Ripple Decarbonizes, Novogratz Warns Banks Over DeFi, Salty SEC + More News
Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
Blockchain news
- Ripple said that it is committing to be carbon net-zero by 2030 and, in partnership with Energy Web Foundation, has co-created EW Zero, an open-source tool that “will enable any blockchain to decarbonize through the purchase of renewable energy in local markets worldwide.” Following today’s release, blockchain developers can already access the tool.
- Chinese firms have applied for a combined total of over 4,435 blockchain technology patents to date, reported news agency Xinhua (via the People’s Daily), quoting a report from the Tsinghua University, Peking University and the China Institute of Communications. The report’s authors state that this total accounts for “about half of the world’s total.” Tech giants like Tencent and Alibaba are believed to lead the way in the private sector, while the central bank, the People’s Bank of China, has also registered hundreds of finance-related blockchain patents.
DeFi news
- Galaxy Digital has taken the DeFi plunge, per a Forbes contributor, making an investment in DeFi asset management outfit ParaFi. The details of the deal, including the size of the investment, were not disclosed. But in an interview, Galaxy chief Mike Novogratz stated that he had “reached out to ParaFi to take a small stake in them, mostly because we think they are smart guys and we want the intellectual capital.” He also added, “If I’m the big banks, I’d be more worried about DeFi than bitcoin (BTC). Bitcoin may be ‘digital gold,’ but DeFi is where their margins are going to go.”
Regulation news
- The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said that crypto lender Salt Blockchain agreed to pay a civil money penalty in the amount of USD 250,000 after the SEC accused the company of selling Salt tokens as unregistered securities during its ICO in 2017. The company raised around USD 47m back then. Also, according to the SEC, Salt returned “several million dollars” to investors.
Exchanges news
- In the latest livestream following the recent hack, KuCoin Global CEO Johnny Lyu said that, together with external industry experts, KuCoin’s Special Task Force has guaranteed that 10 coins with the total value of over USD 140 million are now out of the control of the suspicious addresses. Thanks to the investigation against the hacker’s attack path, they have obtained “substantial clues,” said Lyu. The details will be published once the case is closed. Also, KuCoin will launch “Safeguard Program,” an initiative that will provide protection and support for individuals and institutions who are affected by “security incidents.”
- The head of Japan’s GMO Coin crypto exchange said his firm is contemplating the launch of initial exchange offering (IEO)-related operations. In an interview with Japanese website Coin Post, the GMO CEO Tomitaka Ishimura stated that he wanted to “consider challenges such as IEO-related issues” this year, and pledged to “steadily increase” the number of cryptoassets traded on the platform.
- Microfinance economic development agency, the International Blockchain Monetary Reserve, has launched MESE.io, described in the emailed press release as “the world’s first microequity exchange designed to bring financial inclusivity to emerging markets by granting widespread access to global tech stocks.” Users should be able to take part in trading global tech stocks through a digital tokenization model that divides one share of traditional equity into an individual 1/10,000 microequity token of representative value. Among the global tech stocks traded on MESE are Microsoft, Apple, Tesla, Twitter, Amazon, Netflix, and Google.
- Coinbase has expanded its staking rewards program to include Cosmos (ATOM) token, enabling users to begin earning 5% annually on their ATOM held on the exchange. Per the announcement, Cosmos Staking Rewards is currently available in the US, the UK, Spain, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Ethereum news
- Ethereum (ETH) 2.0 testnet Spadina, considered to be “a dress rehearsal” for ETH 2.0 genesis (the creation of the first block), has launched, but it experienced certain difficulties, primarily low participation, with many problems originating from “operation faults,” Prysm Labs said. Because of this, developer Danny Ryan said that another short dress rehearsal will be needed. This one will be called Zinken, and it should start late next week.
Regulation news
- The updated US Consumer Safety Technology Act, which includes the Digital Taxonomy Act and the Blockchain Innovation Act, has passed in the House of Representatives, moving to the Senate. The Act was introduced in House on August 28. The Digital Taxonomy Act defines the terms “digital asset” and “digital unit,” while the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would be tasked with preventing unfair trade practices in both. Per the Blockchain Innovation Act, the FTC would have to prepare a report on blockchain’s role in consumer protection.
