Latest Blockchain News: Finextra Research

Crypto regtech Coinfirm raises $8m; appoints Mircea Mihaescu CEO

Coinfirm, a regtech targeting digital currencies and blockchain-based finance, has raised $8 million in funding and appointed industry veteran Mircea Mihaescu as CEO.

17 September 2021

Company update/payments

Paydek expands footprint to Latin America and Africa through RippleNet

On-demand work has created new financial opportunities, benefitting both individuals and local economies.

16 September 2021

News/crypto

Citi leads $15 million round in digital assets data firm Amberdata

Citi has led a $15 million round in digital assets data company Amberdata, reflecting growing institutional interest in crypto markets

16 September 2021

News/markets

DTCC to begin development of DLT-based settlement system

The Depository Turst and Clearing Corporation is to move into the development phase of a protytpe settlement platform based on distributed ledger technology that could act as the precursor to a US move to a same day settlement cycle

15 September 2021

Company update/markets

Bursa Malaysia to run dematerialisation PoC with Digital Asset and VMware

Bursa Malaysia Berhad (“Bursa Malaysia” or the “Exchange”), today embarked on a Dematerialisation Proof-of-Concept to facilitate the dematerialisation of securities certificates leveraging Daml smart contracts from Digital Asset and a highly scalable distributed ledger platform from VMware.

14 September 2021

News/crypto

Ripple vets unveil global micropayments network for Web 3.0

A pair of ex-Ripple executives have brought their latest venture out of stealth, unveiling plans for a global micropayment network backed by blockchain technology.

13 September 2021

Company update/regulation

SIX Digital Exchange receives FINMA approval

Today, SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) formally received the FINMA go-ahead to operate a stock exchange and a central securities depository for digital assets in Switzerland.

10 September 2021

News/crypto

Mastercard buys crypto intelligence firm CipherTrace

Mastercard continues to strengthen its digital asset capabilities, buying cryptocurrency intelligence outfit CipherTrace. Financial terms were not disclosed.

09 September 2021

Company update/crypto

Axelar integrates with Pangolin Exchange

Axelar, the decentralized interoperability network that connects blockchain ecosystems, applications and users, has today announced a new integration with Pangolin Exchange, a decentralized exchange (DEX) for Avalanche and Ethereum assets.

08 September 2021

News/sustainable

Hedera Hashgraph beats DLT competitors on energy consumption

A research report by University College London (UCL) has examined the varying environmental impacts of six different distributed ledger technologies (DLT), finding that Hedera Hashgraph boasts the lowest overall energy consumption of the group.

08 September 2021

News/payments

IOTA tapped by EU to enable region’s blockchain infrastructure

The IOTA non-profit and its distributed ledger technology has been named as one of seven providers selected by the Commission to develop the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (ESBI).

07 September 2021

Company update/markets

Bitfinex Securities launches regulated investment exchange

Bitfinex Securities Ltd. a provider of blockchain-based investment products, has launched its regulated investment exchange in the AIFC Fintech Lab, aiming at increasing accessibility to a large set of financial products for eligible members who wish to diversify their portfolio.

06 September 2021

News/startups

US Bank takes stakes in two fintech VCs

US Bank has taken ownership stakes in two fintech-focussed venture capital firms as it seeks to step up its engagement with the sector.

02 September 2021

Company update/crypto

Daniel Prinz, CTO of First DAG, appointed as official maintainer of Diem blockchain

First DAG, who has developed the first global digital payment platform as a service, is pleased to announce that Diem Association’s Technical Steering Committee (TSC) has appointed its Chief Technical Officer (CTO), Daniel Prinz, as an official Maintainer of the Diem blockchain, a distributed, programmable database designed to serve as the foundation for next-generation financial services.

01 September 2021

News/wholesale

Standard Chartered and Linklogis team on trade finance platform

Standard Chartered and Chinese blockchain-enabled supply chain financing platform Linklogis have formed a joint venture to build a trade finance origination and distribution platform.

30 August 2021

Company update/retail

Worldline backs EC's TruBlo project

Worldline [Euronext: WLN], the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry, is leading the TruBlo (Trusted Blockchain) project under the European Commission's "Next Generation Internet" initiative, which aims to provide researchers and companies with funding to develop innovative solutions based on Blockchain technology to address the issue of trust in social media content.

30 August 2021

News/people

Bank of America granted record number of patents

Bank of America is boasting a record 227 US patents granted in the first half of the year, with AI and machine learning the area seeing the most action.

25 August 2021

Company update/crypto

Blockstream raises $210 million, increasing valuation to $3.2 billion

Leading Bitcoin infrastructure firm Blockstream has announced raising $210 million as part of a Series B financing on a valuation of $3.2 billion.

24 August 2021

News/crypto

Visa pays $150,000 for CryptoPunk NFT

Visa has paid around $150,000 in Ethereum to buy a CryptoPunk non-fungible token as it explores ways to get into the fast-growing NFT game.

24 August 2021

News/crypto

UX of selling NFTs on OpenSea could be optimised, claims Built for Mars

The experience of creating and selling NFTs on OpenSea has three key friction points, argues Peter Ramsey, founder of UX consultancy, Built for Mars, in a new case study.

19 August 2021