Blockchain Africa
Defi

Grove, a Decentralized Infrastructure Supplier, Raises $7.9 Million

Avon Ventures, Placeholder Capital, and Druid Ventures, all connected to Fidelity, have contributed $7.9 million to Grove, formerly known as Pocket Network Inc., a provider of decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN).According to an email statement Grove shared with CoinDesk on Thursday, the investment will be used to establish new partnerships that move DePIN closer to widespread usage. In order to save other projects from having to pay for the expenses of purchasing and maintaining their own equipment, DePIN refers to the use of blockchain technology and token incentives to create physical infrastructure networks.It is comparable to a decentralized version of Google Cloud or Amazon Web Services (AWS) in this regard. Grove offers Web3 infrastructure to enable the development of goods and services on top of its POKT network, which serves more than 40 chains.With a market valuation of little over $150 million, POKT, the network’s native token, has increased by over 24% in the past day to $0.10.

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Blockchain Crypto

Digital Securities Brokerage to Be Launched in Abu Dhabi by Crypto Custody Company Copper

Early in the upcoming year, Abu Dhabi will see the launch of a digital equities brokerage service by cryptocurrency custody and trading startup Copper, the company announced on Wednesday.The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of the emirate is collaborating with Copper Securities, the new company providing execution and custody services, to ensure that the required licenses are in place by the beginning of 2024. The transfer has been made easier by Copper’s recent acquisition of Securrency Capital, an Abu Dhabi-based branch of the tokenization platform for cryptocurrencies that was not part of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.’s (DTCC) October acquisition of Securrency Inc. Copper has joined the increasing number of cryptocurrency companies who are turning to the United Arab Emirates because it provides more legislative clarity for digital assets than many other countries.Referring to Abu Dhabi as “the capital of capital,” Copper CEO Dmitry Tokarev highlighted the region’s amassing of institutional wealth. “Abu Dhabi is more institutional and more focused around asset management, and that’s exactly what Copper is; we only have

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Blockchain Crypto

CBDC Payments Can Be Private, According to a Central Bank Project

A collaborative effort between central banks has demonstrated that using national digital currencies for payments can still protect privacy.The Bank for International Settlements’ (BIS) Innovation Hub in Switzerland is investigating payer anonymity with central bank digital currency (CBDC) under Project Tourbillon.The central banks examined payment methods where customers can make purchases without disclosing personal information to any third party, including the retailer, according to a project final report released on Wednesday.To lessen tax avoidance and illegal payments, the merchant’s identity would be given to their bank at the time of payment. Privacy has become a major public worry as countries all over the world ponder issuing digital versions of their national currency. “Privacy is an important user requirement but it is the most difficult to solve. The difficulty lies in ensuring privacy protection

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Crypto

A Turkish Fraud Scandal Involves Hull City Sponsor Tomya Crypto Exchange

According to reports, the center of a significant fraud scandal in Turkey is the cryptocurrency exchange that supports Hull City, a soccer team that plays in the Premier League.As part of an investigation by the Istanbul Büyükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, 25 people were detained, including Yavuz Usta, the proprietor of the exchange platform Tomya, CoinDesk Turkey reported on Wednesday. Despite the lack of specific accusations against Tomya, the subject is gaining attention in Turkey due to the company’s association with Hull City, owned by well-known local media figure Acun Ilıcalı. The nation is getting ready to draft crypto laws, so details about the inquiry are starting to surface.Turkey has sentenced the owners of Thodex, a cryptocurrency exchange that abruptly failed in 2021, to 11,196 years in prison.The adoption of cryptocurrencies in the nation hasn’t slowed down in spite of the Thodex controversy. It appears that Musa Ekmekçioğlu, an investor, filed a complaint that started the Tomya probe.He said that someone he was introduced to by a Tomya employee conned him out of $211,500.According to CoinDesk Turkey, in addition to Usta, a consultant who briefly collaborated with Tomya was also taken into custody.

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Crypto

Digital Euro Is Superior to Deposits and Can End Bank Crises Former CEO of Bank of Spain Says

According to former Governor of the Bank of Spain Miguel Fernández Ordóñez, a digital euro is a safe asset that may help eliminate bank crises or deregulate banks entirely.During a public hearing organized by the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs to deliberate on a possible central bank digital currency (CBDC), Ordóñez stated that the use of risky assets such as bank deposits—which aren’t actual money but rather promises of repayment—was the cause of the last two major global economic crises. “Digital euros are euros, but bank deposits are not euros. Deposits are just promises to pay euros, and if banks can’t fulfill

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Blockchain

With a $5 million seed round, A16z supports Web3 Consumer App Setter.

