Crypto

One of France’s leading banks has turned to decentralized finance pioneer MakerDAO to propose the submission of bond tokens as collateral for a loan of the DAI stablecoin. The historic proposal called “Security Tokens Refinancing” was submitted to Maker’s governance forums by the international bank on Oct. 1. It would be the first major collaboration between a traditional bank and a DeFi protocol and could open the door for closer integration between the two sectors. Societe Generale (SG) labeled it as the “first experiment at the crossroads between regulated and open source initiatives.” The bank has proposed that it provides “OFH” security tokens (obligations de financement de l’habitat) which are characterized as covered bonds under French law, and backed by home loans. These would be u...

Bitcoin Depot’s cryptocurrency ATM network continues to expand, with North American installations surpassing 5,000 for the first time amid a surge in retail adoption.  With the milestone, Bitcoin Depot is once again the largest ATM network in North America, the company announced Thursday. The number of kiosks has tripled in the last six months, giving more users access to cryptocurrency transactions without requiring a bank or other third-party financial services provider. Bitcoin Depot’s partnership with Circle K convenience stores has been a major source of growth for their crypto kiosks. As Cointelegraph reported, the two companies announced in July that the convenience store chain will be home to thousands of Bitcoin ATM machines. The growth of crypto kiosks is viewed by many as a...

Ether (ETH) price has seen quite a bit of volatility lately and to the surprise of many traders, the $4,000 level continues to present considerable resistance. Currently, the price is respecting the upward channel, which started in August. But every time the support is tested, the risk of an aggressive correction increases. With that in mind, the $340 million options expiry on Oct. 1 will likely be dominated by neutral-to-bearish put options.  Ether price at Bitstamp in USD. Source: TradingView Bulls placed larger bets for the expiry but it appears that they were too optimistic for Oct. 1, so their $215 million call (buy) options are getting closer with the looming approach of the expiry date. It’s possible that Ether could be a victim of its own success because the demand for decentr...

Crypto traders breathed a sigh of relief on Sept. 30 after media headlines reflected positive news regarding adoption and future regulation in the crypto sector. Early in the day, Visa announced that it has developed a layer-2-based blockchain interoperability hub that will support cryptocurrency payments and Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell stated that the regulator has no intention of banning cryptocurrencies. The rise in sentiment coincided with a positive day for the price action in Bitcoin, which is up 5.74% and trading near $44,000 at the time of writing.  Top 7 coins with the highest 24-hour price change. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the biggest gainers over the past 24-hours were Rari Governance Token ...

Due to the enormous growth of DeFi and a lack of direct competitors, Ethereum wallet and browser extension MetaMask recently surpassed 10 million active users, a major milestone for the ConsenSys-led protocol. Now, a new browser wallet is looking to provide an alternative to MetaMask by doing something that most developers are shying away from — creating a web-based experience as opposed to a mobile client.  Emile Dubié, the CEO of XDEFI Wallet, explained to Cointelegraph why MetaMask’s growth has previously gone unperturbed by competitors: “I think developers decided to get on mobile being the next client for blockchain users while the reality is that most of the volume in DeFi is still going via web client. Why? Because you have more real estate from a UI point of view and browser w...

The national postal service of Switzerland is working to bridge the gap between physical stamps and the digital cryptocurrency industry by introducing tradable digital stamps. On Sept. 20, the Swiss Post officially announced the upcoming launch of the “Swiss crypto stamp,” a digital collectible linked to a physical stamp issued by the postal service worth 8.9 Swiss francs. The Swiss crypto stamp will provide a digital representation for a physical stamp and will be stored on a blockchain. “Each design forms a nonfungible token and is stored in the Polygon Blockchain,” a spokesperson for the Swiss Post told Cointelegraph. Buyers will be able to discover a digital twin of their physical stamp online through a QR code printed next to the physical stamp. The crypto stamp’s image will show...

Global payments giant Visa has introduced a project that aims to be a “universal adapter” of blockchains that can connect multiple cryptocurrencies, stablecoins as well as central bank digital currencies (CBDC). According to an official announcement on Thursday, Visa’s research team is working on a “Universal Payment Channel” (UPC) initiative, a blockchain interoperability hub connecting multiple blockchain networks and enabling transfers of digital assets from different protocols and wallets. “Imagine splitting the check with your friends, when everyone at the table is using a different type of money — some using CBDC like Sweden’s eKrona, and others preferring a private stablecoin like USDC,” Visa wrote, adding that such a tool “well may be a reality” in the “not-too-distant future”...

Decentralized finance (DeFi) interest rate protocol Compound Finance has reported a token distribution bug within its newly implemented Proposal 062, which is over-rewarding suppliers into the tens of millions of dollars.  The upgrade was designed to “split COMP rewards distribution and bug fixes” and was fully verified without issues. However, within hours, the team noted “unusual activity,” stating that “Compound Labs and members of the community are investigating discrepancies in the COMP distribution.” Despite the developments, the team has stressed that no funds either supplied or borrowed are at risk. Users of the protocol are reporting sizable windfalls, one claiming a deposit of 70 million COMP tokens into their account, equivalent to $20 million. The founder of Compound Labs,...