Mining firm Argo Blockchain PLC has reportedly become the first crypto company to join the London Stock Exchange (LSE), raising around $32 million for a total valuation of about $61 million, The Telegraph reports August 3. London-based Argo offers customers to the ability to mine four cryptocurrencies — Bitcoin Gold (BTG), Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), and Zcash — through their own computers or mobile devices for a monthly subscription fee. The service provides immediate access to the firm’s mining rigs and enables direct deposits of all mined coins to the users’ digital wallets. According to an initial admission document …

Two Nevada citizens agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), which accused them of profiting from the illegal sale of stocks of UBI Blockchain Internet Ltd., Bloomberg reported July 2. On Monday, the SEC filed a lawsuit in a New York federal court, accusing Nevada attorney T.J. Jesky and his firm’s manager Mark F. DeStefano of earning around $1.4 million by illegally selling shares in UBI Blockchain Internet Ltd. from December 2017 to January 2018. UBI Blockchain Internet Ltd., formerly known as JA Energy, is a Hong Kong based company engaged in the …

IT providers for stock markets and exchanges have been slow to adopt blockchain technology, Nasdaq told The Wall Street Journal June 26. According to a study commissioned by Nasdaq and carried out by financial and technology research firm Celent, the majority of stock-infrastructure suppliers globally are still in the very early stages of exploring benefits of distributed ledger technology (DLT). The report says that only five percent of firms polled have implemented blockchain in some form, compared with 40 percent already using cloud computing, 70 percent deploying robotic process automation, and 35 percent providing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. Despite 70 …

Eight major European financial entities have announced they will work together on a blockchain tech project for recording the issuance of financial warrants, Spanish news outlet el Economista reports today, June 25. Spanish securities regulator the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), along with major stock market operator BME, and banks Santander, BBVA, BNP Paribas, CaixaBank, Commerzbank and Société Générale have “successfully” completed a Proof-of-Concept, which they call Fast Track Listing. The system was created to register the issuance of warrants in under 48 hours, a process that usually takes more than a week, according to their statement also released today. …

Stock exchange operator Nasdaq has successfully tested a blockchain-based Proof-of-Concept (PoC) that provides an efficient 24/7 securities collateral solution, according to a press release published Tuesday, June 19. The new blockchain platform has been jointly developed by Nasdaq, ABN AMRO Clearing, EuroCCP and Euroclear, and aims to address the challenges facing Central Counterparties (CCPs) when it comes to making margin calls after stock exchange trading hours are over. Margin calls are made when an investor who holds a margin account with a brokerage firm is required to deposit additional funds in order to satisfy a ‘maintenance margin’ - a minimum …

Shares of Future Fintech Group Inc., formerly SkyPeople Fruit Juice Inc., jumped and subsequently fell following announcements of a “strategic transformation plan” involving blockchain, Bloomberg reports June 1. Future Fintech’s shares jumped 27 percent following the announcement Friday, but the rally did not last long. In the course of half an hour the stock had lost most its gains. When markets closed on Friday, shares were trading up 1.4 percent at $2.18. Future FinTech Group Inc stock chart 6/1/18 Image: Nasdaq According to Bloomberg, market enthusiasm may have cooled when investors found out that the firm made a similar announcement …

The rapid increase in the price of cryptocurrencies in 2017 has led to most people fearing the formation of a bubble and its impending explosion. What people need to fear are the bubbles in equity markets and real estate, not cryptocurrencies. Easy money The genesis of All Time Highs in multiple asset classes can be traced to the 2008 financial crisis. Post the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the ensuing financial mayhem, central banks around the world resorted to quantitative easing - a euphemism for the unrestricted printing of fiat. It was rationalized saying that the wheels of the financial …

Cointelegraph reached out to Coinsilium to get some more details on its milestone IPO, set to become one of just a handful of Bitcoin companies in the world — and the first in Britain — to list its shares on London's junior stock market AIM. Why AIM? London-based Coinsilium plans to raise £3 million (US$4.6 million) with its listing on AIM (formerly the Alternative Investment Market), the stock market for small companies run by the London Stock Exchange. Coinsilium's CEO Eddy Travia has been managing VC and private equity funds for over a decade, and the reason this particular exchange …

On June 5, retail giant Overstock became the first company to offer a corporate bond, valued at US$25 million, as crypto securities to qualified institutional investors. The offering is part of the company’s bitcoin blockchain-based initiative called Medici. Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne stated in a press release: "The crypto revolution has arrived on Wall Street. We're making it official by offering the world's first crypto security.” The crypto securities, or stocks, will be powered and issued by Overstock’s TØ.com platform, which Overstock said “refers to the fact that trades on the system securely settle same day, as opposed to three …

Overstock takes steps toward issuing blockchain-secured stocks by purchasing a 25% stake in trading firm Pro Securities. Following their March application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue US$500 million worth of blockchain-secured crypto stocks, Overstock has started securing the plan for the opening of their Medici stock market. By acquiring a stake in a trading firm, which is rumored to be valued at US$250,000, Overstock has lined up the “alternative trading system” needed to actually allow interested investors to purchase crypto stocks. Pro Securities is already registered with the SEC in this capacity, reducing the amount …

Keynoting at the Inside Bitcoins Conference in Las Vegas, Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne wowed the crowd by announcing a stock market based on the Bitcoin block chain protocol. Byrne stated: “Overstock went public in 2002. And it became very clear to me, very quickly, that there was a tremendous amount of criminality on Wall Street. And I was asked to take part. Then in 2007, a very well known hedge fund manager sat me down on Wall Street and said, ‘You need to understand, Patrick, you’re the most hated man I’ve ever known in my entire life. I hope they …