Curv, a digital asset startup headquartered in the United States, has raised $6.5 million to launch a cloud-based digital asset wallet for financial institutions that does not use private keys, a company press release published on Feb. 26 reveals. According to the statement, the seed round was led by digital asset investment company Digital Currency Group and Israeli cybersecurity company Team8. The round also included participation from Monex Group, Flybridge Capital, Jump Capital and Liberty City Ventures. The funds will reportedly be used to create an institutional digital wallet that allows institutions and enterprises to securely use digital assets and …

Israel-based crypto brokerage Coinmama — which allows users to purchase Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) using a credit card — has suffered a major data breach affecting 450,000 of its users. The incident was disclosed in an official company announcement on Feb. 15. The breach is reportedly part of a mammoth, multi-platform hack that affected 24 companies and a total of 747 million records — among them gaming, travel booking and streaming sites. Coinmama says a list of around “450,000 email addresses and hashed passwords” of users who registered on its platform before Aug. 5, 2017 have been posted on …

Major global online payments firm Netpay International has partnered with Israeli firm BNC LedgerTech to integrate blockchain into its services, Finance Magnates reported on Feb. 12. Netpay International will reportedly become the fourth fintech firm to use BNC LedgerTech’s digital, blockchain-based banking solution “Ubanker.” By using the blockchain-based tool, Netpay International will reportedly cut operation costs. According to the report, BNC LedgerTech charges a fixed minimum fee, whereas banks generally charge a percentage of the total transferred amount. According to Finance Magnates, Ubanker complies with European Union central bank regulations, while BNC LedgerTech holds an electronic money institution license in …

This article has been updated to reflect Moshe Hogeg’s relation to Stox. Moshe Hogeg, an Israeli entrepreneur, has denied misappropriating investors’ funds in a response to the lawsuit filed against him. Online newspaper The Times of Israel reported the development on Saturday, Feb. 9. Hogeg is the co-founder, managing partner and chairman of Singulariteam, which led an $8 million Series A funding round for blockchain firm Stox (STX) in 2015. As Cointelegraph wrote earlier in January, Chinese investor Zhewen Hu has sued Stox and Hogeg for $4.6 million. Hu claims to have invested a total of around $3.8 million worth …

An Israeli blockchain intelligence firm claims to have identified proof of donations in Bitcoin (BTC) reaching Hamas, the de facto ruling authority of the Gaza Strip in Palestine. The development was reported by Israeli financial daily newspaper Globes Feb. 3. Globes reports that a BTC wallet address for receiving the funds was first published Jan. 31 to the organization’s Telegram channel. The address has subsequently been identified by blockchain intelligence firm Whitestream as one hosted by U.S. crypto wallet service provider and exchange Coinbase. A second, non-Coinbase address was reportedly published Feb. 2. As previously reported, a spokesman for the …

The militant arm of Hamas — the de facto ruling authority of the Gaza Strip in Palestine — has appealed to its supporters to send it funds using Bitcoin (BTC). The appeal was made via the official Telegram channel of Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas’ Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, on Jan. 29. Hamas — which comprises social service arm “Dawah” and militant faction “Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades,” is deemed to be a terrorist organization, in whole or in part, by several countries and international organizations — including the United States and the European Union. Russia, Turkey and China are …

A Chinese investor has sued a prominent Israeli crypto entrepreneur and his blockchain firm Stox (STX) over alleged fraud, English-language newspaper The Times of Israel reports Jan. 25. The investor, Zhewen Hu, is suing Stox and its founder for $4.6 million, according to the report. Hu allegedly invested a total of around $3.8 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) in the blockchain firm — an open source, Ethereum-based prediction market platform dubbed Stox, founded by Moshe Hogeg. Hogeg is well-known for his multiple cryptocurrency-related ventures — which include founding blockchain smartphone developer Sirin Labs, and serving as chairman of LeadCoin, a …

Israel’s largest cargo shipping company Zim has opened its blockchain platform for electronic bills of lading (eB/Ls) to all clients in selected trades. Global shipping news outlet TradeWinds reported the news today, Jan. 14. Following a successful pilot of its blockchain-powered eB/Ls platform that lasted for over a year, the shipping firm has claimed that blockchain can not only replace the currently existing paper-based processes, but also improve the workflow conducted via email, fax, and other channels. According to TradeWinds’ report, two recent transactions on the platform were successfully conducted in less than two hours each — as opposed to …

Israel’s economics “tsar” Avi Simhon has denounced Bitcoin (BTC) as intrinsically inefficient, predicting that the cryptocurrency will therefore disappear. A Cointelegraph correspondent reported that Simhon — the head of the National Economic Council and senior economic policy advisor to the country’s prime minister — made his remarks at Israel Bitcoin Summit at Tel Aviv University on Jan. 8. Simhon argued that to issue Bitcoin at a national or global scale would cost “trillions of dollars of actual cost in energy,” as opposed to the existing state of affairs in which printing fiat money costs very little. This, he stated, is …

Cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain and major crypto exchange Huobi have reportedly confirmed plans to lay off staff amid the 2018 price rout of the crypto markets. Hong Kong English-language newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on the layoffs on Dec. 26. Beijing-based Bitmain Technology, which has dominated the mining hardware manufacturing horizon this year, is quoted by SCMP as saying in a statement that it is undergoing “some adjustment to our staff this year” — a statement reportedly prompted by Chinese social media coverage of looming layoffs at the firm. Bitmain reportedly stated: “A part of [building a sustainable …

A team that includes representatives from the Bank of Israel has issued a formal request for information about Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), published on its website Dec. 18. The request — the goal of which is, as per the title, the “Regulatory Coordination of Virtual Assets”— states that “the regulators of the Israeli financial system believe that there is room to renew and strengthen cooperation and coordination among all regulators and the public” regarding DLT. Besides the country’s central bank, the team reportedly includes representatives from the country’s Securities Authority, the Ministries of Finance and Justice, the Tax Authority, the …

Israel-based financial services firm GMT has joined Ripple's bank and payment provider network, the company confirmed in a recent press release. The result of a “long and precise process,” the move reportedly will help the company remain “at the forefront” of the local finance industry. Ripple, which operates blockchain-based financial products using its XRP token, has partnered with multiple financial institutions and banks to expand its international reach in recent years. “After a long and precise process GMT was chosen to be Ripple’s representative in Israel, by so joining Ripple, and its partners, in creating a global financial system, with …