Crypto

Following the successful expansion of its cryptocurrency service within its homeland of Switzerland, fintech firm Leonteq has now launched a collaborative effort with ICF Bank — one of Germany’s leading securities trading banks — to bring crypto to institutional investors throughout Germany and Austria. Well regarded for their accolades in the Swiss markets, including being the “world’s first short tracker certificate on Bitcoin in 2017, as well as the world’s first reverse convertible on Bitcoin in 2019,” the firm is now set to make further strides in the emerging space. Following the evolution of a multi-year relationship, Leonteq and ICF Bank have teamed up in an effort to branch the former’s financial offerings beyond traditional structured assets with the introduction of 18 cryp...

Digital collectibles platform Terra Virtua has moved from the Ethereum blockchain to Polygon in an attempt to be greener. In a Monday announcement, Terra Virtua said it had switched to Polygon as part of a plan to create a more sustainable nonfungible token, or NFT, ecosystem. The platform claimed the move would reduce the energy necessary to create a single NFT by more than 99%. However, Terra Virtua will also remint all digital collectibles previously unsold on Ethereum in the move to Polygon. “Our mission is to revolutionise how audiences engage with NFTs and make them accessible to everyone, but we believe that the environment shouldn’t have to pay the price for this new game-changing technology,” said Terra Virtua co-founder and CTO Jawad Ashraf. “By harnessing the power of this new b...

Windows operating system and Office productivity suite have always been top performers on any software piracy platforms. So, it’s no wonder that Microsoft, the developer of both products, works hard to establish anti-piracy measures.  In a new paper released by Microsoft’s research department, with the participation of researchers from Alibaba and Carnegie Mellon University, the Redmond-based software giant studied a blockchain-based incentive system to bolster anti-piracy campaigns. As the title of the research, Argus: A Fully Transparent Incentive System for Anti-Piracy Campaigns, suggests, Microsoft’s new system relies on the transparency aspect of blockchain technology. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, Argus aims to provide a trustless incentive mechanism while protecting data co...

Bitcoin (BTC) is approaching its second attack on pivotal resistance this week as bulls remain firmly in the driver’s seat. After a mixed weekend that saw both a run on $48,000 and a major rejection at that level, Bitcoin is already back, having made up all of its losses. With conditions broadly favorable for continued strength, it may only be a matter of time before the next impulse move reshapes the BTC/USD spot market. Cointelegraph suggests five factors worth taking into account when assessing where Bitcoin might be headed in the coming days. Bitcoin returns to challenge $48,000 It was a rags-to-riches story for Bitcoin this weekend. Saturday began on a high after BTC/USD jumped above $47,000, a zone which immediately borders a large resistance wall which so far remains in place. There...

North American retail giant Walmart is looking for an experienced crypto expert who can develop and drive an ambitious digital currency strategy and product roadmap.  In the listing for the role, Walmart indicates it is looking for someone who has a track record in leading and scaling businesses, with at least 10 years of experience in product/program management and technology-based product commercialization. The ideal candidate would have expertise in cryptocurrencies and blockchain-related technologies and in-depth knowledge of the crypto ecosystem and its core actors. Walmart has hinted at the focus of its future digital currency strategy by noting that it already enables a “broad set of payment options for its customers” — although not yet in cryptocurrency. Back in 2019, Walmart ...

Singapore is reportedly the next port of call for Kakao’s globalization agenda for its legacy blockchain platform Klatyn. According to a report by The Korea Herald on Monday, Kakao has established two new blockchain-based entities — the Klatyn Foundation and Krust — in the city-state. The Klatyn Foundation is a non-profit organization while Krust serves as a global accelerator for blockchain technology adoption. Kakao plans to use both entities to foster broad-based penetration of its Klatyn blockchain project in Singapore. Stating its mission during the launch earlier in August, the Kakao Foundation said that it will work “proactively and systematically” to expand the Klatyn network. “We will actively invest our human as well as financial resources in developers and businesses of the bloc...

Coinbase performed excellently in the second quarter of the year, and it is gaining more investment from corporate entities Leading chip manufacturer Intel has reportedly acquired shares in Coinbase, one of the top cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. The acquisition follows a strong performance from the crypto exchange in the second quarter of 2021. According to a report by Barron’s, Intel disclosed on Friday that it currently holds 3,014 shares of Coinbase (COIN) as of the end of June. The report added that the shares were acquired in the second quarter of the year since Intel didn’t disclose COIN as part of its holdings in the first quarter. However, there is the possibility that Intel acquired the shares much earlier. Barron’s wrote, “It is possible that Intel invested in...

Bitcoin (BTC) is facing a stiff challenge from the bears near the $48,000 mark. As Cointelegraph reported earlier, the buy and sell levels show that sellers on Binance have held their ground at $48,000. PlanB, the creator of the stock-to-flow Bitcoin price model, said if Bitcoin manages to close August above $47,000, the year-end “worst-case scenario” target price of $135,000 may come into play. Despite the slight downturn, the institutional adoption of Bitcoin continues to increase. Filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission show that four wealth management firms have bought shares in Grayscale’s Bitcoin Investment Trust. Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360 A survey of about 42,000 people in 27 countries by product comparison website Finder, s...

The United States Treasury Department is reportedly seeking to clarify the definition of brokers in the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by the Senate last week, offering cautious reassurance that the new legislation won’t impact innovation and growth in the blockchain industry.  As reported by Bloomberg, the Treasury Department is preparing guidance on what types of crypto companies will be required to comply with new IRS reporting requirements. The report indicated that the definition of “broker” could be narrowed from what many fear would include protocol developers and wallet providers that currently operate in the cryptocurrency industry. A Treasury official reportedly told Bloomberg that developers, miners and wallet providers won’t be subjected to the new reporting require...

As the blockchain industry expands and becomes more of a fixture in everyday life, the idea of ‘one chain to rule them all’ and the general ideology of blockchain maximalism is beginning to fall to the wayside and the focus on interoperability and cross-chain collaboration is coming to the forefront. One project that is specifically designed to help advance the ecosystem as a whole and develop the future of the open internet is Gitcoin (GTC), a community of builders, creators and protocols. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the price of GTC has swelled 103% from a low of $4.78 on July 20 to a high at $9.71 on Aug. 11 as new participants aligned with the project and its goal of advancing the Web3 infrastructure. GTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView T...