Day: July 19, 2018

HSBC Global Head of Digital Says the Bank Is ‘Cautiously Looking’ at Crypto Investment

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Global Head of Digital at HSBC, Josh Bottomley, said that the bank is “cautiously looking” at cryptocurrency use cases, Forbes reported July 19. In an interview with Forbes, Bottomley said that HSBC is “cautiously looking into this area [cryptocurrencies],” when asked about the bank’s approach to the crypto. Bottomley further explained that “there’s a use case when you have a token or currency that’s actually useful for a particular purpose, and it serves that need. But that is very different to if it’s pure speculation.” Bottomley added, “Right now we’re…

The State Bank of Vietnam Suspends Import of Crypto Mining Hardware

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The Vietnamese central bank, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) announced it will suspend the import of cryptocurrency mining hardware, according to local news agency Viet Nam News July 19. The move followed an official request from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), which suggested a temporary ban of imports of crypto mining machines, the volume of which reportedly amounted to 15,600 units from 2017 to April 2018. Most of the units were imported through Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang. Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung…

Major Insurers Take the Plunge to Underwrite Risk in the Crypto Space

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Big-name insurers such as AIG, Allianz, Chubb, and XL Group are increasingly tailoring coverage options to protect businesses in the crypto space, Bloomberg reports July 19. Aon, a major insurance broker that claims to occupy 50 percent of the crypto-insurance market, told Bloomberg the firm is seeing more crypto-specific protections catering to the new industry. Another broker, Marsh & McLennan, said that 2018 has been “brisk” for crypto-insurers, revealing that Marsh has now formed its first-ever team dedicated to broker policies for blockchain startups. Bloomberg’s sources say that premiums for…

JPMorgan Wants to Use Blockchain to Issue ICO Tokens

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American investment banking giant JPMorgan Chase is pursuing a patent for a distributed system that uses blockchain technology to issue virtual depository receipts that sound suspiciously like initial coin offering (ICO) tokens. JPMorgan Wants to Host IPOs on a Blockchain The patent application, filed by JPMorgan in January and published by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) on Thursday, outlines a method whereby users on a distributed network such as a blockchain can tokenize assets and trade these virtual depository receipts. To create a security token, an originator such…

Crypto, Blockchain Mass Adoption Is ‘5 to 6 Years Away’

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Former Wall Street executive Mike Novogratz has recently predicted that mass adoption of crypto and blockchain is “still five to six years away,” Blokt blockchain and tech news outlet reports July 19. Speaking at the Beyond Blocks conference in South Korea, Novogratz, CEO and founder of crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital, still expressed confidence that many institutions will come into the industry “in the next two to three years,” claiming that “without that, we will be running in circles.” However, the mass adoption of crypto and blockchain technology will come…

Barclays Pursues Blockchain Patents to Create Digital Currency Network

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Barclays, the UK’s biggest bank, has applied for three U.S. patents that collectively outline a system that uses blockchain technology to combine the pseudonymity of cryptocurrency with the legacy financial system and its KYC/AML regime. The London-based bank first applied for the three patents in July 2016, though they were only published by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) on Thursday. Create & Destroy Digital Currency Units In one patent, Barclays proposes a system that allows particular users on the network to create and destroy units of digital currency…

Malta Stock Exchange Inks Deals to Build Security Token Exchanges

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MSX, the newly launched fintech arm of the Malta Stock Exchange, has inked several new deals aimed at creating new marketplaces for tokenized securities. The newly inked deal sees MSX team up with Neufund, a platform for securities tokenization and issuance, to build a “regulated and decentralized, global stock exchange for listing and trading tokenized securities alongside crypto-assets,” according to a press release. Exactly what will make the new exchange decentralized was not explained, however. The partners are already planning a pilot later this year, which will include a public offering of tokenized…

Barclays Files Two Digital Currency and Blockchain Patents with U.S. Patent Office

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Barclays has filed two patent applications relating to the transfer of digital currency and blockchain data storage, both published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) July 19. The first patent describes a system for transferring digital currency from payer to recipient that would securely authenticate the identities of both, as well as validating and recording transactions using public-key cryptography and a digital currency ledger. Beyond currency transfer, the patent goes on to describe a wide range of use cases for securely and privately processing data in a trustless…

U-Turn or Just a Matter of Time?

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Just days after claiming it had received authorization to list security tokens on its exchange, Coinbase has confirmed it had not had express permission to do so by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The announcement has caused quite a stir in the cryptocurrency community, as the initial announcement was hailed as a boon to projects looking to launch Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). As of March 2018, the SEC requires cryptocurrency exchanges to register with the regulatory body before they are able to list tokens that are deemed to…

World’s Top Four Auditors Join Taiwan-Led Trial for Blockchain Fiscal Audit System

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The world’s four largest auditing firms — Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC —have joined 20 Taiwanese banks to pilot blockchain technology for fiscal audits, local news outlet CTEE reports July 19. The “big four” will join a consortium of major Taiwanese banks to test a blockchain solution for auditing companies’ interim financial reports, focused on streamlining so-called ‘external confirmation’ processes. These currently require an auditor to manually obtain and verify audit evidence of companies’ transactions with third parties. The pilot — which has been developed by the banking…