A $5 million seed round lead by venture capital powerhouse Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) was invested in Setter, a consumer app that lets brands experiment with Web3-powered commerce.In an email statement on Tuesday, New York-based Setter stated that its software will assist firms in innovating their strategies for promoting unique products and offering customers limited edition drops. According to the statement, Setter seeks to address “the complexity and unfriendliness of current wallet technologies,” facilitating a more seamless introduction into Web3 for a greater number of users. “It looks and feels like a Web2 app, but it is a full-blown smart contract wallet under the hood,” CEO Juan

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Blockchain

Animoca Brands Becomes the Biggest Validator by Investing in TON Network

As the biggest validator on the TON blockchain, Animoca Brands, a venture capital business specializing in gaming and metaverse, has invested in the TON ecosystem.An announcement on Tuesday stated that Animoca Brands, based in Hong Kong, is sponsoring TON Play, the network’s gaming infrastructure initiative, in order to help other gaming ventures integrate into the ecosystem. Telegram’s 800 million users are a possible target audience for TON-based initiatives as they were endorsed as the blockchain of choice for Web3-related advancements in September.

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Article

Recognising Dynamic NFTs and their Use Cases

Traditionally, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are blockchain-secured tokens that represent something specific, whether it’s a wholly digital asset or a real-world item represented digitally

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Crypto

Hezbollah and Hamas Now Prefer Tron to Bitcoin: Reuters

According to Reuters on Monday, the Tron blockchain has surpassed Bitcoin as the cryptocurrency network most liked by organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah, who are classified as terrorist organizations by the United States, the United Kingdom, and other jurisdictions.According to Reuters’ investigation, there has been a noticeable increase in cryptocurrency seizures from Tron wallets and a decrease in those from Bitcoin wallets since 2021. Two-thirds of all seizures from Tron wallets since July 2021 have occurred in Israel, where 87 of them have occurred so far this year.These were 39 wallets from Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, and 26 wallets from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an affiliate of Hamas, which the nation claimed to be its owner in June and July, respectively. “Earlier it was Bitcoin and now our data shows that these terrorist organizations tend to increasingly favor Tron,” Mriganka Pattnaik, CEO

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Blockchain Crypto

Nine Blocks Crypto Hedge Fund Acquires a Dubai Digital Assets License

As the first bitcoin hedge fund to receive a license from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), Nine Blocks Capital Management is taking pride in this fact.Additionally, the hedge fund said on Monday that Dubai will become its global headquarters.Due to a thorough set of regulations covering everything from advertising to issuance and exchange services, a thriving community of cryptocurrency firms has established itself in Dubai, seemingly a world apart from the obscurity and unpredictability of U.S. regulations. “I think what’s interesting is that VARA has really created an ecosystem for crypto in Dubai,” Nine Blocks co-founder Henri Arslanian said

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Blockchain Defi

Standard Chartered China Provides Digital Yuan Exchange Services

The Chinese central bank’s digital currency, the digital yuan (CBDC), is now exchangeable at the multinational bank Standard Chartered (STAN).An announcement on Monday stated that the bank’s China business is collaborating with City Bank Clearing Services to provide users with access to the digital yuan’s interconnection platform, which offers redemption and recharge options. Standard Chartered said that it is among the first international companies to participate in the CBDC’s business pilot program. At 1.8 trillion yuan ($250 billion) in transaction volume as of the end of June this year, China’s digital yuan, or e-CNY, is the most sophisticated CBDC among those being explored or created by major nations. Customers of just few banks are able to conduct business with China’s CBDC.It was claimed in May that by connecting the wallets of its corporate clients to bank accounts, the French bank BNP Paribas (BNP) was encouraging the usage of China’s digital yuan.

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Blockchain Crypto

Binance brought millions of people into the finance industry, but they overlooked the paperwork-A Columbia professor said

Events surrounding the cryptocurrency exchange Binance has generated a lot of discussion over the US government’s crackdown on cryptocurrency companies. Omid Malekan, a

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Blockchain Crypto

Bull flag in XRP pricing suggests a 20% increase by New Year’s

A traditional bullish continuation setup could see the price of XRP rise by more than 20% in the upcoming weeks. After a significant

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Blockchain

Indexed Finance defeats hackers and plans to reimburse 2021 hack victims

After a $16 million hack in 2021, Indexed Finance, an Ethereum-based project, was able to successfully thwart two attempts at hijacking. The founders

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Blockchain Crypto

UK authorities support tokenizing funds for asset managers.

