Kategorie: Crypto Business

• Binance fully exits Russia with sale of business to CommEX.
• Transition will last a year, the exchange said in an announcement on Wednesday, September 27.

Binance has announced its exit from Russia, with its business sold to newly formed cryptocurrency exchange CommEX.

An announcement on Wednesday stated that the exit comes after an agreement that sees it sell “the entirety of its Russia business” to the CommEX team.

Binance fully exits Russian market

While it did not disclose any financial details, Binance noted in the announcement that the off-boarding process will last one year. 

According to Binance, its deal with CommEX is unlike others that international companies struck in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the launch of sanctions by EU and the US. It’s a full exit.

“Unlike similar deals from international companies in Russia, Binance will have no ongoing revenue split from the sale, nor does it maintain any option to buy back shares in the business,” the exchange wrote.

Binance, which has faced multiple regulatory hurdles including a US Department of Justice investigation around activities in Russia, has assured all customers in the country that their assets are safe.

“As we look toward the future, we recognise that operating in Russia is not compatible with Binance’s compliance strategy,” Binance’s chief compliance officer Noah Perlman said in a statement. He added:

“We remain confident in the long-term growth of the Web3 industry around the world and will focus our energy on the 100+ other countries in which we operate.”

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao says the company will do everything to ensure a “smooth transition.”

The post BREAKING: Binance exits Russia, sells business to CommEX appeared first on CoinJournal.

Key takeaways

• Binance Japan is exploring the possibility of issuing a stablecoin in Japan by the end of 2024.

• The crypto exchange is working with MUTB, a unit of Japan’s MUFG. 

Binance Japan plans to issue a stablecoin in Japan

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (MUTB) and Binance Japan Inc (Binance Japan) are currently working together to explore the possibility of issuing a stablecoin in Japan. MUTB is a unit of Japanese bank MUFG.

This latest cryptocurrency news comes as Binance looks to strengthen its position in the region after it re-entered the Japanese market. 

The stablecoin will be pegged to fiat currencies, including the Japanese Yen and other foreign currencies.

In November 2022, Binance acquired a 100% stake in Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC), a regulated cryptocurrency exchange in Japan, marking its re-entry into the Japanese market. 

According to the press release, MUTB is currently leading the development of the “Progmat Coin” platform as an infrastructure for issuing stablecoins per the revised Payments Services Act enforced in June 2023.

The two entities plan to commence stablecoin operations by the end of 2024 after obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals. 

Binance Japan is now operational

This latest development comes roughly a month after Binance Japan began its operations. Binance Japan is currently offering 34 tokens, making it the largest number of tokens offered on any digital exchange in the country.

Takeshi Chino, general manager of Binance Japan, said in the statement,

“Stablecoins have important use cases across the broader financial ecosystem – from a lower-cost and instantaneous cross-border trade settlement for business clients to the facilitation of trading other cryptocurrencies seamlessly for retail investors — stablecoins fill an important financial services need and are crucial for the success of Web 3.0 adoption.” 

Tatsuya Saito, vice president of product of MUTB, added that,

“We believe that the new stablecoin from this collaboration will be a step forward in advancing Web 3.0.”

Binance Japan has indicated that it intends to offer a minimum of 100 tokens on its platform in the coming months.

The post Binance partners with MUFG to issue a stablecoin in Japan by end of 2024 appeared first on CoinJournal.

• cheqd (cheqd.io) is a privacy-focused payment and credential network that empowers users and organizations to take control of their data.
• It leverages Decentralized Identity (DID), Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI), and Digital or Verifiable Credentials (VCs), to establish Trusted Data markets as a novel industry category.
• cheqd’s technology is reshaping Trusted Data economies, including reusable KYC in Web3 and preference data markets.

cheqd, a startup focused on enhancing user and organizational control over identity data, has introduced Credential Payments, a new feature within its decentralized network and SaaS product, Credential Service. This development enables individuals and organizations to receive compensation for sharing their identity data while preserving their privacy. It also lays the foundation for Trusted Data markets, a nascent industry category.

Credential Payments represent a pioneering feature in Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI), allowing on-chain settlements for Trusted Data that remains off-chain to safeguard privacy. This innovation enables users to securely exchange and transact their verifiable Trusted Data while protecting their privacy.

Expansion of cheqd services

cheqd offers various products and tools designed to facilitate seamless integration with the network’s identity and payment functions. Credential Service, for instance, is a scalable solution that simplifies the process of incorporating decentralized identities into existing applications. Additionally, a range of SDKs is available for more advanced users.

The launch of Credential Payments holds the potential to unlock new business models and address the cold-start problem on the supply side, thus promoting the adoption of SSI. Organizations now have a direct financial incentive to issue credentials and Trusted Data, as Credential Payments enables recurring revenue from reused credentials.

As the cost of making credentials available to verifiers and receivers decreases compared to existing alternatives, more issuers are likely to enter the market, expanding its coverage. This creates a network effect as both sides of the market work to attract more participants.

cheqd’s identity network for payments has numerous use cases, with particular relevance in Finance and Education.

