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 …

A partnership between Web3 payment protocol Immersve and payments giant Mastercard will allow users to make crypto payments on digital, physical and the Metaverse worlds. USD Coin (USDC) tokens — a US dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Circle — will be used to settle transactions on Mastercard’s network. The Mastercard-Immersve partnership uses decentralized protocols to settle real-time cryptocurrency transactions on outlets accepting Mastercard payments online. Users will be able to use their existing Web3 wallets to make direct crypto payments without relying on a third party for collateral. Instead, Immersve will partner with a third-party settlement provider and allow its users …

Automated systems and blockchain technology are being increasingly utilized to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the carbon market, a critical component in the fight against climate change. Cointelegraph spoke to Bill Kentrup about the role of blockchain technology in digitizing verifiable data in the carbon market. Kentrup is the head of Origination and co-founder of enterprise software Allinfra Climate — a platform designed to help institutions achieve their sustainability goals. According to him, on-chain monitoring, reporting, verification, issuance, allocation, and retirement of carbon credits and carbon claims, could bring about efficiency and predictability that hasn’t existed in the past. …

According to a report on Feb. 21, Deutsche Bank Singapore and Memento Blockchain have successfully completed the proof of concept phase of Project DAMA (Digital Assets Management Access), designed to facilitate the management of digital funds investing in tokenized securities. Per its report, asset managers were able to create a digital asset fund with its own soulbound token and launch a direct fiat-to-digital on-ramp for users. Institutional investors could then subscribe to the fund through the direct minting of tokens, via a decentralized exchange aggregator, or through a built-in marketplace. As the first step, Deutsche Bank and Memento Blockchain created …

Blockchain technology services provider ConsenSys acquired Hal, a no-code blockchain development tooling platform, to disrupt alerts and notifications at the protocol level in Web3. The acquisition will allow ConsenSys’ Web3 API provider Infura to integrate Hal’s configurable webhooks or notification service in its developer stack. As a result, the move will help developers create alerts and notifications at the protocol level for various signals. According to ConsenSys, Infura offers a suite of tools to connect apps, which the developer community can use to connect apps to the Ethereum network and other decentralized platforms. Infura co-founder Eleazar Galano revealed the company …

What is a market maker, and how do they differ in the crypto and traditional finance markets? At the European Blockchain Conference in Barcelona, Cointelegraph discussed the topic with key market makers in the crypto industry on one of the conference’s first panels. Cointelegraph reporter Joseph Hall drew up the analogy that crypto market makers are much like cool bartenders at a very high-tech and unashamedly nerdy cocktail party. Their job is to keep the drinks flowing, i.e., provide liquidity and ensure everyone's having a good time while maintaining order in the market. Cointelegraph's @JoeNakamoto hosting the "Why Market Making …

While other hedge funds decided to close down operations after being hit by the FTX debacle, some managed to survive and stay afloat after navigating the challenges brought about by the collapse of the exchange. In its fourth-quarter report for 2022, institutional crypto fund manager CoinShares highlighted that the firm managed to remain “financially robust” despite dealing with the FTX collapse at the end of the year. The fund also presented its wins, such as its graduation to Nasdaq Stockholm’s main market and strong levels of inflow into CoinShares physical ETPs. 1/ Amidst difficult market conditions, CoinShares has remained financially …

‘Less interest than anticipated’ — PROOF cancels NFT event Kevin Rose, the co-founder of the nonfungible token (NFT) collection Moonbirds has confirmed that their flagship conference “Proof of Conference” scheduled for May has been canceled, citing “less interest than anticipated.” We made a tough decision today, I want to apologize to everyone that planned on making the trip out. Full ETH refunds have been processed, hotels are refundable, and contact us about flights. (details below) https://t.co/tV4ba85648 — KΞVIN R◎SE (,) (@kevinrose) February 20, 2023 The conference was first announced in early November. It was scheduled to run on May. 11 …

Hong Kong’s ambition of becoming a cryptocurrency hub is reportedly seeing subtle support from the Chinese government, in what could be seen as a contrast to the mainland’s hard-line anti-crypto stance. In October last year, the government of Hong Kong floated the idea of introducing its own bill to regulate crypto and allow retail investors to “directly invest into virtual assets” that could possibly be in contrast to China’s widespread crypto ban. According to people familiar with the matter, Beijing officials have not been brazenly opposed to the idea. According to a Feb. 20 Bloomberg report, it is understood that …

Shark Tank investor and venture capitalist Kevin O’Leary has urged crypto exchanges to “get on board with regulation” if they want to “stay out of the way” of Gary Gensler and the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). In a Feb. 20 interview with TraderTV Live, O’Leary said that U.S. lawmakers are “fatigued” over crypto collapses and that they’re only going to get more ruthless if companies continue to not comply: “You got to get on board with regulation, you got to stay out of the way of Gensler at the SEC and other regulators. Those hombres [men] in Washington …

The CEO of Composable Finance has vigorously refuted allegations of legal improprieties at his decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure platform, which was being aired by the firm's former CTO Karel Kubat. In a Feb. 20 Twitter post, Composable Finance's now-former CTO Karel Kubat announced he had stepped down from the firm. He also leveled a number of accusations aimed at his former company and its CEO. In Kubat’s post, the CTO said that he is resigning because the firm has not provided financial statements to him or the community and because he has no overview of the company’s financial health. He …

Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global is seeking a license in Hong Kong, as the Chinese special administrative region considers new licensing and regulatory moves that would allow them to serve retail customers. The new framework, which requires crypto exchanges to register with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), would allow the exchange to expand its services to the city. Huobi also plans to open a new exchange named Huobi Hong Kong that would concentrate on institutional and high-net-worth individuals, according to a tweet thread by Justin Sun. The SFC has recently opened the new Hong Kong licensing proposals for …