The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is pumping $5 million into Abra, a crypto financial services app, in its largest enterprise investment to date. Announced Wednesday, the capital allocation precedes Abra's integration with the Stellar blockchain. The crypto wallet and investments app's growing list of financial services are set to shift onto Stellar in a partnership both entities say will bolster...
The Bitfinex crypto exchange is making a new push to find and potentially recover more than $800 million in user funds seized by legal authorities in four different countries after its payment processor’s bank accounts were frozen. iFinex Inc., Bitfinex's parent firm, applied for subpoenas in Colorado, Arizona and Georgia this month, asking federal courts to aid it in deposing...
Messaging app Telegram postponed the launch of its TON blockchain for a second time on Wednesday, pushing the new go-live date to April 2021 and triggering a costly clawback clause in its agreement with token-sale investors. According to a letter to investors obtained by CoinDesk, Telegram is offering to return up to 72% of each investor's stake. The terms were...
Eleven members of Congress are calling on the U.S. Treasury Department to look at new technologies, including blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT), to help streamline how cash and supplies are distributed under a federal law trying to boost the economy during the COVID-19 crisis A letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin points to blockchain and DLT as secure...
The SEC and Kik both filed oppositions to the other party’s motions for summary judgement late Friday, reiterating their arguments in the case and their respective takes on whether statements collected during the court battle to date are complete and accurate. In the SEC’s view, kin would have no value if it wasn’t for Kik’s efforts to “champion” the ecosystem,...
The company has not seen transaction activity on its platform grow quickly enough to cover operating costs, according to an email sent to the alternative trading system’s (ATS) users and shared with CoinDesk on Wednesday. The email is asking issuers with tokens listed on the site to cover these costs with new contracts. If it doesn’t receive new fees, it...
The Dutch central bank says The Netherlands is well placed to develop and trial a digital Euro. The Dutch central bank wants to be the proving ground for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in the European Union. In a 45-page report released by the bank on April 21, the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) said it was “ready to play a...
Singapore’s tax authority will not take a cut of airdropped cryptocurrency so long as the recipient gets it for free, according to an income tax treatment guide published Friday. The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS)’s new e-tax guide, published Friday, filled in the tax gaps for so-called “digital tokens,” a catchall for three crypto types: payment tokens, used to...
China is about to launch its national blockchain platform, part of the country’s grand strategy to lead the digital transformation of the world economy. Led by the State Information Center, the Blockchain Service Network (BSN) is poised to launch for domestic commercial use Wednesday and globally on April 25. If it works as envisioned, companies and software developers will be...
The news comes weeks after a court order put into doubt whether grams will be issued as planned at the end of April. Blackmoon touted its relationship with investors in Telegram’s upcoming blockchain last fall, shortly before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed suit against the messaging platform in October and secured an injunction delaying gram issuance by...