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California Cannabis Grower Using Blockchain For Tracking

by Blockchain NewsJanuary 16, 2023

A cannabis nursery located in California has used blockchain technology and smart contracts in order to confirm the genuineness of the therapeutic plants they sell.

The cannabis nursery, which goes by the name Mendocino Clone Company, was given its moniker on January 13 in a statement about a cooperation between the EMTRI project and the technology company Global Compliance Applications.

To issue a batch certificate for each and every clone, also known as a baby plant, it will be necessary to make use of the capabilities offered by the blockchain project. Nurseries are businesses that focus on plant genetics and produce clones, young plants, and seeds for the purpose of wholesale distribution of cannabis. Nurseries may also be referred to as seed banks.

As a result of this decision, the nursery is now in a position to record the starting stages of a cannabis plant’s path to become a premium product for customers depending on the gram weight it blossoms, as the company said in a statement. Each clone batch has its own unique batch certificate, which functions as a self-generating smart contract. It does so by providing each young plant with its very own “unique identification block,” which is generated by the nursery and connected to the blockchain that it operates on using Ethereum.

It was noted that its customers, who include retail dispensaries and commercial farms, may utilize this to check the genetic history of their clones and determine whether or not their clones are real. Beginning the first week of February, a first round of batch certificate clones will be made accessible to the public.

Additionally, licensed farmers that acquire Mendocino clones will gain access to EMTRI token (EMT) awards and higher rates for engaging in the blockchain project. These benefits will be awarded to licensed cultivators who participate in the blockchain project.

In November of 2022, EMT was introduced as a means of providing incentives to project participants. The tokens may be staked for further dividends or exchanged on Uniswap for US Dollar Coins (USDC).

However, the idea of combining cryptocurrency with cannabis is not a novel one.

Cannaland, a cannabis-oriented Metaverse project, was initiated in November with the intention of developing a virtual environment catering to cannabis consumers and advocates. A bespoke pipe manufacturer produced tokenized bongs in January 2022, and celebrities such as Snoop Dogg and Santana were among the early adopters of the NFTs.

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FTX secretly lent Alameda Research $65B

by Blockchain NewsJanuary 16, 2023

The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) was sued by environmentalists on January 13 for allowing the takeover of a bitcoin mining factory that was located within the borders of the state. According to the complaint, the Public Service Commission broke state law when it approved the takeover.

The state Public Service Commission (PSC), which is responsible for regulating public utilities, reportedly gave its approval in September of 2022 for the conversion of the Fortistar North power plant into a cryptocurrency mining facility. This was reported by The Guardian. The Public Service Commission is the agency that is in charge of regulating public utilities.

The Canadian cryptocurrency mining company Digihost had planned to acquire the facility, which is located in Tonawanda, a city that is less than sixteen kilometers from Niagara Falls. Tonawanda is a city that can be found in the state of New York.

The complainant’s main point is that the authorization violates New York’s climate legislation that was enacted in 2019, and this is what they consider to be their strongest argument.

The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) has a number of objectives, one of which is to cut the state’s emissions by 85 percent by the year 2050. This is just one of the many objectives. This is merely one of the many objectives that the act seeks to achieve. Another one of the goals is to completely do away with emissions produced by the electricity industry by the year 2040.

Earthjustice is the organization that will be representing the Sierra Club and the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York in this case.

The organization known as Earthjustice is one that does not make a profit. In the complaint, they are making the argument that the Fortistar plant was only operated during the periods of time when there was a significant demand for power. For illustration, they are using instances in which there was severe weather as a case study.

If, on the other hand, it were to be converted into a facility for the mining of cryptocurrencies, it would be operational at all hours of the day and night, which would result in an increase in the emissions of greenhouse gases of up to 3,000 percent. Activists are of the opinion that environmental assessments need to be carried out whenever the state of New York analyzes proposed new projects.

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Tagged : Alameda Research / CLCPA / EARTHJUSTICE / FTX / News / PSC

LedgerX, Other Assets Sold By Bankruptcy Court For FTX

by Blockchain NewsJanuary 16, 2023

The court who is in charge of monitoring the bankruptcy proceedings for FTX has allowed the troubled cryptocurrency exchange permission to liquidate some of its assets in order to assist it in its attempts to repay its creditors.

In a file that was made in the Delaware Bankruptcy Court, it was stated that Judge John Dorsey had given his approval for the sale of four important components of FTX. The assets include of the derivatives platform LedgerX, the stock-trading platform Embed, and its regional subsidiaries, FTX Japan and FTX Europe.

Those who are interested in placing an offer may now get in touch with the investment firm Perella Weinberg, which has been given the responsibility of initiating the sale process and representing FTX and its assets.

At the beginning of this week, 117 different parties indicated that they were interested in acquiring the FTX assets that are now up for sale. On December 15th, attorneys for FTX began the process of petitioning the court for authorization to sell the four units, noting the possibility of a decrease in the value of the properties.

At the moment, FTX Europe has had its licenses terminated, while FTX Japan has been hit with orders to cease its commercial operations.

Based on the most recent FTX lawyer Andy Dietderich, the troubled cryptocurrency exchange has apparently recovered something in the neighborhood of $5 billion dollars worth of cash and coins. The legal counsel for FTX said that despite the fact that the exchange has succeeded in recouping some assets, the cryptocurrency platform is still in the process of reassembling its transaction history.

As John Ray took over as CEO of FTX worldwide, the previous CEO said that the company had $8 billion in assets.

The former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, who has pleaded not guilty to all of the criminal allegations against him, has said that he did not steal cash nor hide billions of dollars. Bankman-Fried also said that he was willing to utilize his own personal assets to contribute to the task of compensating users, and he made this vow during his statement.

