Media
Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
Regulation news
- The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said it has paused publication of its rule to ensure large banks provide all customers fair access to their services. "Pausing publication of the rule in the Federal Register will allow the next confirmed Comptroller of the Currency to review the final rule and the public comments the OCC received, as part of an orderly transition," they explained.
Mining news
- Crypto miners are preparing to set up a large-scale center at a nuclear power plant in Rivne, Ukraine. Per an official document, Energoatom – the state-owned nuclear power plant operator – has selected a firm named the Kyiv Energy Construction Company to build the center after a bidding process concluded. The company aims to complete the new center by August 31, 2022. BitFury miners will likely then move into the center, after Energoatom struck a separate deal with the mining giant last year. The power plant, which was built in the late 1970s and went online in the early 1980s, has a nameplate capacity of 2,657MW.
- Blockstream said they've purchased WhatsMiner Bitcoin miners from Shenzhen-based MicroBT in a USD 25m deal. The equipment will be deployed across their mining facilities in the USA and Canada.
Blockchain news
- The LG IT services and blockchain arm LG CNS is set to roll out a blockchain-powered ID cards service to the South Korean government, reported ZDNet Korea. The service has been commissioned by the Ministry of Security and Public Administration, which indicated that its staff – as well as the employees of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism – will now be able to ditch plastic smart cards in favor of the LG CNS-developed smartphone-based solution. The move is a major boost for LG CNS, which has pinned its hopes for future success on blockchain-powered innovation, particularly in the area of decentralized ID (DID).
- Curv, a digital asset security platform, and Algorand (ALGO) announced a partnership that will see Curv integrate Algorand within its asset-agnostic technology infrastructure. Algorand will also be leveraging Curv’s solutions for internal use, they said in an emailed press release.
Stablecoin news
- A second Japanese yen-pegged stablecoin is set to enter the market. Following the unveiling of a national-first JPY stablecoin developed by the web giant GMO Internet, a Tokyo-based firm named the Japanese Crypto Asset Market has released a token named the JPYCoin (JPYC), with just under USD 1 million worth of the coin put into circulation. Per a press release, its architects say the coin is “intended for use in settlements,” unlike cryptoassets, which many merchants and customers have shied away from using in transactions due to their “volatility.” The token has been built on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain, using the popular ERC-20 protocol.
Exchanges news
- Australia and New Zealand-focused crypto exchange Independent Reserve said that "in light of recent events and community feedback" bitcoin SV (BSV) and related trading pairs will be delisted on March 28. The company did not specify what "recent events" prompted this decision.
- Gate.io said it has launched an Observation Zone feature for emerging crypto coins "to lower investors’ risk exposure." The Observation Zone provides a “wait-and-observe” space for users for selected newly listed crypto projects, which will lower the overall portfolio risks for traders before making any serious investment decisions in these coins, the exchange said in an emailed press release.
Investments news
- Boson Protocol, the project using smart contracts to power real world commerce, has announced the creation of 15 new roles across its Product, Operations and Technology teams, as well as the conclusion of its SAFT (Simple Agreement for Future Tokens) Round, having raised an additional USD 3m USD in investment. Boson Protocol is scheduled to hold a public token sale later in the year, they said in an emailed press release.