Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance has hired banking and fintech veteran Teana Baker-Taylor to lead its expansion in the United Kingdom and European market. Baker-Taylor has over 20 years of experience in HSBC, Citi, and the Royal Bank of Scotland, and was the executive director of U.K.-headquartered blockchain and digital assets industry body Global Digital Finance. In 2018 and 2019, she was recognized as one of the most influential women in fintech globally by Innovate Finance and was also awarded the Blockchain Leader award by Women In Tech in 2019. In an interview with Cointelegraph on May 8, Baker-Taylor said: I …

University College London (UCL) has joined the governing council for enterprise-grade distributed ledger platform Hedera Hashgraph. Paolo Tasca — former cryptocurrency lead economist at Germany’s central bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, and founder of UCL’s ’s Centre for Blockchain Technologies — confirmed that the university is the first academic institution to join the council. In an interview with Cointelegraph on May 6, Tasca said that joining the council was consistent with the university’s experimental and practical approach to research, manifested through a range of industry engagement programs. Hedera Hashgraph’s Governing Council follows a decentralized governance model that aims to bring up to …

The United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced it will pilot a digital sandbox intended to foster innovation from firms developing solutions addressing the COVID-19 pandemic on May 4. While applications have not opened yet the FCA welcomes initial expressions of interest from firms. FCA launches digital sandbox amid coronavirus The FCA noted that it has been exploring the concept of a digital sandbox since before the coronavirus outbreak. However, the virus prompted the regulator’s decision to launch an early pilot to trial aspects of its digital sandbox to expedite the development of solutions to COVID-19. The digital sandbox will …

A new study released by venture capital firm, MMC Ventures, found that UK blockchain companies are turning to traditional capital raising strategies, noting that the Initial Coin Offering, or ICO, model is becoming “increasingly” difficult to utilize. According to the research published on April 30, ICOs represent a “valuable” funding source for open-source projects. However, they allege that cheap access to capital combined with a lack of understanding of the esoteric concepts involved in most crypto projects, generated the perfect conditions for a “bubble.” The research further quotes a study, previously reported by Cointelegraph, on the fact that almost 80% …

Europeans are getting more confident about the future of the cryptocurrency industry amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report. People in Europe are becoming more optimistic about the Blockchain space. In 2020, more Europeans believe that crypto will exist in 10 years than ever before, bitFLyer exchange reported on April 29. Amount of crypto believers in Europe edges up 3% in 2020 According to a new survey by bitFLyer, the number of Europeans who believe that crypto will still exist in 10 years has edged up from 63% in 2019 to 66% in 2020. The survey is part …

The United Kingdom’s Open University has developed a COVID-19 proof-of-immunity app that combines blockchain with a privacy-preserving data solution from web inventor Tim Berners-Lee. The prototype app, undergoing testing as of April 29, would support the proof and verification of tamper-resistant test results for COVID-19 antigen tests and vaccination coverage. The solution could ostensibly be used to provide frontline workers, healthcare professionals and the wider public with reliable immunity certificates that would be stored on a distributed, immutable and trusted blockchain-based registry. Alongside consortium blockchain technology, the app uses solid “pods” — an acronym for the personal online data stores …

As 2020 staggers on, the scourge of the coronavirus is showing no sign of relenting any time soon. Since the reality of the pandemic took hold, it has revealed itself to be a black swan the likes of which have never before been seen. Cryptocurrencies suffer from volatility in the best of times, and markets have spent most of the last two years in the red. But companies, markets and entire economies all over the world are tanking. So, is cryptocurrency’s notorious Achilles' heel affecting its banking and payments sector? SoftBank posts hard landing There’s not a business in the …

British researchers are trialing a new blockchain-based certificate designed to manage COVID-19 risks across supply chains. In a statement on April 21, Professor Nassim Belbaly, director of Birmingham City Business School, noted that “coronavirus represents a crisis of trust because we cannot any longer automatically trust goods or suppliers.” New, secure and automated solutions are therefore being sought to help reassure consumers and suppliers that goods across the value chain do not pose health risks to themselves or to others. To tackle this post-pandemic landscape, a newly-launched “4th Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies Centre” is trialing a blockchain-based Coronavirus Clearance Certificate …

Police from the U.K city of Leicestershire issued a statement regarding the February arrest of darknet vendor, Paul Johnson, on April 18. Johnson was jailed for eight years and is believed to have made more than $2.5 million from selling narcotics online. Leicestershire police officer, sergeant Phil Ariss, stated that “digital media investigators accompanied officers on the warrant,” leading to the seizure of roughly $375,300 in crypto assets. Phil Ariss has specialized in crypto policing since 2016 Ariss has predominantly dealt with cryptocurrency since he joined the East Midlands Special Operations Unit Cybercrime Team in 2016, and then the National …

Cybercriminals are taking full advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced life into a digital realm, by leveraging increased fear and uncertainty to steal money and launder it through the complex cryptocurrency ecosystem. Accordingly, the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement, known as the J5, has ramped up its efforts by arresting cybercriminals suspected of laundering millions of dollars in cryptocurrency, according to a J5 joint statement. The J5 also has been updating its Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism laws for cryptocurrencies in accordance with Financial Action Task Force standards, with Australian researchers having linked half …

London-based company, Travelex, reportedly paid hackers almost $2.3 million in Bitcoin (BTC) after suffering a ransomware attack on January 11. According to sources quoted by The Wall Street Journal on April 9, the UK firm’s networks were infiltrated by cybercriminals with a ransomware injection in the new year eve of 2020. The company is known for its chain of foreign-exchange kiosks located in airports and tourist sites around the world. Travelex confirmed the attack to the press shortly after it happened. They did not, however, disclose that they paid a ransom of around 285 BTC, after having their systems offline …

A Bitcoin (BTC) trading scam has claimed the involvement of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex Prince Harry Charles Albert David and his wife Meghan Markle. According to an April 9 report by the Mirror, the royal couple was featured in a fake BBC article where they praised a Bitcoin trading scheme. The fake news piece claimed that the pair talked during a television show about a “wealth loophole” that can “transform anyone into a millionaire within three to four months.” According to the fake article, the scheme would play a role in the couple's very real intentions to step …