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HSBC is looking for a top executive to work with asset tokenization

by Blockchain NewsFebruary 2, 2023

The British multinational bank HSBC, which controls the greatest amount of assets in Europe, has increased its focus on digital currencies in recent years. The financial institution is seeking to hire a senior executive who will focus on asset tokenization.

On January 30, HSBC announced the opening of a post for a GPBW product director of tokenization, and the deadline for applications was set for February 13. According to the description of the role, the “tokenization director” would be responsible for “creating and executing” a worldwide tokenization offer as well as representing the bank in front of regulators and the digital assets ecosystem.

The applicant has to be familiar with digital assets, particularly asset tokenization and custody, and have “deep insights” into the sector as a whole as well as the important wealth markets in various geographical locations.

This signifies the acceleration of HSBC’s interest in digital currencies, which had previously been represented in a number of cooperation between the two companies. The bank began offering its rich customers in Singapore and Hong Kong a metaverse investment product in April 2022. The target audience for this investment was the metaverse. Earlier, the company became a member of the Global Markets Advisory Committee of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

However, the most significant area of interest for HSBC is the expansion of digital currencies used by central banks throughout the world (CBDCs). Noel Quinn, the CEO of HSBC Group, provided an overview of the company’s commitment to supporting digital currencies issued by central banks in September 2021. However, he emphasised concern over the dangers connected with cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.

The British bank was a participant in the proof-of-concept CBDC project that was run by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for a period of twelve weeks. It was present during the unveiling of the Universal Digital Payment Network, which is a platform for distributed ledger technology (DLT) that would serve a role comparable to that of the SWIFT network for banks, but for stablecoins and CBDCs instead. Additionally, HSBC is one of the 14 commercial and central banks who are working together with SWIFT to test transactions including CBDCs and tokenized assets on preexisting financial infrastructure.

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Reliance Retail accept digital rupee at one store

by Blockchain NewsFebruary 2, 2023

Reliance Retail, one of the largest retail chains in India, has made an announcement stating that they have begun taking the digital rupee at one of their shop lines and have plans to roll out the implementation to all of their companies.

According to a story published by Tech Crunch, the business has said that support for central bank digital currency (CBDC) has already been pushed out at its gourmet shop line, Freshpik. Additionally, the company said that it will be increasing support for the digital rupee across all of its domains. This is a step that has the potential to speed up the adoption of CBDC inside the nation.

An official at Reliance Retail named V Subramaniam said that the company’s decision to accept the digital currency issued by the country’s central bank is in line with its mission to provide Indian customers with “the power of choice.” The CEO also emphasised the fact that the company is now able to offer customers in its shops an additional method of payment as a result of the project.

The article states that in order to roll out support for the CBDC, Reliance Retail teamed with ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and the fintech business, Innoviti Technologies. Customers who choose to make their purchases with digital rupees will be given a QR code at the register to use in order to finalise their transactions.

In a note that was 51 pages long and published on October 7, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) detailed its plans for the country’s CBDC. The nation’s central bank outlined a number of considerations, one of which was the potential for both good and negative consequences. According to the Reserve Bank of India, one of the primary goals of a CBDC is to cut down on the overhead expenses associated with cash management.

In November 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) began testing a wholesale version of the digital rupee with participating institutions and businesses. The CBDC pilot programme for retail customers was launched by the central bank on December 1, 2022, and it was limited to a restricted user group consisting of customers and merchants.

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Tagged : Business / CBDC / India / Indian Government / News / Regulation / Reserve Bank Of India

Web3 Builders Reveals Suite of Tools to Combat DeFi exploits

by Blockchain NewsFebruary 2, 2023

Users of decentralised finance (DeFi) have expressed a significant amount of anxiety over the system’s vulnerability to exploitation. According to a research published by Privacy Affairs, cybercriminals stole bitcoin worth $4.3 billion between January and November of 2022, representing a 37% rise over the previous year’s total.

The integrity of organisations is harmed as a result of these exploits, and naysayers from outside the cryptocurrency industry are given more ammunition to make their argument against cryptocurrencies. Nevertheless, in an announcement made on February 2 by Web3 Builders, the business disclosed a set of tools that may be used to address this problem.

The first version of TrustCheck was developed as a browser plugin to identify fraudulent Web3-related activities before users continued to engage with them. This new set of tools expands on that by include a transaction checker, website checker, and smart contract checker that are all built using Web3 Builders.

According to Ricky Pellegrini, the Chief Executive Officer of Web3 Builders, now is a crucial time for the industry to demonstrate that it can be trusted.

