Colombian Finance Firms Want to Take Part in Crypto Trials + 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.

Crypto adoption news

• The Colombian government has opened applications for companies wishing to trial crypto transactions in a new regulatory sandbox, reported Criptonoticias. Companies have until December 31 to register their interest in what promises to be a year-long pilot program. A financial regulatory chief stated that “four Colombian financial services providers” have already expressed a willingness to participate in the project – with a bill on crypto usage in the financial sector set to emerge in 2022.

Blockchain news

• South Korea’s top university, Seoul National University, has joined forces with Hanwha Life, the insurance arm of the domestic business giant Hanwha, for a blockchain collaboration deal. Per Energy Kyungjae, the two parties have forged an agreement that will see them train new talent and develop blockchain-powered applications for the insurance sector. The deal will also allow Hanwha Life employees to attend blockchain-themed master’s degree and doctoral study programs.
• On October 7, in New York, Christie’s to auction part of “the largest work of art in the history of blockchain technology,” reported AYO.NEWS. The artwork, Block 21 of Portrtaits of a Mind, was created by Robert Alice and includes 12.3m digits of founding code behind Bitcoin (BTC), in 40 hand-painted, decentralized transcriptions, it added.

DeFi news

• San Franciso-headquartered peer-to-peer commerce startup Origin said it launched the Origin Dollar (OUSD) stablecoin. It automatically earns yields from DeFi protocols while it’s still sitting in a wallet, the company said.
• tBTC, which lets BTC holders access Ethereum (ETH) DeFi apps, is live again and can be used on tbtc.network. A project of Keep, Summa and the Cross-Chain Group, tBTC now lets users exchange BTC for TBTC, an ERC-20 token that can be used on DeFi platforms, at a rate of 1:1.

Investments news

• Ethereum analytics provider Dune Analytics said it raised a USD 2m seed round led by Dragonfly Capital to scale up the Dune Analytics team and product. “We also have top industry names like Multicoin Capital, Hashed, Coinbase Ventures, Digital Currency Group and more onboard,” the startup said.