Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance is adding support for credit card crypto purchases through its partnership with payment processor Simplex, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph Jan. 31. Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s CEO, said that the firm “want[s] to provide Binance traders with fast and easy access to crypto, in the most secure way possible.” Zhao added that the exchanges clients can purchase digital assets with credit cards and “start trading in minutes.” Zhao continued explaining that “the crypto industry is still in its early stages and most of the world’s money is still in fiat,” which, according to him, …

Disclaimer: This report previously incorrectly stated that ICE and Blockstream had just launched the Cryptocurrency Data Feed product. Corrections have been made to the article to accurately reflect the development. The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and major global blockchain firm Blockstream have upgraded their Cryptocurrency Data Feed product, as ICE Data Services tweeted on Jan. 24. Founded in 2000 in the United States, the Intercontinental Exchange is a global company that owns exchanges for financial commodity markets and operates 23 global exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). According to the announcement, ICE’s crypto data service enables real-time and historical …

A new crypto purchasing portal is enabling users to purchase more than 20 cryptocurrencies and altcoins using fiat directly. Netcoins, the Canadian company behind the app, says the recently launched service is operational 24/7 online — helping to deliver real-time transactions without delays. The Netcoins team says its offering stands out from competitors because it simplifies transactions for crypto enthusiasts, and eliminates the need to change fiat currencies into Bitcoin or Ethereum before going on to purchase altcoins. The new Netcoins platform also offers an automated Know Your Customer (KYC) product, giving users the opportunity to complete the registration quickly …

The American state of Pennsylvania has clarified that cryptocurrency exchanges do not fall subject to the Money Transmitter Act (MTA), according to a Department of Banking and Securities (DoBS) document published today, Jan. 23. The document clarifies crypto exchanges thus do not require a license to offer their services to Pennsylvania residents. The MTA — otherwise referred to as the Money Transmission Business Licensing Law — provides that “[n]o person shall engage in the business of transmitting money by means of a transmittal instrument for a fee or other consideration with or on behalf of an individual without first having …

High-volume Coinbase Pro and Prime users in Europe and Asia can now fund their accounts via international SWIFT wire transfer from non-United States bank accounts, a post on the official Coinbase blog announces Jan. 22. The post also notes that “select Coinbase Prime customers globally will also have access to our US and European over-the-counter (OTC) trading desks and Coinbase Custody.” Coinbase Custody — which focuses on serving institutional customers and storing large amounts of cryptocurrencies — recently obtained approval to operate in the state of New York, after launching in July. According to the announcement, the OTC trading desk …

Chilean taxpayers must report their cryptocurrency profits to the Chilean Internal Revenue Service (SII), Spanish crypto media Diario Bitcoin reports on Jan. 17. The SII reportedly decreed in 2018 that digital currencies weren’t subject to Value Added Tax (VAT), but should still be considered when calculating annual income tax, as they fall into the definition of intangible assets. Because of this consideration, the dedicated income tax form 22 will reportedly include — for the first time — a special section dedicated to “other own and/or third-party income from companies that declare their effective income and do not declare it to …

A bill meant to clarify the classification of cryptocurrencies has been introduced in the U.S. state of Wyoming Jan. 18, according to the official state legislature website. The bill places crypto assets into three categories: digital consumer assets, digital securities and virtual currencies. The bill defines assets falling in any of those three categories as intangible personal property and grants virtual currencies the same treatment as fiat money. The proposed bill also authorizes banks to “provide custodial services for digital assets consistent with this section upon providing sixty (60) days written notice to the commissioner.” The drafted legislation also lets …

Cryptocurrency finance company Circle has released the third audit attestation of the reserves of its fiat-backed stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC), according to an official statement Jan. 16. The third-party audit of Circle’s United States dollar reserves was issued by independent accounting firm, Grant Thornton LLP. According to the report, as of Dec. 31, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. UTC, 251,211,148 USDC tokens were issued and outstanding, while the firm holds $251,211,209 in custody accounts, a $61 surplus in USD reserves. Circle’s statement concludes: “As of the Report Date and Time, the issued and outstanding USDC tokens do not exceed the balance …

French grassroots political movement the Gilets Jaunes — Yellow Vests — is planning a bank run similar to Bitcoin’s (BTC) Proof of Keys, sources revealed on social media Jan. 7. Dubbed the “Collectors’ Referendum,” the latest demonstration by the movement calls on supporters to withdraw all their savings and other deposited cash from financial institutions on Saturday. Speaking in a video uploaded to Facebook, an activist known only as Tahz San said the gesture aimed to “scare this (French) state completely legally and without any violence, yet more effectively than ever expected” throughout the history of the Gilet Jaunes movement. …

Nasdaq-powered DX Exchange announced the platform’s launch and available trading pairs in a series of tweets Jan. 6. The digital trading platform uses Nasdaq’s Financial Information Exchange (FIX) protocol. As Cointelegraph previously reported, users of the exchange will be able to trade tokenize stocks in various major global companies. Another tweet on Jan. 6 announced that tokenized stocks of Amazon, Baidu, Apple, Facebook, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia and Tesla will be available to trade on the platform. The exchange also announced support for various crypto to crypto and crypto to fiat pairs. Namely, the company revealed that Ripple (XRP) …

Bitcoin (BTC) has a substantial liberating potential, American mainstream newspaper Time reports on Dec. 28. The aforementioned article claims that “speculation, fraud, and greed in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry have overshadowed the real, liberating potential of Satoshi Nakamoto’s invention.” According to the article’s author, Bitcoin “can be a valuable financial tool as a censorship-resistant medium of exchange.” Alejandro Machado, a cryptocurrency researcher at the Open Money Initiative, reportedly said that the fee on a wire transfer from the United States to Venezuela can be as high as 56 percent. To circumvent such conditions, Venezuelans have reportedly turned to cryptocurrency, …

Goldman Sachs-backed Circle has published a third-party audit of its USD-pegged stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) for the second time, according to a company blog post Dec. 18. USD Coin — an ECR20 token first announced this May and released in September — is one of a swathe of new stablecoins notionally collateralized 1:1 by a major fiat currency. The audit has been completed by major Chicago-based accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP, and is Circle’s second consecutive attestation report on the state of its USD reserves since the stablecoin’s launch. The first audit was published Nov. 20 and provided information through …