At a press conference held on Feb. 21, a representative for the National Bank of Ukraine released the results of its much-hyped central bank digital currency project called the e-hryvnia. However, the banking institution is still not certain of the impact this financial offering will have on the country’s overall financial stability as well as on its local banking market. An official statement released by the NBU clearly states that if a massive chunk of the Ukranian population were to switch to this ambitious digital currency, the nation’s banking ecosystem “may cease to be a major financial intermediary.” Furthermore, to …

Since the release of a game called CryptoKitties in November 2017, the concept of nonfungible tokens has been rooted in the minds of developers and crypto investors alike. The year 2019 was groundbreaking, with large, multinational companies beginning to draw attention to the new sector of digital assets and develop their own projects. In 2020, however, new games backed by different technologies are starting to emerge. So, what does 2020 hold for crypto games? Tokens that cannot be changed There are a lot of fungible tokens that the crypto community uses every day, like Monero (XMR) and so on. An …

Major Canadian investment fund manager 3iQ and blockchain firm Mavennet co-launched a new regulated stablecoin pegged to the Canadian dollar (CAD). Developed by Canada Stablecorp, a joint venture between 3iQ and Mavennet, QCAD is the latest CAD-based stablecoin and was officially launched on Feb. 11. QCAD total supply accounts for about 150,000 CAD at the launch Based on the Ethereum blockchain, QCAD implements popular token standard ERC-20 and is targeting the mass market. While QCAD is not yet listed on major websites tracking crypto market capitalization like Coin360, QCAD transactions can be now tracked via Ethereum blockchain explorer Etherscan. According …

Despite centralized cryptocurrency exchanges suffering nearly $300 million worth of hacks during 2019, many digital currency traders continue to hold significant sums of capital on centralized exchange platforms. While many noncustodial crypto services have launched in recent years, few platforms have been able to garner significant liquidity. Cointelegraph reached out to several industry experts to discuss the promise of noncustodial exchanges. Are noncustodial platforms safer? Erik Voorhees, CEO of the noncustodial cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift, told Cointelegraph that, “Noncustodial exchanges provide a fundamentally safer way for individuals to trade digital assets.” He went on to add: “Traditionally, exchanges are custodial (and …

Enterprise blockchain platform Insolar is launching its own mainnet, debuting its native Insolar Coin (XNS) to replace its formerly used Ethereum-based token INS. After successfully piloting the testnet in 2019, Insolar will be rolling out the commercial launch of Insolar MainNet on Feb. 3, the firm said in a press release shared with Cointelegraph. INS/XNS token swap is immediately available According to the firm, holders of the Ethereum-based ERC-20 token INS will be able to swap their tokens for XNS on the first day of the mainnet launch. Insolar users will be able to store their XNS tokens on Insolar’s …

Since the start of 2019, the crypto market has been on the receiving end of an insane amount of financial volatility. For example, in January, the total market capitalization of this burgeoning sector was around $130 billion. However, by July, the market at large had witnessed an influx of bullish momentum that pushed the total capitalization value of this space to a whopping $373 billion. Following this period, the aforementioned bull run proceeded to subside quite a bit, with the market now hovering a tad under the $200 billion threshold. A few cryptocurrencies maintained a strong financial standing all year …

American blockchain and software development firm Orchid Labs has launched its privacy network alongside its native token OXT. According to a blog post on Dec. 16, Orchid’s digital currency OXT was immediately available for trading on major United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Pro. According to an announcement, OXT will be available in Coinbase’s supported jurisdictions, with the exception of New York State. Coinbase Pro started accepting OXT deposits on Dec. 13. OXT token allows one to buy and sell VPN services or provide bandwidth As previously reported, Orchid provides a decentralized virtual private network (VPN) for anonymous communication and virtual …

Switzerland-based crypto exchange ShapeShift has launched zero-fee trading and its loyalty token FOX. ShapeShift founder and CEO Erik Voorhees announced the news on Twitter Nov. 20, noting that zero-commission trading on the platform is enabled by the newly released FOX token. According to the executive, zero-fee trading solves two major problems of non-custodial exchanges — illiquidity and high price of services. In order to trade at a zero-fee rate, ShapeShift customers will have to hold the Ethereum-based ERC-20 FOX tokens, Voorhees explained, stating: “The model is simple: hold FOX & you trade at a 0% commission rate. If not, you …

United States-based blockchain security firm CipherTrace has expanded its crypto intelligence platform to 700 tokens. Tracing hundreds of ERC-20 tokens With the expanded platform launched on Oct. 15, CipherTrace now allows clients to trace more than 87% of the transactional volume of the top 100 cryptos such as Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Litecoin (LTC), the firm said in a press release. CipherTrace’s increased monitoring support also includes the capability of tracing several hundred ERC-20 tokens, the company added. CipherTrace has not specified to Cointelegraph which cryptocurrencies will not be supported on the platform at publishing time. …

Boston Security Token Exchange (BSTX), a platform jointly owned by BOX Digital Markets and Overstock’s blockchain arm tZERO, has filed an application with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve the launch of a market for publicly traded registered security tokens. In the rule change proposal released by the SEC on Oct. 11, BOX asks the commission to “adopt rules to govern the trading of equity securities on the Exchange” which “would operate a fully automated, price/time priority execution system for the trading of ‘security tokens.’” Establishing its own listing standards The firm also hints at having …

TipJar, an Ethereum (ETH)-powered service that allowed redditors to send micropayments to each other in Ether and ERC-20 tokens, has been shut down on Oct. 7. Its website is still operational but will be closed on April 10, 2020. In a Reddit announcement published on the same day, TipJar’s developer cited “very little activity on the bot” as the main reason for the shutdown. He also urged users to withdraw their already deposited funds via TipJar’s website as soon as possible, adding: “The TipJar reddit bot is being shut down immediately, so tipping other users on reddit is no longer …

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has announced the launch of its on-demand compliance and investigations software for several Ethereum (ETH)-based ERC-20 tokens. The company announced in a press release published on Oct. 3 that its Know Your Transaction (KYT) tool now supports tokens such as Basic Attention Token (BAT), DAI, GoldX, Maker (MKR), OmiseGO (OMG) and 0x (ZRX). Aggressive support expansion Furthermore, the company also announced plans to roll out support for 23 additional cryptocurrencies, including XRP, DASH, unshielded ZCash (ZEC), Dogecoin (DOGE) and Ethereum Classic (ETC) over the next three months. Per the release, Chainalysis’s KYT tool is currently being …