare and Quest Diagnostics, they will try to figure out how to use blockchain to improve data quality and lower administrative costs.
Calastone preps blockchain powered global funds marketplace
Investment funds transaction network, Calastone, is set to shift its entire global network of more than 1,700 financial organisations to the blockchain in May 2019 via its new Distributed Market Infrastructure (DMI).
Calastone claims that the overall global cost of fund distribution could be reduced by as much as £3.4 billion, citing research by consultants Deloitte.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.