The European Securities and Markets Authority, the European Union's independent financial authority, has warned about the high risk of cryptocurrency investment. In its latest “Trends, Risks and Vulnerabilities” report published Wednesday, the ESMA analyzed the impact of COVID-19 on financial markets, highlighting the increased risks linked with investment in “non-regulated crypto-assets.” The authority mentioned that crypto assets saw a massive surge in value and trading volumes during the second half of 2020, with Bitcoin reaching all-time highs. The ESMA stated that the surge was driven by “positive newsflows in the crypto sector,” including PayPal’s move to roll out its crypto …

Austria-based cryptocurrency firm Bitpanda has closed a $170 million funding round to further the firm's international growth. The latest Series B funding round was led by Valar Ventures — a venture capital firm backed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel — Bitpanda announced on Tuesday, and featured partners from Yuri Milner’s investment firm DST Global, which is known as a major investor in United States-based crypto-friendly stock trading app Robinhood. While DST is a new investor in Bitpanda, Valar previously led a $52 million Series A round in September 2020. According to Bitpanda, the new funding round has made the firm …

Six months after its first response to the European Commission’s crypto legislative proposal, the International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications, or INATBA, has released a detailed report on key issues regarding the planned regulations. According to the recently published document, INATBA argued that the commission's Markets in Crypto Assets regulations do not favor emerging cryptocurrency and blockchain firms. Instead, the blockchain group backed by Ripple and ConsenSys argued that the EC’s legislative proposal offers a significant advantage to incumbents in the legacy financial ecosystem. Indeed, this criticism is common among crypto and blockchain stakeholders in jurisdictions moving towards a more …

Since March 1, 2020, the number of new Bitcoin ATMs installed worldwide is nearing 10,000. According to the latest data from Coin ATM Radar, the current number of machines stands at 16,835, a strong 57.5% increase, or 9,683 new machines, as compared with 7,152 last year. Back in Nov. 2020, Cointelegraph had reported a striking year-on-year increase of 80%. As previously, the vast majority of machines continue to be located in the United States, where 81% (13,699 out of 16,835 machines globally) are installed. Within the U.S., growth has been unparalleled, rising by 177% since March 1, 2020, or from …

Deutsche Borse’s electronic trading platform, Xetra, is preparing to launch its first Ether (ETH)-based exchange-traded products, or ETPs. According to data from Xetra, the platform is set to debut trading of two Ether ETPs — ETC Group’s Ether exchange-traded commodity, or ETC, product (ZETH) and 21Shares’ Ethereum ETP (AETH) — on Tuesday. A spokesperson for Deutsche Borse told Cointelegraph that the two products will be the first Ether ETPs to ever be listed on Xetra. Alongside AETH, Xetra will be also listing 21Shares’ Bitcoin Cash (BCH) ETP, the firm’s global head of ETP, Laurent Kssis, told Cointelegraph. “As of tomorrow …

Major blockchain sports venture Chiliz is planning a $50 million expansion into the United States, CEO Alexandre Dreyfus announced Tuesday. Dreyfus told Cointelegraph that the firm is setting up an office in New York and will start working with local leagues and sports franchises. New York is the “headquarters for the sports industry in the U.S,” Dreyfus said, stressing that the new office will be critical for Chiliz's global expansion. In a Reuters interview, Dreyfus said that the company is preparing to launch fan tokens with franchises from the five major U.S. sports leagues. Chiliz has generated millions of dollars …

Italian luxury car manufacturer Mazzanti Automobili has launched its security token offering on regulated digital marketplace STOKR. As part of the offering, Mazzanti aims to raise 999,999 euros ($1.2 million) on STOKR to develop a special edition of its hypercar model Evantra Millecavalli R. According to a Thursday announcement, Mazzanti’s STO will allow investors to purchase MZZ tokens, priced at 1 euro each. The token is issued by Mazzanti via Blockstream AMP, a platform for the tokenization of securities built on the Liquid sidechain of Bitcoin, which has been directly integrated with STOKR. As part of the STO, MZZ investors …

The normalization of cryptocurrency advertising took another leap forward this week as Europe’s most successful soccer club announced a partnership with a Turkish Bitcoin (BTC) trading platform. Rangers Football Club, Europe’s most trophy-laden team with 115 competition wins to its name, will partner with Turkish cryptocurrency exchange Bitci Technology. The partnership will run until the end of the 2022–2023 season, and will see the Bitci brand appear on the club’s strip. The club will also launch its own fan token as part of the deal. The official Twitter account for the club announced the news on Feb. 17, stating: “RangersFC …

The executive body of the European Union has appointed a major financial services firm to lead a three-year initiative aimed at boosting the integrity of social media posts using blockchain technology. Dubbed “TruBlo,” the project will oversee a wealth of blockchain development as part of the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet initiative. The French financial services firm, Worldline, has been appointed to lead TruBlo. Worldline was founded in 1970 and generated 2.3 billion euros ($2.8 billion) in revenue in 2019. An estimated 450 proposals will be assessed in the coming years as part of the initiative’s goal of “developing trust …

A little-known blockchain project more than doubled in value overnight following the announcement of its involvement in a European Union digital economy research program. The spot price for the Ethereum-based Streamr (DATA) token increased 116% leading into Feb. 12, after it was revealed the project would be used as part of an EU pilot aimed at creating a new kind of money. Announced on Feb.11, the ATARCA Consortium was awarded €2.75 million ($3.33 million) by the European Commission as part of an initiative to address the “economic inefficiencies” incurred by artificially limiting the supply of digital goods. In a radical …

France’s top financial regulator has proposed to change the way the cryptocurrency industry is supervised in Europe. Robert Ophèle, chairman of Autorité des Marchés Financiers, addressed crypto-realted regulatory issues at the 5th Annual Conference on FinTech and Regulation. The official argued that financial supervisors must take a new approach in regulating blockchain-based financial instruments due to massive growth in the market. Ophèle proposed that the European Securities and Markets Authority, or ESMA, should be the responsible authority for this new area of regulation and supervision. Ophèle emphasized that the current stage of regulation in the European Union would make it …

Uphold, an American digital wallet and trading platform, has acquired European card issuer Optimus Cards UK Limited to launch a cryptocurrency-enabled card on the continent. According to a Feb. 2 announcement, Uphold is planning to roll out its crypto-powered debit card in Europe starting in April 2021. Uphold CEO JP Thieriot said that the launch in Europe follows a successful roll out in the United States: “From April, we plan to start rolling out the world's first, multi-asset, crypto-enabled debit card on the Optimus platform in Europe. The card has already proved a hit with our U.S. customers offering a …