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
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After a recent bitcoin (BTC) rally, the number of BTC addresses holding at least USD 1m has surged by 38% to around 18,000, according to blockchain analysis company Glassnode.
Source: Glassnode
- bitFlyer has teamed up with Brave, the firm behind the basic attention token (BAT) and the Brave internet browser, to provide a BAT token-earning solution in Japan, per an official release. The firms said they would jointly create an integrated wallet for the Brave browser.
- Chat app giant Kakao has added staking service options for its Klaytn blockchain network, reported Bloter. The new services will allow holders of the Kakao-issued klay token to earn more tokens by enabling staking on their crypto wallets.
- Zcash (ZEC) token operator the Electric Coin Company (ECC) said it has launched crypto and financial education initiative called Crypto in Context. The firm said that it has teamed up with partners including crypto exchanges Gemini and LocalBitcoins – and, per a blog post, claimed the initiative will help educate at-risk groups such as refugees about crypto and finance.
Crypto business news
- UK-based digital asset investment company KR1 said it made GBP2m (USD 2.6m) unrealized profit in 2019. The company reported GBP 241,633 in income from the staking activities, while advisory services to one of their portfolio companies Vega Protocol resulted in revenues of GBP 180,748 in their native token.
- US-based major remittances company MoneyGram said that in the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 they received market development fees of USD 15.1m and USD 31.7m, respectively, from their co-owner Ripple. These sums were partially offset by related transaction and trading expenses of USD 6.3m and USD 10.8m, respectively, it added.
Exchanges news
- CoinList said it has launched a crypto exchange for institutional traders, per a company blog post. The firm, which has been financially backed by the likes of Twitter boss Jack Dorsey, said the new exchange – named CoinList Pro – will allow professional traders to buy and sell tokens listed by CoinList clients.
- Bitfinex said it launched Bitfinex Pulse, a social network for traders, on mobile. The app was launched on both iOS and Android.
CBDCs news
- The central Bank of Japan (BoJ) has spoken out again about “stepping up a gear” with the pace of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilots, reported Bloomberg Japan. The BoJ also announced that it had made two new appointments, naming executives who it said will spearhead its CBDC development efforts.
Startup news
- ConsenSys Labs announced that applications are open for the Filecoin Launchpad Accelerator. This cohort will be focused on startups building more open, interoperable, and programmable tools, infrastructure, and applications for the distributed web through IPFS and Filecoin, the company added.
Investment news
- Multicoin Capital said that it led a USD 3.1m strategic round in Audius, a decentralized, censorship-resistant audio streaming platform, alongside Blockchange Ventures, with participation from Pantera Capital, Collab+Currency, and Coinbase Ventures. More than 250,000 fans use Audius every month to discover new music and connect directly with artists, the company said.
Regulation news
- A South Korean financial regulator will require virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to adhere to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance measures, reported Herald Kyungjae. The regulatory Financial Intelligence Unit, part of the Financial Services Commission, is likely to be charged with policing crypto exchanges in AML-related matters.