Crypto Briefs is your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
Investment news
- Atomic Loans, a provider of non-custodial bitcoin (BTC)-backed loans, has raised a USD 2.45 million seed round, led by Initialized Capital, with participation from ConsenSys, Morgan Creek Digital, and several private investors. The startup said it aims to bring decentralized finance to Bitcoin. “Initially, this begins with vastly improving the transparency and security of Bitcoin-backed lending markets,” they added.
- Major venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, reportedly aims to raise USD 450 million for its second cryptocurrency fund, reports the Financial Times.
- Crypto hedge fund Multicoin Capital has announced that it led a USD 1.5 million round in dForce, China-based decentralized finance platform, says the announcement. Investors include China Merchant Bank International (CMBI) and Huobi Capital. The reason behind their investment is that dForce is building the first “super-network” of DeFi protocols, writes Multicoin Capital.
Stablecoins news
- Another South Korean local stablecoin is set for release, adding to the fast-growing number of blockchain-powered coins pegged to the South Korean won issued by city and provincial governments around the nation. Per newspaper the Keukang Ilbo, authorities in Gyeryong, a new town in South Chungcheong Province with some 43,269 inhabitants, will launch the token tomorrow via a Google Play app in order to help local small business owners and self-employed workers.
Exchanges news
- Bithumb Korea has announced its plans to integrate the blockchain-based, digital identification organization of 57 partners, ‘MyID Alliance‘ (MyID). According to the press release, Bithumb Korea will implement the distributed identification (DID) service performed by the organization.
- Bitstamp has integrated with digital asset storage, transfer, and issuing platform Fireblocks. Per the announcement, this was done in order to enable select institutional clients to move assets between different platforms with one confirmation. Bitstamp is also introducing an optimized process for the clearing and settlement of crypto transactions on Fireblocks, says the exchange.
Securities tokens news
- Tezos Japan has become the latest company to join the fast-growing Japan Security Token Association (JSTA), bringing the group’s membership up to 18, as well as a further two partner firms, per a press release issued by the association. The group’s founding members include the likes of Deloitte Japan and FGI. Soon-to-be enacted legislation will legalize securities token offerings (STOs) in Japan, with dozens of financial providers and securities companies keen to begin STO-related operations.
Blockchain news
- Ethereum blockchain explorer Etherscan has released a detection system, dubbed ETHProtect. Per the blog post, this system will enable Etherscan users to identify if incoming funds are tainted, while it also traces the tainted funds down to its origin, such as phishing, hacks, scams, exploits, and suspicious fraudulent activities.
Mining news
- A Nasdaq-listed crypto mining company Riot Blockchain, Inc. has executed a co-location mining services contract with Coinmint, LLC, operator of a large digital currency data centers in North America. Per the press release, Riot will move a portion of its recently purchased Bitmain Antminer S17s to Coinmint’s Massena facility.
Crime news
- A South Korean man has been charged with distributing sexual exploitation videos featuring children on the chat app Telegram in exchange for cryptocurrency payments. Per a report from TV station KBS, the man is aged in his 20s, although it is not clear if this case is connected to the ongoing Telegram Nth room investigation. Prosecutors in the city of Busan stated that the man had shared a total of 2,500 videos to over 60 people on Telegram since February 7 this year.