Microsoft Blockchain Study, Walmart Crypto Job, Samsung & CBDC and More News

Sumejja Muratagić-Tadić
Last updated: | 2 min read

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.

Source: AdobeStock / wolterke

Adoption news

  • Computing giant Microsoft has done a study of a blockchain-based incentive system to bolster anti-piracy campaigns in a paper, dubbed Argus. Built on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain, Argus aims to provide a trustless incentive mechanism while protecting data collected from the open anonymous population of piracy reporters.
  • Retail giant Walmart has posted a job listing looking for a Digital Currency and Cryptocurrency Product Lead. The candidate will be required to own and drive Walmart’s digital currency strategy, identify crypto related investments and partnerships, and serve as a subject matter expert internally and externally, among other things.
  • South Korean internet giant Kakao is expanding its legacy blockchain platform Klaytn to Singapore by establishing two entities in the area, The Korea Herald reported. The company intends to further pursue its globalization efforts for Klaytn from Singapore, per the report.
  • 78% of crypto investors in Singapore hold ETH compared with 69% who own bitcoin (BTC), according to a survey by crypto exchange Gemini, finance platform Seedly, and information provider CoinMarketCap. The survey of over 4,000 adults conducted June 29-July 9 also found that 67% of respondents with personal investments have crypto in their portfolio, and two-thirds of the crypto holders increased their digital-asset holdings during the pandemic.
  • Players from English soccer team Watford FC will wear Dogecoin (DOGE) on their shirts this season, The Athletic reported. The appearance of the meme coin is paid for by sports betting site and crypto casino Stake.com, while the deal is worth at least GBP 700,000 (c. USD 970,500) – and will be paid in cryptocurrency.

CBDC news

  • The Bank of Korea is piloting a digital currency through the Galaxy smartphones of South Korean multinational tech giant Samsung Electronics, The Korea Times reported. The program will be co-managed by Ground X, blockchain affiliate of Kakao, whose Klaytn platform will host the central bank digital currency (CBDC).
  • The Bank of Ghana has announced a partnership with German finance company Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) to pilot what they say is the first general purpose CBDC in Africa. G+D is providing the technology and developing the solution adapted to Ghana’s requirements, which will be tested in a trial phase with banks, payment service providers, merchants, consumers, and other relevant stakeholders.

Mining news

  • BTC mining firm Mawson Infrastructure Group has announced the expansion of its mining farm in Georgia, USA by up to 300 megawatts (MW). The release states that the scale will allow the Georgia site to increase proprietary hash rate to 2,000 PH/s and 5,000 PH/s by the end of 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Crime news

  • A dark web drug dealer from Maryland known as Xanaxman is accused by a Maryland federal court of laundering USD 137m worth of BTC from prison, according to The Baltimore Sun. The new indictment says that Farace and Joseph Farace, his father, laundered drug proceeds between October 2019 and April 2021, adding that the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized a total of BTC 2,933, in February and in April of this year.