United Kingdom-based cryptocurrency data and wallet provider Blockchain.com has come under the spotlight after a string of exits by company employees. Citing sources familiar with the matter, an article published by The Information on Oct. 2 claims that Blockchain’s longest-serving senior executives — COO Liana Douillet Guzmán and Chris Lavery, executive vice president of finance — are both expected to leave. Their departures, if accurately reported, would be just the latest in a steady stream of team members calling it quits on the startup, The Information alleges. A series of swift executive departures According to the report, several executives have …

The Japanese House of Representatives recently passed new crypto asset regulation affecting exchanges and custodians — the Payment Services Act and the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. However, the country’s crypto gambling industry still endures strict gambling regulations. “Japan has very strict rules regarding gambling and the same applies to crypto gambling,” Joseph D. Hugh, CFO of international cryptocurrency betting platform Jukebucks, told Cointelegraph, adding: “Although it is very difficult to restrict players who play, the government keeps a close tab on crypto transactions originating from Japan using taxation as an excuse.” Yet, Japan passed a federal law in July …

Scammers asked British citizens for nearly $2.5 million in Bitcoin (BTC), claiming that the funds will be spent to maintain the local economy after Brexit. Physical letters vs emails Fraudsters apparently sent out physical letters to the British, posing as a private secretary of Queen Elizabeth II, according to one of the alleged copies revealed by an exec of a local tech firm. Paul Ridden, CEO at United Kingdom-based IT firm Smarttask, posted a picture of the letter on Sept. 24 on LinkedIn, chuckling about the apparently failed phishing scam and asking if anyone else have received something similar to …

Ex-United States Federal Reserve official Simon Potter has said that proposals to end the U.S. dollar’s dominance by replacing it with a digital currency make no sense. Central banks unlikely to coordinate Last month, Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney suggested ending the U.S. dollar’s dominance by replacing it with a digital currency, such as Facebook’s planned stablecoin, Libra. Carney said that he considered this to be a better option than allowing it to be replaced by another national currency such as China’s renminbi. On Sept. 25, Potter, a former senior Federal Reserve official who ran the New …

Lloyds Bank is partnering with blockchain platform Komgo to streamline its commercial banking division. Blockchain to streamline international trade process On Sept. 25, United Kingdom financial news outlet FStech reported that Lloyds Bank, one of the “Big Four” clearing banks in the U.K., said that it would use Komgo’s platform “to enable quicker international commodity trade finance,” adding: “Komgo’s DLT platform digitises and streamlines the commodity trade finance process, enabling businesses to quickly and automatically exchange data and associated documents across a wide range of solutions – from letters of credit and KYC management to receivables discounting – in a …

The British police are auctioning off half a million sterling ($621,400) worth of seized Bitcoin (BTC), the London Economic reported on Sept. 25. The funds were reportedly seized from a criminal who had offered his hacking services in exchange for Bitcoin and had illegally stolen and sold personal data. The sale represents the first time that forfeited cryptocurrency funds are sold on behalf of the United Kingdom authorities, according to the report. Beyond Bitcoin, the police are also selling-off assets belonging to the criminal, including cars, diamond jewelry and a luxury Rolex watch. The auction, managed by Ireland-based auction house …

Cardiff-based cryptocurrency insurance startup Coincover has launched an insurance policy covering theft and loss. Local news outlet Whales247 reported on Sept. 24 that this is “the first and only service to guarantee digital funds held online will not be lost or stolen.” Coincover’s service reportedly monitors the wallet at all times and issues warnings in case of suspected theft, recovers funds in case of private key loss, manages key backups, provides cash replacement value in case of theft, and checks for any suspicious activity. Making crypto less risky Furthermore, the startup covers over 100 different crypto assets and the company …

The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is proposing to ban cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes (ETNs) — but Coinshares, a U.K.-based regulated public exchange, disagrees with that proposal. Claims of insufficient evidence In a Sept. 23 letter on its website, Coinshares claimed the FCA has not provided enough evidence to justify the proposed ban on crypto ETNs — warning its customers that they will no longer be able to trade such products if the ban is approved. The company added: “We believe that the FCA has not provided sufficient evidence to justify the proposed ban. Through its consultation, the regulator makes …

ConsenSys-backed identity management protocol uPort has entered a partnership with Onfido and PwC to develop blockchain-based identity management in the United Kingdom's financial sector. In a Sept. 23 announcement, the Ethereum-based digital identity platform uPort said the three firms are exploring how portable identity verification can improve the sign-up process for customers and reduce compliance costs for financial companies. PwC executive Mike Kennelly added: “It opens up access to financial services, helps reduce fraud and is instrumental in driving more competition into the U.K. banking ecosystem. PwC analysis suggests technological step changes in the banking sector could bring a boost …

The British Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned the public about First BTC FX, a supposed clone firm offering fraudulent crypto investments. Using details of an FCA-authorized firm According to an FCA warning published on Sept. 20, First BTC FX is posing as authorized firm First Global Limited. First Global is a trade name for nonprofit organization International First Committee Association. First BTC FX also claims to represent a trade name of First Global on its website firstbtcfx.com. Clone firms posing as legal entities The scam entity claims to provide premium-quality trading services for commodities, forex, indices, shares and cryptocurrencies. …

Facebook reportedly met British authorities and regulators three times prior to publicly announcing plans for its Libra stablecoin. As Reuters reported on Sept. 18, Facebook had several appointments with officials at Britain’s finance ministry, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England this spring. Reuters received details regarding the meetings after submitting Freedom of Information requests. At the meetings, the tech giant discussed its forthcoming digital currency in a bid to get support before the official announcement. Libra versus the world Libra has been actively trying to get approval from regulators around the world, and has pledged not to …

The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded a 60,000 euro ($66,400) grant for blockchain startup SpaceChain to commercially develop its satellite-powered, multi-sig wallet. According to an announcement published on Sept. 18, the new grant comes via ESA’s “kick-start activities” fund. SpaceChain’s project, if successful, also stands poised to secure additional funding in the future from ESA's Business Applications and Space Solutions. Multi-sig security in orbit Since 2017, SpaceChain has been working to build an open-source, blockchain-based satellite network and has already developed its open-source operating system and flight-tested two blockchain nodes in outer space. The grant will enable the startup …