JPMorgan’s Coin In Action, ECB Money Printer Heats Up, Metamask in DeFi + 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.
Banking news
- US-based major investment bank JPMorgan said it completed a live, blockchain-based intraday repo transaction between JPMorgan’s broker dealer and banking entity, using an in-house developed blockchain application which supported “instantaneous settlement” and maturity of the transaction in hours, as opposed to days. Both collateral and cash legs of the repo transaction were settled using blockchain, with the cash leg leveraging JPM Coin.
- The European Central Bank said it would boost the size of an emergency asset purchasing program, as well as extend a bank loan program by a year, due to the impact the resurgence in COVID-19 cases has had on the economy. The pandemic emergency purchase program will increase by EUR 500bn (USD 607.4bn) to EUR 1.85trn (USD 2.2trn), and the horizon for net purchases was extended to at least the end of March 2022. “[T]he governing council will conduct net purchases until it judges that the coronavirus crisis phase is over,” they said in a statement.
- Crypto exchange operator, stablecoin issuer and crypto brokerage Paxos said that it has asked the American Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to give it a national Trust Bank charter, which – if granted – would allow it to function in the same manner as a bank, under new rulings. In a blog post, Paxos said that it intends to run its banking operations from its New York headquarters. The move follows similar moves from the likes of BitPay, a US-based major crypto payments provider.
DeFi news
- Ethereum (ETH)-focused major blockchain company ConsenSys has announced a new offering from MetaMask, a major Ethereum wallet and Web3 browser, to provide crypto funds, custodians, and professional traders with institutional-grade features and controls for connecting to decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and applications. Per the emailed press release, this will enable customers to swap tokens, borrow, lend, and invest in Ethereum applications, while providing “the operational, security, and reporting features necessary to run a professional DeFi trading desk.”
Crypto adoption news
- Crypto exchange OKEx has partnered with noncustodial crypto payment services provider NOWPayments in order to allow holders of OKEx’s global utility token OKB, to make payments online using the token. According to the announcement, starting on December 15, users will be able to exchange their OKB for goods and services from any of the online merchants partnered with NOWPayments.
Altcoins news
- London-based digital asset infrastructure provider Copper.co has announced it will serve as an official custodian for blockchain platform Flare Networks. Flare is building the world’s first Turing-complete Federated Byzantine Agreement-based smart contract network, said the emailed announcement, and its native asset, the Spark (FLR) token, will be distributed to XRP holders. As custodian, Copper will be responsible for securely holding Spark tokens on behalf of the Flare Networks and the Flare Foundation, they said.
Investments news
- The Digital Currency Group-run crypto mining firm Foundry will stump up USD 23m in financing for Core Scientific, an American company that claims to be the nations’ “largest digital mining operation.” The financing, claims Core Scientific will be used to fund its own and its clients’ mining equipment – allowing them to “expand capacity” for their respective mining efforts in North America. In a press release, Core Scientific stated that USD 11m would be provided to fund its clients’ mining equipment financing, with the remainder going toward Core Scientific’s own mining efforts. The press release authors also noted that the Digital Currency Group “has committed to investing USD 100m into Foundry through 2021.”
- State Street Corp. and S&P Global Inc. participated in a USD 15m funding round for Lukka Inc., giving a boost to the US crypto software and data provider that’s already working on a global crypto index with S&P, Bloomberg reported. The US accounting association AICPA also joined in the round, it added.
Regulation news
- Crypto-friendly US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Heath Tarbert said he intends to resign early next year. Earlier this year, he said that he sees bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) as commodities that fall under the CFTC, and that he wants the US to be the leader in terms of digital assets and blockchain technology.
Blockchain and DLT news
- Automaker BMW has struck a deal with Oasis Labs, a firm run by affiliates of the masterminds of the Oasis Protocol blockchain network. In a blog post, Oasis Labs called the deal an “early-stage project” that would see it and BMW co-build “the next generation of data privacy technology.” The companies will reportedly work on a solution that will help enable responsible data use at the carmaker, imposing protocols that will make individuals “self-sovereign” over who accesses their personal data, and what information can be made visible to colleagues.
- Distributed ledger company Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) has announced major law firm Dentons as the newest, 16th member of the Hedera Governing Council. The Council, which the company says is designed to be the most decentralized governance model for a public ledger, will have a total of 39 diversified enterprises and organizations reflecting several distinct industries and geographies, said the press release.
- EUREKA‘s Globalstars initiative, in partnership with Enterprise Singapore and Innovate UK, has awarded GBP 440,000 (USD 585,761) in funding, along with access to research and development facilities and resources, to SpaceChain and consortium partners Addvalue Innovation and Alba Orbital. According to the press release, the companies will jointly develop a decentralized satellite infrastructure (DSI) that powers a blockchain payload at its core to enable direct tasking of a satellite in real-time. The EUREKA project is expected to commence in early 2021.
