The auctions were organized by Illumino, an NFT-focused firm seeking to bring “tastemakers and artists” together to launch innovative art on-chain. Illumino was put together by the LA-based management agency Keel, crypto VC firm Framework Ventures, and Bruch Projects — the NFT arm of Manna Ventures. The NFTs went live on Valentine’s Day, beginning with one-of-a-kind 3D renditions that were sold to the highest bidder. The one-of-a-kind renditions included “Crowded City” and “A Peak In My Head” — works composed collaboratively by FEWOCiOUS and Two Feet that sold for $150,000 and $158,888 respectively. Two other collaborative works were made available …

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck has partnered with major global fan token makers, Chiliz and Socios, Cointelegraph Japan reports. As part of the new partnership, Coincheck will list Chiliz and Socios’ non-fungible tokens, or NFT, on Coincheck's NFT marketplace, the company announced Monday. As part of the initiative, Chiliz and Socios will be rewarding fan token holders with NFTs. Coincheck originally announced that it was considering launching an NFT platform in August 2020. According to the latest announcement, Coincheck’s platform has already listed several NFTs for five popular games and gained exposure to over 2.2 million users. Coincheck’s executive director Kensuke …

Jeju Island, a major tourist destination in South Korea, is introducing a government-backed, system for tracking COVID-19 contacts based on blockchain technology. On Jan. 14, the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and blockchain technology firm Iconloop announced that the blockchain-based contact tracing system is now fully operational. Called “Jeju Safety Code,” the project was initiated in August 2020 to enable COVID-19 contact tracing for Jeju Island’s 15 million annual visitors. The project has been developed jointly by Iconloop and Jeju Island through a public-private partnership agreement. Since August, the local government and Iconloop have been implementing the system at public institutions …

Major global cryptocurrency exchange Huobi is introducing Russia’s national fiat currency on its trading platform. According to a Jan. 12 announcement, Huobi Global now supports deposits and withdrawals in the Russian ruble. The new feature enables users to purchase and sell major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT), and Litecoin (LTC) for rubles. Other supported coins include EOS, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Bitcoin SV (BSV), DASH, as well as two Huobi-backed tokens like Huobi Token (HT) and Huobi Pool Token (HPT). To add ruble support, Huobi partnered with AdvCash, a fiat and crypto payment processor. The …

Corporate blockchain solutions provider Waves Enterprises has partnered with Chinese decentralized ledger technology (DLT) startup Conflux Network to boost hybrid data transactions in permissioned networks. The collaboration, announced on Thursday, will see Waves Enterprise using its anchoring technology to allow companies to facilitate data transfer across private and public blockchains. Anchoring is a hybrid data storage method that places hashes of private data into public blockchains, thus ensuring its validity without revealing the input information itself. The announcement also noted that such a system allows public chain consensus validation for private company data without sacrificing business confidentiality. Commenting on the …

A subsidiary of global conglomerate LG will participate in the mainnet launch of a Vietnamese hybrid blockchain project, KardiaChain. LG CNS, an IT and consulting subsidiary of LG Corporation, has partnered with KardiaChain to act as a validator for its upcoming mainnet launching in late December. According to a Dec. 17 announcement, LG CNS will be validating KardiaChain mainnet alongside major Vietnamese companies like multinational conglomerate Geleximco, global tech business HPT Vietnam and taxi business Mai Linh Group. As part of the partnership, KardiaChain will also work with LG CNS to combine their blockchain with LG CNS’s own blockchain protocol …

Waves Enterprise, a major technology company specializing in blockchain-based solutions for businesses and governments, has inked a new partner to streamline its e-voting service. According to a Dec. 16 announcement, Waves Enterprise has signed a memorandum of understanding with blockchain platform Ontology to integrate decentralized identification tools into the Waves Enterprise e-voting system. As part of the partnership, Waves Enterprise and Ontology aim to solve one of the biggest challenges of digital voting — user authentication and identification. The companies specifically plan to apply Ontology’s new decentralized identity solution known as ONT ID. Artem Kalikhov, chief product officer at Waves …

Switzerland’s principal stock exchange, SIX Swiss Exchange, and Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings have announced a joint cryptocurrency-related venture. At the Singapore Fintech Festival on Dec. 8, the firms' digital asset-related subsidiaries, SIX Digital Exchange and SBI Digital Asset Holdings, announced that they are launching a new platform in Singapore. The venture will target regulated institutional clients, implementing technologies and market expertise from both SBI and SIX. The platform will include a wide range of services like issuing, listing, trading, CSD infrastructure and custody of digital assets and cryptocurrencies, as well as regulated digital asset securities. The platform is expected …

The Iota Foundation, the nonprofit organization behind Iota, Iota Tangle and Miota, announced it will be joining Austria’s newest Christian Doppler Laboratory, or CDL, as an industrial partner. The first of its kind, the laboratory is housed at the Vienna University of Technology and named the CDL Blockchain Technologies for the Internet of Things, or CDL-BOT. The laboratory was officially opened in a digital ceremony on Nov. 26 by Austrian Federal Minister for Digital and Economic Affairs Margarethe Schramböck. It will focus on research and development in public and private partnerships between institutions and businesses seeking to expand the implementation …

Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training, or MOET, is planning to implement blockchain technology for issuing diplomas in 2021. According to a Nov. 18 announcement, the ministry has partnered with Singapore-based startup TomoChain to put national student certifications on TomoChain’s proprietary blockchain platform. As part of the “National Qualifications Archive” project, the MOET plans to issue all types of diplomas granted by its high school and higher education training units on the blockchain. The new system will reportedly come into effect during the school year ending in 2021. According to the announcement, Vietnam’s new blockchain-based certification system is designed to …

The IOTA Foundation, a non-profit organization behind the IOTA blockchain, is collaborating with Japan’s government on a project targeting industrial infrastructure. The foundation has partnered on a project initiated by major Japanese maintenance companies, Best Materia and IMC, IOTA representatives announced on Oct. 27. The project is funded by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, a national research and development agency operating under Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. According to an announcement, the initiative intends to implement artificial intelligence and distributed ledger technology to risk-based maintenance systems in power, industrial, petrochemicals and oil refining plants. Dominik …

The Facebook-initiated Libra blockchain project continues to grow as its governing body adds a new major industry partner. Blockchain Capital, one of the largest venture capital firms in the blockchain industry, has joined the Libra Association, according to an official announcement Friday. Alongside the other 26 association participants, Blockchain Capital will now be working to create a “more equitable payment system” with Libra. Bart Stephens, co-founder and managing partner at Blockchain Capital, said, “Leveraging blockchain technology to improve financial access and promote innovation has been at the core of Blockchain Capital’s portfolio strategy.” The Libra Association was formed in June …