Deutsche Boerse-backed digital asset firm Crypto Finance AG and Swiss business-to-business transaction bank InCore are launching a new tokenization tool based on the Tezos blockchain. InCore Bank officially announced on Tuesday a new collaboration with Crypto Finance AG and Swiss IT consulting firm Inacta to introduce new digital financial products based on Tezos, a decentralized, open-source, proof-of-stake blockchain network. The involved companies have developed a new Tezos token standard for asset tokenization built on the Tezos FA2 standard, a multi-asset interface for Tezos allowing developers to invent token types like nonfungible tokens. Using the Tezos FA2, Inacta has developed the …

Music-sharing protocol Audius became one of the first streaming platforms to partner with TikTok, allowing users to directly share tracks to the popular app. In a Monday announcement, Audius said it had partnered with TikTok in the creation of a new feature called TikTok Sounds. According to a Rolling Stone interview with Audius co-founder and chief product officer Forrest Browning, the integration will allow users to export songs created with the protocol to TikTok with one click, in an effort to streamline the process. Though Audius claims it seeks to leverage blockchain technology to reward content creators as well as …

Shark Tank host Kevin O’Leary has become an official spokesperson for Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX crypto exchange and will be paid in crypto and receive equity as part of the deal. According to a Tuesday announcement, the partnership with FTX Trading Ltd. and West Realm Shires Services Inc. (owners of FTX.US and FTX.com) will see O’Leary take an equity stake in both firms. The venture capitalist, also known colloquially as “Mr. Wonderful,” signed the multi-year deal to serve as a brand ambassador and spokesperson. He asked to be paid in crypto assets to increase his holdings. Finally solved my compliance problems …

Fenerbahçe S.K., one of the three biggest sports clubs in Turkey, issued its own fan token on the Ethereum blockchain through a new partnership with local crypto exchange Paribu. The initial presale of 500,000 unlocked tokens was completed on Monday, netting the club 15 million Turkish lira ($1.75 million) in 30 seconds. The club announced that the Fenerbahçe Token would have a maximum supply of 190,700,000 tokens in reference to 1907, the year Fenerbahçe was established. According to the project’s white paper, a total of 117 million treasure tokens wil be created on smart contracts over the next 25 years …

Chinese electronics manufacturer Xiaomi has denied the company's involvement in a move by a Portuguese Xiaomi shop to start accepting Bitcoin (BTC) payments. Mi Store Portugal, a Xiaomi retailer in the country, announced Wednesday on Facebook that it now allows customers to purchase devices using five cryptocurrencies, including BTC, Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT), Dash (DASH) and the Utrust (UTK) token. A spokesperson for Xiaomi subsequently reacted to the news on Chinese social media platform Weibo, stressing that the Mi Store Portugal is not directly related to Xiaomi’s operations. “We are concerned about the information that Mi Store Portugal accepts digital …

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volumes, continues actively expanding into the crypto payments industry through a new crypto-to-fiat integration. The company announced Tuesday a partnership with crypto-fiat hybrid payment platform Alchemy Pay to enable peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto payments at over 2 million global merchants through its payments application Binance Pay. The new integration will allow users and merchants to pay and accept payments using 40 supported cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) in 18 countries where Alchemy Pay operates. Binance Pay users will be able to pay across merchants of Alchemy Pay’s partners, including e-commerce …

Major Japanese internet company Yahoo Japan has partnered with messaging giant Line to launch nonfungible token (NFT) trading. Line officially announced on Tuesday that its cryptocurrency-focused subsidiary, LVC Corporation, would collaborate with Yahoo Japan to enable the secondary trading of NFTs issued on Line’s proprietary blockchain. As part of the partnership, Yahoo! Japan would place Line blockchain-based NFTs on its online auction service Yahoo! Auctions, a service set up by the company back in 1998 to compete with the e-commerce giant eBay. To enable NFT trading on the platform, the two partners would integrate Yahoo Auctions with the Line Bitmax …

Visa officially announced on Thursday that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Currencycloud, a fintech platform supporting about 500 banking and technology clients across more than 180 countries. The new acquisition aims to improve Visa’s foreign exchange business and expand them to serve financial institutions, fintechs and partners. The deal will specifically improve Visa’s payment transparency and speed, the company’s global treasurer Colleen Ostrowski said, stating: “The acquisition of Currencycloud is another example of Visa executing on our network of networks strategy to facilitate global money movement. Consumers and businesses increasingly expect transparency, speed and simplicity when making …

OK Group, a blockchain technology firm formerly behind cryptocurrency exchange OKEx, will start working with Chinese authorities to combat money laundering, using blockchain technology. The company’s settlement-focused subsidiary, OKLink, has reached a partnership with Nanjing Public Security Research Institute to collaborate on applying blockchain tech for Anti-Money Laundering purposes. The institute announced that the partnership will include in-depth cooperation with OKLink to promote the integration of blockchain technology for improving public security and social governance. As part of the agreement, the parties will set up a research laboratory for exploring compliance strategies and systems implementing on-chain data analysis to combat …

Ultimate Fighting Championship, a major global mixed martial arts organization, continues its deep dive into the cryptocurrency industry by announcing a sponsorship deal with a cryptocurrency exchange. UFC announced Wednesday that it agreed to a fight-kit partnership with Crypto.com, one of the world’s largest crypto trading platforms by trading volumes, CNBC reported. According to CNBC, the sponsorship is worth $175 million and will last over 10 years. As part of the agreement, Crypto.com’s brand will appear on fight kit items worn by athletes during competition as well as clothing worn by the training staff. Additionally, Crypto.com has acquired the rights …

European digital asset manager CoinShares announced it is acquiring the exchange-traded fund (ETF) index business from crypto firm Elwood Technologies for $17 million. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second week of July, according to the announcement. Elwood, which is owned by billionaire hedge fund manager Alan Howard, is known for its partnership with Invesco to launch the Invesco Elwood Global Blockchain Equity UCITS ETF, or the Invesco Blockchain ETF in short. By providing exposure to internationally listed companies in the blockchain business, the index has amassed over $1 billion in assets since its inception in 2019. …

Decentralized finance (DeFi) has emerged as one of the most promising real-world applications of blockchain technology, capable of reshaping the face of the global financial markets and transforming the way the average person manages their money. One DeFi focused project that has been gaining attention over the past week as the mainstream world slowly opens itself to the possibilities of DeFi is Enzyme Finance (MLN), a protocol focused on on-chain asset management that allows users to “build and scale vaults based on the investment strategies of their choice,” according to the projects website. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView …