The CryptoCurrencyWire Videos Podcast

Episode 116 of the Wild West Crypto Show, titled “Cryptos Looking Strong,” was chock-full of good stuff. The show, hosted as usual by Drew Taylor and Brent Bates, featured three pioneering crypto pros: Jon Allen of the Unitize Conference, Josh Tate from ForumPay, and a special segment featuring Bo “Knows” Polny, who declaimed on face masks, the Fourth of July holiday, and gold and silver, which he says are “God’s money.” Jonathan Keim, communications director of CryptoCurrencyWire, also appeared with his usual trio of newsbreaks, one of which recounted a fake gold scam in China. In addition, listeners enjoyed commentary on cryptocurrencies and the big board indices, all of which are looking strong. Bitcoin, for instance, maintains its position above $9,000, while stocks continue to rise from their low point in mid-March.

Allen talked at length about his project, a collaboration of Cointelegraph’s BlockShow and the popular San Francisco Blockchain Week. Scheduled for July 6–10, the Unitize Decentralized Digital Conference delivered content continuously to audiences on a near-daily basis (http://ccw.fm/CSdeP). The event offered participants a chance to hear expert speakers on crypto and blockchain, as well as visit virtual exhibitions, interactive lounges and chat rooms. Networking was never so easy. An audio stream was available, so those who couldn’t take part fully still had a way to participate.

Speakers included the Hon. Hester Peirce, SEC commissioner; Vitalik Buterin, creator of Ethereum; Silvio Micali, Turing-Award cryptographer and founder of Algorand; Tim Draper, founder of DFJ VC; California Senate Majority Leader Robert Hertzberg; and Alessandro Chiesa, an assistant professor at UC Berkeley and co-founder of Zcash & StarkWare.

During his segment on the show, Tate explained how his crypto payments platform is helping small businesses expand the range of payment options they offer their customers (http://ccw.fm/j5Ebd). ForumPay can be integrated into an online merchant’s standard payment solution in only a few easy steps. The platform is a good way for online retailers to increase their customer base, as more and more people are paying for goods and services with cryptocurrencies.

Keim launched his triplet of updates with the headline “Curv Raises $23M Series a Round; Launches tX to Accelerate Institutional Adoption of Digital Assets” (http://ccw.fm/iea7p). Curv, a start-up that provides crypto custody services to institutions, has developed a platform to manage digital assets. The company’s security technology allows cryptofinance products to be safely stored and transferred on a blockchain. News of the funding was accompanied by announcement of the launch of a community of cryptographers and engineers — tX — who use Curv’s keyless technology.

In other news, Keevo announced a strategic partnership with Iron Mountain to protect crypto currency users and their heirs (http://ccw.fm/5uCsi). Keevo, which has developed a crypto hardware wallet, has formed an alliance with Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM) to provide storage and information-management services to users of its wallet. Securing cryptocurrencies and other crypto assets has become increasingly challenging as their adoption has grown. For instance, in just the first half of 2019, more than $4 billion worth of cryptocurrencies disappeared, victim to the machinations of hackers.

Finally, Keim reported on a $2.8 billion fake-gold bullion scam (http://ccw.fm/yMjVO). Kingold Jewelry (NASDAQ: KGJI), a Chinese manufacturer of jewelry based in Wuhan, has been accused of putting up fake gold as collateral for $2.8 billion in loans the company received over the past five years. It seems the old saw — all that glitters is not gold — has been proven right once again.

For the most recent episode of the Wild West Crypto Show, which includes CryptoCurrencyWire’s ongoing segment featuring the latest news from around the world, visit http://ccw.fm/bdM58.

In addition to the look back at the Harvey piece, the show included an appearance by Jonathan Keim, communications director of CryptoCurrencyWire, who tuned in with his usual trio of developing stories. First was the headline: KuCoin P2P Fiat Market Supports Buying Crypto with USD Via PayPal (http://ccw.fm/xlKX0).

Starting in June, KuCoin will allow its customers to buy cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ether and Tether, using U.S. dollars from their PayPal accounts. This development adds another fiat currency that KuCoin will accept as payment for transactions on its platform. The KuCoin P2P Fiat Market already supports payments made in the Canadian dollar (“CAD”), Chinese yuan (“CNY”), Indonesian rupiah (“IDR”) and Vietnamese dong (“VND”). Founded in 2017, KuCoin is a crypto exchange with one out of four crypto holders worldwide and an estimated 5 million users across 207 countries.

