Category: Exchanges

The founder of blockchain marketplace Opporty has said the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) legal case against the firm could have repercussions for other crypto companies. In an eight-page open letter to the crypto community Tuesday, founder Sergii “Sergey” Grybniak claims the firm followed all regulatory guidance available at the time of its 2017–2018 initial coin offering (ICO) “from day one.” “We believe that the statement made by SEC is missing important facts and grossly overstated making it not truthful,” reads the letter. Should the case be successful, Grybniak argues…

IBM has received a U.S. patent for a type of “self-aware token” that can record its own transaction data. Awarded by the U.S. Patent Office on Jan. 7, the patent outlines a ledger-based payments system that could make it easier for individual users, businesses and governments to track and trace transactions made using a cryptocurrency. Dubbed the “self-aware token,” it is designed to record all transaction data when not being used on a payments platform that IBM patented back in 2012. When the token rejoins the platform ecosystem at a…

Bitcoin is maintaining its upward trajectory as coronavirus-led risk aversion hits the traditional markets. The top cryptocurrency by market value crossed the 200-day moving average at $9,000 during Tuesday’s Asian trading hours and rose to a high of $9,150, pushing the cumulative month-to-date gains to over 25 percent. At press time, bitcoin is changing hands at $9,061. Despite the minor pullback from the morning’s high, the cryptocurrency is still reporting a 4.8 percent gain on a 24-hour basis, and is up roughly $700 from lows near $8,250 observed over the…

Bitcoin may finally achieve broader traction through the adult entertainment industry in 2020, but the chips aren’t stacked in its favor. So far, typical sex industry businesses like London’s 23 Paul Street strip club, said last June the venue stopped accepting bitcoin because customers simply weren’t paying with it. But the lightning network, a layer on top of bitcoin used for faster transactions with lower fees, may now be ready to facilitate broader payments for online platforms. Iterative Capital’s Escher project offers fiat on-ramps to the lightning network, with other…

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is updating its regulatory framework for digital payments. Announced Tuesday, Singapore’s Payment Services Act 2019 (PSA) brings so-called Digital Payment Token (DPT) services – effectively covering all crypto businesses and exchanges based in Singapore – under current anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist-financing (CTF) rules. As such, crypto businesses in Singapore are required to first register and then apply for a license to operate in the jurisdiction.  Similar to the Fifth European Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5), which went into effect Jan. 10, Singapore’s new rules…

A digital currency could see widespread adoption within the next few years, a new report by Deutsche Bank suggests. Published Monday, the Deutsche Bank report said digital currencies, while only a decade old, have already been shown to have the “potential to radically change payments, banking, central banking and the balance of economic power.” “We believe a new digital currency could become mainstream within the next two years,” according to the report, with both China’s digital yuan initiative and Facebook’s Libra project expected to launch this year. The report said…

Financial stability was a key factor in the Bank of England’s decision to hold stablecoin payment systems to the same regulatory standards as existing payment chains. That’s because stablecoins may seek to operate outside of the existing financial infrastructure – the one that card payments, online banking services and others inhabit. Those activities are regulated across authorization, clearance and settlement to keep the money moving and all parties assured. Using a coffee shop transaction as an example, Segal-Knowles illustrated that stablecoins would have no such oversight. “Stablecoins could mean that…

Transfer agent Vertalo wants its customers to issue securities on the Tezos blockchain. The company has made Tezos its default blockchain, encouraging customers to switch over from ethereum. It has developed the ability to convert ERC-20 tokens to Tezos-formatted smart contracts, though it will still support ethereum. “We think that that covers 99 percent of the security token and smart contract landscape for equity and debt,” said Dave Hendricks, CEO of Austin, Texas-based Vertalo.  With 18 customers on its platform currently, Vertalo issues digital securities and manages data for the…

Ukraine’s financial watchdog intends to track crypto transactions exceeding $1,200, according to the head of the country’s Ministry of Finance, Oksana Makarova. For the first time, Ukrainian anti-money laundering law includes crypto as an asset to be monitored, among others. The threshold for triggering the scrutiny process is 30,000 Urkainian hryvnia (UAH), or US$1,200.  “If exchanges, exchangers, banks or other companies make payments in cryptocurrencies worth more than UAH 30,000 in equivalent, they must verify such transaction and collect detailed customer information,” Makarova said in the interview. “The customer must…

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