The head of the digital innovation and blockchain unit at the European Commission (EC), Pēteris Zilgalvis, explained the concise benefits of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in an interview to The Banker, a subsidiary of the Financial Times. In the interview, published on April 3, Zilgalvis talked about the benefits and challenges of the technology. According to him, blockchain provides a powerful framework for data sharing, something that can't be done by normal databases: “We think that it presents an excellent technology for situations where different stakeholders need to collaborate but, due to competition or legal reasons, they do not want …

As major central bank digital currency (CBDC) projects develop apace, it is becoming clear that not all digital coins will look, or even function the same way. A recent analysis by Chinese financial media group InterChain Pulse reveals that two of the most visible such projects — those of the Bank of England (BoE) and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) — may be more different than they are alike. InterChain Pulse cited BoE’s discussion paper released earlier this month, where the financial institution seriously weighed the pros and cons of issuing a CBDC denominated in pounds sterling. InterChain compared …

The European Commission (EC) is offering grants to blockchain developers and other specialists for solutions that adapt technologies from civil to defense applications. On March 24, the EC published a European Defense Industrial Development Program tender calling on small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) to propose rapid, cost-effective solutions — focused on new approaches and proposals for technologies or concepts that have previously not been applied to the defense sector. Combinations of blockchain with “digital twins” for logistics purposes As regards blockchain, the EC provides an outline to guide applications to the program, which stand to benefit from its 2019-20 254 million euro …

Janet Jackson’s billionaire ex husband, Wissam Al Mana, has demanded that Facebook reveal who was behind ads on the platform that used his image to promote a crypto scam. The case stems from late February when Al Mana filed a lawsuit against the social media giant about a cryptocurrency scam using his name to promote itself in the Middle East. Al Mana claimed defamation, malicious falsehood and false advertising from the purported cryptocurrency firm ‘Bitcoin Trader’. One man to sue them all Facebook has since deleted the offending ads, but Al Mana is concerned fraudsters can publish similar ads containing …

Decentralized finance, more commonly known as DeFi, is quite complicated. Even the heads of DeFi companies seem unable to define the sector in a few sentences. So, here’s another attempt: DeFi is a financial ecosystem, in which it is possible to build tools, services and smart contracts and then bond them together on a blockchain, just like lego. It might not sound like fun, but it’s probably more useful. Lego might well be Denmark’s most famous export, but DeFi’s number one company, MakerDAO, is giving it a run for its money. Since the company was formed in 2015, it has …

Although some people in life do an extremely convincing job of indicating otherwise, all humans have an identity. This identity comes in many forms, and as modern life has progressed, the ways in which people can identify have multiplied. Technology has now made it easier for people to explore and share their identities. But, at some point in the not-so-distant past, the internet overtook people’s ability to manage their identities online. Companies, notably the big data giants, have become the new gatekeepers. As the world enters a more data-conscious era, innovators in the tech industry believe that blockchain technology could …

Security token offering (STO) platform, Blockpulse, has obtained registration with the ACPR Bank of France. Blockpulse “registered at ACPR Banque de France with its partner, Lemonway, the leading European digital payment solution for investment platforms,” Blockpulse COO Marien Irzykiewicz told Cointelegraph. The company also alleges that the outfit is the first STO platform to achieve registration with the french entity. Confirmation of their registration is available on the ACPR Bank of France registry. STOs are a more regulated approach than ICOs Initial coin offerings, or ICOs, have largely died off as a fundraising method since their 2017 boom — the …

The Netherlands-based Public Health Blockchain Consortium (PHBC) has announced the release of a blockchain-based system designed to track the movement of individuals not infected with high-risk viruses. The impetus behind the development is to help healthy people avoid potentially life-threatening diseases. The PHBC announced the release on March 19, detailing that the blockchain-based platform will monitor systematic, continual and anonymous verification of communities and workplaces, which are not afflicted by dangerous viruses, including the Coronavirus. Recording virus data on blockchain “The blockchain stores a workplace's or community's protection certificate from security organizations or government bodies to assure that all persons …

Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) has halted short selling in an effort to secure local stocks from the recession caused by the coronavirus epidemic. The ban will last one month, starting from March 17, with possible extension for additional periods not exceeding three months, Bloomberg reported on March 17. In an email to Bloomberg, the CNMV explained that it made a commitment to take such action: “Due to the extreme volatility taking hold of European securities markets, including those based in Spain, their performance in the context of the situation arisen as a result of the virus COVID-19 and …

Major European financial institutions are jointly launching a blockchain-based platform for the investment fund industry. The system was initially incubated by the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and its affiliate Fundsquare, which, alongside Clearstream, Credit Suisse Asset Management and Natixis Investment Managers, have announced a Series A investment round for “FundsDLT.” FundsDLT for cost reduction According to a March 17 announcement, the FundsDLT platform is based on Ethereum’s (ETH) blockchain and allows asset managers, distributors, asset servicers, and the supply chain to reduce costs. The cost reduction is achieved by removing redundant activities while providing transparency and allowing digital fund distribution. A …

After similar efforts from the U.S. Federal Reserve on March 10, the European Central Bank, or ECB, announced a $135 billion stimulus — a number that dwarfs Bitcoin’s (BTC) entire market cap. The ECB, in an effort to combat struggling markets, decided not to cut interest rates further. Instead, the central bank announced the allocation of 120 billion Euros, or $135.28 USD, to its asset purchase program, a CNBC report detailed on March 12. The ECB decided not to cut rates, but inject massive capital Amid recent interest rate cuts from U.S. and English central banks, the public anticipated similar …

Initial findings show French international banking group BNP Paribas is blocking customers from sending funds to major crypto exchange platform Coinbase. The block seems to have been initiated this week, although transfers functioned normally during the week of March 2, an anonymous source and BNP Paribas customer told Cointelegraph, referring to his interactions with the bank’s customer service department. But the bank has reportedly not closed off transactions to other crypto exchanges, the source added. The bank still seems to allow transfers to Binance’s European branch, Binance Jersey. BNP Paribas cited several reasons for blocking transfers Cointelegraph’s source shared recordings …