Next on Keim’s list was the LATOKEN VCTV Weekly Announcement (June 8–12) (http://ccw.fm/B9cN0). LATOKEN VCTV is a broadcast platform focused on the venture capital (“VC”) industry. The broadcast regularly features discussion panels, road shows, pitch competitions, keynote addresses and a variety of other VC-related content, and is widely watched by the VC community.

LATOKEN VCTV’s Weekly Announcement gives a heads-up on the agenda for the forthcoming week. The week June 8–12 began with an address by Giampaolo Parigi, chairman of a single family office discussing how to raise capital in the new normal. Other segments included a talk on how to get tech-style growth from old-economy businesses by Callum Laing, founder and CEO of MBH Corporation, and an online road show with the theme: Investments and Pivots during Pandemic: AI, Machine Learning  and Data.

Keim’s final report was the news that BitPay has been selected as Frost & Sullivan’s Company of the Year in the Alternative Payments space (http://ccw.fm/Z8yV5). BitPay is the world’s largest provider of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payment services. The company was founded in 2011 and is notable for a number of achievements. In 2016, it launched the BitPay Visa Prepaid Debit Card, the first prepaid Visa debit card for Bitcoin. And in 2018, it received a virtual currency license from the New York Department of Financial Services.

For the most recent episode of the Wild West Crypto Show, which includes CryptoCurrencyWire’s ongoing segment featuring the latest news from around the world, visit http://ccw.fm/EO3bO.

In his weekly news update, Jonathan Keim, communications director of CryptoCurrencyWire (“CCW”), furnished another trio of blockchain bulletins, starting with “CoinField Joins Open Payments Coalition to Launch PayID and Comply with FATF’s Travel Rule” (http://ccw.fm/Bk62r). CoinField, a regulated, European-based, fiat-to-crypto exchange supervised by the Financial Intelligence Unit (“FIU”), has joined the Open Payments Coalition, a multinational alliance of industry leaders that developed a universal payment identification system. Known as PayID, the protocol simplifies the process of sending and receiving money globally across any payment network and any currency.

Second up was the news that “Binance Charity Pioneers COVID-19 Relief with First-Ever Fully Transparent Campaign” (http://ccw.fm/mZ64t). The Binance Charity Foundation, the philanthropic arm Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is providing a large quantity of personal protective equipment (“PPE”) to New York City. This initiative follows similar ones designed to support hospitals in a number of countries ravaged by COVID-19, including China, Italy and Spain.

The relief effort in New York City was marked by the creation of a social impact cryptocurrency, christened the PPE Token, which means donors can track how their funds are put to use, something they would be hard-pressed to do with a regular charity. In its first deployment, the PPE Token is killing two birds with one stone. Not only has it verified the successful, tamper-proof delivery of 200,000 N95 masks to 11 benefiting hospitals in New York City and the surrounding region, but it has served as a form of compensation for the couriers involved.

Last but certainly not least, the news that “Blockchain Heroes Collectible Digital Trading Card Set to Feature 50 Original Superheroes on WAX Blockchain” will give many adults the chance to act out some adolescent fantasies (http://ccw.fm/zLj9x). The new set of trading cards is based on the following question: What if there existed an alternate universe in which the inventors, investors, supporters and evangelists of blockchain were actually superheroes fighting for the virtues of decentralization, privacy, transparency and freedom?

According to the release: “Blockchain Heroes, an exciting collectible digital trading card set on the WAX blockchain, will make this alternative universe a reality in August 2020. Fifty unique superheroes in a variety of card rarities will be revealed in purchasable card packs. Similar to physical collectible trading cards, each pack of digital collectibles will be randomized and provide unknown surprises. With 50 total heroes, each pack of cards will have the chance to reveal common, uncommon, rare, epic, legendary or mythic versions of any hero in increasing rarity, each with its own special design.” One wonders, could Satoshi Nakamoto be one of those superheroes?

For the most recent episode of the Wild West Crypto Show, which includes CryptoCurrencyWire’s ongoing segment featuring the latest news from around the world, visit http://ccw.fm/2RZ5a

Jonathan Keim, communications director of CryptoCurrencyWire, captured another trio of fascinating headlines that revealed how fast the crypto revolution is disrupting conventional ways of doing business on this latest episode of the Wild West Crypto Show.

