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Crypto Briefs is your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
Adoption news
- Clearstream, Credit Suisse Asset Management, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, and Natixis Investment Managers have announced a joint launch of FundsDLT, a blockchain-based technology platform for the investment fund industry. Per the press release, the four financial institutions announced a Series A investment in FundsDLT to develop a new decentralized technology platform to facilitate the distribution of funds based on distributed LEDGER technology (DLT).
- IOV Labs, the development team focused on building blockchain-based financial solutions, has launched Gasnet, a blockchain network focused on Argentina’s natural gas distribution ecosystem. The emailed press release states that the network uses IOV Labs-powered RSK smart contracts and its RIF second-layer solutions to increase efficiency, transparency, and information management in the industry. The Gasnet network was launched in collaboration with Grupo Sabra, an Argentina-based software development company.
- Hedera Hashgraph, an enterprise-focused distributed ledger platform, has announced that Wipro Limited, a global information technology, consulting, and business process services company, has joined the Hedera Governing Council, which is designed to be a decentralized governance model for a public ledger, says the platform. The council will include 39 enterprises across industries and geographies.
- Dunamu, the operator of the South Korean crypto exchange Upbit, has launched a new enterprise blockchain market solution via its Lambda 256 subsidiary. Per Newsway, the company says its Luniverse Hyperledger Fabric platform is a blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) solution for the Hyperledger Fabric network that will allow companies with little or no knowledge of blockchain technology to begin operating within the industry without incurring high costs.
- The long-awaited Atari Token, the latest project from 1970s-1980s gaming giant Atari, is finally set to roll out, with a May presale now slated, followed by a general sale in August. Atari first announced it was planning a token launch in December 2017, with further details released in February 2018. Radio silence followed for over two years, but per Denfaminicogamer (via Yahoo Japan), the token will be available for use on a forthcoming Atari Casino gambling platform, and will also be used to trade in-game items. Atari is currently owned by French gaming giant Infogrames.
Exchanges news
- is going to implement a comprehensive upgrade of its structure, brand and strategy, the KUCOIN management team says, and as the first step, the KuGroup has been officially established, consisting of three business groups: KuCoin Global, KuCloud, and the KuChain & KCS Ecosystem. Michael Gan is the Chairman of KuGroup, responsible for overseeing the global strategy of KuCoin Global and exploring the boundaries of blockchain technology with KuChain, a public chain powered by KuCoin. KuCoin co-founder Johnny Lyu is now KuCoin Global CEO, responsible for the day-to-day operations of KuCoin, KuMEX, and Pool-X, and for the expansion of the ecosystem.
- Decentralized exchange Sparkswap has decided to shut down its product and services on Tuesday. Per the blog post authored by the founder Trey Griffith, the exchange wasn't able to build a large enough audience to sustain the business over the long term, and the style of self-custody they offer is too niche to make the business sustainable. All trading activity will be terminated on March 24 and their Lightning node retired by the end of the month. Nonetheless, users' USD funds will continue to be held in their accounts with Sparkswap's banking partner, AnchorUSD.
DeFi news
- Draper Goren Holm Ventures, a venture capital (VC) fund focused on blockchain startups, has purchased a stake in the DMM DAO, which is the governing organization of the DeFi Money Market (DMM) Protocol. According to the DMM Foundation’s official announcement, the company and its founder, the billionaire bull Tim Draper have bought the stake in the form of DMG — the upcoming governance token that will run the DMM DAO.
Legal news
- A Brazilian bank has fired a manager who was allegedly co-running a multi-level marketing-style bitcoin scam during working hours. Per BOL, the Itau Unibanco employee in question was promising investors 65% returns on their stakes, and ran the scheme from their desk during office hours. However, the employee has responded by issuing a civil complaint for unfair dismissal, claiming that the bank had tarnished their reputation by naming them in an email sent to 300 co-workers – and that the bitcoin investment project was a sideline project run outside working hours.
- Police say that they have discovered illegal crypto mining rigs running in historic heritage buildings in St. Petersburg, Russia. Per an official St. Petersburg city news release, five addresses were raided in protected, non-residential buildings around the city – where it was discovered that raiders had broken in and installed mining equipment. The buildings have been marked unsafe for habitation, and one was named as a former naval barracks.
