The European Commission announced the launch of the European Blockchain Regulatory Sandbox on Feb. 15. The sandbox will provide a space for regulatory dialog for 20 projects per year through 2026. The sandbox was first announced in 2020 and is being facilitated by a number of private firms that won tenders in 2022. Funding will come from the Digital Europe Programme. Projects will be chosen by an independent panel of academic experts on a competitive basis from public and private sector use cases of “Blockchain and other Distributed Ledger Technologies.” Public sector projects on the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has started ramping up its crackdown on the crypto industry and recent enforcement actions had a negative impact on crypto prices last week and at the start of this week. The SEC is focusing on stablecoin issuers. The most recent SEC stablecoin crackdown was on Feb. 13 through the issuance of a Wells Notice to Paxos Trust Company, the issuer of Binance USD (BUSD). While Paxos denies that BUSD is a security, which would place it outside the SEC’s jurisdiction, some lawyers say the answer is not so simple, which creates fear …

According to a new press release on Feb. 15, Thai cryptocurrency exchange Zipmex stated that it sent a new scheme to all firm's eligible creditors through its scheme manager KordaMentha. As told by Zipmex, the creditors have until Feb. 21, 2023 to vote on the scheme and "will receive 100% of their digital assets in the Z Wallet" if the scheme is approved and the cryptocurrency closes its pending investment deal. Last July, Zipmex filed for debt relief in Singapore after its counter-party and crypto lending firm Babel Finance halted withdrawals, citing "unusual liquidity pressures." The exchange was also impacted …

Lawmakers in the Kansas House of Representatives have introduced a bill proposing to amend the legislature’s rules on political campaign donations. According to the bill, no person would be allowed to make or accept crypto contributions of more than $100 for any political candidate in the state’s primary or general election. For donations under $100, the receiver would need to “immediately convert” the crypto to U.S. dollars, not use the crypto for expenditures, and not HODL the funds. The proposed bill included provisions that seemed to be aimed at mitigating foreign contributions to elections in Kansas, by requiring personal information …

The emergence of blockchain technology presents an opportunity to reexamine and innovate solutions used in our day-to-day life. Blockchains and, broadly speaking, the digital space fuelled by an artificial intelligence revolution urgently need to establish verifiable human identities to ensure trust, accountability and regulatory compliance. There are a variety of emerging technologies, both on- and off-chain, that could serve as the basis for a functioning trust framework. One solution, in particular, is often referred to as the holy grail of verifications — zero-knowledge Know Your Customer (zkKYC) verification. What are zk and KYC? ZK stands for zero-knowledge, a cryptography term …

The Bitcoin (BTC) white paper title describes Bitcoin as a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system.” So how is Bitcoin being used as a means of exchange, or electronic cash, in the first country to adopt Bitcoin? Reporter Joe Hall spent a few weeks in El Salvador attempting to live off Bitcoin and Bitcoin only. He documented his trials, tribulations, successes and satoshis (the smallest amount of a Bitcoin) in a video for Cointelegraph’s YouTube channel: Headlines from El Salvador within the crypto community have been largely positive. Moreover, statistics emanating from the country have been abundantly positive; tourism is up 30%, …

Matter Labs, the firm managing Polygon (MATIC), announced that the beta version of its zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) would launch on March 27, 2023. It’s possible that Polygon will enjoy a first-mover advantage in this space by launching a public mainnet before zkSync and Scroll. Zk-based roll-up technology is accepted as the gold standard for scaling. The existing optimistic-based roll-ups like Arbitrum and Optimism have EVM capability but are less secure because they are “fraud-proof.” Malicious transactions on an optimistic roll-up can stay valid for up to seven days or more before being reversed. Thus, giving an advantage to …

According to a Feb. 15 announcement, Conflux Network, also known as Shanghai Tree-Graph Blockchain Research Institute, said that it secured a partnership with China Telecom to develop a blockchain SIM (BSIM) card. As told by Conflux, the BSIM will have a secure place to store digital private keys and will be to call upon the said signature to transfer money to other users. In addition, 'one-click direct check' functionality will allow users to check for transaction information and status progress in real-time. "The R&D phase for the BSIM card is complete - and it's connected to Conflux's main network in …

Bitcoin (BTC) hit its highest in almost a week on Feb. 15 as "extremely positive" economic data boosted risk asset sentiment. BTC price aims for $23,000 Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD gaining 2.2% on the day to eye a reclaim of $23,000. Analysts were already predicting volatility, with the latest economic numbers from the United States delivering a pleasant surprise. Retail sales and the Empire State Manufacturing Index both surpassed market expectations, showing a more resilient economy despite restrictive policy at the Federal Reserve. "Extremely positive numbers. Core Retail Sales and Retail Sales both smash expectations, …

Judge John Dorsey of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has denied a motion appointing an independent examiner for FTX. In a Feb. 15 hearing, Judge Dorsey said he had some discretion under the law to choose whether to appoint an examiner in the FTX bankruptcy case despite some of the the parties meeting the debt threshold with the loss of funds. According to the judge, appointing an examiner would be an “unnecessary burden” on FTX’s debtors and creditors. He also cited CEO John Ray’s experience under similar circumstances. “There’s no question that if an examiner …

Security is one of the biggest concerns among crypto enthusiasts, and with good reason. Cryptocurrencies, being decentralized and digital, are susceptible to various forms of cyberattacks, and digital wallets that store these assets can be easily transferred and stolen without the possibility of recovery. This has led to an increase in scams and malicious schemes aimed at stealing users’ coins and tokens. In this interview, Alex Dulub, a seasoned expert in the blockchain industry and a member of the Forbes Technology Council shares his views on what should be done for the Web3 space to become more secure. He has …

What are the real-world challenges of implementing NFTs at scale across supply chains? Technology is often only a means to an end and is seldom a silver bullet. There are several real-world issues that can hinder progress with rolling out NFTs and blockchains across supply chains globally. The benefits of digital twins for real-world goods can’t be underestimated. However, today’s supply chains globally are extremely intermediated and run on trust. A farmer in Africa sells their produce to an intermediary as they have for years. This develops a certain amount of trust between the two parties. As a result, resistance …