Month: February 2019

Turkish Telecom Giant Turkcell Introduces Blockchain ID Management Product

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Istanbul-based telecommunication services provider Turkcell has introduced a blockchain-based service for ID management, news outlet Daily Sabah reported on Feb. 26. Turkcell reportedly announced its new blockchain product at the technology fair Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019 on Feb. 25. The ID Management solution is designed to provide users with control over their personal information and ensure privacy in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements. While existing ID management systems consider sharing of users’ data with third parties, Turkcell’s blockchain product purportedly stores required user data on…

IOTA Launches Hackathon Smart City Contest Sponsored by Groupe Renault

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The IOTA Foundation has announced the Smart City Hackathon sponsored by French global automobile manufacturer Groupe Renault, Cointelegraph auf Deutsch reports Feb. 25. At the hackathon, participants will compete by using new technologies to solve inter-city problems submitted by corporate partners. Contestants will use distributed ledger technology (DLT) to develop more efficient transport, energy grids and buildings. The contest is based on IOTA’s Tangle system, wherein participants will develop Internet of Things (IoT), machine-to-machine (M2M), and data driven concepts for the smart city environment. Designed specifically for the IoT industry,…

Report: Ripple Violates Coinbase’s Listing Rules

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Ripple (XRP) is reportedly violating one of Coinbase’s listing rules, even though the cryptocurrency exchange added support for the altcoin on the its Pro platform. A Feb. 26 report by blockchain research firm Diar states that XRP breaks one of Coinbase’s requirements to be listed on the platform. Specifically, in its “Digital Asset Framework,” Coinbase states that “the ownership stake retained by the team is a minority stake,” while, according to Diar, Ripple  holds around 60 percent of the supply in escrow with a release schedule. Coinbase Pro, the professional…

Russian Ministry of Transport to Pilot IBM–Maersk Blockchain Platform

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The Russian Ministry of Transport is reportedly planning to trial blockchain shipping solution TradeLens developed by IBM and Maersk, Russian financial media Kommersant reported on Tuesday, Feb. 26 Kommersant received a copy of an official letter addressed to Russian Deputy PrimeMinister Maxim Akimov, who is oversees transport policy. According to the document, the Ministry of Transport and its subsidiary will sign a memorandum of understanding with Maersk to launch a pilot of TradeLens in Russia’s second largest port, the Big port of St. Petersburg. As per the letter, the officials…

Fintech Startup SoFi to Roll Out Crypto Trading Via Partnership With Coinbase

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Fintech startup SoFi — known for its online lending services — is partnering with major United States-based crypto exchange Coinbase to roll out crypto trading support, according to a CNBC report Feb. 26. Sofi, which is headquartered in San Francisco, will reportedly launch its crypto services by the second quarter of 2019. Sofi CEO Anthony Noto — who was formerly Twitter’s chief operating officer and also a managing director at Goldman Sachs — told CNBC: “Our target audience wants to see what the price of cryptocurrency is, and to buy…

Samsung Galaxy S10 Supports COSMEE and Other Crypto Projects

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It says a lot for cryptocurrency everywhere that one of the biggest phone brands in the world has added support for digital assets in its latest release. Samsung’s new Galaxy S10 series has done just that, with a built-in wallet function for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and two other altcoins. Samsung Galaxy S10 Supports Crypto A Samsung official unveiled the phone’s new features at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain yesterday. The phone has been created with “various crypto and blockchain related projects” as standard on the device. It presented COSMEE, a…

Indian Institute Rolls Out Advanced Program on FinTech and Blockchain

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The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta and training platform TalentSpirit are jointly offering an advanced programme in fintech and blockchain technology, local news outlet The Asian reported on Feb. 26. The new program scheduled for this May is reportedly targeted at management and finance professionals aiming to educate participants on financial technologies growth and its potential impact on the banking and financial ecosystem. The program director, professor Indranil Bose, stated that “a vast majority of firms in the banking and financial sector believe that the lack of adequate fintech…

Bahrain Central Bank Releases First Crypto Exchange to Graduate Its Regulatory Sandbox

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Bahrain-based Shariah compliant cryptocurrency exchange Rain has first completed the Central Bank of Bahrain’s (CBB) Regulatory Sandbox, the Saudi Gazette reported on Feb. 26. Rain, which was founded in 2016, has reportedly become the first digital currency exchange to complete the sandbox. The exchange reportedly passed a Shariah compliance certification today, Feb. 26, which was led by a leading Sharia consultancy and audit firm licensed by the central bank of Bahrain, the Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB). During the qualification process, the SRB examined Rain’s brokerage service and resolved that the…

Institutional Crypto Wallet Startup Raises $6.5 Million, ‘Eliminates Private Keys’

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Curv, a digital asset startup headquartered in the United States, has raised $6.5 million to launch a cloud-based digital asset wallet for financial institutions that does not use private keys, a company press release published on Feb. 26 reveals. According to the statement, the seed round was led by digital asset investment company Digital Currency Group and Israeli cybersecurity company Team8. The round also included participation from Monex Group, Flybridge Capital, Jump Capital and Liberty City Ventures. The funds will reportedly be used to create an institutional digital wallet that…

48% of Execs Expect Blockchain to Change Their Business in Three Years

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A survey by Big Four audit company KPMG shows that 48 percent of C-level executives believe blockchain is likely to change the way they do business in the next three years. The results of the poll were shared with Cointelegraph on Sunday, Feb. 26. KPMG has conducted its Technology Industry Innovation Survey for the seventh time from December 2018 to January 2019. It includes responses from over 740 global tech entrepreneurs from 12 countries. 66 percent of the respondents were C-level executives. According to the poll, almost half of the…