Investment managers in the UK are moving away from traditional record-keeping systems by using blockchain technology to tokenize funds with regulatory support. The

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Crypto

Bitcoin will soar, according to BitMEX co-founder, as dollar liquidity rises.

Arthur Hayes, a co-founder of BitMEX, is optimistic about Bitcoin. Hayes discussed his ideas about X. Hayes called US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen

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Defi

Reaching $400M TVL, Blast Network refutes the notion that it is overly centralised.

Data from blockchain analytics company DeBank shows that in the four days since its inception, the Web3 protocol Blast network has gained almost

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Crypto

Victory Securities, a Hong Kong-Based Investment Firm, Gets a Retail Crypto Trading License

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has approved Hong Kong investment company Victory Securities (8540) to provide cryptocurrency services to retail customers.Victory Securities said in a statement on Friday that it is the first authorized company to provide retail investors with cryptocurrency trading and advising services. It now works with crypto-native companies OSL Digital Securities and HashKey Exchange. In an indication that the cryptocurrency economy is moving eastward and that Asian countries provide more certainty for businesses than they may find abroad, like the U.S., Hong Kong earlier this year established a legislative framework allowing the offering of bitcoin services to civilian investors. Victory is an application on the SFC’s list of virtual asset trading companies.By press time, CoinDesk has not heard back from the SFC after contacting them for clarification.

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Blockchain Defi

On the first day of trading, the Cross Chain Swap Token FLIP more than doubles.

The native token of ChainFlip, a cross-chain swapping platform, increased in value by over 100% on its first day of trade.With multiple exchanges listing it, including as Bybit, Crypto.com, Kucoin, and Gate.io, the currency saw a 150% increase, reaching a high of $5.94.CoinMarketCap reports that since its introduction, trading activity has reached $79 million across all venues. Based on the Ethereum blockchain and Uniswap’s V3 concept, ChainFlip was created using the Rust programming language.With the goal of increasing trading efficiency and lowering slippage, it bills itself as a “JIT (Just In Time) automated market maker.”When big orders are processed, a lack of liquidity may result in slippage, which is the difference between the price a trader expects to pay and the price they actually pay. In August, ChainFlip sold 4.5 million tokens for $1.83 each. At $2.50, they began trading on Friday.There is no need to bridge or wrap assets while using ChainFlip and other cross-chain swapping platforms.Rather, after a trade is done on a conventional centralized crypto exchange, the market makers instantly buy an asset.The bought assets are then sent by ChainFlip validators to the wallet address that the trader initially supplied. Decentralised liquidity protocol THORChain praised the protocol, stating on X that it will collaborate with ChainFlip to “dethrone the centralized gatekeepers of today.”Lead by Framework Ventures, ChainFlip raised $6 million in a 2021 funding round.

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Blockchain

Tether and Bitfinex consent to stop objecting to the FOIL request.

A Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request filed in New York by several prominent news outlets has been met with initial support from Tether and Bitfinex. In response to CoinDesk’s FOIL request earlier this year, the USDT stablecoin issuer and cryptocurrency exchange assured Cointelegraph that they would provide information transparently.Additionally, the corporations said that the method was inconsistent with their business standards and that they would not be publicly disclosing documentation. “It’s essential to clarify that transparency does not mean a wholesale release of all our documents.” Tether and Bitfinex have decided not to file an appeal against the FOIL request that was submitted by journalists Ada Hui, Shane Shifflett, and Zeke Faux, who they claim are engaging in “certain behaviors.”Faux’s previous investigations on Tether and Bitfinex, according to the firms, have “extended beyond the boundaries of professional journalism.”In addition, they allege that journalists from The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, whose publications are taking part in the current FOIL request, have been “one-sided and inaccurate.” The statement emphasizes that both businesses “adhere to ethical reporting standards and respect data privacy boundaries,” and that they are dedicated to transparency and will continue to be accessible for interaction with the media and government agencies.Noting that their attempts at transparency do not “equate to unrestricted public disclosure of all documents,” Tether and Bitfinex also demanded “responsible document review” prior to any information being made public. The deal that Tether and Bitfinex reached with the New York Attorney General (NYAG) in February 2021 is the subject of the current FOIL request.The arrangement, which was first revealed by CNBC, called for paying a $18.5 million fine in order to resolve a lawsuit that had been pending for two years over the purported misappropriation of $850 million in customer and company assets.As part of the settlement, Tether and Bitfinex agreed to provide the NYAG with quarterly transparency reports for a period of two years.Following the completion of these duties, CoinDesk filed a FOIL request in New York, requesting the public release of Tether’s first quarter submission papers that it had provided in accordance with the settlement agreement. Tether stated in June 2023 that it had rejected the FOIL request in order to stop “sensitive commercial information” from being used and “confidential customer data” from being made public because it was concerned that “malicious actors” might take advantage of it.

