Weekly news roundup: Monday February 18
Here’s a selection of interesting recent news from the crypto-space.
ConsenSys Media has published a Q&A about Opera’s new browser crypto wallet with Charles Hamel, Product Manager of Opera Crypto. Hamel says:
“Web3 is a new trust layer that enables people to identify themselves in an independent way, facilitates payments and value transfer between people, and allows for new applications that have not been native to the web… Opera will continue to improve the crypto wallet, look at new features and partnership with decentralized apps in order to make sure we understand what their needs are to create a symbiotic relationship. We are excited and committed to merging the gap between web2 and web3.”
Hg Exchange announced that it seeks to launch Southeast Asia’s first member-driven exchange to support the issuance and trading of private company shares, including security tokens, Tech in Asia reports. A press release issued by HG Exchange adds:
“[Hg Exchange] will offer investors access to high-growth companies such as Airbnb, Deliveroo, Didi Chuxing, GoJek, Grab, Pinterest, SpaceX and Uber. The underlying technology infrastructure to support transactions on Hg Exchange will be jointly built by digital asset exchange platform, MaiCoin and public blockchain platform, Zilliqa.”
Zilliqa, a project to develop a project next-generation, high-throughput blockchain technology, recently launched its mainnet. Xinshu Dong, co-Founder and CEO of Zilliqa said: “Within the private investment industry, blockchain can provide greater standardisation, fractionalisation, and enables trading on a regulated venue at lower costs.”
“Hg Exchange is a prime example of how Zilliqa is collaborating with leading industry partners to enable new and innovative use cases that disrupt and advance traditional sectors, adding value to users.”
Wyoming has been expanding its status as a hub for crypto and blockchain technology by passing several new bills this February, Bitcoin Magazine reports.
Nasdaq announced two cryptocurrency indexes which provide real-time spot or reference rate for Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Bitcoin Liquid Index (BLX) and Ethereum Liquid Index (ELX), launching on February 25, will extract price data from multiple exchanges to provide single price point for BTC and ETH.
According to Cryptosumer, the launch of Nasdaq crypto indices “could lead to regulatory approval for crypto-based derivatives in the market. In the near-term, the move could project cryptocurrencies as new investment alternatives to both retail and institutional investors.”
Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, specialized in blockchain snooping services (which Chainalysis calls “compliance and investigation software for the world’s top institutions”), has raised a $30M Series B led by Accel, with participation from existing investors. Previously, Chainalysis had raised a $16M Series A in April 2018.
This is just the beginning, says Chainalysis. “Illicit activity will continue to increase in absolute terms as the industry grows and as institutions prepare to transact in cryptocurrency.”
This confirm the growing interest of mainstream financial operators in sanitized, emasculated “blockchains” without privacy, and therefore confirms the importance of promoting real cryptocurrencies with tamper-proof privacy.
Picture from pxhere.
