Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
Crypto adoption news
- BitGo, a major digital asset financial services company, announced enterprise-grade support for the Tezos blockchain’s native token, XTZ in BitGo’s hot wallets and qualified custody. Institutional investors who hold XTZ with BitGo will also be able to generate a return on their investment through staking.
- US-based crypto custodian Anchorage has added support for litecoin (LTC), bringing their number of supported cryptocurrencies to 27. This move enables institutional investors to store and trade litecoin from Anchorage’s platform, said the announcement.
- Elrond Network (ERD) and payments platform Crypto.com (MCO) announced the activation of transfer functions for the ERD token on the platform. Per the announcement, with this partnership, Elrond supporters have more than 100 markets available to become part of the ecosystem, and gain utility via the MCO VISA card.
- Today, Lithuania’s central bank, the Bank of Lithuania, has issued its commemorative digital token, LBCOIN. According to the announcement, this is not only the first digital coin issued by a central bank in the Eurozone but in the world as well. The Bank of Lithuania has issued 4,000 LBCOINs, i.e. 24,000 digital tokens and 4,000 silver collector coins, which commemorate the signing of the nation’s 1918 Act of Independence and its 20 signatories.
Blockchain news
- Ant Group, a major provider of financial services technology, and the parent company of China’s mobile payments giant Alipay, today launched AntChain, a new technology brand for the company’s blockchain-based solutions that also aggregates other digital technologies including AI, Internet of Things (IoT) and secure computation. The company also said that “over 100 million digital assets are uploaded onto AntChain on average every day.” Ant Group did not respond to our request to clarify this claim.
- Jiangsu Province, in China, has launched a blockchain industry development plan. Per CN Stock, the province has set a number of ambitious goals, including a pledge to ensure local blockchain industry growth reaches at least 10% within the next three years.
Stablecoin news
- The bridge between the Syscoin (SYS) and Ethereum (ETH) blockchains developed by Blockchain Foundry will be used by Binance‘s BUSD stablecoin as part of a partnership between the developer and the exchange. Per the emailed announcement by the Syscoin Foundation, this will allow BUSD holders to move the stablecoins between the two blockchains, while the token will be available on the Syscoin blockchain as well.
STO news
- Japanese securities giants Nomura and SBI have pledged to collaborate on security token offerings (STO)-related business operations. Per Nikkei, the companies are co-funding a joint-venture company named BOOSTRY, which is hoping to debut a digital securities token trading platform. SBI’s CEO is a member of the Ripple board, and also chairs the self-regulatory Japan Security Token Offering Association.
Exchanges news
- Switzerland-based self-custody crypto platform ShapeShift has launched a mobile crypto trading app for iOS and Android. Per the press release, the app enables users to buy, trade, and transfer digital assets such as bitcoin (BTC) and ETH, while retaining the control over their keys.
Investment news
- Digital asset investment company KR1 plc has sold NXM 35,128.30 in the Nexus Mutual project at an average price of USD 14.03 per NXM token, generating proceeds of USD 492,992. According to the press release, these NXM tokens were acquired at an average price of USD 2.24 per NXM during the project’s seed round and after the project’s mainnet launch. KR1 said it continues to hold more than three-quarters of its initial Nexus position and could repurchase some NXM, once the pricing and capital pool dynamics are back at normal levels.
- Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie raised 10% of the USD 13.5 million goal in his token sale. Per a regulatory filing, Dinwiddie’s issuer SD26 LLC sold nine of the 90 available tokenized contract shares to eight investors, with shares priced at USD 150,000 – making it USD 1.35m sold in total.
Legal news
- The South Korean police said they are investigating suspected leaks of information about the crypto tax legal amendment unveiled yesterday. Per the Kyunghyang Shinmun, a large number of members of the nation’s crypto community apparently gained access to the full details of Seoul’s plans well in advance of the official announcement – and shared data on social media sites and on their private blogs.
- Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is suing video-sharing giant YouTube and its parent company Google as one of 18 plaintiffs, for allowing fraudsters to use his name and likeness in BTC giveaway scams. The lawsuit demands YouTube to remove all such videos, alleging that “tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency” have been stolen through the scam. It’s also seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
Entertainment news
- Another high-profile K-pop star has been added to the cast list of a crypto-themed K-drama, per a press release shared with media outlets like NBN. The press release states that Cho Hyun-young, a singer-turned-actress and TV personality, will play a “benevolent hacking group leader” in the tale of a raid on a fictional South Korean crypto exchange. Cho is a former member of chart-topping K-pop girlgroup Rainbow.