Justin Sun, CEO of decentralized internet startup TRON, has hinted at a forthcoming partnership with an unknown firm valued at “tens of billions of dollars.” The tweet, posted Friday, Oct. 12, gives little information, stating that: “Finally, First time to partner with tens of billions USD valuation industry giant. Guess the name.” Twitter followers were quick to join the guessing game: one proposed Alibaba – Sun is a graduate of Alibaba founder Jack Ma’s Hupan university, as his Twitter profile states, to which another replied: “Alibaba is worth more than 500 billion. Not tens of billions.” Other suggestions included Baidu, …

Luxury automobile retailer Post Oak Motor Cars is reportedly the first Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Bugatti dealership in the U.S. to accept Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) as payment, according to an official press release published September 5. The luxury auto retailer, owned by American businessman Tilman Fertitta, has integrated crypto payment service provider BitPay to let clients purchase cars with crypto. According to the press release, the Texas-based firm will accept purchases in crypto from customers worldwide. Fertitta commented that the company decided to provide the new payment option in order to offer their customers “the very best buying …

Lloyd's Register (LR), a British tech and business maritime classification society, has created a model of a blockchain-powered class register of ships, according to an official press release published September 4. LR’s new class register is reportedly “the first demonstrator that can register ships into Class” by deploying blockchain technology. Originally, LR published the first “Register of Ships” in 1764 in order to provide both underwriters and merchants with information about the condition and quality of vessels they insured and chartered. In order to transform the system that was introduced in the eighteenth century, LR has partnered with London-based blockchain …

Major insurance firm the People's Insurance Company of China (PICC) will apply blockchain technology to its operations via a new partnership, according to a September 1 press release. PICC has partnered with blockchain platform VeChain, and a global quality assurance and risk management company DNV GL to make their business more time and cost efficient. Additionally, the new partnership intends to improve fraud prevention, Know your Customer (KYC) compliance, as well as the claims experience. In the announcement, PICC says that blockchain technology will bring digital transformation to the insurance industry, which will reportedly create an "instant compensation" for companies …

OpenFinance, a security token trading platform, has launched a regulated alternative trading system (ATS) for security tokens, according to information shared with Cointelegraph August 29. In the U.S. and Canada, an ATS is a non-exchange trading venue that that matches buyers and sellers to find counterparties for transactions. They are usually regulated as broker-dealers instead of as exchanges. In an email, Juan Hernandez, CEO at the U.S.-based OpenFinance, confirmed to Cointelegraph that the company has created the trading system, noting that the official press release will appear later on the company’s Medium account. Earlier this month, cryptocurrency exchange Huobi entered …

Coming every Sunday, the Hodler’s Digest will help you to track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions, and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week New York Stock Exchange Operator Announces Digital Assets Platform, BTC Futures Intercontinental Exchange, the operator of 23 global exchanges including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has announced plans to launch an “open and regulated” global digital asset ecosystem, as well as one-day physically delivered Bitcoin contracts pending CFTC review and approval. The …

The Research Institute of Information Technology (RIIT) of Tsinghua University (THU) has partnered with a subsidiary of China’s institutional financial firm to establish a blockchain research center, according to an Aug. 1 press release. The RIIT has signed an agreement with Sheng Ying Xin Management Consulting Co., Ltd., a contractually controlled and managed company of China Internet Nationwide Financial Services (CIFS). The two organizations will jointly research and develop basic blockchain technologies and models for building enterprise-level applications in a number of industries. The blockchain-based applications will reportedly address a range of challenges currently facing Chinese companies. The introduction of …

JD Cloud, a subsidiary of China's largest online retailer JD Group, has partnered with digital currency exchange Huobi to explore blockchain technology applications and cloud computing, according to a press release published June 28. According to the press release, the companies have signed a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly explore some key blockchain application scenarios focusing on financial services, Internet of Things (IoT), and supply chain fields. Additionally, the two companies are looking to conduct a study on the underlying technologies of blockchain, including ring signature, homomorphic encryption, Lightning Network, and various forms of consensus algorithm design and implementation. Gang …

The world’s largest crypto exchange Binance has made an undisclosed investment into blockchain-based esports voting platform chiliZ, according to a press release published today, June 5. According to the announcement, the Malta-based platform in which Binance is investing is part of Mediarex Group, a global sports and entertainment company. Binance and chiliZ will reportedly “join forces” to provide the sports industry with a “fan-driven token ecosystem for traditional sports teams.” According to the press release, chiliZ has already raised $27 mln via an ongoing “private placement”, evidently a closed token sale. The company claims that Binance’s investment will “enable the …

Denmark has signed a declaration to join a total of 24 European Union member states that support pan-EU blockchain standards and solutions, local news outlet Finans Watch reported June 4. The EU blockchain partnership was formed on April 10 as part of the European Commission’s Digital Day with the intention of enhancing cooperation among member states for developing blockchain tech. Brian Mikkelsen, the Danish Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, said after signing the declaration Monday that Denmark will be “the first country in the world [to] use blockchain technology to register ships in the Danish ship registers.” He …

Bitcoin, and the idea of digital cash, has taken hold of the banking sector as banks and financial institutions start to experiment internally with blockchains and cryptocurrencies in order to be at the forefront of these technologies. This, coupled with the fact that government organisations and even global leadership bodies such as the G20 are looking to regulate cryptocurrencies, again give more legitimacy and longevity to the industry. The latest wave of adoption is now coming from corporations who, traditionally have come to be successful thanks to their centralized domination over different aspects of the market. Microsoft, in the world …

Paxos, a Blockchain company formerly known as ItBit, announced its strategic partnership with Euroclear to deploy a Blockchain settlement service for gold markets. London Bullion Market integration Euroclear, the world’s largest Belgium-based asset and securities settlement cooperative founded by J.P Morgan & Co., attended the SIBOS Annual Conference in Geneva, Switzerland with Paxos to announce their joint project and explain the importance of a secure and efficient infrastructure in unsystematic gold markets. The Paxos-Euroclear gold market-focused Blockchain settlement solution will be the first of its kind and most likely the only Blockchain settlement platform to be integrated by a major …