China begins work to establish national standards for blockchain technology: Report

China is reportedly working on national standards for blockchain technology to foster the use of the technology in the country. Local news outlet reports that the blockchain standards will be completed by the end of 2019. The authorities are considering top-level, or “top down,” standards to compete in the global market.

South Korean regulator considers relaxing cryptocurrency regulations

The newly appointed governor of South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has hinted on the regulator’s plans to ease cryptocurrency regulations in the country, The Korea Times reported. While he did not comment on the methodologies that would be adopted by the regulator for domestic crypto exchanges, Yoon said that better regulation would facilitate a more stable financial system.

Japan’s FSA outlines new five-point criteria for cryptocurrency exchange regulations

In a bid to circumvent digital currency heists going forward, Japan’s Financial Services Agency is going to implement stricter guidelines for cryptocurrency exchanges, according to Nikkei Asian Review. The move follows the major security breach at Coincheck in which the company lost nearly $530 million in NEM tokens to hackers.

State of Colorado passes blockchain technology bill

The State of Colorado has passed a legislation that promotes the use of blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies (DLTs). The bipartisan Senate Bill 86 establishes the framework for the use of cyber coding cryptology for state records.

Australia’s Budget 2018-19 allocates $500k to explore blockchain

The government of Australia has announced funding to its Digital Transformation Agency to explore the potential of blockchain for government services. The government has allocated AU $700,000 (around $518,000 according to current exchange rate) to the agency, which will be allotted over the next four years, according to the Budget Paper 2018-19.

Bermuda signs MoU with Overstock’s blockchain subsidiary Medici Ventures

Furthering its blockchain initiatives, the government of Bermuda has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Medici Ventures, the blockchain-focused subsidiary of online retail giant Overstock. The MoU is aimed at incubating, launching, and investing in blockchain projects engaged in areas such as land titling, central banks, capital markets, voting, and healthcare.

Venezuelan President announces digital cryptocurrency bank, assigns 20M petros

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced plans to set up a digital bank of cryptocurrencies for the country’s youth. According to the announcement, the head of the state has assigned 20 million petros (around $1.2 billion), Venezuela’s national cryptocurrency, to promote socio-productive activities through this initiative.

NYSE to establish trading platform for Bitcoin derivatives

The New York Times reports that Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parental company of the NYSE, is on the verge of evolving a trading platform cryptocurrency derivatives. The media conversations emphasize setting up of the new business and the trades that would take the form of swaps. The new contracts would reportedly take the form of swaps and if so will be regulated by CFTC.

News giant Bloomberg launches cryptocurrency index

Financial data and news giant Bloomberg, in collaboration with digital asset management company Galaxy Digital Capital Management, has launched crypto index. The Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index (BGCI) will track the performance of the largest, most liquid portion of the cryptocurrency market. It is market capitalization-weighted and measures the performance of leading ten USD-traded cryptocurrencies.

Upcoming Token Offerings/ICOs:

South Korean blockchain startup KEOS announces airdrop for EOS token holders

Highly anticipated KODAKCoin token offering to kick-off on May 21

Events/Conferences:

Weekend special lined up at Ethereal Summit NY

Investments/Acquisitions/ Fund-raising:

Robinhood secures $363M in Series D funding, seeks to become largest crypto platform

Japan’s SBI Group makes ‘eight-figure USD investment’ in Taiwanese blockchain startup OwlTing

Blockchain records and identity startup Learning Machine secures $3M in seed financing

PwC acquires minority stake in blockchain startup VeChain

Partnerships/Consortiums:

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinone’s subsidiary joins Ripple’s blockchain network

Conduent delves into blockchain with EEA membership

Blockchain startups Scanetchain and Overnodes sign MoU to expand token ecosystem

Blockchain and Digital Currency Initiatives

Hewlett Packard Enterprise partners with Swiss blockchain startup Streamr

De Beers pilots blockchain traceability platform, tracks 100 diamonds

House of Blockchain launches in Liechtenstein

Singapore International Chamber of Commerce unveils blockchain-based eCertificate of Origin platform

Facebook seeks to best leverage blockchain, sets up research group

Blockchain startup DOVU tokenizes mileage tracking for BMW

Hollywood gets blockchain-powered entertainment platform

Stock Exchange of Thailand launches blockchain-based crowdfunding platform ‘LiVE’

Oracle to launch blockchain platform-as-a-service

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange QUOINE launches ICO platform

Huawei rolls out first cryptocurrency app on AppGallery