The world’s largest exchange, Binance, has officially announced that its cryptocurrency debit card is now available in Europe. According to a Tuesday blog post, the Binance Visa Card is now available to everyone in European Economic Area, or EEA, countries. To celebrate the launch in Europe, Binance is offering up to 7% cashback from purchases with the card. According to the firm, this is the highest cashback rate available in the market to date. Binance noted that Binance Visa Card converts the user's crypto funds into a local currency automatically, allowing them to spend crypto like Bitcoin (BTC) at 60 …

Blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis has found that darknet markets exert a disproportionate presence in Eastern Europe’s crypto sector. In an excerpt from Chainalysis’ 2020 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report, the firm asserts that Eastern Europe is responsible for “more global darknet market activity than any other region,” with the anonymous free market Hydra comprising the region’s sixth-largest crypto service. Regional shares of global darknet market transfer volume: Chainalysis The report estimates that Hydra generated more than $1.2 billion in crypto revenue between June 2019 and July 2020. The platform is among the world’s largest darknet marketplaces despite solely servicing the Eastern …

The governor of the Bank of France has warned that Europe cannot afford to lose momentum in tackling the challenges posed by private sector global digital assets. His warning came as five EU governments — Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands — all backed the European Commission’s intent to draft regulation for asset-backed crypto assets, notably stablecoins. In their draft joint statement, the five governments reportedly pledged to prevent global stablecoins from operating in the EU before all legal, regulatory and oversight matters have been addressed. The Commission is expected to put forth its proposals for regulating crypto assets …

Revolut, a major European cryptocurrency-friendly trading application is expanding to another major market. The London-based firm has launched its digital banking app in Japan, as Revolut announced in a Sept. 8 tweet. According to a report by The Nikkei, Japan is the first non-English speaking market for Revolut. Headquartered in London, the company reportedly has 13 million users worldwide, operating in European countries, the United States, Australia and Singapore. As reported, Revolut’s initial rollout in Japan will be limited to “international transfers” and “managing money in 23 currencies.” Registered users will also reportedly receive a Revolut-branded Visa debit card. Cointelegraph …

Three to five nations worldwide will entirely replace their fiat currency with a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, by 2030, a European think tank predicts. Dutch fintech-focused non-profit think tank dGen released a report devoted to geopolitical trends of CBDCs on Sept. 9. Titled “CBDCs: Geopolitical Ramifications of a Major Digital Currency,” the 30-page report takes a deep dive on the status of major global fiat currencies like the United States dollar, the euro, and China’s yuan. Compiled with support from institutions like the European Central Bank (ECB), Standard Chartered Bank, and the Frankfurt School, the report makes some …

Recent data published by Chainalysis revealed a surprising first place for Ukraine in the Global Crypto Adoption Index 2020, followed by Russia and Venezuela. The index looks at three on-chain metrics: the total value of on-chain crypto transactions weighted by purchasing power per capita, or PPP, the value of on-chain retail transfers weighted by PPP, and the number of on-chain crypto deposits weighted by the number of internet users. The index also factors in the volume of trades made on peer-to-peer crypto exchanges weighted by both the number of internet users and PPP. The report shows uneven levels of development …

European experts in cryptocurrency tax reporting are joining forces to enter markets in the United States and Canada. Blockpit, an Austria-based crypto compliance expert, has completed a merger with its German competitor CryptoTax, the firm announced on Sept. 8. Both focused on providing crypto tax reporting tools, Blockpit and CryptoTax will now be working together to expand to global jurisdictions like the U.S., Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom in 2021. Currently operating in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Blockpit and CryptoTax are also planning to extend their European presence with the merger, Blockpit’s representatives said. Klaus Himmer, co-founder and managing …

Blockchain for Europe, a major European association advocating for the balanced regulation of the blockchain industry, has welcomed the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Binance, the biggest exchange by daily trading volume globally, has joined Blockchain for Europe, the association announced on Sept. 3. By entering the group, Binance follows major industry companies like XRP-related firm Ripple, EOS developer Block.one, Fetch.ai, and Blockseed Ventures. Alongside welcoming a new member in the association, Blockchain for Europe appointed Binance’s U.K. director Teana Baker-Taylor, as a vice-chair of the board. Founded in late 2018, Blockchain for Europe is a major blockchain association in Europe …

Binance Card, a newly launched cryptocurrency debit card powered by Binance and the Binance-owned crypto commerce company Swipe, could soon enter the United States. This is all thanks to a new partnership which unlocks direct USD deposits for users in the country. Announcing the news to Cointelegraph on Monday, Swipe representatives said that USD checking accounts will be enabled on the platform through a partnership with Evolve Bank & Trust — a banking institution operating in the United States. Swipe users will be able to directly deposit their paychecks into these newly available accounts from Evolve Bank & Trust, and …

According to a study published by Guardicore Labs, a malware botnet known as FritzFrog has been deployed to ten millions of IP addresses. The malware has largely targeted governmental offices, educational institutions, medical centers, banks, and telecommunication companies, installing a Monero (XMR) mining app known as XMRig. Guardicore Labs explains that FritzFrog uses a brute-force attack on millions of addresses to gain access to servers. That’s where an attacker submitting many passwords or passphrases with the hope of eventually guessing correctly. After it gets in it proceeds to run a separate process named “libexec” to execute XMRig. “It has successfully …

Chiliz.net and Socios.com, a major industry tandem specializing in blockchain-based fan tokens, are rolling out their Visa debit card. As officially announced on Aug. 14, the Socios.com Visa debit card allows global fans to “be more than a fan” — earn fan tokens-powered financial rewards and club-related benefits from making purchases through the card. Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO at Chiliz and Socios, told Cointelegraph that the new debit card is now being tested by a limited pool of users. According to the executive, the Socios.com visa debit Card will roll out for mainstream users in early Q3 2020. According to the …

Cryptocurrency firms in Ireland will soon be regulated in line with the latest European legal framework for the prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing. On Aug. 10, the Cabinet of Ireland approved a bill to transpose the criminal justice elements of the European Union’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) into national law, thereby strengthening existing legislation. Approval from the Cabinet gives Ireland’s Minister for Justice and Equality, Helen McEntee, the go-ahead to publish the new bill, entitled The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020. Among other provisions, the bill brings virtual currency providers and online …