Author: The Block
CVS Health has filed a trademark application that signals potential plans to offer NFTs and healthcare services in virtual reality and augmented reality, according to a trademark filing posted on February 28. In general, it’s hard to say whether there are immediate plans for a company to move into crypto or the metaverse based on just a filing, says Mike Kondoudis, trademark attorney. This is because there are two ways to file for trademark: 1A filings means actual use, where a company gives the government evidence of use for the trademark. Alternatively, the filing could be a “1B” filing,…
Ethereum miners brought in $1.19 billion in revenue in February. Most of these revenues came from the block subsidy ($1.09 billion) and only a small portion from transaction fees ($109.77 million). The numbers reveal a decrease in revenue totals for the third month in a row, with a month-over-month decrease of 15.3% between January and February. Total revenues were $2.07 billion in November 2021 and have been going down since. They hit an all-time high in May 2021, with a total of $2.4 billion. Read full story on The Block
Crypto payments infrastructure provider and stablecoin issuer Circle has delayed its DeFi application programming interface (API) product, citing the need for further regulatory guidance on its rollout. APIs allow businesses to more simply access each others’ systems and Circle had announced the product via a blog post shared by CEO Jeremy Allaire on Twitter back in June last year. He promised “seamless, safe, secure and regulated infrastructure for accessing and building on DeFi lending markets”. The DeFi API product, which would’ve initially helped businesses access Compound on the Ethereum network, has now been delayed and resources instead dedicated to launching the Circle…
Brazil’s central bank revealed today that it has picked nine projects to move forward in its quest to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The projects will move forward through an innovation lab co-managed by the bank. The lab, known as LIFT for its name in Portuguese, selected projects from companies including established banks, a DeFi protocol and an important crypto exchange. This exercise aims to research possible use cases for a digital Brazilian real, and the technical feasibility of various methods for getting there. According to details released by Brazil’s central bank, LIFT has decided to advance the following projects with the aim…
Sherlock, a startup that promises to protect crypto projects from smart contract hacks, is looking to raise $100 million in a public funding round next week. The project will open its six-day fundraising window on March 7 at 4 pm UTC, according to an announcement. This follows a previous $30 million guarded launch through a whitelisted round. Sherlock is a security solution for protocols. It connects crypto projects with external audit firms and Sherlock’s own security teams, nicknamed Watsons — along with providing tools for smart contract coverage for exploits and bounties on bugs. Sherlock’s token round will operate on a first-come,…
The UK’s top finance watchdog said Thursday that 50 crypto firms are under active investigation. The figure was included in a statement issued by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which as previously reported has developed and slowly built out a registry of crypto firms under its auspices. That registry has been notably slow to add new firms, creating potential headaches for firms operating in the country as the registration deadline approaches. Per the FCA’s Thursday statement, officials there have opened hundreds of investigations into businesses suspected of noncompliance. “The FCA has also revealed that over six months, it opened over 300 cases…
Three people associated with a now-closed company called The Geek Group were sentenced to prison after authorities discovered they traded bitcoins and laundered money via an unlicensed money transmitting business. Together they sold over $740,000 in bitcoin, according to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office on February 28. Their alleged scheme involved buying bitcoin from registered exchanges, often laundering it, and then selling it to customers, including drug dealers. The president of the company, Christopher Allan Boden, 46, from Michigan, told prospective customers that “people buy from” him because he sold “clean” bitcoin, not “dirty” bitcoin that could be traced, according…
Users of MetaMask based in Venezuela say they can no longer access the popular digital asset wallet. Messages about the issue began to crop up on social media on Wednesday, with numerous examples spreading as of late Thursday morning. The suspected culprit is the API for Infura, a blockchain node infrastructure network. A MetaMask support page, updated an hour before press time, states that “MetaMask and Infura are unavailable in certain jurisdictions due to legal compliance.” The page features a screenshot of an error message akin to the type being spread on social media. Word of the blockages also prompted…
Investment brokerage Charles Schwab filed to create a “Crypto Economy ETF” on Thursday, according to regulatory filings. As stated in the filing: “The fund’s goal is to track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the total return of an index that is designed to deliver global exposure to companies that may benefit from the development or utilization of cryptocurrencies (including bitcoin) and other digital assets, and the business activities connected to blockchain and other distributed ledger technology.” The fund, as structured, is intended to track the performance of a Schwab Crypto Economy Index. Which specific firms the index will…
Global music brands Billboard and Universal Music Group are partnering to launch ChartStars, an NFT based project of digital collectibles built on the Flow blockchain. This is Billboard’s first scalable NFT project geared toward music fans. The collection will be comprised of artist-focused digital artwork that celebrates the achievements and milestones of the Billboard Charts. The items will feature officially licensed art including short visual clips from music videos and album photos. “For the first time, music fans will now have an opportunity to be forever linked to their favorite artists, by sharing ownership of a moment in time,” said Julian Holguin, President…