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Article

The importance of insurance procedures and DeFi

DeFi insurance refers to both blockchain-based replacements of traditional insurance policies and insurance that covers blockchain-related activity. Decentralized finance (DeFi) has gained enormous

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Business

Expanding its US services, Alchemy Pay obtains a money services license in Iowa.

On November 23, Alchemy Pay, a crypto-fiat payment gateway based in Singapore, revealed that it has acquired a money services license in the state of Iowa, marking a significant step towards further expansion into the US market. Any organization or individual doing currency exchange or money transmission business in Iowa is required to possess the license, according local state legislation.The business obtained its money transmitter license (MTL) in Arkansas in September.The business claims to have finished applying for MTL licenses in several US states and to expect a response in the upcoming months.Speaking to Cointelegraph about the development, Robert McCracken, the ecosystem lead for Alchemy Pay, stated that Alchemy is concentrated on adhering to the currency regulatory framework in the U.S. cryptocurrency market. “We believe that a well-structured regulatory environment is essential for the sustainable growth and development of any industry, and that includes

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Crypto

Trade Volume Shifts from Binance to Coinbase as Retail Flows There: CryptoQuant

On-chain data gathered by CryptoQuant indicates that Bitcoin (BTC) is moving from Binance to Coinbase.According to a recent note from the research firm, Coinbase has seen a rise in reserves of approximately 12,000 BTC, while Binance has seen a reduction of 5,000 BTC. “The decrease in Bitcoin reserves on Binance appears to be due to retail outflows,” Bradley Park, a Web 3 analyst at CryptoQuant

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Blockchain Ethereum

Crypto Users Differ on the Significance of the Ethereum Layer 2 Blast

Despite the doubts of many cryptocurrency investors, Blast, a layer-2 blockchain that is slated to launch in March, has amassed more than $225 million in staked ether, stETH, and stablecoins since Monday.Blast, which is billed as the first layer-2 network with native staking, intends to eventually produce yield by staking Ethereum (ETH) and using real-world assets (RWAs).Developed on top of layer-1 blockchains like Ethereum, layer 2 networks aim to reduce transaction costs and increase transaction speed. Leading the protocol is the anonymous @PacmanBlur, a co-founder of the well-known NFT marketplace Blur.A portion of the network’s appeal can be ascribed to its supporters, which include well-known cryptocurrency fund Paradigm and a group of investors known as “eGirl Capital,” among others.One important note is that until the Blast bridge goes active in February, staked assets cannot be withdrawn.Users can redeem an airdrop slated for May by using their “Blast points,” which they get in the interim.By referring other users via special referral links, users can earn extra Blast points.Consequently, as of Thursday, Blast is invite-only and requires a code from an active user to access. According to Etherscan, Blast is currently the seventh-largest ether holder, having staked the majority of the $225 million that it has received on Lido, a liquid staking protocol.But the cryptocurrency community has taken issue with the concept of restaking on Lido in exchange for giving away obscure Blast points. “Blast is actually insane,” one crypto trader wrote on X. “Use points to attract TVL to a chain that doesn’t

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Tech Africa

TBD and DevCareer are hosting the first-ever African Web3 Hackathon.

With the help of Block’s TBD, the African non-profit DevCareer is bringing Web3 technology to the continent by organising the first Web3 hackathon.

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Blockchain

Over $86.6M was transmitted to suspect addresses after the HECO Chain Bridge was compromised.

