New York state legislature advances bill on creation of cryptocurrency task force

The New York state legislature last month voted to advance a bill that seeks to create a digital currency task force, CoinTelegraph reported. The legislature’s banks committee voted on the bill. The task force will investigate “the potential effects of the widespread implementation of digital currencies on financial markets in the state.”

Japan’s FSA first time rejects cryptocurrency exchange application

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has officially announced the rejection of a cryptocurrency exchange application. The regulator rejected FSHO’s application stating that the entity falls under the category of "a corporation that has not been established a system to properly and reliably carry out the virtual currency exchange industry.”

PBoC develops blockchain system to digitize checks

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has completed its initial work on a blockchain-based system that digitizes checks issued by domestic businesses, CoinDesk reported referring to an op-ed by a senior PBoC official. Di Gang, deputy head of the digital currency research lab at the PBoC, wrote that the department "completed the infrastructure of a system that issues digital checks based on a blockchain with smart contracts technology."

Indonesian regulator to allow cryptocurrency trading as commodities

Indonesia’s Futures Exchange Supervisory Board (Bappebti) has signed a decree to make cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin a commodity which could be traded on stock exchanges, The Jakarta Post reported referring to a local news source kontan.co.id.

Canadian securities regulator cautions against crypto asset trading platforms

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has issued a warning to investors considering crypto purchases through trading platforms. The regulator said that currently there are no crypto-asset trading platforms recognized as an “exchange” or otherwise authorized to operate a marketplace or dealer in the country. Importantly, these platforms might not be in compliance with the securities regulatory regime.

Bank of Thailand to develop digital currency for interbank settlement

The Bank of Thailand (BoT) has announced a new project aimed at developing central bank digital currency (CBDC) to facilitate interbank settlement. Speaking at an event in Singapore, BoT governor Veerathai Santiprabhob announced the CBDC-focused initiative “Project Inthanon”, while detailing a number of other fintech and blockchain initiatives undertaken by the central bank.

The National Archives of UK explores blockchain potential for digital records

The National Archives of the UK is exploring how blockchain technology could help ensure the legitimacy of archived records. In an online post, Alex Green, Digital Preservation Services Manager at The National Archives, announced that the National Archives is working on a research project ‘ARCHANGEL,’ which is investigating how to identify if a digital record has been modified and whether the changes made were legitimate. The objective is to ensure the authenticity of the archived record.

Research Studies:

Complex regulation detrimental to widespread blockchain adoption: EY poll

“Ethereum” googled over 110M times: ConsenSys’ ‘The State of the Ethereum Network’

Investments/Acquisitions/ Fund-raising:

Japanese IT group TIS invests in R3 blockchain consortium

German blockchain startup XAIN secures €6m in seed funding

Crypto exchange Binance to invest in esports tokenization platform

Hyperchain claims ‘first quasi-unicorn’ status in Chinese blockchain industry with $226M Series B funding

Ripple commits over $50M to University Blockchain Research Initiative

Ant Financial to boost blockchain focus following $14B series C funding

Partnerships/Consortiums:

Philippines’ IP Ventures partners with South Korean insurer Hanwha to boost blockchain adoption

Indian retail chain giant Future Group partners with blockchain startup Nucleus Vision

DHL partners with TradeIX to tap blockchain potential

Media and technology industry executives to launch ‘Digital Future Council’, key focus on blockchain

Digital Currency and Blockchain Initiatives

Allianz, Deutsche Bank, Auto1 team up to bring blockchain to car financing

Bitcoin ETFs to emerge on joint venture between VanEck and SolidX, How do SEC, CME and CBOE regulate?

Pros and Cons: What Fidelity Investments’ cryptocurrency offering would entail?

Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi to develop own public blockchain

Japan’s Fujitsu releases Blockchain Asset Service

ZenCash, Infopulse partner to develop treasury voting system

Northern Trust receives U.S. blockchain patents on digital identity management and digital meeting management

Global Blockchain trials P2P enterprise cloud services marketplace with Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Samsung SDS announces AI and blockchain-based finance platform ‘Nexfinance’

Japan’s SBI Holdings launches cryptocurrency exchange ‘VCTRADE’

Chinese tech titan Baidu unveils new blockchain protocol ‘Super Chain’

Abu Dhabi Ports subsidiary announces own blockchain technology

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