Legal agreements, for example, are as old as Methuselah but now, by incorporating blockchain technology, they are being reincarnated as “smart contracts” — self-executing, self-enforcing agreements that don’t require costly, arduous execution or resolution processes. Smart contracts are similar to regular contracts, except that the contract terms are coded in a programming language and that code is enclosed in a blockchain. Some well-known blockchain protocols, such as Bitcoin, support smart contracts. But the one mostly widely used is Ethereum, which has its own smart contract language called Solidity. Other languages used for smart contracts include C++, Java and JavaScript.

But, says Blockstack founder Dr. Muneeb Ali, such languages are insecure because they are “undecidable.” So in collaboration with Dr. Silvio Micali, founder of Algorand, Ali has launched an independent, open-source project to support Clarity, the “first-of-its-kind smart contract language” (http://ccw.fm/J7tXt). Clarity is a “decidable” language, which means that “developers can know, with mathematical certainty, what a program will and will not do ahead of time.” Now that the value of smart contracts has crossed a billion dollars, it’s time for “smart contract languages that are more safe, secure, and predictable in order to mature the industry beyond its current state,” say Ali and Micali.

In another news release — “Coca-Cola Amatil Vending Machines Accept Bitcoin via Centrapay” — one of the global beverage company’s largest bottlers is giving its customers the option to pay with cryptocurrency (http://ccw.fm/ZUk5s). Coca-Cola Amatil is partnering with digital asset integrator Centrapay to offer the service to its customers, who can use their Sylo Smart Wallet at any one of Coca-Cola’s 2,000-plus vending machines with a QR code payment sticker. Coca-Cola Amatil is the largest bottler and distributor in the Asia Pacific region, serving an estimated 270 million consumers and supporting some 140 brands.

Finally, the news that the National Science Foundation (NSF) is funding KRNC Blockchain to upgrade the U.S. dollar indicates the Feds have joined the crypto bandwagon (http://ccw.fm/Pqps1). The NSF is a federal government agency and the protocol it is funding — KRNC — could eliminate the need for private cryptocurrencies. KRNC allows existing electronic dollars to be retrofitted with new cryptographic features, including digital scarcity and smart contracts. “KRNC takes the positives of Bitcoin and adds them to money the public already owns,” said Clint Ehrlich, the project’s chief scientist. “It’s the virtual equivalent of taping gold to everyone’s dollar bills.”

For the latest episode of the Wild West Crypto Show, which includes CryptoCurrencyWire’s ongoing segment featuring the most recent news from around the world, visit http://ccw.fm/nMDe9

Jonathan Keim, communications director of CryptoCurrencyWire, appeared with his usual weekly news update on this episode of the Wild West Crypto Show.

Keim started his trio of notable press reports with the news that Bitcoin IRA has released a new infographic to coincide with Bitcoin’s halving in May (http://ccw.fm/Vfm45). Founded in 2015, Bitcoin IRA acts as a custodian for Bitcoin held in self-directed Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA’s). Investor interest in adding Bitcoin (“BTC”) to IRA and 401(k) accounts has been on the increase, particularly in April and May as the cryptocurrency approached and underwent halving.

The infographic published by Bitcoin IRA shows why. After previous halvings, BTC has appreciated markedly. After the first halving in 2012, BTC price rose by 8,189%; in 2016, following the second halving, the value rose by an another 2,237%. Despite the uncertainty of present economics, many investors expect that the value of BTC will once again increase after the latest halving.

Next on Keim’s agenda was the headline that OKEx expects to double its employee count over the next two years (http://ccw.fm/Cy3lM). OKEx is said to be the largest and most diverse cryptocurrency marketplace in the world, offering facilities to trade spot in major cryptocurrencies, as well as in a range of crypto derivatives that include futures and options. The company is also launching a mentorship program in Europe. Christened the OKEx Beacon Program, the scheme will enlist six persons for a one-month exclusive mentorship with CEO Jay Hao and director of financial markets Lennix Lai.

Finally, International Spirits & Wellness Holdings (OTC: ISWH), a global brand-management holdings company, has announced it’s getting into the cryptocurrency mining business (http://ccw.fm/51sIs). The company is joined forces with Bit5ive LLC, a global leader in cryptocurrency mining and innovative turnkey mining solutions. The two companies are eyeing the Bitcoin technology market, valued at $293.66 million in 2019 and expected to reach $477 million by 2025.

For the latest episode of the Wild West Crypto Show, which includes CryptoCurrencyWire’s ongoing segment featuring the most recent news from around the world, visit http://ccw.fm/nMDe9.

