Stablecoins will play a key role in mainstream adoption of crypto technologies, according to a report published by California-based stablecoin startup Reserve on Wednesday, Feb. 20. The report, entitled “The State of Stablecoins 2019: Hype vs. Reality in the Race for Stable, Global, Digital Money” is based on information collected from 40 crypto and stablecoin firms. The report’s lead author is George Samman, a blockchain and cryptocurrency advisor. According to the document, Samman “was commissioned to research the stablecoin landscape and then independently report his findings for the broader industry to learn from.” The analysis is presented by a number …

Blockchain security firm and crypto wallet service BitGo has revealed plans to offer crypto insurance through Lloyd's of London, according to a press release on Feb. 19. BitGo Business Wallet clients will be able to acquire insurance for their digital assets held on BitGo’s Business Wallet service and Custodial offering. Assets held by either BitGo or BitGo Trust Company can insured for up to $100 million by global insurance and reinsurance market Lloyd’s, the release says. Lloyd’s had nearly $43.8 billion in gross written premiums in 2017, and has insured such eccentric items as Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richard’s hands. …

Billionaire investor and known Bitcoin (BTC) bull Tim Draper argued that in five years, only criminals will use fiat as crypto becomes universally widespread. Draper made his claims in an interview with American financial news tv channel Fox Business released on Feb. 18. Reiterating his previous statements predicting that fiat money will become laughable and obsolete in five years, Draper has elaborated on his forecast, stating that nobody but criminals will keep using cash, since criminals who use crypto can be tracked via blockchain. He said: “The criminals will still want to operate with cash, because they catch everybody who …

Major Canadian crypto exchange Coinsquare has acquired StellarX, a Stellar (XLM)-based zero-fee decentralized payment network, according to a press release published on Feb. 14. According to the announcement, Bermuda-based StellarX will be a fully owned subsidiary of Coinsquare and will seek regulatory approval to operate and expand its service under Coinsquare’s compliance. The new acquisition has followed Coinsquare’s recent purchase of private Stellar wallet BlockEQ in December 2018, the press release notes. The firm is reportedly set to be rebranded to become the anchor wallet for the StellarX platform. Megha Bambra, co-founder of BlockEQ, will now lead StellarX and continue …

Fairfax county of the United States state of Virginia, has invested $21 million in Morgan Creek Blockchain Opportunities Fund, according to an official note published on Feb. 13. Jeff Weiler, Executive Director at Fairfax County Retirement Systems, clarified the terms of recent investments in Morgan Creek Digital that reportedly amounted to $40 million. The statement’s aim was to qualm pensioner concern over the recent investment, as some were worried that their pensions could be lost due to volatility in cryptocurrency markets. In this context, Weiler explained that the county has invested money in the underlying technology of crypto, claiming that …

The CEO of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) expects the firm’s digital asset platform Bakkt to launch later in 2019. The comment was made by ICE CEO Jeff Sprecher during an earnings call Thursday, Feb. 7. The call was dedicated to ICE’s financial results for Q4 and the full year of 2018. Sprecher explained that the company spent over $1 billion on strategic initiatives, including on the launch of the digital asset platform. ICE operates 23 leading global exchanges, along with the New York Stock Exchange. The company’s CFO, Scott Hill, further revealed his expectations on the expenses Bakkt is set …

Bakkt, the much-anticipated digital assets platform operated by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), has closed its first acquisition, a tweet from the company revealed Feb. 8. The move marks the finalization of an acquisition of assets in futures commission merchant Rosenthal Collins Group (RCG). “With today’s closing of our transaction with Rosenthal Collins Group, we welcome great new team members to Bakkt,” the statement reads. By acquiring certain assets in the company, Bakkt said it hopes: “RCG’s remarkable heritage, culture and expertise will help us build out a trusted institutional infrastructure for digital assets.” Bakkt had announced the acquisition of assets …

Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey has again expressed his pro-Bitcoin (BTC) stance, revealing that the sole crypto he holds is BTC, according to a tweet on Feb. 6. The known Bitcoin supporter has revealed his cryptocurrency of choice following a recent interview where Dorsey claimed that he still believes that Bitcoin will be the the native currency of internet. In a thread of the tweet that amassed over 5,000 likes, Dorsey reiterated his previous statements regarding the biggest and oldest cryptocurrency, also calling it a “great brand.” He wrote: “Bitcoin is resilient. Bitcoin is principled. Bitcoin is native to …

Digital wallet Abra has introduced new features enabling global investors to invest in shares and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) using Bitcoin (BTC), according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Feb. 6. The United States-based firm has announced early access registration to the platform, allowing investors in more than 155 countries to invest in 50 new traditional investment assets with zero trading fees through the rest of 2019 using the leading crypto. Those assets reportedly include major stocks such as Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Google, Netflix, commodities such as SPDR Gold Trust, ETFs like Vanguard Growth and the S&P 500, and …

Big Four audit and consulting firm Deloitte has successfully completed a joint pilot for digitizing the supply chain on multiple blockchain networks, according to an official press release published on Feb. 1. Within the new project, Deloitte has collaborated with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed blockchain firm Kerry Logistics and CargoSmart, a Hong Kong-based company specializing in supply chain management. Completed in late 2018, the platform’s Proof-of-Concept (PoC) is reportedly interoperable across different blockchains and cloud networks commonly used in global trading and finance, the press release says. By joining data on multiple distributed ledger technology (DLT) chains, the platform …

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 …

The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has issued a warning against an alleged global scam scheme known as “Bitcoin Revolution,” according to an official document published today, Jan. 25. According to the Maltese regulator, the alleged crypto scam represents a typical get-rich-quick scheme, and operates through the website the-bitcoinrevolution.org and several other unnamed websites. The fraudulent entity also reportedly promotes its scheme by using advertising on unspecified social media platforms that redirects users to pages containing a number of prominent local personalities that claim to make large profits from crypto investments. The warning statement notes users are redirected to those …