These Two Firms Want to Upgrade Crypto Infrastructure for Banks and Exchanges

Arguably, the most talked-about private blockchain consortium around has just had twelve additional banks signing up as members to the R3-led group of global banks looking to tap into and experiment with blockchain technology for securities settlements and payments. New York-based Fintech startup R3 has added 12 more banks as members to its blockchain consortium. The startup also revealed that it is welcoming financial firms that aren't banks such as exchanges, clearing houses, standards bodies and infrastructure companies from Q1 2016. The latest additions to the consortium include: BMO....

Five South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges recently said they will delist litecoin because the crypto asset’s Mimblewimble Extension Blocks (MWEB) upgrade violates the country’s laws. As a result, the exchanges’ users cannot use the Korean won to trade the crypto asset, which has since been named a “dark coin.” Upgrade Violates Specific Financial Information Act Following the recent Mimblewimble Extension Blocks (MWEB) upgrade to litecoin, five of South Korea’s major cryptocurrency exchanges, namely Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and....

Data from a recent report suggest that enforcement actions from U.S. regulators against those in the crypto space cost those firms less than 1% of that in traditional finance for the last 20 years. While regulators have often targeted projects in and out of the crypto space, the fines levied against digital asset exchanges are a fraction of those against traditional financial institutions.According to data from Good Jobs First’s violation tracker, the platform analyzed 50 of the biggest fines regulators levied against major banks, investment firms, and brokers over the last 20 years. Bank....

Major Portuguese banks have started closing or refusing to open accounts for cryptocurrency platforms such as exchanges, according to media reports. The move threatens to tarnish the country’s image as one of Europe’s most crypto-friendly destinations, a haven for bitcoin enthusiasts. Portuguese Crypto Firms Hit by Bank Account Closures Portugal, a leading European crypto hub, is risking the loss of its attractiveness for crypto businesses and talent working in the industry as some of its largest banks are now closing accounts of companies operating with digital....

A Glassnode report reveals that cryptocurrency exchanges some major exchanges are still holding despite being heavy consumers of Bitcoin block space. SegWit has come a long way since its first appearance during the 2015-2017 blocksize war. However, despite its relative success as a Bitcoin upgrade, crypto exchanges including Binance and Gemini are still not committed to using SegWit addresses for sending Bitcoin (BTC). Implemented in 2017, segregated witness (SegWit) is a soft fork upgrade that separates “witness” data from the base transaction. In an “explain like I’m five” kind of way,....