Jonathan Keim, communications director of CryptoCurrencyWire, appeared with his usual weekly news update on this episode of the Wild West Crypto Show.

South Korea’s largest chaebol is ahead of the curve, as usual, as an intriguing headline – ‘Samsung Elevates Data Protection for Mobile Devices with New Security Chip Solution’ – demonstrates (http://ccw.fm/ZHD9m). The group’s semiconductor division, Samsung Electronics, has developed a cybersecurity protection system that employs a dedicated chip. Typically, cybersecurity defenses are software solutions. The product is made up of a Secure Element (SE) chip combined with enhanced security software, which offers protection for tasks such as booting, isolated storage, mobile payment and other applications. The security chip is Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level (CC EAL) 6+ certified, the highest level possible for a mobile component.

Bitcoin dominance is not just in the cryptocurrency arena. Traditional financial services are giving ground to its rapidly growing sway, as Forbes reported in a piece with a lengthy label: ‘Exploding Past $10 Billion, Interest Income and Lending Are Bitcoin’s First Killer Apps’ (http://ccw.fm/96wKP). A vibrant industry has developed around deposits and loans of cryptocurrencies, similar to how traditional banks operate.

The reasons are obvious. Cryptocurrency owners can park their holdings at institutions such as Genesis Capital and Celsius and earn as much as “8.1% annual percentage rate (APR) on their first deposited Bitcoin (BTC),” all while it would be difficult to find a fixed deposit that offers an APR over 2% with traditional fiat currency (http://ccw.fm/Y3u5V). There are benefits for borrowers, as well. They have the opportunity to receive cash without having to dispose of their crypto assets, which means that they not only retain exposure but avoid the capital gains taxes that selling would trigger.

Bitcoin was featured once again in the final news item: ‘Bitwage Rolls Out Bitcoin 401(k) Plan with Help from Gemini’ (http://ccw.fm/tA1MY). Bitwage, which offers crypto payroll services, launched its bitcoin 401(k) employee pension account. The company plans to start offering the product to businesses that are struggling to meet the 75% payroll requirement in the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). To date, some $660 billion has been channeled to small businesses under the PPP established by the CARES Act. The program is meant to reduce layoffs as the economy falls into a possible corona virus-induced recession.

For the latest episode, which includes CryptoCurrencyWire’s ongoing segment featuring the latest news from around the world, visit http://ccw.fm/8k6rI

Jonathan Keim, communications director of CryptoCurrencyWire, appeared with his usual weekly news update on this episode of the Wild West Crypto Show. 

First up in Keim’s update was the news that the Crypto.com Visa card program received a green light in Canada (http://ccw.fm/PI0oq). Crypto.com started life as Monaco, a company offering a cryptocurrency-funded Visa debit card. Now, after a rebranding, the company will be known as the Crypto.com MCO platform and will offer the MCO Visa card, which links Visa cards with cryptocurrency accounts. The integration allows users to easily spend their cryptocurrency on everyday purchases, wherever Visa is accepted – and Visa is everywhere. The card network is the largest in the world, with more than 40 million merchants and 336 million cardholders.

Next up, Keim shared the news release ‘Huobi Rebrands Its Derivatives Exchange as Crypto Derivatives Surge in Popularity’ (http://ccw.fm/UZ7Fg). Headquartered in Singapore, Huobi is a cryptocurrency exchange that has been offering a variety of derivative products. The rebranding has been prompted by increased interest in crypto-derivative products such as futures, forwards, swaps and options, from both large institutional and smaller retail investors. Now called Huobi Futures, the exchange’s coin-margined, perpetual contracts have experienced a surge in trading since their launch in late March, already topping the market in cumulative trading volume. On May 12, the total 24-hour, coin-margin perpetual trading volume on Huobi Futures rose above $5.46 billion, outperforming by far the exchange’s closest competitor.

Keim completed his round-up with the headline ‘World’s Leading Crypto Payments Processor CoinPayments Announces Strategic Partnership with Shopify’ (http://ccw.fm/Dt066). This collaboration, much like the MCO Visa card project, has the potential to markedly increase adoption of cryptocurrencies.

“Under the terms of the partnership, CoinPayments will now be a visible payment option for merchants on the Shopify platform and will make cryptocurrency transactions easier and more accessible while reducing transaction fees,” the announcement stated. “Vendors will now get paid faster in any of the 1,800 cryptocurrencies supported by CoinPayments while gaining access to untapped markets globally. This partnership further enables cross-border payments, allowing merchants to eliminate the hassle of working with multiple payment processors across different jurisdictions.”