The HECO Chain bridge saw the movement of more than $86.6 million in digital assets to dubious addresses, according to data provided by blockchain security firm PeckShield.According to the security company, there is a continuous exploit and the bridge is hacked. Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, responded to the event by declaring that HTX will reimburse users in full for any losses they may have suffered as a result of the attack.While they look into the situation, the company has also temporarily stopped accepting deposits and withdrawals.The executive stated that upon the conclusion of the probe, services will resume. At first, PeckShield released a notice highlighting a transaction in which 10,145 Ether—or around $19 million—were moved off the bridge.Subsequent transactions involved the transfer of digital assets to several addresses, including USD Coin, Chainlink, Shiba INU, and others. On December 21, 2020, HTX Eco Chain (HECO) was formally introduced to offer a cross-chain experience with reduced gas prices.The project was a combination of the BitTorrent bridge ecosystem and the Tron environment, which Sun had merged into HECO in 2022. The most recent breach of the HECO Chain is the second exploit involving a Sun-related project.On November 10, Poloniex, an exchange that Sun purchased in 2018, experienced a $100 million hack.Security experts speculate that a compromised private key may have caused the problem.

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Crypto

After the US settlement, Binance Will Maintain Its Global Dominance: Bernstein

According to broker Bernstein’s research report published on Wednesday, Binance remains the world’s most popular cryptocurrency exchange, with $67 billion in customer funds under custody. Although minor outflows of less than $1 billion occurred after the news of the settlement with the US government broke, there was no significant public panic. “Binance’s reputation with retail non-U.S. customers has remained strong through the crisis,” analysts led by Gautam Chhugani wrote. Although Bernstein notes that Binance will continue to be a “material entity in non-U.S. markets,” it anticipates more competition from new exchanges in regulated jurisdictions like Singapore and Hong Kong as well as from listed rival Coinbase (COIN). According to Bernstein, the cryptocurrency exchange has enough money to pay the $4.3 billion fine and continue running its business profitably. “Binance’s complete

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Tech Technology

Benefits and Risks of Artificial Intelligence Technology for Banking: Bank of America

According to a study released on Monday by Bank of America (BAC), artificial intelligence (AI) technology has the potential to increase banks’ operational effectiveness. It carries risks as well. “Whilst greater automation – likely to be the first and greatest application of AI technology for banks – has the potential

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Crypto

The UAE’s First Share Sale was 33 Times Oversubscribed, According to Crypto Miner Phoenix Group

The cryptocurrency miner Phoenix Group (PHX) said that it had 33 times oversubscribed when it finished its IPO on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).With a goal of raising 1.36 billion dirhams ($368 million), the UAE-based company said last week that it was offering 907,323,529 shares at 1.50 dirhams a share, giving investors 17.64% of the business. Phoenix Group provides cloud-based hosting services as well as a hashrate rental program for customers interested in mining.Additionally, it operates a cryptocurrency exchange named M2, which is fueled by MMX, a native Ethereum token.Dubai and Abu Dhabi both boast frameworks that offer clear advice on the treatment of various asset kinds and which activities are permitted and forbidden, making the UAE one of the most sophisticated jurisdictions when it comes to providing regulatory clarity around digital assets.Companies may have an edge when pursuing investment due to the clarity of the law. Regarding the legislative framework pertaining to digital assets, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the most progressive countries. Both Dubai and Abu Dhabi have frameworks that clearly define how various asset types should be treated and what kinds of activities are allowed and not.When corporations are wooing investment, the legal clarity may provide an edge. According to the corporation, professional investors made contributions to a 22-fold oversubscription, while retail investors oversubscribed 180 times.The shares are expected to go on sale on December 4.

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Blockchain

Avalanche Accelerator Colony Lab to Provide $10M to AVAX Ecosystem

The Avalanche ecosystem developer and accelerator, Colony Lab, announced that it will contribute $10 million to help the network’s sustained expansion.The company announced that it has purchased over 500,000 AVAX tokens for a total of $8 million in recent months. The money will be utilized to establish a validators program that will assist AVAX holders. In a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain network, a validator is an individual who contributes to security upkeep and verifies newly submitted transactions.By staking their tokens, validators accomplish this and usually receive rewards. Avax and Trader Joe’s JOE are two examples of the assets in the Avalanche ecosystem that are included in the Colony Avalanche Index (CAI), a yield-bearing token index in which Colony Lab will also invest.Colony Lab’s CLY token holders will receive a portion of mint or redemption fees.The community of CLY stakeholders will receive rewards from both the first and next validator initiatives. “As we channel a $10 million investment into the Avalanche ecosystem, we’re not just growing Colony Lab – we’re fostering

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