Kategorie: Crypto Business

DARPA will fund Inca Digital’s research in a project expected to lead to an analytics tool that will help map crypto’s impact and threats to US national security.  

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a research and innovation agency at the US Department of Defense, has contracted crypto intelligence and analytics firm Inca Digital to help map the potential impact of digital assets on national security.

DARPA contracts Inca Digital on crypto project

On Friday, Inca Digital revealed that DARPA had, through the crypto firm’s government contracting arm Inca Digital Federal, awarded it a contract to research and develop crypto analytics and visualisation tool to map various implications of crypto financial applications.

Specifically, the agency’s collaboration with Inca Digital will be through a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract, according to the announcement, and will see the firm help DARPA develop a “first-of-its-kind” crypto mapping tool.

The advanced analytics tool will then be deployed towards the analysis and understanding of the dynamics around crypto finance and potential threats to national security.

“Digital asset markets hold amazing promise, but also contend with money laundering, market manipulation, and state actors that may pose risks to US national security,” said Adam Zarazinski, the Chief Executive Officer of Inca Digital.

DARPA, other US government agencies and commercial companies will use the data analytics offered by Inca Digital to among other things get insight into how blockchain-based technologies are linked to illicit activities such as money laundering, sanctions evasion and terrorist financing. 

The tool will also help various regulatory groups and firms understand money flows within the crypto ecosystem.

“Given the increasing prevalence of digital assets, the Department of Defense and other federal agencies need to have better tools to understand how digital assets operate and how to leverage their jurisdictional authority over digital asset markets globally,” Zarazinski added.

DARPA will fund the project, which is dubbed “Mapping the Impact of Digital Financial Assets”.

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The acquisition will see Coinsquare have over $350 million assets under custody.

Coinsquare, currently Canada’s oldest operating cryptocurrency exchange and one of the largest in the country, is making further expansion moves with a fresh acquisition.

This is after the crypto exchange moved to acquire Canadian-headquartered digital assets trading platform CoinSmart in a deal agreed on 22 September 2022.

According to the two firms, Coinsquare has struck a definitive agreement with the registered securities dealer to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of Simply Digital Technologies, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CoinSmart.

“This acquisition represents a monumental and exciting milestone for both companies and brings together two industry leading management teams,” said Martin Piszel, CEO of Coinsquare. 

CoinSmart founders to join Coinsquare

Under the terms of acquisition, CoinSmart will receive $3 million in cash and 5,222,222 Coinsquare shares valued at about $5.02 per share for a total of roughly $26.2 million. In addition, CoinSmart could receive an extra of up to $20 million pegged on the company’s SmartPay business revenue outlay over three years.

Once finalised, the cash and stock deal will see CoinSmart hold about 12% stake in Coinsquare, and its co-founders including Justin Hartzman, Jeremy Koven, and Michael Koralamongst will join Coinsquare. 

Hartzman, CEO of CoinSmart, will join Coinsquare’s executive team.

Coinsquare’s acquisition of the digital asset platform adds to its position as one of the largest crypto exchanges in Canada. The company launched in 2014 and this expansion sees it acquire the only qualified crypto custody provider in the country.

“With a diversified product suite, exceptional crypto talent, and one of the largest user bases in Canada, the combined company will be well-positioned to pursue its aggressive expansion plans,” said Hartzman.

As well as adding to its growing customer base and crypto offerings, the deal also gives the combined venture also sees it hold $350 million in assets under custody.

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KuCoin wants to offer its customers a smoot fiat-to-crypto payments experience, with zero fees and deep liquidity.

KuCoin, a global crypto trading platform offering more than 700 digital assets and accessible in 207 countries, has integrated major fiat-to-crypto payments gateway Legend Trading to bring its customers a new fiat on-ramp with zero fees.

A strategic partnership with Legend Trading

KuCoin’s integration of the fiat on-ramp provider follows a new strategic partnership between the two companies, which as reported, will see KuCoin customers seamlessly access crypto purchases via bank transfers. 

Specifically, the partnership allows the exchange’s customers to buy and sell crypto with top fiat currencies such as USD, EUR, AUD and JPY.

