“The Bitcoin Exchange Traded Crypto (BTCE), is the world’s first centrally cleared derivative crypto asset, and would be listed on Deutsche Borse’s Xetra market based in Frankfurt, Germany. Central clearing is a tool used in the European derivatives market to bolster stability by ensuring a financial institution takes on counterparty credit-risk.
The crypto security is also backed by bitcoin, with each share giving the holder a claim to a specific amount of the cryptocurrency. The physical bitcoin would be stored in a cold vault, meaning one not connected to the internet, operated by Palo Alto, Calif.-based custodian BitGo.
Investors get the benefit of trading and owning bitcoin through a regulated security, while having the option to redeem bitcoin if they choose. It really is a hybrid ETP product that has the same features as an ETF.
The bitcoin-backed security will be available in Germany and has also been passported to the UK, Italy and Austria, meaning users in these countries will be able to hold or trade the BTCE shares.”
“Fidelity Digital Assets said institutional sentiment was improving in relation to cryptocurrencies.
86 U.S. institutions traded crypto futures this year, compared to just 40 in the 2019 survey. The survey also found 36% of respondents – 279 institutions in the U.S. and Europe – were currently already invested in digital assets. Hedge funds and venture funds were the two buckets with the greatest exposure.
Interestingly, it appears European institutions (45%) were much more likely to hold crypto compared to their American counterparts (27%).
These results confirm a trend we are seeing in the market towards greater interest in and acceptance of digital assets as a new investable asset class.”
“The Ethereum venture studio said the newly launched Codefi Compliance software suite would provide compliance and analytics for exchanges and DeFi projects across a range of different regulatory buckets, such as counter-terrorism financing (CTF) and anti-money laundering (AML).
Focused on the Ethereum ecosystem, the tool can track up to 280,000 different tokens that are based on the protocol – such as those built on the ERC-20 or ERC-721 standard. The idea is to replace the varied compliance in crypto at the moment, with the more consistent sort found in the traditional payments sector.
Codefi Compliance allows clients to track digital assets, monitor user behaviors as well as watch fund flows, and compile full data analysis.
Providing robust AML/CFT compliance for Ethereum-based digital assets is a keystone step in bringing the institutional financial industry to decentralized finance.”
“The Baseline Protocol has released integrations for Google Sheets and Microsoft 365, allowing multiple entities to privately verify that their databases share the same records.
Baselining uses the Ethereum mainnet as middleware for data verification without sensitive or unwanted information being made public on the network.
The proof demonstrated that the baselining technique does not necessitate that data is stored on a blockchain, instead using distributed ledger technology to ‘enforce the consistency of the separate records.'”
“South Korea’s second-largest city, Busan, will let its citizens access government services using a blockchain-based identification app developed by Coinplug.
The developer used the Metadium blockchain and its Decentralized Identifier technology to power the app. Through this system, user data is stored on their devices, and only a cryptographic proof of the information is submitted to the blockchain.”
“Coca-Cola Amatil’s network of 2,000-plus vending machines will enable consumers to spend their crypto by using their smartphone, provided they have the Sylo Smart Wallet installed.
Now we’ve shown how it can work in Australia and New Zealand, we’re looking to grow the business globally. [We] will be targeting the U.S. market next.”
“Moscow’s Department of Information Technologies plans to use Bitfury’s open-source enterprise blockchain, Exonum. ‘The blockchain technology is working in the Proof of Authority mode.’
Despite hopes blockchain could make elections more transparent and fair, ‘there’s no evidence yet that it is better at preventing election fraud.’ At the end, it’s the people in power who decide what will be the design of a blockchain voting system and who will have access.“
See Also: MIT Research Says Online Voting Needs More Decentralization to Protect Ballots
“Dash has announced a 104% rise in commercial payments through Q1 2020, along with increased adoption, trading volume and price performance.
In January a collaboration with Burger King in Venezuela enabled payments using Dash and other cryptocurrencies. Additionally, thousands of merchants in the country are now accepting Dash thanks to local advocacy programs and a recent integration with MegaSoft point-of-sale terminals.
In Brazil, over 2.5 million merchants can now take Dash as a means of payment through solutions such as ATAR Pay.”
“Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss will help produce a film based on the best-selling book that featured their entrance into the world of bitcoin.
“Bitcoin Billionaires” is a non-fiction book that tells the tale of how, amid their struggles after their famous court battle with Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, the Winklevoss brothers happened across cryptocurrency and decided to make a big bet on the youthful technology.”
The Disrupt 