A couple of months ago, the crypto community was surprised by the news that users of the Decentraland virtual world platform have spent $1 million on digital land. And the largest deal for the Decentraland project was a sale worth $215,000 to an unknown user. Each plot in Decentraland represents a patch of land in a 3D virtual world, in which participants can do almost anything they want. The virtual world is not endless, and each token within the project is assigned 10 square meters. Blockchain projects that allow users to own virtual property and items, including land, have been …

While cryptocurrency markets are experiencing another crash this Monday, major digital asset platform Bakkt has some good news. Referred to as one of the most promising crypto-related initiatives for its physically settled Bitcoin (BTC) futures, Bakkt has now raised an additional $300 million to continue developing digital asset-focused services, the firm’s new CEO Mike Blandina announced on March 16. Closed the funding round on March 13, Bakkt has now totally raised $482.5 million According to the announcement, the Series B financing round featured Bakkt’s parent company, the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Microsoft’s venture capital arm M12, fintech firm PayU, Boston Consulting …

The World Health Organization, or WHO, just officially classified coronavirus as a pandemic. At present, it is unclear whether Blockchain markets will be negatively impacted by this news, or provide safety from the storm. Officially known as COVID-19, the WHO said coronavirus has spread enough globally to warrant classification as a pandemic, CNBC reported on March 11. “In the past two weeks the number of cases outside China has increased thirteenfold and the number of affected countries has tripled,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director general, said at a press event, CNBC noted. “In the days and weeks ahead, …

During the mainstream market’s current decline, investment advisors are giving out a myriad of advice, with some even mentioning Bitcoin (BTC). Morgan Creek Digital co-founder and partner, Anthony Pompliano, or “Pomp,” tweeted an inquiry to his followers, asking what their financial advisors have told them recently, given the current falling market. Some Advisors say buy during market decline Amid coronavirus concerns and oil trade events, traditional markets have taken a hit over the last few weeks. According to an age-old adage from investing legend Baron Rothschild, investors should look to buy during down markets. “Buy when there’s blood on the …

New York-based white label exchange provider AlphaPoint has raised a further $5.6 million from investors to help scale its exchange technology. AlphaPoint’s tech is currently used as the backend for 150 exchanges across 35 countries, servicing more than a million end users. The funding will be used for platform development and to roll out more sophisticated exchange features like margin trading, integrated advanced brokerage capabilities, and better liquidity solutions. Co-founder and CEO of AlphaPoint Igor Telyatnikov said these features are just the tip of the iceberg: “Stay tuned in 2020 as we will soon announce the release of a series …

As the cryptocurrency lending industry continues to grow, another major crypto company is getting into the business. BitGo, a crypto firm that claims to handle over 20% of all Bitcoin (BTC) transactions, is launching an institutional-level crypto lending service on March 5. The debut of BitGo’s lending feature comes after a several-month-long private beta test. A service similar to traditional lending business Nick Carmi, the head of financial services at BitGo, emphasized that the new crypto lending product was developed with the goal of creating a lending business that is similar to lending services in the traditional financial markets. The …

Customers can now integrate smart contracts on Amazon Web Services’ Quantum Ledger Database, or QLDB, thanks to tech company Blockchain Technology Partners. Blockchain Technology Partners, or BTP, unveiled general availability for its DAML incorporation, accessible through its Sextant for DAML platform, allowing those working with Amazon’s QLDB to harness smart contracts on the platform, according to a Feb. 25 statement provided to Cointelegraph. Amazon’s QLDB is not the first to incorporate Sextant for DAML Prior to its Amazon QLDB launch, BTP’s Sextant for DAML boasted compatibility on Hyperledger Sawtooth, and AWS’ relational database service, Amazon Aurora. Amazon QLDB caters to …

Despite ongoing bullish movement in crypto markets, Circle continues to sell off wings of its business. Circle, a Goldman Sachs-backed crypto startup that launched USD-pegged stablecoin USDC, has agreed to sell its digital asset investment app Circle Invest to Voyager Digital Canada, the operator of digital asset broker Voyager. Circle Invest customers to be moved to the Voyager Platform by the end of March 2020 As part of the acquisition, Voyager will be integrating features of Circle's new stablecoin platform service into the Voyager Platform, the company announced on Feb. 12. Voyager will also expand its client base to over …

Bitcoin (BTC) would benefit from global central banks issuing their own cryptocurrencies, the founder at the world's largest digital asset manager believes. Barry Silbert, founder and CEO of digital currency asset manager Grayscale Investments and blockchain venture capital firm Digital Currency Group (DCG), has again expressed his bullish stance on Bitcoin in the latest Grayscale investor call on Feb. 12. During the call titled “The State of Digital Currencies,” Silbert spoke of a number of important digital asset-related issues including Bitcoin’s role in generational shift in wealth, stablecoins, decentralized finance and central bank digital currencies (CBDC). What are central bank …

Major digital asset financial services firm BitGo is expanding its global reach by setting up two new regulated custodial entities in Europe. BitGo, a United States-based firm that claims to process over 20% of all Bitcoin (BTC) transactions, has established new custodial subsidiaries in Switzerland and Germany, the company announced Feb. 10. As the two new entities are regulated by different financial authorities, BitGo intends to allow its clients to choose the jurisdiction that is best suited to their business. As such, BitGo GmbH, the Swiss entity of BitGo, is a member of the country’s major self-regulatory organization, the Financial …

Venture arms for Salesforce and Samsung participated in a second Series C funding event for a startup called Digital Asset. After gathering $35 million in its first Series C raise that ended in December 2019, Digital Asset decided to run another round, a Feb. 4 press release read. This second Series C funding attracted investment from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation and Salesforce Ventures, among others. “Salesforce Ventures and Samsung joining our Series C financing round demonstrates the potential that technology giants see in DAML as the standard for smart contracts,” Digital Asset Co-Founder and CEO Yuvol Rooz said in the …

The Chamber of Digital Commerce has filed an amicus brief in the ongoing court case between encrypted messenger service Telegram and the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). Filed on Jan. 21, the document was authored by Lilya Tessler, a partner and the New York head of Sidley Austin LLP, counsel to the Chamber. In the amicus brief — a legal document that allows a non-litigant to submit its expertise or opinion in a case — the Chamber makes a number of arguments regarding how the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York should consider digital assets. …