Former CTO Balaji Srinivasan has joined the decentralized finance blockchain project Findora as a strategic adviser, along with Professor Dan Boneh of Stanford University. Findora CEO Charles Lu commented, “These renowned industry experts have unrivaled knowledge in fintech, digital infrastructure, blockchain, cryptography, and beyond, putting them at the forefront of their respective fields.”
The Quontic bank, a financial institution based in New York City has rechristened itself as a crypto-friendly bank & provides financial services to another cryptocurrency startup. Steven Schnall, CEO of the bank, “We’re just taking steps so that when the regulatory environment becomes more crypto-friendly, we don’t have a lot of catching up to do. We’re looking to diversify our product offering and our customer mix by entering into that field.”
People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is reportedly close to launching its very own digital currency. Mu Changchun, the deputy director of the People’s Bank of China payments department has made public that that the digital currency is very close to being out in the market. He explained the rational & need for the digital currency: it will actually serve to replace cash, or M0, but not M2, which is essentially credit.
Flexa (USA based crypto payment firm) has partnered with Coinsquare (crypto exchange headquartered in Canada) to bring in-store digital currency payments to Canada and users can spend directly from their on-exchange balance. The Coinsquare stated, “One of the biggest hurdles in mass adoption for crypto is finding a way to let users spend it. We are excited to bring Flexa’s solution for this problem to Canada.”
Nuls (an enterprise blockchain platform) and Aleph (a cross-blockchain network) have jointly completed testing of a new staking service dubbed staked coin output (SCO), which applies a new type of reward model. Reaper Ran, co-founder of Nuls said, “The investor community isn’t risking anything because they are only sacrificing their staked rewards, not their principal. Developers that participate have near-zero overhead,”
An association representing the digital asset and blockchain industry in Canada, the Chamber of Digital Commerce Canada has suggested the development of blockchain framework in the country. The MD of the association, Tanya Woods explained, “Canada’s blockchain innovation is largely plagued by regulatory and policy challenges or gray areas. Having a favourable climate is the first step to helping businesses thrive.”
A collaboration has been made between HIVE Blockchain Technologies and Blockbase Group DWC-LLC which will be its new software operator and maintenance services provider The CEO of HIVE, Frank Holmes explained, “We have received numerous requests from shareholders and financial analysts asking for improved transparency and I believe that the new partnership and strategy better satisfy their needs.”
A blockchain-related event will be held in Malta called the Malta AI and Blockchain Summit on coming November. The event reportedly will be inviting a popular African-American Hip Hop star, Akon will speakers during the event explaining his cryptocurrency project token called Akoin. Akon aims to propel a massive technological and innovational African digital city for the young local entrepreneurs to maintain a sustainable future.
The Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO, based in Japan) and Power Ledger (an energy tech firm from Australia) have completed a joint trial of a blockchain-based system for post-FIT (feed-in tariff) surplus power in Osaka. GM of KEPCO, “…Power Ledger’s product presents significant opportunities for prosumers to sell their excessive energy at more advantageous prices and for consumers to buy it at more affordable prices.”
A collaboration has been established between Cypherium and Google Cloud for enterprise blockchain solutions. The CEO of Cypherium, Sky Guo explained, “We’re delighted to be collaborating with Google Cloud to provide enterprises with a full-stack solution to harness the potential of this paraffin-shifting technology. The growing demand in the market for DLT solutions in the financial industry and beyond drives our commitment to this collaboration.”
