Crypto Battle at India’s Supreme Court Might Not Be Over + More News
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.
Regulation news
- Following the overturn of its crypto ban, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is planning to file a review petition in the Supreme Court, reports The Economic Times, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The central bank is worried that the verdict could pave the way for trading in virtual currencies and put the banking system at risk.
- Working on a dispute between French crypto exchange Paymium and English investment firm BitSpread, France’s Commercial Court of Nanterre has recognized bitcoin as a currency – to be more precise, a fungible intangible asset, similar to fiat, reports Les Echos. This decision could lead to an improvement in market liquidity and the facilitation of bitcoin transactions in the country, according to the report.
Adoption news
- The Brazilian Ministry of Education has proposed the creation of a blockchain-powered platform for all of the country’s private universities. Per media outlet Valor, the ministry wants universities to begin issuing degree certificates on the platform, and hopes the initiative will help reduce fraud.
- Some of South Korea’s biggest blockchain players are preparing to go head-to-head as local governments across the country invite bidders for a number of private blockchain projects. Per MTN, competition will be intense for the local government blockchain projects in Busan, Seoul, Jeju and elsewhere, with Samsung SDS, LG CNS and Iconloop all expected to vie for a lion’s share of the potentially lucrative contracts. The government bodies say that successful pilots have been completed, but want private operators to conduct operations.
- Commercial real estate marketplace Red Swan has tokenized USD 2.2 billion of commercial real estate using technology by tokenization platform Polymath, says the platform. USD 780 million worth of token is available to potential investors in a pre-sale, adds Property Week, while Red Swan’s website states that real estate offered as digital securities is coming soon.
Exchanges news
- Huobi has launched Huobi Thailand, a localized digital asset exchange powered by the Huobi Cloud platform and licensed by Thailand’s Ministry of Finance. Per the press release, users can purchase BTC, ETH, HT, and USDT with Thai Baht, while other digital assets such as BCH, BSV, LTC, and XRP will be supported in the near future.
- OKCoin has announced that CEO Tim Byun has been appointed as Global Government Relations Officer OKGroup, its and OKEx’s owner. According to the announcement, the OKCoin Board has appointed the company’s current Chairman, Hong Fang, to the position of CEO, effective March 31, 2020.
- Binance has issued Binance KRW (BKRW), a BEP-2 stablecoin pegged to KRW, in partnership with South Korean BxB, Inc. BKRW will be available for trading at a rate of 1 BKRW = 1 KRW.
Security news
- A security breach at the Trident Crypto Fund has compromised the private data of some 10,000 Russian cryptocurrency customers, per a report from Izvestia. The media outlet says a company named DeviceLock discovered the scale of the leak, which would be Russia’s largest ever. Information including email addresses and passwords has allegedly been leaked out, which could allow criminals to access the accounts and funds of those affected.
Investment news
- Russian oligarchs including Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich and Safmar Group founder Mikhail Gutseriyev have been named among the investors in the Telegram TON network. The chat app had hoped to launch a digital token named the Gram, but appears to have been completely derailed by an intervention from the American regulatory Securities and Exchanges Commission. Media outlet RBC says that the USD 1.7 billion private sale investors group included companies aligned with Abramovich and Gutseriyev – two of Russia’s richest men.
- Japanese marketing giant Ceres has invested an undisclosed amount in America’s Pantera Capital, a blockchain capital fund with USD 175 million in backing. Per an official announcement, Ceres, which has ties to a number of Japanese cryptocurrency-related firms, stated, “With this investment, Ceres will further promote its cryptocurrency and blockchain technology-related business operations.”
- Arweave, a Blockchain-based storage protocol, has raised USD 8.3 million in additional funding from Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures, as well as new funding from Coinbase Ventures. Per the announcement, these funds will be used to continue the Arweave community ecosystem initiatives. Hence, the startup has introduced Arweave Grants and Arweave Boost initiatives.
- AlphaPoint, a global financial technology company, has raised USD 5.6 million in new funding. It follows the previous major round of venture capital funding in late 2018, when the company raised USD 15 million to become “the Intel Inside of digital asset marketplaces” and grow its customer base. Therefore, the total capital raised in 6 and a half years since the company’s launch is USD 23.9 million, says AlphaPoint. The new funding will be used for platform development and roll-out of exchange features like margin trading, integrated advanced brokerage capabilities, and premium liquidity solutions to customers.