The “People’s Exchange” is also using the collaboration to tap into Legend Trading’s institutional-grade technology to bring users a fiat on-ramp with not just zero fees, but also competitive pricing, deep liquidity and access to larger bank transfers.

KuCoin CEO Johnny Lyu said in a press release that the partnership with Legend Trading will help the exchange expand its services across the globe. 

The KuCoin chief added that while the platform already supports more than 50 fiat currencies and 70+ payment methods, including VISA, Mastercard and PayPal, the partnership is a huge step as it adds another gateway to crypto newcomers.

According to Lyu, the collaboration offers the crypto community more trading options.

Legend Trading is a key crypto player

Legend Trading provides its fiat-to-crypto gateway solution to numerous companies within the crypto industry, including cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets, and banks. 

The firm also operates an over-the-counter (OTC) service, offering deep liquidity for brokerage firms, investment advisors, corporations, and family offices among other clients.

The platform’s services allow integrations that support crypto buying and selling with credit card, debit card and bank transfer – which can be completed via seven major fiat currencies: USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, CAD, JPY and CHF.

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• GlobalBlock launched its mobile trading app in July and has seen 1,288 downlaods, with client registrations increasing over the past two months.
• The app is available on Google Play store and Apple App store.

GlobalBlock Europe, a digital asset broker wholly-owned by publicly-traded GlobalBlock Digital Asset Trading Limited, has recorded a significant jump in the number of new client sign-ups since the company’s unveiling of a mobile trading app, according to an update published on Thursday.

GlobalBlock developed the trading app in-house and launched it in late July this year, with download access on both the Apple App store and Google Play store.

Over the next one month, the company’s marketing efforts have seen downloads grow to 1,288, and figures for September are showing a similar growth trajectory.

App downloads and registration

As GlobalBlock notes in its press release, client numbers have doubled over the past two months as a reflection of the increased app downloads.

The company’s effort saw a conversion rate of 9% during the period, with 26% of those who downloaded the trading app proceeding to full registration – which means they completed a full KYC (Know Your Customer) check.

“Given that online marketing generally achieves customer engagement levels of 5% with finance apps generally at 20%, our app download results after nearly two months are extremely encouraging. Our first month rate of 26% should be a floor as we hone our engagement practices,” said Rufus Round, CEO of GlobalBlock.

Rufus noted that the company’s brand has continued to see greater recognition and showing some positive effect despite the bear market. He opined that the firm is well prepared for the next phase of the market, especially after using the crypto winter to work on its product and streamlined its cost base.

As for the issue of cost base, GlobalBlock recently completed the migration of its digital asset service to Lithuania.

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Kraken Chief Operating Officer David Ripley takes over from Jesse Powell, who stays on as Chairman, Board of Directors.

Jesse Powell, the co-founder of US-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, is stepping down from his Chief Executive Officer position.   .

Kraken COO David Ripley takes over as CEO

In an interview aired on Thursday, Powell confirmed his exit as CEO, but said that he will remain at the company as Chairman of the board. The CEO role is being taken by Chief Operating Officer David Ripley, he added.

“I like to think of it as you know I’m taking a higher level role at the chairman level. You have ultimate oversight over the whole company. Dave Ripley will be doing all the hard work for me. So appreciate that,” he told Bloomberg TV.

Powell, who said he is excited about the next chapter – being chairman – and what it could allow him to do, also talked about the future of the company under David Ripley.

“I’m extremely confident in David Ripley and his ability to lead this company. He’s been with us since we were 50 people six years ago, all the way up to mid-3000 right now. So, you know, he’s seen it all. And I’m just super glad that we have such a deep bench and someone able to step up from the inside,” he said during the interview.

Ripley will focus on the day to day running of the company, while Powell hopes he’ll have time “to go deeper on the product and user experience.” This even as the crypto market remains in a bearish grip after a tumultuous 2022 and presents a scenario likely to hamper Kraken’s stock market debut plans.  

Powell co-founded Kraken in 2011 and remains its largest shareholder as he takes up the Chairman of the Board of Directors role.

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