For the latest episode, which includes CryptoCurrencyWire’s ongoing segment featuring the latest news from around the world, visit http://ccw.fm/t3ozS

It’s been another wild week in the crypto world, culminating in that most momentous event: the halving of bitcoin. On May 11, 2020, bitcoin halving took place, taking the reward earned by miners down from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC (http://ccw.fm/fNWp3). All week, anticipation had been growing, although on episode 108 of the Wild West Crypto Show, hosts Drew Taylor and Brent Bates maintained their usual cool.

The two crypto cowboys are dedicated to keeping viewers in the loop in a calm, collected way. Jonathan Keim, communications director of CryptoCurrencyWire, showed up with his usual trifecta of news items.

This is the third time bitcoin has halved. The cryptocurrency has been programmed to do exactly that each time another 210,000 blocks are added. The first halving took place in 2012, taking the block reward to 25 BTC, down from its original 50 BTC. In 2016, the second halving reduced the reward even further to 12.5 BTC. Now, after the latest halving, a block reward is just one-eighth of what it was when the first bitcoin block was mined in 2009. The immediate effect is that some mining operations may become unprofitable. If those miners cease operation, the supply flow of bitcoin is likely to fall, at least in the short term.

Keim kicked off his reporting with the news that the Stellar Development Foundation has invested $5 million in Abra, a global-investment platform that allows users in more than 150 countries to transact in over 100 different cryptocurrencies via a single app (http://ccw.fm/a2Mg8). The collaboration with Stellar, a fast, scalable, distributed ledger-based network, has advantages for both parties. Abra will be able to utilize Stellar as its blockchain backend, while the Stellar network will now feature a wider range of services.

The review that followed – ‘Noncustodial Crypto Investing App Ember Fund Raises $700K Via Crowdfunding Sale’ – shows that the crypto space is gaining increasing acceptance from the feds (http://ccw.fm/xWK5c). Ember Fund plans to use the funds on “customer acquisition and building out the smart contract technology that powers the Ember app.” The offering was made on the Republic investment platform and took the form of ‘Crowd SAFE’ (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) securities, which can be converted into equity at some triggering event, such as an IPO or an acquisition by a strategic buyer.

Keim’s final report – ‘American Express and Credit Suisse Execs Join Blockchain Firm BlockFi’ – was a real eye-opener, as it showed how adoption of crypto is increasing (http://ccw.fm/sAl1i). Wittney Rachlin, formerly of American Express, where she grew the business-card vertical by some 20%, has joined BlockFi as chief growth officer, while David Olsson has joined the company as global managing director of European and Asian markets. Previously, Olsson headed a Credit Suisse private banking team focused on ultra-high net-worth clients.

Jonathan Keim, communications director of CryptoCurrencyWire, popped in with another trio of interesting headlines, starting with ‘11 Lawmakers Urge US Treasury to Consider Blockchain for COVID-19 Relief’. In summary, a bipartisan group of legislators have penned a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin noting that blockchain and distributed ledger technologies were secure “new mechanisms” for moving money quickly and transparently, which could in turn boost liquidity in distributing funds via the federal CARES Act. If utilized, these new mechanisms would not only deliver financial relief to individuals and small businesses but help America retain its technological advantage (http://ccw.fm/nNC0Y).

Second on Keim’s list was the news that ‘Nasdaq Is Using R3’s Corda for Managing Digital Assets’. Nasdaq has collaborated with R3 to offer a platform for digital asset marketplaces on the Corda blockchain. This platform allows participants in the capital markets to use Corda in the issuance, trading, settlement and custody of digital assets (http://ccw.fm/2W7cv).

Corda is a distributed ledger technology with a difference. Unlike other blockchains that require the consensus of all nodes, a condition that slows the addition of blocks, Corda only requires consensus between the two parties effecting a transaction. This speeds up processing and makes Corda more amenable to payments platforms. To mitigate the ‘trust risk’ caused by this two-party consensus arrangement, users of the mainnet are vetted by the host. Thus, Corda is best suited for private rather than public blockchains.

Finally, the general populace is warming up to bitcoin. New data shows that bitcoin addresses with “at least 0.1 BTC’ are increasing rapidly (http://ccw.fm/cQv8w). By April 27, the number of these addresses had climbed to 3,010,784. There is a suggestion that remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell may be partly responsible. In mid-February, Powell warned that the low-interest-rate environment may limit the central bank’s ability to support the economy during a downturn (http://ccw.fm/vj1sJ).