Scams and fraudulent activity are unfortunately still prevalent in the Web3 domain, which is a sad reality.

According to the statement, the tools do daily vulnerability checks on about 55 million Ethereum smart contracts and scan close to 30 million potentially malicious URLs.

He went on to claim that even in the last month, the suite of tools uncovered dozens of frauds advertised on prominent platforms, marketplaces, and exchanges. He said this was the case even though the most recent month was the most recent month.

Over the course of the last week, there has been an uptick in the number of assaults that have been designed to steal information from millions of users. This covers an incident that occurred on February 1 in which the BonqDAO protocol suffered a loss of 120 million dollars as a result of an oracle compromise.

Azuki’s Twitter account was hacked the week before last, and the thieves made off with $758k in only half an hour. On January 25, criminals gained access to the Twitter account of the financial services platform Robinhood and attempted to spread the word about a fraudulent cryptocurrency.

According to Nicholas Horelik, the technical co-founder and chief blockchain officer at Web3 Builders, having a good grasp of what is going on with your transaction is absolutely necessary for maintaining the security of your assets.

“End users ought to have this capabilities on whichever platform they choose, and companies should be adopting solutions like this to assure the safety of their consumers in Web3,” said one researcher.

The Wormhole hacker shifted $155 million of the total $321 million taken on January 24, which was the largest relocation of stolen assets witnessed in months. The total amount of money stolen was $321 million.

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Tagged : Adoption / DeFi / Hackers / Hacks / News / NFT / Scams / Security

Senate Banking Committee to Develop Bipartisan Regulatory Framework for Cryptocurrencies

by Blockchain NewsFebruary 2, 2023

Recent reports indicate that Republican United States Senator Tim Scott, who serves as the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, aims to build “a bipartisan regulatory framework” for virtual currencies. Senator Scott is the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee.

In a piece that was published on the 2nd of February by Politico, it was said that Scott has prioritised the creation of a cryptographic framework as one of his primary objectives for the 118th Congress. Reportedly, he had some reservations about certain aspects of cryptocurrency, citing the failure of exchanges such as FTX — “high-profile failures resulting in lost client money” — as well as the possibility that it may be used for illegal financing. He also cited the possibility that it may be used for illegal financing.

Recent events have resulted in Scott being promoted to the position of ranking member, which was originally held by the late Senator Pat Toomey. Toomey completed the balance of his tenure in office but did not seek reelection in the following year. Toomey lent his support to a number of legislative initiatives aimed at fostering innovation in the digital asset sector, and Sherrod Brown, the committee chair, urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to collaborate with financial regulators and legislators on comprehensive cryptocurrency legislation. Toomey lent his support to a number of legislative initiatives aimed at fostering innovation in the digital asset sector.

The Senate Banking Committee held a hearing in December with the purpose of reviewing the failure of FTX, which had occurred earlier in the month. When a new session of Congress starts in 2023, there is a possibility that the Committee may continue its investigation as part of that session. The House Financial Services Committee, which is now led by Representative Patrick McHenry and has the ability to hold another hearing on FTX, may also hold such a hearing at some point in the near future.

As a direct consequence of the Republican Party’s win in the House of Representatives, McHenry now has the authority to choose which topics need to be prioritised on the legislative agenda for the finance committee. It is believed that he aims to form a new subcommittee that would be focused on digital problems. This would be in response to the “vast hole” that reportedly existed in the existing committee structures.

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Tagged : Congress / Cryptocurrencies / Law / News / Regulation / United States

Senate Banking Committee to Develop Bipartisan Regulatory Framework for Cryptocurrencies

by Blockchain NewsFebruary 2, 2023

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Tagged : Congress / Cryptocurrencies / Law / News / Regulation / United States

Spanish Authorities Arrest Bitzlato Exchange Executives for Money Laundering

by Blockchain NewsFebruary 2, 2023

The chief executive officer, sales executive, and marketing director of the Hong Kong cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato have been detained in Spain, according to a story that was published on February 2 by the Turkish news agency Anadolu. In all, six Russian and Ukrainian people were taken into custody in connection with the transaction as a result of a collaborative operation by law enforcement agencies from the United States of America, France, Portugal, and Cyprus.

According to the information provided by the Spanish authorities, the anonymity provided by the exchange made it possible for it to become the platform of choice for criminal groups wanting to launder money through cryptocurrencies. In connection with the investigation, the authorities were able to recover digital assets worth $19.8 million (18 million euros), luxury vehicles, cash, cellphones, and other goods. Additionally, they were able to freeze over 100 exchange accounts.

