Blockchain News

The crypto exchange giant Binance says that it will shut its Singapore exchange and “refocus” its Singapore-based Binance Asia Services operations into what it calls a “blockchain innovation hub.” The move comes just days after the Singaporean subsidiary announced an investment in the Singapore-based Hg Exchange trading platform.

With venture capital firms boosting their exposure to crypto this year, seven out of ten all-time biggest cryptocurrency- and blockchain-related early stage venture capital investments took place in 2021, according to a recent report by financial data and software company PitchBook.

China’s digital yuan is inching ever closer to rollout – with a pilot version of a central bank-issued app and wallet released on Apple and Android app stores in the country.

Facebook’s parent company Meta is determined to spend USD 60m to acquire the naming rights owned by the US bank Meta Financial Group, the latter company disclosed in a recent regulatory filing.

Two of South Korea’s largest banks are set lo launch a blockchain-powered digital certificate platform for military personnel – which will allow soldiers to use smartphone-based ID solutions to open savings accounts without having to set foot in a bricks-and-mortar bank branch.

Major crypto exchange Binance has dedicated more funds towards growing the ecosystem of its smart contract blockchain, Binance Smart Chain (BSC).

Poland’s central bank (Narodowy Bank Polski, NBP) and the country’s largest retail bank seem to be accelerating their respective works on developing digital assets - with the former potentially working on a central bank digital currency (CBDC), and the latter possibly moving to launch its own crypto.

DCash, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) commissioned by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), has remained offline for more than a month as technical issues continue to impact the platform, triggering growing concern among its users.

Blockchain-powered voting went ahead for United Russia (known locally as ER) Party primaries over the weekend, with many staying away from polling booths due to the coronavirus pandemic – and instead favoring online platforms that make use of votes registered on a blockchain protocol.

China is teasing the launch of its digital yuan again, riding a wave of adoption with just weeks to go until the Winter Olympics in Beijing – the event the government hopes will finally allow the central People’s Bank of China (PBoC) to showcase its coin to the world.