United Kingdom babanks HSBC Holdings and Nationwide Building Society are banning cryptocurrency purchases via credit cards for retail customers. They join a growing list of banks in the country to tighten restrictions on digital assets. A Bloomberg report on March 2 claims the step back is a response to warnings by UK regulators and scandals surrounding the crypto industry. Nationwide is reportedly applying daily limits of £5,000 ($5,965) on debit-card purchases of crypto assets, while credit cards will no longer be available for crypto transactions. Customers of HSBC were barred from making crypto purchases with their credit cards last month. …

The decentralized application (DApp) NEAR protocol is releasing a new blockchain operating system, focusing on improving user experience on Web3 through a common layer for browsing and discovering open web resources, the company disclosed at the Web3 and innovation festival ETHDenver 2023. In an interview with Cointelegraph's Turner Wright during the event, NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin spoke on how the ecosystem is moving closer to user's needs and the release of the Blockchain Operating System (BOS). According to the NEAR's team, the system works with any blockchain or Web2 backend, allowing users to have the experience of using a single …

Several crypto firms have announced they will scale back or outright terminate their relationship with Silvergate Bank following an announced investigation into its alleged involvement in the FTX collapse. Amid news that crypto exchange Coinbase would no longer accept or initiate payments with Silvergate, companies including stablecoin issuers Paxos and Circle and Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital have announced similar actions regarding their partnerships with the crypto bank. Galaxy Digital announced on March 2 that it had stopped accepting or initiating transfers to the bank “out of an abundance of caution”. In separate posts on Twitter on March 2, Paxos said …

According to an official Telegram statement on March 1, Singaporean cross-chain crypto wallet developer BitKeep says it has reimbursed 50% of user assets lost during a security breach stemming from Dec. 26, 2022. On the date of the incident, an estimated $8 million was stolen by hackers after BitKeep's APK 7.2.9 (Android Package Kit) installation package was hijacked and swapped. Users who downloaded the malware subsequently saw their private keys compromised, leading to the theft of assets. As told by BitKeep, a total of 6,731 verified addresses were breached during the incident. The firm has since completed reimbursing 50% of …

On Mar. 1, nearly two years after Jack Dorsey's technology conglomerate Block (known as Square at the time) announced plans to build a self-custodial Bitcoin wallet, the company revealed that more work still needs to be done regarding its plans and that Block is actively seeking partners "to make this a reality." As told by Block, partnerships are required to move assets between fiat and Bitcoin financial systems and provide users with the access and information they need to buy, sell, and store bitcoin securely and easily. The company stated it is prioritizing a quality over quantity approach to select …

Xapo Bank, an international private bank headquartered in Gibraltar, integrates the Lightning Network to improve its Bitcoin (BTC) capabilities. On March 2, Xapo officially announced a partnership with the Lightning Network infrastructure platform Lightspark, which allowed the firm to implement Lightning on its platform. The integration enables faster and cheaper transactions on Xapo, reducing blockchain confirmation waiting times and transaction fees on the original Bitcoin network. According to the firm, Xapo Bank members will now be able to instantly pay for small purchases of up to $100 at any vendor accepting Lightning payments. High-volume transactions are initially not supported with …

Before setting a financial goal, it’s important to have a clear understanding of your current financial situation, including income, debt, expenses and assets. Once you have a clear understanding of your current financial situation, you can start setting financial goals that align with your values and priorities. Here are six steps to set and achieve your financial goals. Define your financial goals Set both short- and long-term financial goals as your first step. Your objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART). One’s short-term objectives might be, for instance, saving $500 for an emergency fund or paying off …

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced that it had terminated its partnership with Silvergate Bank as its U.S. dollar banking partner, citing the ongoing investigation. In an announcement tweet, the exchange said: "In light of recent developments & out of an abundance of caution, Coinbase is no longer accepting or initiating payments to or from Silvergate." The crypto exchange will facilitate institutional client cash transactions with their other banking partner Signature Bank. The decision will not impact payment instructions in GBP or euro. This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Hardware cryptocurrency wallet provider Trezor has warned its users about a new phishing attack targeting their crypto investments by trying to steal their private keys. Trezor took to Twitter on Feb. 28 to caution users about an active phishing attack designed to steal investors’ money by making them enter the wallet’s recovery phrase on a fake Trezor website. The phishing campaign involves attackers posing as Trezor and contacting victims via phone calls, texts or emails claiming that there has been a security breach or suspicious activity on their Trezor account. “Trezor Suite has recently endured a security breach, assume all …

Trading platform Robinhood has launched its Web3 wallet on Apple’s App Store, becoming available to iOS users in over 130 countries. Robinhood shared the news in a Mar. 1 post, stating that users would no longer need to sit on a waitlist to access the new multi-chain, self-custody wallet. It added that it will be supported on Android “later this year.” #RobinhoodWallet is now available to everyone with iOS: https://t.co/yUdL8jCgJN pic.twitter.com/q7RIWBJUIT — Johann Kerbrat (@JohannKerbrat) March 1, 2023 Since the beta launch of the Robinhood Wallet in September, the trading platform integrated Ethereum — in addition to already supporting Polygon …

An investor with nearly $2 million worth of funds frozen in bankrupt cryptocurrency lender BlockFi has filed a class action complaint against its founders, two directors and crypto exchange Gemini. In a Feb. 28 complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, investor Trey Greene accused the defendants of numerous wrongdoings, including violating the consumer fraud and exchange acts, breaching its fiduciary duties, as well as offering and selling unregistered securities. “The unregistered securities sold by the BFI [BlockFi] Defendants on behalf of BlockFi were marketed and sold via a steady stream of misrepresentations and …

Polygon, a layer-2 scaling protocol for Ethereum has launched a zero-knowledge decentralized identity solution, Polygon ID to the public nearly a year after announcing its development. The service uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZK proofs) that use cryptographic techniques to allow users to verify their identity online without having their sensitive information passed, or potentially stored with a third party. The public release of Polygon ID by Polygon Labs on Mar. 1 comes almost 12 months after it was officially launched in a closed-source environment in late March 2022, which the Polygon team says was built to “solve the issue of digital …