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Tagged : Bankruptcy / FTX / Ledgerx / News

PayPal Xoom Offers Debit Card Deposit Cross-Border Remittance

by Blockchain NewsJanuary 16, 2023

The international money transfer service Xoom, which is owned and operated by the financial technology company PayPal, has introduced a new offering that enables customers in the United States to send money straight to users of Visa debit cards.

A recent release made by PayPal indicated a partnership between Xoom and the financial services company Visa. This partnership makes it possible for debit card customers to receive payments straight from Xoom.

There are now 25 nations that support the functionality, some of which include the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ukraine, and Vietnam. Users no longer have to wait the standard amount of time for wire transfers, which is five business days, since a recently introduced feature now makes it possible for them to have access to their money in a matter of minutes.

According to Wei-Lin Lee, vice president of remittances at PayPal, the new service has the potential to assist individuals throughout the winter and during the holidays. Lee noted that during those times, many customers were transferring money to their friends and family located in other countries, and that this process needed to be completed as rapidly as possible.

Yanilsa Gonzalez-Ore, the CEO of Visa Direct North America, observed that there has been a rise in demand for “digital solutions that assist eliminate hurdles” among those who want to transfer money to other countries.

In the meanwhile, PayPal has become more comprehensive in its coverage of all aspects of financial transactions. In improving its product offerings in international financial transactions, the firm has now begun accepting cryptocurrencies as payment.

In 2018, the company launched the pilot program for its cross-border payments, which resulted in considerable time and cost savings for participating institutions.

In the year 2022, the business began enabling native transfers of digital assets from PayPal to other wallets and exchanges that were hosted on third-party platforms. Cross-border payments for companies are often connected with Ripple within the crypto space. Ripple is the company that is behind the XRP coin, which is now at the center of an ongoing court case.

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Tagged : CROSS-BORDER / Debit Card / News / PayPal / REMITTANCE / XOOM

Huobi And Solaris Offer EU Crypto-To-Fiat Debit Cards

by Blockchain NewsJanuary 16, 2023

As the cryptocurrency market continues to expand into the mainstream, several legacy financial institutions have made it a priority to work toward closing the gap that exists between digital and traditional currencies. The [crypto] industry is steadily making its way into the mainstream markets.

An announcement on a partnership between the cryptocurrency exchange Huobi and the European provider of financial services Solaris has been made public. The partnership will result in the creation of a debit card that can convert cryptocurrencies into fiat currency.

Users of Huobi now have the ability to make use of their digital assets at points of sale anywhere in the globe as a result of a program that has been given permission to operate by Visa.

Beginning in the second quarter of 2023, users who are situated inside the European Economic Area (EEA) will be able to have access to the card. The European Economic Area (EEA) is comprised of all 27 nations that are participants in the European Union (EU), in addition to Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.

Citizens of countries that are members of the European Union have access to more than one crypto-to-fiat card at this time. In the year 2020, cryptocurrency exchange Binance launched its very own crypto-to-fiat card, which received Visa’s stamp of approval. European users now have the ability to withdraw fiat cash straight from their Binance accounts using this card. Outside of the European Union, Visa has been a strong advocate for bridging the gap between digital money and traditional currencies such as dollars and euros.

In October 2022, Blockchain.com made public their partnership with Visa to produce a debit card that could be used to purchase cryptocurrencies. The usage of this card is strictly limited to inside the boundaries of the United States of America.

Most recently, the supplier of financial services and a company in the financial technology industry called ZELF worked together to offer customers a debit card that protects their anonymity and can be filled with cryptocurrencies.

A function that would allow customers to automatically pay bills from their bitcoin wallet is another feature that Visa has suggested it may roll out before the beginning of 2023.

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Tagged : #Huobi / CRYPTO-TO-FIAT / Debit Card / Eu / News / SOLARIS

Samsung Investment Exploring Hong Kong Spot-Bitcoin ETF

by Blockchain NewsJanuary 16, 2023

Following closely on the heels of its exchange-traded fund (ETF) for Bitcoin futures in Hong Kong, Samsung Asset Management has stated that it is exploring the launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF on the city’s exchange, provided that the laws allow for it. This announcement comes shortly after Samsung Asset Management launched its Bitcoin futures ETF in Hong Kong.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg that was published on January 13, it was reported that Sam Park, the chief executive of Samsung Asset Management in Hong Kong, was recently quoted as saying the following: “It truly depends on how policy is going to be created.”

He stated that developing Hong Kong into a hub for the Bitcoin business is “clearly” the goal of the administration in charge of the city’s affairs in Hong Kong.

Rebecca Sin, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, made the observation that “Hong Kong is well positioned to become Asia’s crypto gateway.” She anticipates that spot Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) products will be permitted there by the end of the year. Sin’s statement was made in reference to the fact that Sin believes Hong Kong is well positioned to become Asia’s crypto gateway. The basis for Sin’s forecast was the assertion that Hong Kong is “ideally positioned to become Asia’s crypto gateway.”

On January 13, Samsung debuted an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that will invest in Bitcoin futures on the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Market. The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Market is the only exchange in Asia that presently offers trading in Bitcoin futures ETFs. This distinction currently belongs to Hong Kong.

Additional interest has been shown in Hong Kong futures exchange traded funds (ETFs), such as the $73.6 million that was invested in two ETFs managed by CSOP Asset Management prior to their listing on December 16th. This investment is an example of the additional interest that has been shown in Hong Kong futures ETFs.

The fact that so much bitcoin activity is taking place in countries other than the United States is being attributed by many people to a lack of clarity in the applicable laws. Because of this, legislators are advocating for crypto legislation to be enacted as rapidly as is practically possible.

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Tagged : Bitcoin / Etf / Hong Kong / News / Samsung