On episode 106 of the Wild West Crypto Show, crypto cowboys Drew Taylor and Brent Bates, hosts of the show, were at it again, bringing their loyal fans up to speed with developments in the crypto space. The buzz about Virtual Blockchain Week, which took place April 26 through May 2, 2020, in Las Vegas, was evident.  Organized by Joel Comm and Travis Wright of the Bad Crypto Podcast, Virtual Blockchain Week 2020 was a global livestream event focused on blockchain, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

As always, the weekly news update with Jonathan Keim, communications director of CryptoCurrencyWire, was a central feature of the show. First up was news of a recently released study on blockchain that highlighted two challenges – lack of awareness and scalability – that the technology must overcome (http://ccw.fm/blQE6). Despite these caveats, further development of distributed ledger applications continues to proceed, as the next item demonstrates.

“Bitcoin ATMs pump to over 7,500 worldwide,” the news proclaims (http://ccw.fm/Mm4K1). Bitcoin ATM installation has climbed by around 70% over the past year, bringing the estimated total of ATMs to 7,500, two-thirds of which are in the United States. The pace of installation picked up this year, with approximately 1,200 units, or 16% of the total, being installed this year. This is a decidedly rapid increase. It took four years, from 2014 to 2018, for the number of bitcoin ATMs installed globally to reach 2,000.

Finally, our communications director covered a headline that shows how the industry is taking the fight to the coronavirus: ‘Virtual Blockchain Week Partners with Binance Charity to Donate Funds to Crypto Against COVID Campaign’ (http://ccw.fm/KfE25). Event organizers of Virtual Blockchain Week joined forces with Binance Charity, a nonprofit organization founded by Binance, to raise funds for the charity’s campaign, Crypto Against COVID. Donations will be used to purchase medical supplies from vetted suppliers to support hospitals and first responders around the world who are risking their lives to tackle this virus.

With the coronavirus spreading as much disruption as infection, the Wild West Crypto Show zeroed in on financial developments in the crypto space (cryptos and global finance). This week, hosts Drew Taylor and Brent Bates had well-known crypto crusader Litecoin Lisa back on the show. Litecoin Lisa reported that it was her 70-year-old mother who introduced her to crypto. Another familiar face on the show was Jonathan Keim, communications director of CryptoCurrencyWire.

Keim started things off with the news that Grayscale Investments has announced its strongest quarter ever, with half a billion dollars raised in first quarter 2020 (http://ccw.fm/2nqHJ). Grayscale Investments, currently the world’s largest digital currency asset manager, raised $503.7 million across its family of products, which marked the firm’s largest inflow of capital for a single quarter. The lead product continues to be shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. Grayscale says most of the capital inflow, amounting to around 88%, has come from institutional investors.

Keim’s ensuing update was encapsulated in the headline ‘BitGo Continues Expansion of Services, Launches Dashboard for Managing Digital Asset Portfolio Across Wallets and Exchanges’ (http://ccw.fm/SyZp9). BitGo, the digital asset trust and security company, recently announced the acquisition of Lumina, a comprehensive crypto-native financial platform.

The first phase following the acquisition – integrating the products of the two companies – has been completed, which means that BitGo’s range of services to institutional investors has been expanded. Users will now have a dashboard for managing, accounting and tracking the entirety of their digital asset holdings and activities across wallets, exchanges and service providers.

Finally, Keim broke the news that Portis Wallet, one of the leading wallet solutions for decentralized finance, has been acquired by ShapeShift (http://ccw.fm/DiG5s). The Israeli start-up is now enhancing its noncustodial software wallet to give customers a seamless experience in crypto-to-crypto trading, as well as enabling the instant purchase of bitcoin, ethereum and USDC from a debit card. ShapeShift is one of the world’s leading self-custody crypto platforms. The acquisition merges two companies with a shared vision: the creation of an open financial system in which self-sovereignty is easy and accessible.

The Wild West Crypto Show continues to give the lowdown on the crypto markets – and much more. During episode 104, titled ‘Cryptos Are Stabilizing: Fallout Will Bolster Cryptos’, hosts Drew Taylor and Brent Bates discussed new developments in the space and the results of two recent surveys that reveal what people think of cryptocurrencies and other asset classes.