This move comes just two days after Bitzlato co-founder Anton Shkurenko stated in an interview that 50% of the Bitcoin (BTC) held in Bitzlato wallets could be withdrawn the same day the exchange relaunches after investigators seized approximately 35% of users’ funds held in the exchange’s hot wallets. The move comes just two days after Shkurenko stated that 50% of the Bitcoin (BTC) held in Bitzlato wallets could be withdrawn the same day. In relation to this topic, Shkruenko provided further information by stating that the new Bitzlato would have its headquarters in Russia and will be “beyond the grasp of law enforcement officials.”

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) took enforcement action against Bitzlato on January 18, alleging that the cryptocurrency exchange did not comply with Know-Your-Customer and Anti-Money Laundering regulations, which allowed cybercriminals to launder more than $700 million through the Bitzlato platform. On the same day, the websites associated with Bitzlato were taken down, and a percentage of the cash associated with the exchange were confiscated by the authorities. Anatoly Legkodymov, a Russian citizen who was living in the People’s Republic of China at the time of his detention, was one of the company’s co-founders and was taken into custody in Miami on the same day.

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Tagged : Business / Cryptocurrencies / MONEY LAUNDERING / News / Spain

Everlend Finance, a Solana-based decentralized finance

by Blockchain NewsFebruary 2, 2023

Everlend Finance, the company behind the Solana decentralised finance (DeFi) system, is winding down its business activities and requesting that users remove their cash from the network.

On February 1, the firm announced the decision through Twitter, explaining that while having “enough runway” to continue functioning, doing so would be a risk given the present state of the industry. In particular, Everland’s team made the following observations: “Unfortunately, there is not enough liquidity in the rn market, and this problem is not unique to Solana. Furthermore, the B/L market, which Everlend is completely reliant on, continues to contract. Under these circumstances, continuing would be gambling to do so. And despite the fact that there was plenty of runway left, we made the decision to halt here.”

Everlend also said that deposits from underlying protocols are now stored in vaults, and that the app would be limited to withdrawals only until the funds are completely cleared. “We urge that our customers remove their cash as soon as possible,” the company said.

The group has said that all monies, collected and utilised, together with payments made to third-party contractors, will be “covered” over the next two weeks. This indicates that all parties involved will be compensated in full for their contributions. The codebase of the protocol will also be made publicly available, enabling others to continue developing solutions based on it.

Everlend was established in 2021, and its strategic plan for the following months involved the introduction of both a governance platform and a money market. Everstake Capital, GSR, and Serum were among the investors in the protocol.

During the height of its popularity, DeFi Llama reports that Everlend had nearly $400,000 worth of total value locked (TVL). However, as a result of the collapse of FTX, the protocol had a considerable fall, which had an adverse effect on the liquidity of the market.

Everlend is the second Solana-based DeFi technology to go down within a few days due to crypto winter. Everlend was the second protocol to shut down. Friktion platform made the announcement that it will be shutting down its user interface on January 27. The company cited a “difficult market for DeFi expansion” as the reason for its decision.

The decision was made after Everlend reported over a year earlier that it had successfully completed a financing round in which it had received $5.5 million. Shortly before the FTX crash hit in November, the business even began offering undercollateralized loans with the intention of satisfying the demand for DeFi shown by institutional investors.

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Tagged : DeFi / FTX / Lending / News / Solana

Kraken Closes Abu Dhabi Office

by Blockchain NewsFebruary 2, 2023

A cryptocurrency exchange known as Kraken has decided to close its headquarters in Abu Dhabi less than a year after receiving approval from local authorities to do business there.

According to an article that was published by Bloomberg on February 2, it was announced that Kraken had shuttered its office in Abu Dhabi, which resulted in the dismissal of around eight members of the team that specialised in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Since April 2022, when the licence to operate in the Abu Dhabi international financial hub and the Abu Dhabi Global Market was granted, the exchange has been permitted to perform services there. This occurred before the market drop that caused a lot of crypto firms to suffer losses.

The rumoured move in the Middle East occurred after Kraken said in November that it planned to downsize its workforce by more than 30 percent, which is equivalent to more than 1,000 people, in an effort to survive the crypto winter. According to Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell, the layoffs are returning the size of the exchange back to where it was in 2021, before it witnessed considerable growth. Powell came to the conclusion that he should step aside from his post as CEO, but he will continue to serve as board chair, as he indicated back in September.

As of the 31st of January, Kraken withdrew entirely from the Japanese market. This is the second time since April 2018 that the exchange has abandoned a major economy in Asia. The firm said in December that the decision had been reached as part of the process of resource allocation, citing “current market conditions in Japan” and a “weak crypto market globally” as the reasons for the move.

