Category: Blockchain

Mastercard launches Mastercard Crypto Credential to boost trust in blockchain The Block

Duncan MacRae

Mastercard has introduced Mastercard Crypto Credential, a set of common standards and infrastructure that will help verify interactions among consumers and businesses using blockchain networks. Mastercard Crypto Credential aims to provide a foundation for financial institutions, governments, brands, and crypto players, ensuring that those interested in interacting across web3 environments are meeting defined standards for the types of activities they’d like to pursue. Raj Dhamodharan, executive VP, Blockchain and Digital Currencies at Mastercard, said: “Setting up and scaling trusted ecosystems to enable commerce is not new to Mastercard. “We’ve done…

California approves blockchain-based digital wallet for gov’t services

Savannah Fortis

The county of Santa Cruz in northern California is one of the latest to adopt and implement the usage of blockchain-based solutions on a governmental level.  In a meeting of the Board of Supervisors for the County of Santa Cruz held on April 25, the members unanimously decided to go forward with implementing the usage of digital wallets, for government services and official documentation purposes. According to the final consensus of the meeting, the white-label digital wallet powered by HUMBL will launch a 3-stage pilot program starting in July 2023.…

Blockchain features on WEF whitepaper as a tool to fight climate change

Ezra Reguerra

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has recently published a white paper that explains how blockchains are able to provide the needed infrastructure to fight against climate change “at speed and scale.”  We’ve just published a World Economic Forum @wef whitepaper detailing blockchain technology’s valuable role in the global effort to fight climate change. Thanks @ToucanProtocol @BL4SG_ and more than 60 ReFi organizations that contributed to this research!https://t.co/RUwb9Z5Ipy — Climate Collective (@clim8collective) April 25, 2023 According to the white paper, blockchain’s value to the climate action community can be split into…

Solana adds emissions tracker to boost blockchain’s transparency

Fin Strathern

Layer-1 blockchain network Solana has launched a real-time tracking dashboard with data platform Trycarbonara to measure on-chain carbon emissions. The Solana Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to growing and decentralising the network, said the update makes it the first “major smart-contract blockchain” to provide real-time measures of its carbon emissions. 1/ Today, the Solana Foundation is leading the charge in the climate fight by making Solana one of the first blockchains to have its emissions measured in real time, thanks to a new data portal created with TryCarbonara. Learn more: https://t.co/k4QsZmtjHn…

Solana launches emissions dashboard to spur blockchain carbon footprint transparency

Tristan Greene

The Solana Foundation, in collaboration with data platform Trycarbonara, announced the launch of a real-time tracking dashboard to measure carbon emissions on the Solana blockchain.  1/ Today, the Solana Foundation is leading the charge in the climate fight by making Solana one of the first blockchains to have its emissions measured in real time, thanks to a new data portal created with TryCarbonara. Learn more: https://t.co/k4QsZmtjHn pic.twitter.com/gqPwpKtv3u — Solana (@solana) April 21, 2023 According to a blog post from the foundation, this represents the first “major smart-contract blockchain” to measure…

Blockchain platform for trading securities OTC moves forward with SEC approval

Ana Paula Pereira

A Delaware company is seeking registration with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to carry out over-the-counter (OTC) stock trading on-chain.  BlackStar Enterprise Group has been developing the platform since 2018 and spent almost two years in communication with the regulator, answering dozens of questions and comments from examiners. Recently, the company has taken the next step in providing a detailed plan to the SEC Trading and Market division about how its platforms will be operated. BlackStar CEO Joseph Kurczodyna told Cointelegraph that he sought the SEC’s permission…

Polygon becomes second-largest gaming blockchain after user activity surges in March

Brian Quarmby

Surging user activity on Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Polygon in March saw the network become the second-largest blockchain gaming network in terms of unique active wallets (UAWs). According to the “Blockchain Games Report” published by decentralized application (DApp) analytics platform DappRadar, the number of UAWs engaging with games on Polygon hit 138,081 in March, marking an increase of 53% from February. That figure places Polygon well ahead of third and fourth-ranked Hive and BNB Chain at 84,000 and 80,000 UAWs, respectively, while first-placed Wax is well ahead of the pack…

Avalanche introduces ‘Evergreen’ subnets to connect institutions on blockchain

Helen Partz

Ava Labs, the developer of the Avalanche layer-1 blockchain platform, is introducing new institutional deployments to improve the blockchain environment. On April 6, Ava Labs introduced Avalanche Evergreen Subnets, a suite of institutional blockchain tooling and customizations designed to address company-specific requirements for financial services. The new product aims to allow institutions to maintain control over their blockchain environment while enabling intercompany communication, Ava Labs’ institutional business development director, Morgan Krupetsky, told Cointelegraph. “Currently, many institutions are building use cases on enterprise blockchains such as Corda, Hyperledger, Quorum or R3, which…

A spotlight on Binance, Galaxy Digital swings to profit, China’s blockchain push

Ana Paula Pereira

Regulators in the United States have a fresh target on their radar: Binance. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has sued the world’s biggest crypto exchange by trading volume for regulatory violations. Accusations range from insider trading to concealing office locations around the world to evade authorities’ oversight.  Binance denies the claims, suggesting another court battle between crypto firms and U.S. regulators is just around the corner. On another front, Binance’s U.S. arm must wait to close its $1 billion deal for Voyager Digital’s assets until the Department of Justice…

Blockchain and regulated stablecoins to be widely used by 2030, industry execs say

Amaka Nwaokocha

Regulated stablecoins are in the spotlight of policymakers as a panel of professionals in the digital regulatory space discusses the future use of the assets at the World of Web3 (WOW) Summit in Hong Kong.  In the panel titled “Digital Assets: Policies & the Road Ahead,” the group discussed how regulated stablecoins would most likely remain in use by 2030, and how the current growth rate of the stablecoin market helps to ensure this. While recognizing the crypto industry’s growth, Alexandra Sasha, the first deputy to the Danish Parliament, and…