Many believe that Blockchain technology has the potential to transform the art industry. To prove this hypothesis, a blockchain firm in Switzerland is hosting, alongside Cointelegraph, its first online event devoted to blockchain in art. CV Labs, the blockchain incubator arm of Swiss blockchain investment firm CV VC, has organized an online panel to discuss the hottest issues in areas of blockchain use for art. Titled “Blockchain in Art,” the online event will feature major industry players such as Niko Kipouros, CEO of 4ARTechnologies; Christina Steinbrecher, co-founder of Blockchain.art, a digital platform for artists and collectors; Nanne Dekking, CEO of …

Big Four auditor PwC and Swiss blockchain investment firm CV VC, together with Cointelegraph, have released a preview for their new periodical report devoted to blockchain technology in various industries. Published on July 21, the report provides an overview of the upcoming full release featuring the top global blockchain companies focused on implementing blockchain technology in art. The report was co-authored by PwC and CV VC with contribution of PwC Switzerland and Nicolai Reinbold, ecosystem and incubator manager at CV VC. As part of the upcoming full release, CV VC's ecosystem CV Labs will host an online panel to discuss …

Big Four accounting firms like KPMG and Deloitte will become an important part of the decentralized finance — or DeFi — in the coming decade, according to Berlin-based non-profit think tank dGen. In its report titled “Decentralised Finance: Usecases & Risks for Mass Adoption,” dGen focuses on what it calls “the hottest topic in the blockchain industry today.” According to dGen, although DeFi is still in its infancy, it “could leapfrog the current FinTech industry, providing a new structure of financial services” in the years to come. The researchers back this thought up by making a number of bold predictions …

Sam’s Club, a China-based subsidiary of Walmart, has partnered with blockchain-based supply chain management platform VeChain (VET) to trace food products sold by the shopping chain. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) will assist in the Sam’s Club Blockchain Traceability Platform project, which is intended to both ensure food safety and afford greater transparency to consumers in China. Since mid-2019 PwC China and Walmart China have been developing a traceability platform on the VeChain blockchain called the Walmart China Blockchain Traceability Platform. Sam’s Club has 2.5 million customers Sam’s Club is a membership-only high-end shopping chain that operates 26 outlets in China with an …

While the theater world has Waiting for Godot, the crypto sphere has its own drama: Waiting for the Institutional Investor. Recently, there have been some promising sightings. Grayscale Investments has been buying up Bitcoin (BTC) at a great rate in recent months. Indeed, since the May 11–12 rewards halving event, the fund has been accumulating BTC at a rate equivalent to 150% of all the new Bitcoin mined, Cointelegraph reported on Thursday. The firm now has $3.2 billion in assets under management, or AUM, in its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. Significantly, more than 90% of new inflows are from institutional players, …

The “2020 Crypto Hedge Fund Report,” published on May 11 by PwC and Elwood Asset Management Services Ltd., said that cryptocurrency hedge funds’ assets under management doubled in 2019. According to the survey, total assets under management in crypto funds grew from $1 billion in 2018 to more than $2 billion by the end of 2019. The average per fund also doubled, jumping from $21.9 million to $44 million. Correlation with Bitcoin market The study found that crypto fund launches are highly correlated with the price of Bitcoin. When bitcoin price spiked in 2018, more funds were launched. While the …

A Spanish research team of more than 100 people is developing an app that uses AI and blockchain to predict the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic and to help manage lockdown measures. The app, which has the support of the Institute of Biomedical Research of Salamanca and the Artificial Intelligent Research Institute, is currently at proof-of-concept phase. It uses blockchain to store and verify digital identities and licenses for individuals to perform certain tasks, such as returning to work or going to the supermarket during the lockdown period. Each identity is in the form of a certificate recorded on the …

The crypto industry continues to mature, even during these bearish times, according to a recent report from PwC. The Big Four accounting firm’s findings showed that although the number of merger and acquisition deals in the crypto space decreased by 40% in 2019, the funds are now going to established companies instead of seed-stage startups. Additionally, crypto-native actors are beginning to take the stage from institutional investors as the market becomes more consolidated and less United States-centric. So, what exactly does it mean for the industry, and will institutional investors’ interest in crypto ever be roused again? Crypto winter’s impact …

Could this be the year the world gets serious about cryptocurrency taxation? The coronavirus pandemic, after all, could cost the global economy as much as $4.1 trillion — or almost 5% of global gross domestic product — according to the Asian Development Bank. Governments will soon be looking to tap all possible income sources to balance their budgets, including crypto, say tax experts. “At some point, somebody is going to have to pick up the bill” for the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated economic stimulus packages, Peter Brewin, a PwC tax partner in Hong Kong, told Cointelegraph, adding: “We can …

Most of the fundraising in the cryptocurrency space shifted from the Americas to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and the Asia Pacific regions (APAC), according to a recent report by Big Four auditing firm PwC. According to PwC's 2nd Global Crypto M&A and Fundraising Report, during 2019, fundraising efforts in the crypto space obtained 18% less funding, while funds in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the space decreased by 40%. As funding decreased overall, APAC and EMEA's share of the pie got larger. While APAC and EMEA saw 44% of combined fundraising and M&A deal value in 2018, …

The legal leader at Big Four auditor PwC, Gunther Dobrauz, recently praised the people responsible for Cardano’s (ADA) development. A huge part of the future In a Mar. 3 tweet, Dobrauz claimed that he has long been saying that decentralization is the future. Furthermore, he added that the Cardano Foundation and the team surrounding IOHK CEO and founder Charles Hoskinson “are a huge part of this” future. IOHK is the blockchain firm behind Cardano and Ethereum Classic. Dobrauz’s tweet also featured a photo where he stood beside Hoskinson. A tweet sent shortly afterward by Hoskinson reveals that he met Dobrauz …

Smart contract auditing team ChainSecurity partnered with the Swiss branch of Big Four auditing firm PwC to enhance the services the global auditor provides. In an email sent to Cointelegraph, a PwC spokesperson explained that no acquisition took place and multiple ChainSecurity teams joined the firm. Hand in hand According to a press release published by the firm on Jan. 5, PwC hopes that, with ChainSecurity’s team, the firm will become “the world’s leader in smart contract auditing.” PwC Switzerland and Europe head and partner of risk auditing Andreas Eschbach said in an email to Cointelegraph: “As an integral part …