Initial coin offerings (ICOs) completed in the first half of January have raised around $160 million. The figure was provided in a report by ICO rating service ICObench shared with Cointelegraph on Jan. 18. ICOs completed by Jan. 15 have managed to raise about 33 percent of the combined amount raised in the previous month of December. Half of that sum was secured by just one project, the report notes. According to ICObench, the number of fundraisers that are set to take place in January is more than 150, a figure similar to the past seven months, excluding December. In …

Major crypto derivatives trading platform BitMEX says there are major inaccuracies in a recent media report that alleged the exchange was closing United States and Québec residents’ accounts due to a regulatory crackdown. Cointelegraph Japan reported the news on Jan. 16, following comments from a BitMEX representative. In detailed comments to CT Japan, BitMEX claimed there were as many as six major mistakes in the report, which was published on Jan. 15 by Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP). SCMP had reported that BitMEX was moving to bar traders from the Canadian province of Québec after the …

A Canadian banking group supports the idea of using blockchain technology as part of a digital ID system for residents, national news agency The Canadian Press reported via various local media outlets on Jan. 15. Speaking during a presentation at the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto, chief executive of the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) Neil Parmenter said it was necessary for untamperable solutions to form the basis of ID procedures relating to the banking and finance sectors going forward. The comments come as Canada eyes the opportunities afforded by so-called open banking, a reenvisioning of the banking field that …

A new report published on Jan. 8 by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has found that seventy percent of central banks worldwide are conducting research into central bank digital currency (CBDC) issuance. However, concrete plans for implementation and motivations vary considerably across contexts. The BIS is an organization based in Switzerland made up of 60 of the world’s central banks, and has to date devoted a number of major reports to both decentralized cryptocurrencies and CBDCs. The latter are distinct from the former in that they are digital currencies issued by a central bank, whose legal tender status depends …

The number of new crypto ATMs around the world continues to grow despite the recent crypto market collapse, according to data. Crypto teller locator Coin ATM Radar presented the data in a report published Monday, Dec. 10. Coin ATM Radar’s information shows that in November, different ATM manufacturers opened 209 tellers around the world, and 68 of the previously installed ones closed. The net growth of 141 ATMs is approximately the same as in October, when the total amount reached 150. The United States remains the dominant country with 70 new machines installed; at year’s end, there are currently 2,243 …

A Dec. 12 Business Law Blog post from the University of Oxford Faculty of Law notes possible repercussions for lost and stolen crypto claims following a case in a Canadian trial court earlier this year. In the post, SAFE Frankfurt researcher Grygoriy Pustovit notes the case of Copytrack Pte Ltd v Wall. The superior trial court of British Columbia ruled that Ethereum (ETH) tokens, which were mistakenly sent by the plaintiff, Singapore blockchain startup Copytrack, to the defendant, Brian Wall, must be returned to Copytrack. The defendant mistakenly received 530 Ethereum coins from Copytrack instead of 530 Copytrack (CPY) tokens …

Calgary, a city in the Canadian province of Alberta, has launched its own digital currency. The Calgary Dollar will allow holders to pay for services and goods at local shops, major Canadian media outlet Global News reports Friday, Dec. 7. According to HuffPost Canada, the Calgary Dollar was initially launched in 1996, with citizens and businesses offering goods and services in exchange for the local currency alongside the Canadian dollar. This new move in 2018 allows citizens to download an app and store the digital currency on their devices. Calgary is reportedly the first city in Canada to launch its …

Canada-based mobile payments company Glance Technologies Inc. has added support for Bitcoin (BTC) as a payment method, according a press release published Nov. 29. The firm’s release states that the new feature, dubbed “Pay With Bitcoin,” enables users “to pair their cryptocurrency wallet with their Glance Pay account, and then purchase Glance Dollars with Bitcoin.” The in-house currency can then reportedly be spent at merchants, which use Glance’s system to accept payments. As the release claims, using their in-house token as a go-between currency for payments “enabl[es] lightning-fast payments.” Desmond Griffin, the CEO at Glance Technologies, underlined in the release …

Major Canadian-based jewelry manufacturer and retailer Birks Group has begun accepting Bitcoin (BTC) through a partnership with U.S. payment processor BitPay, the company confirmed in a press release Nov. 28. Birks, which has operated since 1879, will initially accept the largest cryptocurrency in eight of its 30 domestic stores in Canada. Seven are already servicing Bitcoin payments, with the facility coming to the company’s latest Graff and Patek Philippe stores in Vancouver “soon.” Commenting on the move, Jean-Christophe Bédos, president and CEO of Birks Group, described the decision as being of “great significance.” “BitPay will benefit our customers as we …

Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) are facing a regulatory “compliance trilemma,” according to a recent study released Nov. 19. The research, funded by regtech platform iComply and “supported by” Canadian non-profit national research organization Mitacs Canada, was carried out by the University of British Columbia (UBC). To prepare the report, UBC’s research team investigated the ICO space over the course of six months, focusing primarily on North America, but also delving into some other countries and jurisdictions. The team conducted 45 qualitative interviews with individuals in the ICO space, including representatives of the finance, law, and science sectors of the field. …

The Canadian House Finance Committee has recommended that the government start regulating cryptocurrencies to prevent money laundering, Canadian digital newspaper iPolitics reports Nov. 14. According to iPolitics, the Canadian House Finance Committee suggested that cryptocurrencies should be regulated during its review of the Proceeds of Crime Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA), which occurs once every five year. The committee held 18 meetings for the PCMLTFA review, which started in February. As a result of the review, the committee put forward three ways for the government to regulate cryptocurrencies. The first recommendation is to control the exchange from fiat …

Central bank digital currencies (CDBCs) can help improve counterparty credit risk for cross-border interbank payments and settlements, according to a new in-depth report jointly published by the central banks of Canada, the U.K. and Singapore, Nov. 15. A CBDC is a digital currency issued by a central bank whose legal tender status depends on government regulation or law. The “wholesale” variant of CBDC (W-CBDC) limits its use to financial institutions and markets, as opposed to a “retail CBDC” for the general public. The jointly compiled report looks into how to tackle the challenges and frictions in existing cross-border payment and …