Month: July 2023

How blockchain technology and DeFi could help solve the housing crisis

The prices of houses are sky-high all around the world, and homebuyers are feeling the pain. While affording a home has never been more difficult for many people, the ability to raise funds to construct new homes has never been easier, thanks to decentralized finance (DeFi). The newly launched Home Construction Collective is attempting to leverage blockchain’s coordination and fundraising potential in an effort to fund the construction of, and therefore increase the supply of, affordable homes. On Episode 14 of The Agenda podcast, hosts Jonathan DeYoung and Ray Salmond…

Denmark orders Saxo Bank to erase cryptocurrency holdings

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Financial regulators in Denmark are coming after cryptocurrency service providers, declaring that local banks are not allowed to hold cryptocurrency to hedge against trading risks. On July 4, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (DFSA) officially ordered the local investment bank Saxo bank to dispose of its own holdings in crypto. The regulator said that Saxo Bank’s crypto activity “lies outside of the legal business area of financial institutions,” citing section 24 of the Denmark’s Financial Business Act. According to the DFSA, Saxo Bank offers its customers the opportunity to trade…

Bitcoin’s BRC-69 standard eliminates data limit for Ordinals

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Share Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Telegram Copy Link Link copied Bitcoin Ordinals, often called bitcoin’s (BTC) version of NFTs, are experiencing a significant surge as a new token standard, BRC-69, was launched on July 3. The latest standard brings an innovative solution to reduce the time and cost of making inscriptions on the bitcoin blockchain. Until now, Ordinals had a 4-megabyte limit on what could be inscribed on bitcoin. However, the introduction of BRC-69 aims to overcome this limitation through a mechanism called “recursive inscriptions.” This…

US reportedly plans to restrict China’s access to cloud computing services

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Officials in the United States are considering restricting China’s access to cloud computing services in an effort to safeguard the country’s advanced technology, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.  According to the report, the Biden Administration proposed adding controls to the amount of access China companies will have to U.S.-based cloud computing services such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft.  Providers, including those mentioned above, would need government approval prior to providing services that use powerful artificial intelligence (AI) chips to Chinese clients, the WSJ said, citing sources…

UAE free zone teams up with HBAR Foundation to support Web3 startups

RAK Digital Assets Oasis (RAK DAO), a free zone in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) dedicated to crypto companies, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the HBAR Foundation to support its ecosystem members through a grant program and by providing assistance in leveraging the Hedera blockchain.  In an announcement sent to Cointelegraph, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Humaid bin Abdullah Al Qasimi, the chairman of RAK DAO, said that the collaboration with HBAR Foundation will drive sustainable growth for the ecosystem and will shape a future where the UAE…

Binance ceases support for deposits and withdrawals of suspended Multichain-bridged tokens

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Binance cryptocurrency exchange has announced it is ceasing its support of deposit and withdrawal services for a range of Multichain-bridged tokens, effective from July 7, 2023.  Binance has officially stated in its blog that the tokens impacted by the decision are Polkastarter (POLS) via BNB Smart Chain, Alchemy Pay (ACH) via BNB Smart Chain, Beefy.Finance (BIFI) via Fantom Network, SuperVerse (SUPER) via BNB Smart Chain, Travala (AVA) via Ethereum Network, Spell Token (SPELL) via Avalanche C-Chain, Alpaca Finance (ALPACA) via Fantom Network and Harvest Finance (FARM) via BNB Smart Chain.…

Crypto-friendly DBS Bank launches digital yuan payment tool

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Cryptocurrency-friendly bank DBS is cooperating with mainland China on the development of a new payment solution for the digital yuan, also known as e-CNY. DBS Bank China officially announced on July 5 the launch of the e-CNY merchant solution, allowing mainland businesses to receive payments in the central bank digital currency (CBDC). The new service will allow corporate clients of DBS Bank China to collect payments from their customers in e-CNY and conduct automated settlement of e-CNY directly into their CNY bank deposit account. DBS’ solution is designed to enable…

Australian authorities invade Binance offices amid probe

In a significant turn of events, authorities in Australia have launched a surprise raid on the premises of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Bloomberg reported today. According to the report, this action comes as part of an extensive investigation conducted by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) into the closure of Binance Australia’s derivatives division.  The ASIC operation aims to thoroughly scrutinize the operations of Binance’s derivatives arm and thoroughly evaluate the categorization of its clientele, anonymous individuals with insider knowledge divulged. This recent development follows Binance’s previous…