Binance Coin Price Jumps on ETP Launch + 11 More Crypto News

Tim Alper
Last updated: | 4 min read

Crypto Briefs is your daily bite-sized digest of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related news – keeping you up-to-date with under the radar crypto news from around the world.

Source: iStock/Olivier Le Moal

Cryptocurrency exchange news

  • Binance partnered with the Swiss-based issuer of crypto Exchange-Traded Products (ETP), Amun, in order to launch Binance Coin (BNB) ETP. Trading of the Amun BNB (ABNB) ETP begins today. “The ABNB wraps the BNB utility token into a traditional financial structure, making it more accessible not only to tech-savvy crypto enthusiasts but also to the wider institutional and retail market as a whole,” the exchange said. Following the announcement, BNB is up by more than 1% in the past hour and by 3.6% in the past 24 hours, increasing its weekly gains to more than 18%.
  • Mexican crypto exchange Bitso has received an investment injection from Ripple, per an official release. The exchange says, in a recent tweet, that it has also received funding from Coinbase, Pantera Capital, the New York-based Digital Currency Group and Chicago’s Jump Capital. Bitso is planning to expand its operations beyond Mexico and into the wider Latin America region, with an eye on the lucrative Brazilian and Argentinian markets.

Blockchain news

  • The Mexican government has unveiled broad-sweeping blockchain plans. Per Jornada, the country’s Economy Ministry wants to develop a nationwide blockchain initiative named the Transparency Network, which will integrate government, industry and academic sector organizations on a digitized, decentralized platform.
  • Russia’s Ministry of Communication wants to use blockchain solutions to fight the black market and intercept the sale of counterfeit products. Per Bits Media, should the ministry’s blockchain plans succeed, officials estimate that country could put an end to a USD 13 billion market in black market items. The ministry also believes blockchain solutions could help cut public service spending by up to 75%.
  • South Korean tech giant Kakao says it will hand out USD 900,000 worth of Klay tokens to the winners of a dapp developers contest for its Klaytn blockchain platform. According to media outlet Chosun, five winners will receive USD 100,000 each in Klay tokens, with ten more receiving smaller amounts. The company’s Ground X subsidiary, its de facto blockchain arm, says winners will be announced in late November.
  • The Korea Cargo Transport Business Cooperative has signed a blockchain deal to boost blockchain and tokenization operations in the South Korean logistics industry. The cooperative works in conjunction with port and governmental organizations throughout the country. Per the Korea Shipping Gazette, the cooperative will team up with blockchain startup ZB Network to develop “a tokenized means of freight payment between shippers, cargo owners, carriers and consignees.”

Adoption news

  • More cryptocurrency ATMs are on their way to Venezuela, say operators such as the Panda Group. The latter says it plans to bring in yet more devices to Caracas and elsewhere in the country, per Criptomonedas e ICO. Panda says it has installed what it claims is Venezuela’s second machine in a shopping center in the city of Mérida.
  • Also in Venezuela, a Panama-based exchange says it has released Venezuela’s first-ever crypto NFC smartcard. The card, the brainchild of the Cryptobuyer exchange, allegedly allows users to pay at participating stores in Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dash, Tether, Binance BNB its own XPT token. As previously reported, university-based researchers in Venezuela are working on a range of RFID-powered cryptocurrency pay solutions that could allow citizens to pay in stores and elsewhere.
  • Grayscale, a U.S.-based digital asset management firm, said that shares of Grayscale® Digital Large Cap Fund (DLC) have received approval from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for public quotation under symbol: GDLCF on OTC Markets. “This marks the introduction of the first publicly-quoted security in the U.S. deriving value from a diverse selection of digital currencies,” the company said.
  • The CEO of Russian finance, banking and oil conglomerate AFK Sistema says he is open to the idea of investing in cryptocurrencies, although there are no crypto-related projects on the company’s portfolio as of yet. Per Banki, the CEO, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, says he has “not ruled out investing in cryptocurrencies,” and has already been approached by “young [crypto] entrepreneurs with offers.”
  • A consortium comprising CoinShares, an European digital asset manager, Blockchain, the major provider of cryptocurrency products, and MKS (Switzerland) SA, part of the major gold group, today announced that after two years in development, it has launched the DGLD network with more than USD 20 million in gold digitized. “DGLD is a digital asset (token) representing allocated physical gold stored in a Swiss vault and tokenized with a side-chain built on the Bitcoin network,” they said.

Libra news

  • Facebook has formed a governance council for its Libra project. The council membership comprises major international businesses including Uber, Spotify and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. The project has been rocked in recent days by the departures of Mastercard, Visa, Stripe, eBay, PayPal and Booking Holdings, but the council stated, “It is time for change and we are committed to seeing this through.”