Press Release Today TheBitTimes.com

Coinbase is introducing spot cryptocurrency trading on its international exchange, marking a significant step towards its global expansion strategy.  Starting Dec. 14th, institutional traders can engage in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) transactions, paired with the USDC stablecoin. Greg Tusar, who leads institutional product development at Coinbase, emphasized the strategic importance of offering both spot and derivatives trading concurrently in an interview with Bloomberg.  We are excited to announce the next phase of our Coinbase International Exchange expansion – the launch of non-US spot markets for eligible customers, designed to address the unique needs and demands of our global user base. pic.twitter.com/JWEChT5BDa — Coinbase ️ (@coinbase) December 13, 2023 You might also like: Will Bitcoin ETFs follow gold ETFs’ path to success? Coinbase’s expansion arrives when the SEC is actively pursuing legal action against the firm. The SEC alleges tha...

A new stablecoin called USDV launched Tuesday, backed by tokenized U.S. Treasuries in an effort to provide transparency and stability. According to an announcement shared with crypto.news, USDV is pegged to the U.S. dollar and underpinned by short-term treasury bills converted into digital tokens using blockchain technology. The tokens were created by Matrixport, a cryptocurrency financial services company. Stablecoins are digital currencies designed to have a stable value and maintain it either by being attached to an asset like the U.S. dollar or complex tokenomics. They have grown in popularity recently but also drawn more scrutiny from regulators concerned about transparency and potential runs. USDV attempts to address those concerns by allegedly allowing holders to verify the Treasuries backing the coin in real time. The smart contracts governing USDV have undergone third-party security audits, according to the nonprofit Verified USD Foundation which launched the coin. ...

HSBC has partnered with Ripple-owned tech firm, Metaco, to allow institutional investors hold tokenized securities on its new custody platform. HSBC has partnered with Ripple-owned tech firm, Metaco, to integrate its institutional platform Harmonize with HSBC’s new custody service for digital assets, the firm announced on Nov. 8. The bank expects to roll out the new digital asset custody service in 2024, complementing its digital asset issuance platform known as HSBC Orion and HSBC offering for tokenized physical gold, launch ed on Nov. 1, 2023. Together, the services form a complete digital asset offering for HSBC’s institutional clients, the firm said. Major global banking company HSBC is planning to launch an institutional custody platform for tokenized securities, also known as security tokens. This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available. Source: https://thebittimes.com/hsbc-taps-ripple-s-metaco-to-launch-security-token-custody-...

Horizen Labs, the technology company behind Horizen DAO, and Stably, a Washington-based fintech company, have partnered to launch the Zen USD (ZUSD), the first stablecoin on Horizen’s EON blockchain.  Following this launch , users can now mint or redeem ZUSD on the EON network using various payment methods, including ACH, Fedwire, Visa, Mastercard, and other stablecoin s like USDC, via Stably Ramp.  You might also like: Horizen to remove privacy transactions in upcoming hard fork Stably Ramp is an on/off-ramp tool that can be integrated with third-party applications such as web3 wallets and decentralized finance (defi) protocols.  Rob Viglione, co-founder of Horizen and CEO of Horizen Labs, said: “This partnership with Stably is a major step towards achieving a more interconnected and seamless blockchain ecosystem. The integration of Stably’s stablecoin infrastructure with Horizen EON’s platform will not only enhance the u...

The Arbitrum blockchain project, together with Gitcoin Winter, is launch ing three donation program s. According to the project team, as part of The Arbitrum Citizens Retrofunding Round #1, the community will help us distribute 100,000 ARB to the Arbinauts that have proactively stepped up and impacted the governance and processes of the Arbitrum DAO. To apply for a grant, users must go to the appropriate website. It's an Arbitrum & Gitcoin Winter(save the date) ️ We're extremely excited to announce that we are rolling out three separate program s this winter : 1⃣The Arbitrum Citizens Retrofunding Round #1 🫂 2⃣The Arbitrum on @gitcoin Matching Fest 3⃣The Arbitrum on Allo Hackaton pic.twitter.com/U2wWLaJlw7 — ArbitrumDAOGrants (@ArbitrumGrants) November 6, 2023 The first round will launch on Nov. 15. The Arbitrum community will donate and decide how the funding gets allocated. You might also like: Arbitrum DAO votes in favor of bringing ARB staking Anot...

Switzerland’s central bank, the Swiss National Bank (SNB), has announced a pilot program for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in collaboration with six commercial banks. The pilot is set to run from December 2023 to June 2024. According to a press release on Thursday, Nov. 3, the SNB will launch the so-called Helvetia Phase III pilot on the local trading platform SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) with Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, Basler Kantonalbank, Commerzbank, Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, UBS and Zürcher Kantonalbank.  The digital currency will represent the Swiss franc “available for the settlement of real bond transactions,” the document says. Per the press release, the pilot will run from December 2023 to June 2024. “With this pilot project, we are now, for the first time, making it possible to securely and efficiently settle transactions with tokenized assets on a regulated and productive DLT platform using real wholesale CBDC.” Thomas J. Jordan, ...

This week has proven to be a busy one for social media platforms and their bigwig bosses. Twitter rival Bluesky announced an $8 million seed round on the eve of the launch of Threads, Meta’s own rival to Elon Musk’s bird website, just as Twitter announced it has secured a money transmitter license in several US states. Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s Bluesky launch ed its beta release in February. On Wednesday, it shared a press release announcing an $8 million funding round , led by Neo, that would allow the firm to expand its team and grow the app. Additionally, Bluesky shared news of its first paid service — custom domains. “Domains have so much potential as a personalized way to customize identities and as a decentralized way to verify reputation that builds off the existing web,” Bluesky’s statement read. The firm pointed out that while many of its users already customise their domains, such as US senators, the process “requires some familiarity with domain registrars and DNS...