BIS, Bank of England concludes blockchain int’l settlements pilot

The Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub London Center have tested a distributed ledger technology-powered settlements system between the institutions. The insights of the project will be used by the Bank of England in its real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system. On April 19, BIS published a report about the joint pilot project with the Bank of England called Project Meridian. According to the 44-page document, the banks have successfully purchased houses in Wales and England through the synchronization network using distributed ledger technology (DLT).…

Bhutan’s sovereign investment arm quietly invests millions in crypto: Report

The Kingdom of Bhutan’s sovereign investment arm estimated to manage around $2.9 billion in assets has placed millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies and was a customer of bankrupt crypto firms BlockFi and Celsius.  Druk Holding and Investments (DHI), a commercial arm of the royal government of Bhutan, has grown a crypto portfolio without disclosing it to the public according to a report released by Forbes. The funds were brought to light following the crypto contagion last year when companies like Celsius and BlockFi filed for bankruptcy. User Deposit and Withdrawal…

FTX considers reboot, Ethereum’s fork goes live and OpenAI news

Top Stories This Week Ethereum’s Shapella hard fork executed on mainnet The Ethereum blockchain’s mainnet, also referred to as the Beacon Chain, implemented the Shapella hard fork on April 12. The upgrade made fund withdrawals possible for those who have staked the network’s Ether (ETH) asset. Within the first hour of the hard fork, a total of 12,859 Ether were unlocked in 4,333 withdrawals, according to Ethereum block explorer beaconchai.in. Nearly a day after the upgrade, ETH surpassed the $2,000 price point. FTX has recovered $7.3B in assets, will consider…

U.S. House Committee Publishes Draft Stablecoin Bill

The bill, available on the committee’s hearing page, represents the first major piece of crypto legislation to move in 2023, and follows two key incidents over the past year involving stablecoins: the blowup of terraUSD (UST), which was backed by a token called LUNA, and the second-largest one, USD coin (USDC), temporarily becoming unmoored from $1. Author: Nikhilesh De Source link

Montana ‘right to mine’ crypto bill passes the House

The bill, seeking to enshrine crypto miners’ rights in Montana, United States, successfully passed the third reading in the state’s House of Representatives. Now, the only thing that is required for it to become law is the Governor’s signature.  Bill number 178, prohibiting local authorities from obstructing the crypto mining operations, was voted in during the third reading by 64 votes versus 35 votes on Apr. 12. The legislation has already passed through Senate voting in February. It now will make it to the table of Governor Greg Gianforte. While…

Companies Behind Azuki NFTs and LINE FRIENDS Characters Join Forces For Web3 Expansion

“We are excited to collaborate with IPX, who is a global leader in building innovative character IP brands beloved by millions of fans around the world,” Zagabond, the pseudonymous founder and CEO of Chiru Labs, said in a press release. “IP is evolving, and we see the web3 community as an integral part of this next wave. We can’t wait to bring the world of BEANZ together with LINE FRIENDS.” Author: Toby Bochan Source link

Coinbase wins $470K restitution in insider trading case

The brother of a former Coinbase employee has agreed to pay the cryptocurrency exchange nearly $470,000 for his role in an insider trading scheme. According to a New York District Court filing signed on April 6 and made public on April 10, Nikhil Wahi — brother of former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi — will be required to begin making restitution payments while serving time in prison in what is believed to be the first insider trading case involving crypto. The amount must be paid in full within 20 years…