The chairman of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) — the European Union-level financial markets supervisor — has said that he supports further regulations on digital assets, political news outlet Roll Call reported on Feb. 27. Delivering his speech at the FinTech Conference 2019 earlier this week in Brussels, Belgium, ESMA Chairman Steven Maijoor reportedly outlined the need to apply regulations to digital assets in order to help investors. He also expressed his support for expanding Europe’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements to include those involved in the exchange of one crypto asset to another, and not just the exchange …

The IOTA Foundation has announced the Smart City Hackathon sponsored by French global automobile manufacturer Groupe Renault, Cointelegraph auf Deutsch reports Feb. 25. At the hackathon, participants will compete by using new technologies to solve inter-city problems submitted by corporate partners. Contestants will use distributed ledger technology (DLT) to develop more efficient transport, energy grids and buildings. The contest is based on IOTA’s Tangle system, wherein participants will develop Internet of Things (IoT), machine-to-machine (M2M), and data driven concepts for the smart city environment. Designed specifically for the IoT industry, IOTA’s Tangle system represents an organizational model that uses Directed …

French President Emmanuel Macron has advocated the use of blockchain to innovate supply chain management in the European agriculture industry. The president made his remarks during the 56th International Agriculture Fair in Paris on Saturday, Togolese agriculture news site Agridigitale reported on Feb. 23. Macron called for unity among European nations to counter competition from global markets in China, Russia and the United States, underscoring the importance of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in this regard. He identified three broad strategies to advance the continent’s agricultural industry and maintain a competitive edge, affirming that “no farmer or consumer wants …

Eurex, a Germany-based derivatives exchange operated by Deutsche Boerse, is reportedly planning to launch futures contracts tied to digital assets, financial technologies-focused news outlet The Block reported on Feb. 21. People familiar with the matter reportedly told the Block that Eurex is planning to launch futures contracts tied to such digital currencies as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple (XRP), having already had meetings with market-making companies to discuss the products. Deutsche Boerse has reportedly been considering the introduction of digital currency futures since December, 2017. A spokesperson for the exchange then said that “we are thinking about futures, with …

German banking and financial services company Commerzbank and technology companies Continental and Siemens have jointly conducted a money market security transaction pilot using blockchain technology. Cointelegraph auf Deutsch reported on the development on Feb. 21. Money market securities are short-terms assets that serve for financing companies and usually have a maturity of one year or less. Usually, the processing of a payment takes two days due to a clearing process. The aforementioned parties “for the first time” conducted a blockchain-based money market security transaction worth 100,000 euro ($113,340) within a pilot project in January, where Continental acted as the issuer …

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) is calling for the transposition of the European Union (EU)’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Directive (AMLD5) into national law — bringing local regulation of cryptocurrencies under its provisions. CySEC’s announcement and consultation paper on the matter were published on Feb. 19. Тhe directive, which came into force on July 9, 2018, sets a new legal framework for European financial regulators to monitor crypto-related businesses and service providers in order to protect against money laundering and terrorism financing. Specifically, the directive extends the scope of regulatory oversight to crypto exchanges and wallet providers, enforcing …

Luxembourg lawmakers have passed bill 7363 into law, facilitating the use of blockchain technology in financial services, according to an official announcement published by the country’s parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, on Feb. 14. The new law aims provide financial market participants with more transparency and legal certainty in regard to the circulation of securities with blockchain technology. The bill is also geared to make the transfer of securities more efficient by reducing the number of intermediaries. According to local news outlet Luxembourg Time, the bill grants transactions done with blockchain technology the same legal status and protection as those …

Finance platform SDK.finance has partnered with Oracle to use the Oracle Blockchain Platform to improve payments processes and remove intermediaries. The partnership was announced in a press release published on Feb. 12. SDK.finance is a European-based fintech startup that offers a payment platform for banks and financial institutions. In 2015, the company was reportedly recognized as the best fintech startup by the Central European Startups Awards, while in 2018 it overcame other major industry players in terms of application programming interface (API) endpoints. By integrating the Oracle platform, SDK.finance reportedly aims to boost payment processes, also making them more cost …

A Greek member of the parliament (MEP) of the European Union, Eva Kaili, declared that central banks have too much control over people’s deposits, according to a post published on Ripple’s blog on Feb. 8. According to the post, Kaili made the comments at the Ripple Regionals event in London last week. The MEP said that she realized that central banks had too much control over people's funds after the debt crisis in Greece. During her talk — which was dedicated to how the EU will regulate blockchain and cryptocurrency — Kaili also stated that she believes blockchain technology will …

Major global crypto exchange Huobi has reported a 100 percent growth in trading volume in 2018 over the 2017, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Feb. 7. The Singapore-headquartered company has reportedly expanded its staff from 400 employees in early 2018 to more than 1,300 people by 2019, with 15 offices in 12 countries and regions, as Huobi CEO Leon Li told Cointelegraph. Huobi’s over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk has reportedly become one of the most traded OTC platforms worldwide, while the recently launched service Huobi Cloud has managed to enter in more than 100 partnerships over six …

The Android version of major web browser Opera now integrates a function that lets its users purchase Ethereum (ETH) through the browser, a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Feb. 6 reveals. According to the press release, the new service is available to users based out of Sweden, Norway and Denmark due to Opera’s new partnership with brokerage firm Safello. Safello, according to Opera, is registered with the Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) in Sweden. Julia Szyndzielorz, senior PR manager at Opera, told Cointelegraph in an email that Opera’s addition of ETH purchasing through its browser allows users to immediately buy …

Europe’s largest digital publisher Axel Springer SE has partnered with blockchain startup SatoshiPay to enable direct payments using blockchain, investment news agency London South East reports on Jan. 31. Blockchain micro payment firm SatoshiPay has reportedly started a collaboration with Axel Springer yesterday, Jan. 31, in order to develop a platform enabling readers to pay for content using SatoshiPay Wallet. According to the article, the new blockchain solution will enable direct payments eliminating third party involvement, and will be integrated into Axel Springer products in order to get experience in user acceptance. The press release was provided by tech-focused investment …