For his weekly update, Jonathan Keim, communications director of CryptoCurrencyWire, provided his usual three newsbreaks.

Crypto users will be happy to know that Civic Technologies, a leading innovator in digital wallet solutions, has launched the first and only noncustodial crypto wallet to offer a $1 million digital currency guarantee provided by Coincover (http://ccw.fm/D8ta6). Coincover, a provider of risk-management solutions, offers policies that protect cryptocurrencies held in online wallets against theft from hacks. The policies will be underwritten by the Lloyd’s of London insurance syndicate, Atrium.

A survey conducted by Visual Objects showed that people’s perceptions of how cryptocurrencies are used vary considerably from actual usage (http://ccw.fm/sy3Jm). Survey participants think that cryptocurrencies are mostly employed to purchase stocks (40%) and illegal items (30%), but actual cryptocurrency consumers say their purchases go primarily to food (38%) and clothing (34%), while 29% of respondents reported that they used cryptocurrencies primarily to buy stocks.

A separate survey revealed what asset classes Americans think are the safest for a retirement account (http://ccw.fm/33bpW). Naturally, cash topped the list, with one-third of all participants indicating that they viewed cash as the safest investment during uncertain times. Gold and silver were viewed as the safest by close to 17% of those surveyed, while stocks and bonds were chosen by 15.1% of participants. Just 1% of those sampled chose crypto assets. Based on those results, faith in crypto remains very low amongst the broader population.

Cryptos seems to be tracking fairly close to the stock market, with bitcoin leading the way. After falling to $4,600, the cryptocurrency is now back up to around $7,000. On episode 103 of the Wild West Crypto Show, host Drew Taylor cheered the good news. Co-host Brent Bates, who may have been practicing social distancing, was absent.

Jonathan Keim, communications director of CryptoCurrencyWire, had, as usual, the real news. He started his weekly update with the headline that Cryptologic Corp. (CSE: CRY) had agreed to sell its 30-megawatt bitcoin mining facility. The company has decided to dispose of its crypto mining assets and is presently exploring acquisition opportunities in sectors outside of cryptocurrency mining.

The buyer, HIVE Blockchain Technologies, is a growth-oriented, TSX Venture Exchange-listed company that is building a platform it hopes will link the blockchain sector to traditional capital markets. HIVE owns state-of-the-art, GPU-based digital-currency mining facilities in Iceland and Sweden, which produce newly minted digital currencies such as Ethereum (http://ccw.fm/bp2ZB).

In Europe, crypto developments are indeed racing ahead. The Coinfield-Sologenic consortium has announced a list of 30 global securities exchanges, the assets of which are now available for tokenization (http://ccw.fm/8oNQH). Together, these exchanges trade more than 40,000 traditional assets such as stocks, ETFs and commodities. Tokenization involves the digital representation – and often the fractionalization – of securities or other assets. The process is ideal for pricey stocks such as Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG), currently priced at around $1,195, and Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A), which usually trades above $300,000.

Keim’s roundup ended with the announcement of the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry’s most ambitious virtual conference experience (http://ccw.fm/3NEda). Event organizers of the Virtual Blockchain Week, slated for April 26 to May 2, have published details of the event, including speakers. Hosted by Joel Comm and Travis Wright of the Bad Crypto Podcast, the online conference can be accessed at VirtualBlockchainWeek.com; registration is free.

Jonathan Keim, communications director of CryptoCurrencyWire, had his usual triplet of developments in the crypto space, starting with the news (http://ccw.fm/dOLR0) that ‘Metal Pay Partners with TRON Allowing TRX to be Bought Instantly’. Metal Pay, which provides digital money transfer services, will henceforth make the TRX token available to its customers. The TRON platform will be fully integrated into Metal Pay’s mobile application, which will allow TRX to be purchased using fiat currency by debit card or a linked bank checking account.

Second on Keim’s list was the news that Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ: RIOT) has reported on its 2019 financial and operational highlights (http://ccw.fm/yDCF8). The company, one of the few Nasdaq-listed public cryptocurrency mining companies in the United States, has doubled down on its crypto-mining operations on the domestic front. Riot has invested in 4,000 Bitmain S17 Pro Antminers at its facility in Oklahoma City, which, since being deployed in early 2020, have resulted in an increase in the company’s fully owned hashing power capacity to approximately 248 Petahash.

