Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Adoption news
- Crypto lender Nexo will partner with crypto-focused arm of US-based mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments, Fidelity Digital Assets, to offer custodial and lending services to institutional investors, including the launch of institutional-focused products, said the press release. The two will develop a comprehensive product suite and compliant infrastructure for institutional investors seeking exposure to digital assets.
- Crypto exchange Gemini plans to allow users in Colombia to trade crypto through a partnership with its largest private bank, Bancolombia. The partnership is part of a year-long, government-sponsored pilot program to test banking services for crypto platforms.
- HM Government of Gibraltar has announced that it will begin a process by which it will integrate blockchain technology into its legacy systems in order to streamline government processes. It is envisioned that the implementation, which will initially be rolled out on a pilot basis, will improve the delivery of public services to individuals and organisations residing or operating in Gibraltar.
- Mobile top-up service Ding has shown that 14% of users hold bitcoin (BTC) or other cryptocurrencies, with adoption going up to 25% in developing countries. The report, which examines the views of 6,250 respondents across the KSA, UAE, Nigeria, Indonesia, Germany, India, Mexico, Brazil, and the Philippines, also shows that many consumers are putting digital assets ahead of other, more traditional financial products, such as personal loans.
- Polygon (MATIC) and Wanchain (WAN) have announced a strategic partnership that will drive further adoption of Layer 2 cross-chain bridges. Wanchain will deploy direct decentralized cross-chain bridges connecting Polygon and Arbitrum, which will complement and enhance Polygon’s suite of solutions.
Exchanges news
- Coinbase has announced the open sourcing of Kryptology, a cryptographic library for the crypto community that will enable and empower developers to create novel crypto innovations with state-of-the-art cryptography. They have added that over time, their goal is to support a thriving ecosystem of new and working cryptography for many more applications.
- The Nasdaq exchange has announced that crypto issuer of exchange-traded products (ETPs) 21Shares has listed its first two physically backed exchange traded notes (ETNs) on Nasdaq Stockholm, which have bitcoin and ether (ETH) as underlying assets. In conjunction with the listing, Nasdaq launched a new segment for ETNs, securities listed on a regulated exchange tracking an underlying asset with liquidity supported by a market maker.
- Bitstamp has announced it has appointed Cecile Fouques Duparc, a former Director of Communications at Netflix, as the company’s Global Head of PR and Social Media. Cecile will be responsible for driving Bitstamp’s external communication and social strategy.
- Delta Exchange has announced the launch of its trade farming program offering USD 50m worth of rewards to traders. The program will begin on December 6 and run through 2022. Users who deposit and participate in trading activity in any contracts listed on Delta Exchange will be eligible for rewards.
NFTs news
- A virtual anime version of Sophia, the world-famous humanoid artificial intelligence (AI) robot, is set to be tokenized and auctioned off as part of an up-and-coming Metaverse project dubbed ‘Noah’s Ark’. This auction is part of a partnership between Alethea AI, the creator of Sophia, and non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Binance NFT.
- The Voices of Classic Rock (VOCR) archive has announced a new series of non-fungible tokens featuring The Beatles, with each NFT corresponding to one of the respective Liverpudlians and featuring a rare interview in WAV format alongside a unique portrait. The NFTs will be minted on Ethereum, and bids can only be placed in ETH, with the starting bid listed at ETH 1.25 (USD 4,000).
- Wikipedia founder Jimmy “Jimbo” Wales is offering his first-ever site edit as an NFT as part of an auction titled ‘The Birth of Wikipedia’, which also includes the desktop computer that Wales used to create the website: an iMac G3. The auction is being carried out via major auction house Christie’s and will run from December 3 to December 15.
Investments news
- Mysten Labs, a crypto and blockchain infrastructure technology start-up founded by four former Facebook engineers, has raised USD 36m in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, per CNBC. The cash infusion will help the four founders build infrastructure technology to allow other crypto and blockchain-based companies to deliver technologies.
- Gamified NFTs marketplace Starly has raised USD 6.1m in a funding round led by Spartan Group. The launch of its STARLY token will take place on December 20 followed by listing on tier1 exchange on December 21.
- Blockchain analytics company TRM Labs has announced it has raised USD 60m in Series B funding led by Tiger Global. The company developed what they call the first blockchain intelligence platform that combines cross-chain data with threat intelligence, advanced analytics, and intuitive visualizations to help organizations detect crypto fraud and financial crime.
- Sports betting site DraftKings has partnered with the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) and OneTeam Partners, the group licensing partner of the NFLPA, aiming to launch gamified NFT collections that will debut on DraftKings Marketplace during the 2022-2023 NFL season. Initial anticipated features include the ability for customers to use these collectibles within games, as well as separate buying and selling functionality, said the press release. A variety of NFT editions and tiers that incorporate different aspects of utility and digital scarcity are expected, all powered by Polygon.
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