Toyota Systems, the IT arm of Toyota Motor Corporation, is collaborating with Japanese cryptocurrency exchange DeCurret to develop a branded Toyota digital currency, according to an official announcement on Oct. 26. The large-scale pilot will involve 2,500 employees at Toyota Systems. The platform will feature digital currency payments for benefits. According to the announcement, participating employees will be able to exchange the digital currency for benefits points or gifts from a catalog. Toyota Systems noted that the digital currency cannot be exchanged for Japanese yen. The new pilot uses DeCurret’s…
Category: Exchanges
South Korean gov’t doesn’t know who will protect crypto exchanges from Kim Jong-Un’s hackers
There has been a hot political debate underway on who should take responsibility for countering North Korean hacks targeting South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges. Recently, South Korea’s financial watchdog made it clear that they do not see this issue as any of their business. According to Fn News, the Financial Services Commission, or FSC, has replied to a written inquiry from the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee on October 23. The FSC says that they’re not responsible for the crypto stolen during attacks from hackers sponsored by the Kim Jong-un’s regime,…
For the first time since 2018 Bitcoin balances on exchanges fell below 2.5M
On October 20, 2020, the amount of Bitcoin (BTC) held at major exchanges fell below 2.5 million BTC for the first time in two years. Source: Glassnode. Nexo co-founder Antoni Trenchev opined to Cointelegraph that this trend is driven by the world finally realizing that only Bitcoin offers sound monetary policy: “[People are] slowly are realizing what some of us have known for a while — BTC is the only sound monetary policy right now and you cannot afford to depart from the best performing asset of the decade.” He…
Gemini exec to join Bitstamp crypto exchange as new CEO
Bitstamp, one of the world’s oldest and largest cryptocurrency exchanges, is replacing its CEO for the first time. Nejc Kodrič, the firm’s CEO who co-founded Bitstamp back in 2011, is stepping down from his position. He will be moving into a new advisory role on the company’s board of directors, Bitstamp executives told Cointelegraph on Oct. 22. Julian Sawyer, who currently serves as the managing director of the United Kingdom and Europe at major global crypto exchange Gemini, will replace Kodrič, becoming the second CEO in Bitstamp’s history. The replacement…
DragonEx crypto exchange considering shutdown amid OKEx ‘crisis of trust’
DragonEx crypto exchange suspended deposits and withdrawals of all digital currencies on its platform due to issues triggered by OKEx’s ongoing withdrawal freeze. In an official announcement on Oct. 21, DragonEx said that the OKEx freeze triggered a “crisis of trust” in centralized exchanges among its customers, which in turn fueled a run on funds and deteriorated the platform’s service. DragonEx is now working on a restructuring plan in order to resume deposits and withdrawals on the platform. The company’s representatives said that the exchange will have to shut down…
OKEx founder reportedly under investigation as exchange suspends withdrawals
The founder of major global cryptocurrency exchange OKEx has been reportedly questioned by authorities previous to OKEx suspending cryptocurrency withdrawals. OKEx founder Mingxing Xu, also known as Star Xu, has reportedly been questioned by the police, Chinese news agency Caixin reported on Oct. 16. According to the report, the exec was investigated “at least a week ago” and has also been absent from work for a while. When approached for comment on Xu’s participation in a police inquiry, OKEx told Cointelegraph that the exchange is no longer affiliated with OK…
Five mega exchanges hold 10% of Bitcoin’s entire supply
Roughly 10.6% of Bitcoin’s (BTC) circulating supply is currently held on just five centralized exchanges, according to data published by Chain.info. More than 1.96 million BTC is currently held between the major exchanges Coinbase, Huobi, Binance, OKEx, and Kraken. Likely owing to its custody services, Coinbase holds by far the most, with 944,904 BTC currently spread across approximately 4.39 million different wallet addresses. Huobi ranks second with 323,665 BTC held in roughly 901,600 unique wallets, followed by Binance with 289,961 BTC across nearly 2.7 million addresses. OKEx has 276,184 BTC…
BitMEX charges send ‘a message’ to global exchanges: Crypto Mom
United States Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce — better known as “Crypto Mom” — believes the recent action against BitMEX may be a wake up call for crypto firms. In an interview with “Unchained Podcast” on Oct. 13, Peirce told host Laura Shin that the recent charges laid against BitMEX by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has put the international crypto industry on notice about U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) regulations. “I think that the message has…
Gemini exchange partners with licensed crypto payments processor in UK
The Winklewoss twins’ crypto exchange Gemini is continuing to consolidate its regulated services for clients in the United Kingdom. On Oct. 12, Gemini announced a partnership with BCB Group — a European crypto-focused payment processor that already works with major platforms such as Coinbase, Bitstamp and Galaxy Digital. BCB Group is focused on institutional payments services and offers business accounts and crypto market liquidity for “crypto-engaged” financial institutions. The Group’s core subsidiary was officially approved by the Financial Conduct Authority as an authorized payment institution (API) earlier this year. Collaborating with…
Binance overtakes Huobi, OKEx as biggest derivatives exchange
Binance has overtaken Huobi and OKEx to become the largest crypto derivatives exchange by volume in the September figures with $164.8 billion across the month, according to the latest report published by U.K.-based data firm CryptoCompare, CryptoCompare looked at the trading volume of the top-tier exchanges and determined that Binance had seen around $8 billion more volume than its closest competitors, Huobi at $156.3B, and OKEx at $155.7B. BitMEX came in fourth with $56.4 billion in monthly volume for September. The figures show that BitMEX was in trouble even before…