Singapore’s Message to Crypto Derivative Traders + More Crypto 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
- Singapore’s financial regulator has proposed green-lighting crypto-token derivatives to list and trade on approved domestic exchanges, Bloomberg reported. Under the proposal, trading of derivatives on common cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether will be subject to the Securities and Futures Act, it added.
- Fidelity Digital Assets has won a New York trading license from the state’s financial regulator, reports Reuters (via the New York Times). The company has targeted the traditional investment sector with a range of cryptocurrency-related products since its inception last year. Fidelity said, per the same news agency, “We are seeing strong demand and greater diversity of client types. There are more traditional investors. When we started it was crypto funds and hedge funds.”
- Grayscale, the operator of the public Grayscale Bitcoin Trust fund, has filed with the American Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If Grayscale is successful, it will become the first cryptocurrency fund ever to report to the financial regulator. Per a blog post, the company says that filing could help Grayscale reach new investors – with many wary of putting their money into unregulated trusts.
- The Spanish financial regulator the National Securities Market Commission (known locally as CNMV) has added four cryptocurrency-related companies to its blacklist, per Criptonoticias. The CNMV says that the companies, Alycoin, FXTV, Terra Finance and Aurum Pro have failed to register with the authorities and are thus “operating illegally.” The regulator has warned investors “not to conduct transactions” with the companies, which, it says, fail to meet its requirements.
Adoption news
- The Venezuelan government says its Petro token’s coverage currently comprises 2,700 “affiliated businesses.” Per Criptopassion, Nicolás Maduro, the president of the country, recently announced that he expected that figure to “double in the coming months,” as the country continues its “crypto-economy” drive.
- Edith Yeung of Proof of Capital told CNBC that the Chinese government has been “really thoughtful” about the digital currency electronic payment framework and its rollout. She says it will “definitely” be deployed within the next six to 12 months.
China’s virtual currency may be rolled out within a year: Proof of Capital from CNBC.
- Storj Labs, which operates a beta storage service for developers, businesses and consumers, announced its Beta 2 release and pricing, taking aim at Amazon‘s AWS S3 cloud service with what it says is a more cost-effective and resilient approach.
- Salesforce, a major provider of CRM (customer relationship management) solutions, said that Italian super car manufacturer Automobili Lamborghini is using Salesforce Blockchain to authenticate heritage Lamborghini cars.
- The South Korean government health agency, the National Health Insurance Service, wants to launch a blockchain-powered medical insurance ID platform. The service’s recently appointed head says he wants to launch a mobile health insurance card that will do away with current paper-based solutions. The service says it “envisions a system” that makes use of blockchain technology, although it has not yet devised a “specific plan of action,” reports KMedInfo.
- Dong-gu, a large neighborhood in the east of Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city, has expanded the reach of its new stablecoin, reports CJ Hello. The neighborhood has signed a deal with Medifun, a blockchain-powered healthcare provider that is headquartered in the city. The agreement will allow residents to pay medical bills and other expenses using Dong-gu’s e-BaguPay tokens – and says that foreign tourists will also be able to make use of the stablecoin.
- South African commercial bank FirstRand Bank (FNB) has closed the bank accounts of a number of “major crypto exchanges,” according to media outlet MyBroadband. The media outlet says it has seen a letter from the bank stating that it has “risk appetite” concerns about cryptocurrencies, and will refuse to work with the exchanges in question, including VALR, Luno and ICE3X. However, the letter reportedly states that FNB will reconsider its position if the government provides regulatory clarity on crypto-related matters.
Investment news
- Member of the Libra Association, Bison Trails, an infrastructure platform for a number of protocols and blockchains, said that they partnered with Blockchain Capital leading a USD 25.5 million Series A investment in Bison Trails, with participation of other investors also. This funding will enable Bison Trails to continue to scale their team and technology platform, the company said.
- iSTOX, a security token platform, said it has secured USD 5 million in funding from Japan-based Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings (Tokai) via Singapore subsidiary, Tokai Tokyo Global Investments.
