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 …

Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) creators Yuga Labs has announced a new NFT collection on Bitcoin dubbed “TwelveFold.” The move was announced via Twitter on Feb. 28, with Yuga Labs unveiling 300 tokenized computer generated artworks as part of the TwelveFold collection that will go up for auction later this week. Introducing TwelveFold. A limited edition collection of 300 generative pieces, inscribed on satoshis on the Bitcoin blockchain.https://t.co/aFWEIhzqcI pic.twitter.com/PjWABKKBr4 — Yuga Labs (@yugalabs) February 27, 2023 In an accompanying blog post, Yuga Labs explained the concept behind the collection is based on mathematics, time and the Bitcoin blockchain. “TwelveFold is …

Not even 24 hours after the Canadian University Dubai (CUD) announced its partnership with Binance Pay to accept course fees in cryptocurrencies, a technical roadblock watered down the excitement behind the short-lived initiative. CUD, a private university in Dubai, was seemingly interested in allowing students — both domestic and international — to pay their tuition and course fees in cryptocurrencies. This initiative would have allowed students from varied backgrounds easy access to the Canadian curriculum in Dubai. Dear CUD Community, For technical reasons, CUD will not be accepting cryptocurrency as a method of payment, until further notice. We apologize for …

The Amazon Web Services (AWS)-Avalanche “cooperation,” as it was carefully described last week, should almost immediately make it easy for developers to establish nodes on the Avalanche blockchain, including via “one-click node deployment.” Eventually, too, it might make it simpler for everyday businesses — i.e., non-crypto-related enterprises — and even individuals to establish their own subnets like smaller, private, layer-2 blockchains. But perhaps the outstanding message from the Jan. 11 announcement is that the blockchain revolution isn’t just about cryptocurrencies. It’s also about things as prosaic as storing documents more securely and sensibly so they can be quickly retrieved during …

The NFT-focused company was founded by early-stage Facebook and Twitter investor Kevin Rose, and designer Justin Mezzell in February 2022. The company also has the Proof Collective and Oddities NFT collections in its catalog. Announcing the move via Twitter on Jan. 6, Rose suggested that the goal of the deal is to get the Moonbirds brand known on a “global” mainstream scale, as opposed to just being recognized as a big hitter in the Web3 space. “What does UTA bring to the table? They are 1,400 people strong, with divisions in film, television, music, video games, sports, books, branding and …

Fiat-to-crypto on-ramp solution provider Juno has urged its users to sell or self-custody the crypto on its platform citing “uncertainty” with its crypto custodian partner Wyre. In a Jan. 4 tweet, the platform explained it that it doesn't hold any of its customer's crypto, and relies on its “crypto partner” for those services. “Due to uncertainty with our crypto partner, we have taken preemptive action in the interest of our customers,” it wrote, adding it’s also actively reaching out to customers to ask them to self-custody. 2/ Juno as a platform doesn’t custody crypto assets & relies on our crypto …

Huobi and Poloniex announced a strategic partnership on Nov. 30. Reports of a planned merger of the two cryptocurrency exchanges emerged and were denied last week. The two exchanges will “progressively cooperate” on Huobi’s HT coin ecosystem development, connectivity, liquidity sharing and global compliance. Beginning in December, the Huobi Advisory Board will make a monthly evaluation of all Poloniex projects, with top performers potentially directly listed on Huobi, the exchange stated. Talk of a merger began with a tweet from Wu Blockchain. Poloniex is by far the larger of the two exchanges. It is not available to U.S. users. The …

The FTX crash appears to have affected not only companies and investors but also entire cities that previously became partners of the troubled cryptocurrency exchange. South Korea’s second-largest city, Busan, is reportedly reconsidering its plans to build a local crypto exchange as a consequence of the FTX collapse, the local news agency Yonhap reported on Nov. 23. The government and financial authorities of Busan have become increasingly concerned about the concept of a public-private digital exchange amid the FTX contagion. “In view of various conditions, it is unreasonable for the city of Busan to promote the establishment of a digital …

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology firms continue to feature in the world of Formula 1, with a nonfungible token (NFT) making its mark on Red Bull Racing’s vehicles to close out the 2022 calendar. Red Bull Racing dominated the F1 season, topping the constructors’ standings, while Max Verstappen closed out the drivers’ standings for a second consecutive season. With the curtain closing on 2022’s race schedule in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 20, the team’s cars will feature an NFT on their livery in what is being called a first in F1. Red Bull Racing struck a deal with cryptocurrency exchange ByBit …

Cross-chain platform Axelar has announced a partnership with Polygon to deliver secure cross-chain communications to Polygon Supernets. The company said that Axelar’s partnership with Polygon will serve as infrastructure for an interoperable internet of dedicated Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchains powered by Polygon Edge. Speaking with Cointelegraph, CEO and co-founder of Axelar Sergey Gorbunov shared that this partnership is important to the Web3 ecosystem because the industry needs to scale from thousands of developers to millions. According to Gorbunov: “Application-specific chains are critical infrastructure for that step, but they present huge challenges without interoperability. Axelar and Polygon Supernets are enabling …

Following a successful pilot phase, digital asset custody platform Fireblocks has launched its new payment engine for merchants, opening up pathways for businesses to settle and accept cryptocurrency transactions across jurisdictions. Fireblocks’ new Payments Engine is said to provide “turnkey solutions” for businesses that want to integrate digital assets into their operations, the company announced Monday. The platform allows payment service providers to incorporate new crypto payment rails and accept, settle and process digital asset transactions instantly. The platform also supports cross-border internal settlement, micropayments and merchant adoption with lower processing fees. Ran Goldi, Fireblocks' vice president of payments, told …

Mastercard officially announced on Oct. 17 a new program to enable financial institutions to bring crypto trading capabilities and services to their customers. Called “Crypto Source,” the program is designed to allow users to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies, complemented by Mastercard’s proprietary Crypto Secure solution for additional security and compliance. The tool is launched in cooperation with Mastercard’s existing partner Paxos Trust Company and is reportedly expected to launch in Q4 2022. Paxos is known for providing similar services to global payment giant PayPal, which launched its first crypto services in late 2020. Within the new partnership, Paxos will …