Finally, the news that Crypto.com Pay has launched a new invoicing feature will, no doubt, be well received. Crypto.com, the pioneering payments and cryptocurrency platform, announced the introduction of the new invoicing features, which will allow its merchant customers to generate and send invoices to their customers who wish to pay with cryptocurrency (http://ccw.fm/Guqz0).

First up was the news that Crypto Briefing has announced a partnership with CoinMarketCap, which will lead to the inclusion of Crypto Briefing’s SIMETRI digital asset ratings on CoinMarketCap (http://ccw.fm/7p2X4). The SIMETRI service provides institutional-grade research, including in-depth fundamental analysis and unbiased, detailed insights into cryptocurrency projects. Each reviewed project receives an investment grade aimed at guiding portfolio decisions. The service, already available on CoinGecko and Binance, will now be accessible to tens of millions of retail investors with its incorporation on CoinMarketCap.

Another promising partnership is the one between the IOTA Foundation, a nonprofit foundation focused on distributed ledger technology (DLT) and open-source ecosystem development, and TradeMark East Africa (TMEA). The goal of the partnership is to help TMEA in its mission to improve East African trade and global competitiveness using IOTA’s distributed-ledger technology. TMEA works closely with East African community institutions, national governments, the private sector and civil society organizations to increase trade by reducing current barriers and improving business competitiveness (http://ccw.fm/T22aO).

Lastly, Chinese ecommerce behemoth Alibaba has announced that its import e-commerce platform, Koala, has updated its products to include a full-link traceability blockchain system. Now, online buyers will have access to the logistic information of the goods they purchase by scanning a QR code with Alipay (http://ccw.fm/o6Ptl).

March 13, 2020. The latest news from the cryptocurrency/blockchain space with CryptoCurrencyWire's Communications Director, Jonathan Keim.

Whether you’re a little wet behind the ears in the world of cryptocurrency or you have been blazing the crypto trail for a while, the Wild West Crypto Show is the best podcast to hear the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of crypto. Thanks to C-Suite, the Wild West Crypto Show has a larger audience than ever. The show is packed full of information from experts who know a thing or two about cryptocurrency. It breaks down what newcomers need to know about getting started in cryptocurrency while providing valuable insight for more experienced Crypto Cowboys. The Wild West Crypto Show is your #1 source for the latest crypto news, inside information, & exclusive interviews from the most influential people in the crypto space.

March 6, 2020. The latest news from the cryptocurrency/blockchain space with CryptoCurrencyWire's Communications Director, Jonathan Keim.

Whether you’re a little wet behind the ears in the world of cryptocurrency or you have been blazing the crypto trail for a while, the Wild West Crypto Show is the best podcast to hear the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of crypto. Thanks to C-Suite, the Wild West Crypto Show has a larger audience than ever. The show is packed full of information from experts who know a thing or two about cryptocurrency. It breaks down what newcomers need to know about getting started in cryptocurrency while providing valuable insight for more experienced Crypto Cowboys. The Wild West Crypto Show is your #1 source for the latest crypto news, inside information, & exclusive interviews from the most influential people in the crypto space.

February 28, 2020. The latest news from the cryptocurrency/blockchain space with CryptoCurrencyWire's Communications Director, Jonathan Keim.

Whether you’re a little wet behind the ears in the world of cryptocurrency or you have been blazing the crypto trail for a while, the Wild West Crypto Show is the best podcast to hear the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of crypto. Thanks to C-Suite, the Wild West Crypto Show has a larger audience than ever. The show is packed full of information from experts who know a thing or two about cryptocurrency. It breaks down what newcomers need to know about getting started in cryptocurrency while providing valuable insight for more experienced Crypto Cowboys. The Wild West Crypto Show is your #1 source for the latest crypto news, inside information, & exclusive interviews from the most influential people in the crypto space.

February 21, 2020. The latest news from the cryptocurrency/blockchain space with CryptoCurrencyWire's Communications Director, Jonathan Keim. 

Whether you’re a little wet behind the ears in the world of cryptocurrency or you have been blazing the crypto trail for a while, the Wild West Crypto Show is the best podcast to hear the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of crypto. Thanks to C-Suite, the Wild West Crypto Show has a larger audience than ever. The show is packed full of information from experts who know a thing or two about cryptocurrency. It breaks down what newcomers need to know about getting started in cryptocurrency while providing valuable insight for more experienced Crypto Cowboys. The Wild West Crypto Show is your #1 source for the latest crypto news, inside information, & exclusive interviews from the most influential people in the crypto space.