This page was revised on February 2 to reflect a statement that was issued by Kraken. The revision can be seen here.

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Tagged : Business / Cryptocurrency Exchange / Kraken / Middle East / News

Local Officials Set Ambitious Targets for Digital Yuan Transactions

by Blockchain NewsFebruary 2, 2023

Local news site JS China reports that top Communist Party officials were present in the City of Suzhou on February 1 for an annual conference discussing the testing of the digital yuan central bank digital currency (e-CNY CBDC). As part of the outcomes of the meeting, party officials have established a provisional key performance indicator (KPI) of 2 trillion CNY ($300 billion) for e-CNY CBDC transactions in the city by the end of 2023. This KPI is intended to be implemented by municipal administrators through promotional efforts.

A goal of processing $30 billion in e-CNY loans for small and medium-sized firms in Suzhou by the end of the year has been established by the relevant authorities. With over 30.54 million digital wallet downloads in 2022, the total value of e-CNY transactions in the city topped 340 billion CNY, which is equivalent to $50.5 billion. These transactions took place at 930,000 local companies and government agencies. The total amount of financial incentives connected to the e-CNY amounted to 40 billion CNY ($5.9 billion), while the total amount of e-CNY loans granted was 18.7 billion ($2.78 billion).

Concurrently with the e-CNY Key Performance Indicators, the local administrators in Suzhou are required to oversee the development of at least 1,000 firms in the digital financial technology sector within the city by the year 2025. These firms are required to specialise in the areas of artificial intelligence, data, cloud computing, blockchain, and machine learning. Currently, there are only 371 such firms. An excerpt from the plan for the City of Suzhou reads, when translated: “By the year 2025, the People’s Bank of China will have established a digital assets data monitoring platform, a blockchain-powered exchange for finance and commodities, a payment solution for internet of things, and a fintech lab, all of which will have produced tangible results. This would encourage the growth of the ecosystem for digital finance, which would synergize nicely with the current financial industry in the City of Suzhou.”

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Tagged : Blockchain / Business / CBDC / China / Cryptocurrencies / News / Yuan

Despite the attacker borrowing 100 million BEUR

by Blockchain NewsFebruary 2, 2023

The blockchain security company CertiK suggests that the amount of harm that was done to the decentralised protocol BonqDAO on February 1 may have been far less than what was previously believed.

According to information provided by CertiK, the attacker started by taking out a loan for 100 million BEUR, which is a euro stablecoin, using less than $1,000 as collateral since there were no limitations on the ratio of collateralization. If users set the parameter to zero, then the platform will provide the “largest value of uint256” as the default action. This will make it possible for an incredible number of loans to be distributed.

However, according to CertiK, the hacker was only able to withdraw approximately one million dollars due to a lack of liquidity on the platform. This is despite the fact that the attacker borrowed a total of one hundred million BEUR (approximately one hundred twenty million dollars at the time of the attack). Earlier reports from blockchain security companies such as PeckSheild suggested that the hack resulted in losses of about 120 million dollars.

The Liquity Protocol was forked into Bonq, and both blockchains employ Troves to represent discrete debt positions. Bonq is a fork of the Liquity Protocol. On the other hand, reports indicate that Bonq has introduced a Community Liquidation Feature, which resulted in the liquidation of 45 Troves that had exposure to BEUR. CertiK reports that the hack also affected Troves, each of which had around 110 million Alliance Block tokens (ALBT). However, none of the Alliance Block smart contracts were compromised during the event, and the team behind the project has promised to distribute replacement tokens through an airdrop as a form of compensation to the holders of tokens who were harmed.

Although it looks that BonqDAO suffered less loss as a result of the occurrences due to a lack of liquidity, other participants were not as fortunate. On October 12, DeFi protocol Mango Markets suffered an initial loss of $116 million as a result of hacker Avraham Eisenberg’s manipulation of the price of the MNGO token price. Eisenberg drove the price up 30 times using huge perpetual future contracts in a short amount of time. Because of the limited liquidity, this was feasible since the amount of initial cash needed to control MNGO was only somewhat significant.

After that, Eisenberg obtained a loan for $116 million using the $423 million of his inflated MNGO holdings as security and stole cash from the platform. He did this simultaneously. On December 28th, Eisenberg was taken into custody in Puerto Rico on suspicion of manipulating the value of commodities and committing commodities fraud.

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Tagged : Altcoin / Blockchain / Cryptocurrencies / DeFi / Hackers / Hacks / News