Chief executive officers of leading banks testified before the United States House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on April 10 on how the banking industry has transformed since the 2008 financial crisis. Among many topics spanning the breadth of the banking industry, the CEOs and lawmakers discussed blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. During his allotted time for questioning, Rep. Warren Davidson (R) argued that the industry is entering into a new era of innovation, wherein blockchain technology is transforming existing financial systems, as well as cybersecurity. Davidson also noted that the U.S. is currently staggering behind due to regulatory certainty issues. …
The Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange (GBX) announced that it is offering insurance on all of the assets listed on its platform, in an official GBX blog post Dec. 10. The exchange reports that it will use local firm Callaghan Insurance Brokers to insure its assets, specifying that “all assets in the custody of the GBX are fully insured, including both hot and cold wallets.” The policy also reportedly “covers all forms of professional indemnity.” GBX, a subsidiary of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange (GSX), opened in July of this year and has raised a total of $27 million in funding. In the …
Forex exchange (FX) settlement giant CLS is in the final stages of testing its blockchain payment service for banks, Financial News reported July 27. The service is reportedly set to be launched later this summer, with at least seven banks expected to sign on to the system in the early months. CLS, the New York-based global multi-currency cash settlement system, has been working with tech company IBM to introduce the blockchain-powered payment netting service. The system is set to be incorporated in banking IT systems to boost the level of standardization in the global FX markets, as well as reduce …
Following the announced integration of the payment app Strike with e-commerce platform Shopify to accept Bitcoin (BTC) through the Lightning Network, the crypto community raised concerns over the legal implications of the move. Crypto researcher Matt Ahlborg believes that the event is a very significant development for BTC as it allows the offloading of BTC without the need to go through the know-your-customer (KYC) process. What Jack Mallers is really saying is that you will be soon be able to offload your Bitcoins in the real world without KYC'ing through an exchange first. If this is true, it is actually …
According to a medium post on Feb. 20, the Interchain Foundation (ICF), a non-profit organization behind the creation of the Cosmos (ATOM) interblockchain communications (IBC) ecosystem, has committed to spending approximately $40 million in 2023 to develop its core infrastructure and applications. As a part of the Interchain Stack, which is utilized by around 50 blockchains, these include the Tendermint Core (and now CometBFT), Cosmos SDK, Cosmos Hub, and the IBC protocol. "Throughout the year, we envisage engaging other teams to deliver smaller, tightly defined tasks within each area of work. Such contracts will be to supplement the work of …