Latest Blockchain News: Finextra Research

Crypto.com bids for global expansion with Worldpay support

Cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com has called in Worldpay as a blockchain validator and provider of global merchant acquiring services.

09 February 2022

News/crypto

Boston Fed makes digital dollar code progress

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and MIT researchers investigating the technicalities of a CBDC have designed a system capable of handling 1.7 million transactions a second, without using distributed ledger technology.

04 February 2022

News/sustainable

WildEarth NFTs show conservation is about supporting people as much as wildlife

In a bid to help protect endangered animals, British TV channel, WildEarth, has launched its own NFTs. Crucially, 40% of the primary sale proceeds go to local custodians of the land on which the animals live. In an exclusive interview with Finextra, Graham Wallington, co-founder, CEO, WildEarth, explained the philosophy behind this approach: nature can look after itself – it just needs a home. The real mission is to ensure local populations have an economic incentive to not poach.

04 February 2022

News/payments

Ripple partners Modulr to improve payments into UK and Europe

Blockchain and crypto giant Ripple has joined forces with British firm Modulr to enable "seamless" payments into the UK and Europe from the rest of the world.

02 February 2022

News/markets

LuxSE admits security tokens issued by SocGen

The Luxembourg Stock Exchange has listed its first security tokens registered on a public blockchain.

31 January 2022

Company update/regulation

SEC approves blockchain-powered exchange BSTX

On January 27, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued an order (the “Order) approving the creation of BSTX as a trading facility of BOX Exchange. BSTX, a joint venture of tZERO Group, Inc., and BOX Digital Markets LLC (“BOX Digital”) will be the first fully-automated, price/time priority execution exchange for trading securities that is both regulated by the SEC and leverages private blockchain technologies.

28 January 2022

News/cloud

Google Cloud reveals DeFi ambitions with new Digital Assets Team

The cloud provider has announced that it is launching a dedicated Digital Assets Team to explore the potential of blockchain-based platforms.

28 January 2022

News/crypto

MoonPay launches credit card checkout for NFTs

Crypto payments platform MoonPay has released a plug-and-play service for buying and selling NFTs with a credit card.

27 January 2022

Company update/people

Former CFTC chairman Giancarlo joins Digital Asset board

Digital Asset, the software and services provider building interconnected networks for global enterprises, today announced that the Honorable J. Christopher “Chris” Giancarlo, former Chairman of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has joined the Company’s Board of Directors.

25 January 2022

Company update/crypto

Digital asset technology provider BCB Group raises $60 million

BCB Group, Europe’s leading provider of business accounts and trading services for the digital asset economy, announced today that it has closed a Series A funding round co-led by Foundation Capital with participation from BACKED VC, PayU (the fintech and e-payments business of Prosus), Digital Currency Group, Nexo, Wintermute, Menai Financial Group, Circle, Tokentus Investment, Cowa, Profluent Ventures and LAUNCHub Ventures.

25 January 2022

Company update/people

R3 names first chief economist

Global enterprise technology and services firm R3 has appointed Alisa DiCaprio as its first Chief Economist, emphasizing the need for financial institutions across the private and public sectors to work in close collaboration with technology providers as the digital and traditional ecosystems converge.

25 January 2022

Company update/people

Baton Systems hires former Barclays exec Ornstein as first COO

Baton Systems (“Baton”), the fintech transforming post-trade processing using distributed ledger technology (DLT), has announced the appointment of David Ornstein as the company’s first Chief Operating Officer.

25 January 2022

Company update/regulation

Benker preps 'blockchain neobank'

Benker is to become the first officially licensed blockchain neobank launched in Europe following approval by the Bank of Lithuania under the Electronic Money Institution (EMI) category.

21 January 2022

Company update/startups

NAB Ventures backs agtech-fintech start up Geora

Tenacious Ventures has backed agtech-fintech startup Geora in a $1.5 million seed round to transform supply chain economics for Aussie farmers.

20 January 2022

Company update/people

Standard Chartered's Elaine Ng joins Contour as head of innovation

Contour, the digital trade finance network, has appointed Elaine Ng to the newly created role of Head of Innovation.

19 January 2022

News/sustainable

City of London policy chair hails UK capital as a centre of green finance

This week, the FCA and the City of London Corporation held a demo day for its Sustainability Cohort initiative, which aims to further green the financial sector and catalyse the transition to net zero.

18 January 2022

News/crypto

FTX launches $2bn fund to back web3 startups

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX has launched a $2 billion venture capital fund that will invest in firms pushing blockchain and web3 adoption in areas including social, gaming, fintech, software, and healthcare.

14 January 2022

News/crypto

Disagreement among Lords: A busy week for digital currency

We knew policymakers and financial leaders would be at their battle stations come 2022, and the updates rolling in across the crypto, CBDC and stablecoin fronts are coming thick and fast. We’ve rounded up the key updates from the private and public sector to make headlines this week:

14 January 2022