Month: February 2019

Signature Bank of New York will soon offer full banking services to financial technology firms in Bermuda, including crypto startups that have struggled to secure accounts. In a press release Thursday night, the government of Bermuda announced that Signature would offer U.S. banking services to licensed fintech firms, including 66 startups already incorporated in the country. When reached by CoinDesk, a spokesperson for Signature Bank confirmed that it would be providing these services. Companies can apply for services effective immediately, Read more …

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has posted a $100,000 reward for the discovery of the major Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX’s missing funds. Kraken announced the offer in a blog post on Feb. 28. QuadrigaCX has faced financial difficulty following the sudden death of its founder Gerry Cotten in December last year. Since then, Quadriga has not been able to access its cold wallets where it kept most of the assets, because Cotten was apparently solely responsible for the wallets and corresponding keys. Read more …

Tesla’s big news event for today was dominated by the official unveiling of the long-awaited $35,000 Model 3. Excitement over the new low-cost sedan was sapped, however, after Elon Musk delivered disappointing news about Tesla’s profitability prospects. Tesla Unveils $35,000 Model 3 $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Nowhttps://t.co/xZ0J4rbbgM — Tesla (@Tesla) February 28, 2019 The Model 3’s new $35,000 version will have a 220-mile battery pack range. New buyers will only be able to make purchases online. Tesla’s new $35,000 Read more …

While answering questions at Los Angeles-based news outlet Daily Journal Corp’s annual meeting, Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of investment giant Berkshire Hathaway and longtime partner of fellow billionaire Warren Buffett, took a thinly-veiled shot at Elon Musk, founder and CEO of automobile company Tesla Inc. Munger, who serves as the chairman of Journal Daily Corp, has gained worldwide acclaim as a successful investor and is also seen as a “sage” who gives some of the best investment advice. At the Read more …

The Swiss fintech market grew by 62 percent in 2018, according to a recent study by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences published on Feb. 27. The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences undertook an in-depth review of Switzerland’s fintech market for the fourth time. The report dubbed “IFZ FinTech Study 2019” reveals that on a global scale the cities of Zurich and Geneva remain in second and third place for the best cities for fintech, respectively. The fintech sector inside Read more …

On Feb. 27, KYC-free cryptocurrency exchange Hodl Hodl announced a new service called Predictions, which will soon be added to the peer-to-peer trading platform. Hodl Hodl believes prediction markets are useful financial instruments within the crypto ecosystem that offer an incentive for those forecasting the specific outcome of an event. Also read: What Does the Future Hold for Augur’s Prediction Market? Hodl Hodl Is Adding ‘Predictions’ to Its P2P Multi-Signature Exchange Peer-to-peer multi-signature trading platform Hodl Hodl will be adding Read more …

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a fresh order to Russia’s government demanding that they draft and approve a regulatory framework for the crypto industry. Although this seems like a positive development for the industry, similar orders have been issued on multiple occasions over the past few years to no avail, which calls into question the clout that these orders truly hold within the Russian government. A Brief History of Russia’s Rocky Relationship with Crypto Regulation Russia has taken a Read more …

Crypto exchange Kraken is offering up to $100,000 to anyone who can help solve this year’s biggest blockchain mystery: what happened to QuadrigaCX’s coins? Kraken announced Thursday it would pay the reward to users who could help it locate the missing funds. Any tips sent to the platform will, in turn, be shared with law enforcement, the company said in a blog post. The reward is payable in fiat or cryptocurrency. To participate, Kraken is encouraging users to listen to a Read more …

Bitcoin skeptic Vladimir Putin has set a July 2019 deadline for crypto regulations to be put in place in Russia. Putin made the announcement on the Kremlin website in a February 27 notice. In his order, President Putin told the Russian State Duma and the Council of the Federation of Russia to adopt cryptocurrency rules by July 1. The regulations are designed to promote the digital economy in Russia, which is struggling financially amid US economic sanctions. Previous July 2018 Deadline Read more …

Arcadia Biosciences Inc.’s share price surged 61 percent while trading on the Nasdaq Thursday after the agricultural biotech firm announced plans to dive into the hemp industry. Arcadia shares surged more than 60% after the firm announced its pot stock pivot. The company’s core business area is producing food ingredients made from wheat and soybeans. The company is jumping into the cannabis space as “with an initial focus on the hemp market,” according to a news release published Thursday. “Now, the Read more …

The Constantinople and St. Petersburg network upgrades for the world’s second largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum’s (ETH), occurred today Feb. 28, according to ethstats.net. Specifically, the updates went live on the main network at block 7,280,000, in accordance with previously released schedule. Although the upgrade has two names of two originally separated updates, they have subsequently been combined into one. Per Ethernodes.org, not all Ethereum users have adopted the updates. Only 22.3 percent of Geth and Parity clients are reportedly already running Read more …

Global crypto exchange Bittrex led a $1.5 million seed round in South African trading platform VALR. Bittrex CEO Bill Shihara told CoinDesk the South African market has “tremendous untapped potential.” Fellow VALR investor Michael Jordaan of Montegray Capital told CoinDesk that VALR’s support for 50 cryptocurrencies will offer the most diverse range of assets of any African exchange when it opens to the public on March 1. “The VALR team has the potential to change the cryptocurrency landscape in South Read more …