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.
Blockchain and DLT news
- BMW’s blockchain platform Vantage is set for a pilot in South Korea, per Chosun. The platform will allow BMW customers to accrue “coins” on a blockchain network for completing lifestyle-related actions. The media outlet reports that the pilot will be a world-first. Application forms for a small select group of volunteer pilot participants will be sent to customers who have purchased a BMW vehicle in the past three years have been sent out. These applicants will be offered “a range of benefits,” with 30,000 “coins” on offer to 1,000 customers on a “first-come-first-served” basis.
- The team behind Matic Network (MATIC), a blockchain application platform, have announced that the first version of the Matic mainnet is now live. According to the announcement, the phased rollout of the Matic mainnet begins with this Step 1, which is starting the network with a restricted set of validators – a set of 7 Matic Foundation nodes, while dapp (decentralized application) partner nodes will be joining this set in the coming week.
- German pharmaceuticals giant Bayer is working with a Chinese blockchain company on a traceability solution. Per VC Beat,
- Bayer’s Bayer China subsidiary will work with the Shanghai-based VeChain, who will provide a blockchain-powered tool named CSecure, which will allow Bayer China to track clinical drugs and ingredients as they move along supply chains.
- The Chinese province of Gansu’s cross-border blockchain-powered financial services platform is up and running, per Xinhua, via Haiwainet. The news agency states that the platform has successfully handled three export applications for Gansu-based international exporters, for a combined USD 480,000 worth of trade deals. The platform allows companies, customs officials and banks to make use of paper-free application processes.
- The US Patent and Trademark Office has approved Amazon‘s “Distributed ledger certification” patent from July 2017. Per this filling, the patent states that “trust is earned” and describes a system for tracking and proving the authenticity of consumer goods, with features that provide digital trust from the first mile of an item’s supply chain. Meanwhile, manufacturers may register their items onto a shared open ledger, it says.
Exchanges news
- bitFlyer has announced its partnership with crypto-trading game developer Quazard, stating that their joint aim is bringing the first-ever gamified trading competition to the Botwars Ultimate Trading universe. According to the press release, Botwars players can now enter a crypto-trading simulator for free and compete to win real bitcoin (BTC). The latest release of Botwars is available for download on iOS and Android and the competition starts today.
- Kraken said that, starting June 2 at approximately 13:30 UTC, the major exchange will launch support for deposits and withdrawals of USDT on the Ethereum blockchain (USDT-ERC20).
- BitMEX has announced the launch of a BCHUSD quanto perpetual swap contract with up to 25x leverage on June 16 this year. Per the announcement, BCHUSD quanto swaps have a fixed BTC multiplier regardless of bitcoin cash (BCH) price, which allows traders to long or short the BCH/USD exchange rate without touching BCH or USD. This is the fourth quanto contract to be launched on the platform and follows the ETHUSD quanto futures contract and the XRPUSD swap contract.
- Bithumb says that it will develop anti-money laundering (AML) and fraud detection solutions in conjunction with a company named Octa Solution, reports Hangkuk Kyungjae. The solutions will roll out in the third quarter of this year, the parties claim and will allow “cryptocurrency providers” to purchase one-stop solutions for KYC and other compliance-related protocols.
- Japanese exchange GMO Coin has joined in a recent promotional frenzy for the nation’s trading platforms. The exchange says that to celebrate its anniversary it will hold a prize draw, randomly selecting 10 customers who have spent a minimum of USD 46.44 on crypto purchases – rewarding them with USD 930 worth of yen. The move follows a bitcoin “cashback” offer on delivery pizzas from rival Rakuten Wallet, and an XRP giveaway for new customers from SBI VC Trade.
Investing news
- Over 60% of BTC supply has not been moved in over a year, according to crypto market researcher Glassnode. Per their data, this shows an increased investor hodling behavior, while the last time these levels were seen was in 2016, right before the BTC bull market of 2017. Glassnode also says that the number of BTC on exchanges continues to decline and has reached its lowest point in over a year, having decreased by over BTC 320,000 – more than 12% – since Black Thursday in March.