Major United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has established an entity in Ireland to expand its crypto custody services to European institutions. According to a Coinbase announcement published on Jan. 30, the new entity is called Coinbase Custody International and is based out of Dublin. The firm’s services will be the same as those provided by Coinbase Custody in addition to taking over all the staking activities performed by the exchange. Coinbase Custody initially began offering staking for select cryptocurrencies in March 2019, and expanded that service to international the following November. The advantages of a local operation While Coinbase Custody …

Coinbase is expanding its European foothold with an e-money license from the Central Bank of Ireland. “One of just a few companies” On Oct. 11, Zeeshan Feroz, the CEO of the United Kingdom arm of San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, announced that the exchange had become “one of just a few companies,” to have received an e-money license in Ireland. Coinbase opened its first office in Dublin, Ireland, in October 2018 to help expand its operations in Europe and as a contingency plan for when the U.K. leaves the EU. The Coinbase U.K. CEO said: “Europe represents a huge opportunity …

Bank of Ireland (BOI) executives have backed out of the testimony before the United States Government in the criminal proceedings regarding a $400 million worth money laundering scheme through cryptocurrency scam OneCoin. No testimony on voluntary basis As fintech-focused news outlet FinanceFeed reported on Oct. 11, the U.S. Government filed a Letter with the Court on Oct. 10, in which it clarified that over the past week it had tried to get voluntary witness testimony in Ireland. However, the witnesses changed their stance toward the prospect of testifying and would now testify only in response to compulsory process under the …

E-commerce giant Overstock has opened a blockchain research and development (R&D) center in Ireland. According to a news release published on Oct. 9, the firm’s new R&D center is located in “IDA’s flagship North West business park in Sligo” and is expected to make its 100th Irish hire before the end of 2019. Currently, it employs 80 technologists. Over $1 million invested Per the release, the move has cost the company over €1 million ($1.1 million). Overstock vice president and site lead David Kenny added: “We’re absolutely delighted with our new home and getting all our teams back under one …

Executives at the Bank of Ireland (BOI) could join a trial in the case against Mark Scott, who allegedly helped launder nearly $400 million via cryptocurrency scam OneCoin. Four BOI witnesses to testify remotely On Sept. 29, the government of the United States submitted a court motion seeking the testimony of four witnesses via closed-circuit television from a remote location in Ireland. Initially set for Oct. 7, the trial has been adjourned to Nov. 4, while a final pretrial conference is scheduled for Oct. 28, as reported by fintech publication FinanceFeeds in early September. All four witnesses are current or …

Ireland-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitsane has apparently vanished, taking as many as 246,000 users’ crypto deposits with it. The news was reported by Forbes on June 27. Launched in 2016, Dublin-registered Bitsane LP was formerly listed as one of Ripple’s approved exchanges — a January 2018 CNBC article had also pitched the exchange as an option for investors seeking to trade XRP ahead of its listing on major platforms such as Coinbase. According to Forbes, user withdrawals on Bitsane began faltering in May of this year, with allegedly technical reasons cited as the reason for their temporary disabling. By June 17, …

Dublin City University has partnered with tech company network Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet to create the country’s first master’s program in blockchain technology. The new educational certification was announced by the Irish government’s Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation on May 29. The “Master’s in Blockchain: Distributed Ledger Technologies” degree is the culmination of ICT Skillnet’s efforts to identify the skills upcoming blockchain engineers need to learn, with the help of blockchain educational hub Blockchain Ireland. The course is reportedly conducted online as a two-year part-time course, which will begin with its first cohort of students in September 2019. The …

Three Irish banks have begun using a staff data solution running on blockchain technology, a joint press release confirmed on May 30. Together with the Institute of Banking (IoB), Bank of Ireland, AIB and Ulster Bank partnered with Big Four accounting giant Deloitte on the project, which verifies staff credentials. Deloitte developed the Ethereum-based tool using its dedicated EMEA Blockchain Lab. “This is a great application of blockchain technology to a vital area of banking. We are delighted to support The Institute of Banking and the banks involved in this project and look forward to the results that this initiative …

Strong growth has returned to Ireland one decade after the banking crisis and international bailout. But, financiers and investors fear a “no deal” Brexit — in which the United Kingdom leaves the European Union without a trade agreement at the end of the month — could again destabilize Ireland’s boom-and-bust economy. The U.K. received 11 percent of Ireland’s exports of goods in the past year, while supplying more than one-fifth of its imports. The Irish central bank conjectures that an orderly exit from the EU would decrease the gross domestic product by 1.5 percent, according to a Reuters story. While …

The Cabinet, the executive organ of the government of Ireland, has approved a bill that would give effect to the European Union (EU) Fifth Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Directive, the Irish Times reported Jan. 3. The directive — which came into force on July 9, 2018 — sets a new legal framework for European financial watchdogs to regulate digital currencies in order to protect against money laundering and terrorism financing. Specifically, the directive will extend the scope to crypto platforms and wallet providers, end the anonymity of bank and savings accounts, and improve information exchange among authorities. EU member states must …

A Dublin-headquartered startup has teamed up with the Irish Red Cross to use blockchain technology in a new app that improves transparency for charitable donations. The partnership was reported by local daily broadsheet The Irish Times on Dec. 19. The startup, dubbed AID:Tech, is partnering with the Red Cross for use of its consumer-oriented mobile app “TraceDonate,” which has been designed so that donors know exactly how their contributions to charitable causes are being spent. By improving transparency around the distribution of charity, the app aims to boost trust and engagement in social causes. It allows retail or institutional users …

Ireland’s High Court has ruled that 25,000 euro in cryptocurrency held by a man in prison is considered “the proceeds of a crime,” the Irish Times reported on Tuesday, Dec. 18. The court “broke new legal ground”, the Irish Times states, while considering the case of Neil Mannion — a man reportedly serving a six-and-a-half year prison sentence at Wheatfield Prison in Dublin for drugs offences since 2014. Mannion had reportedly admitted to selling drugs on the darknet, specifically on Silk Road and Agora. He was jailed at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in 2015 after purportedly pleading guilty to …