EU Seeking Blockchain Defense Solutions + 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.
Blockchain news
- The European Commission is looking for solutions that drive innovation and adapt technologies for civil and defense purposes, including blockchain concepts. Per a European Defense Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) tender dated March 24, small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) are called to offer their innovative and future-oriented solutions.
- A new project called eThaler that uses the Ethereum blockchain to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC) may now be hastened due to the “digital dollar“-related plans it the U.S, according to Forbes. A group of professionals from consulting firms Accenture and InfoSys and the Itau Bank in Brazil, have been working on the open-source project to explore the future of central bank currency issued on a blockchain. The token-issuance system will comply with the Token Taxonomy Framework, a collection of standards for enterprises using Ethereum, developed by JPMorgan Chase, ConsenSys, and other members of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, in April 2019, the report said.
- South Korean cosmetics giant Amorepacific has again talked up its blockchain technology plans. As previously reported, Amorepacific first unveiled its blockchain intentions in February this year, becoming the first major South Korean cosmetics and beauty firm to do so. And, per Go Korea, the company’s chairman affirmed his commitment to blockchain adoption in a speech, where he pledged that the company would create a new industry 4.0-powered digital platform for its customers.
- Experts in South Korea are asking if the coronavirus pandemic could speed up the adoption of blockchain-powered voting networks. A number of blockchain-powered voting initiatives had already been piloted in South Korea prior to the outbreak, but, per Fn News, experts are now looking to step up adoption projects in an effort to reduce the risk of the virus spreading at polling booths. Two government ministries have already taken part in pilot projects, but remain concerned that legal obstacles and technical difficulties could blight progress.
- The organizers of one of Japan’s biggest blockchain conferences have decided against cancelation as the coronavirus pandemic spreads – and have resolved to take their event online instead. As previously reported, the TEAMZ Crypto Asia Blockchain Summit in Tokyo, one of Asia’s largest blockchain gatherings, was slated to take place in late April this year, and had already been rescheduled to September. However, as the health crisis deepens, TEEMZ has now announced that the event will instead be held on a virtual basis over five days in May.
Exchanges news
- Rakuten Wallet, the smartphone-based crypto exchange and wallet service operated by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten, has begun offering leveraged trading. Trading will be capped at x2 – meeting the Japanese regulator’s soon-to-be imposed legal limits. The company first announced its margin trading intentions earlier this month but, per Crypto Watch, the company has since added support for leveraged litecoin (LTC) and ripple (XRP) trading.
DeFi news
- Crypto lender Nexo has announced that they’re broadening access to PAX Gold (PAXG), a regulated token from Paxos Trust Company. According to the emailed press release, while available only for institutional clients before, PAXG is now accessible as a collateral option for all clients.
Legal news
- Instant messaging giant Telegram has decided to appeal the recent decision by U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The judge said on Tuesday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proven the likelihood of Telegram’s digital tokens, Grams, being sold as unregistered securities.
- Federal prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito argued that defendants like Matthew Brent Goettsche and Jobadiah Sinclair Weeks should not be released from jail, that the global pandemic panic doesn’t minimize flight risk, and that they should still be subject to an individualized assessment by the court, reports Law360. The two men are accused of setting up the BitClub Network, a USD 722 million crypto mining Ponzi scheme, but they petitioned a New Jersey federal judge to release them from a county jail as they fear they’ll contract coronavirus otherwise.