Value of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) in the AI era

SSI is poised to provide a valuable solution, particularly in an era of increasing regulatory scrutiny that requires global organizations to be responsible and accountable for user data.

Regulations such as the EU’s eIDAS 2.0 highlight the need for secure means to exchange identity data and attestations using Verifiable Credentials. Moreover, the rise of generative artificial intelligence has raised concerns about fraud, making it crucial for businesses to verify individuals using trusted data.

cheqd’s research suggests that the global SSI market could eventually exceed half a trillion dollars in value.

The post cheqd has launched Credential Payments, a new feature of its Credential Service appeared first on CoinJournal.

• The two companies have not disclosed the acquisition price.
• Bitwave completed a $15 million Series A investment round in December 2022.
• Gilded has over 130 enterprise clients, including mining companies.

Bitwave has bought the payments and accounting platform Gilded. The acquisition is anticipated to improve Bitwave’s enterprise solutions, which already include features for crypto payments and invoicing as well as tax tracking and bookkeeping software.

Ken Gaulter, chief technology officer of Gilded, will also join Bitwave’s technical team as a result of the acquisition. Only a few months had passed since Bitwave purchased Multisig Media before this acquisition.

In a note to a popular media house, Pat White, Bitwave’s co-founder and CEO, said:

“We see digital asset payments as faster as and cheaper than traditional payment rails— and in this hyperconnected economy, we expect that to be a game changer for businesses.”

Gilded operations

Gilded was established in 2018 by a group of developers and accountants. It was established with the intention of assisting businesses with the integration of crypto solutions into their accounting and financial reporting procedures.

Gilded has over 130 enterprise clients, including mining companies, non-fungible token exchanges, decentralized autonomous organizations, and accountancy firms, according to its Crunchbase profile. The clientele of Gilded will use Bitwave’s platform in addition to its currently available products.

Expansion of Bitwave

Bitwave completed a $15 million Series A investment round in December 2022 to grow its cryptocurrency solutions and cater to the intricate accounting needs of businesses. The financing was spearheaded by Blockchain Capital and Hack VC. Additionally, Deloitte, one of the Big Four accounting firms, and Bitwave recently announced a cooperation to provide business capabilities including linking blockchain data to ERP systems.

Deloitte is thrilled to announce a groundbreaking alliance with @BitwavePlatform to help organizations managing the complexities of digital assets #blockchain #crypto #DeloitteBDA https://t.co/Sf1fxrkXdQ pic.twitter.com/RisEj3VisG

— Deloitte US (@DeloitteUS) September 12, 2023

Acknowledging Gilded’s acquisition, White added that they “believe that crypto payments are the future. With instant settlement and incredibly low fees, financial institutions are starting to recognize the massive opportunity afforded by this technology.”

The agreement was reached soon after new accounting guidelines for digital assets were published by US regulators. The US Financial Accounting Standards Board approved recommendations on September 6 regarding how businesses should disclose the fair value of their cryptocurrencies on balance sheets.

The post Just in: Bitwave acquires payments and accounting platform Gilded appeared first on CoinJournal.

Key takeaways

• TON is the best performer amongst the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap today.

• The coin rallied after Telegram endorsed the TON project.

The TON project received endorsement from Telegram

The messaging app Telegram has endorsed the TON network. The company chose the Ton network as its blockchain of choice for Web3 infrastructure. 

Telegram announced this latest development earlier today, revealing that it would integrate the TON network into the app’s user interface. 

Currently, the TON Web3 wallet is available as a standalone bot in Telegram and has more than three million registered users. The company said the feature would now be available to over 800 million users via their settings. 

Furthermore, a self-custodial version named TON Space is being made available to Telegram users outside the United States. Telegram’s chief investment officer, John Hyman, said in the statement that;

“We are putting digital ownership rights in the hands of our entire user base. While also giving TON projects the tools to reach our audience in the largest Web3/Web2 partnership there has ever been.”

This move doesn’t come as a surprise, as Telegram launched its blockchain project in 2018. However, it was forced to abandon the project in August 2020 following legal action from the US SEC. At the time, the US SEC accused Telegram of selling unregistered securities. 

The Ton project was picked up in 2021 by members of the community, who formed the TON Foundation to handle the project. Telegram and TON have been intertwined since then, with most of TON’s developments using Telegram as their arena. 

Hyman pointed out that;

TON will remain a completely separate decentralized organization. Telegram will focus on providing a fantastic messenger platform. It is not getting into Web3, but recognizes the value Web3 has for its users.” 

Toncoin rallies by more than 11% today

This latest cryptocurrency news has seen Toncoin (TON) rally by more than 11% in the last 24 hours. TON has become the 11th-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, outperforming the broader cryptocurrency market cap.

At press time, the price of Toncoin stands at $1.92. Its rally also comes as Bitcoin records positive performance for the first time this week. Bitcoin is trading above the $26k level once again after adding less than 1% to its value today.

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