On Aug. 7, Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange (by daily trade volume), fell victim to a hacking scandal that saw the miscreant allegedly gain possession of a huge chunk of the firm’s Know Your Customer (KYC) data (10,000+ personal photos). The hacker is reportedly demanding a total of 300 Bitcoins (worth around $3.5 million) from the exchange, or else he or she will release all of the data. Also, it bears mentioning that upon commencing his activities, the hacker set up a couple of dedicated Telegram groups (which have since been shut down) that allegedly featured a lot of …

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange VC Trade has integrated an anti-money laundering (AML) compliance technology developed by Taiwanese digital currency hardware wallet company CoolBitX. As Japanese finance-focused news outlet Blocktempo reported on Aug. 8, VC Trade — a crypto exchange founded by Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings last June — has adopted CoolBitX’s Sygna, a know-your customer (KYC) and AML compliance technology focused on digital currency transactions. CoolBitX’s founder and CEO Michael Ou ostensibly explained that the Sygna system allows users to withdraw assets to their wallets through a KYC multi-level checkpoint. If one of the parties participating in the transaction is …

The native token of crypto exchange Binance has soared ~11% despite fresh rumors of a possible Know-Your-Customer (KYC) data leak affecting exchange users. According to data from CoinMarketCap as of press time, Binance Coin (BNB) is up 10.7% on the day to trade at $30.59. “@kycisimportant” Telegram group apparently deleted As reported yesterday, Binance has this week been at the center of a social media furor surrounding an alleged KYC data leak involving the personal documents of Binance users. A dedicated Telegram group — now apparently deleted as of press time — was created by social media user “@kycisimportant” and …

In a tweet Aug. 7, Changpeng Zhao described rumors circulating about the alleged Know-Your-Customer (KYC) data leak as an attempt to spread “FUD” (fear, uncertainty and doubt). “Don't fall into the ‘KYC leak’ FUD. We are investigating, will update shortly,” he wrote. Social media users had panicked earlier after what appear to be fake warnings showed figures posing with personal documents, apparently of Binance users. In an official statement, Binance said: “We would like to inform you that an unidentified individual has threatened and harassed us, demanding 300 BTC in exchange for withholding 10,000 photos that bear similarity to Binance …

Security tokens platform TokenSoft has officially added Know Your Business (KYB) services following a successful alpha test in 2018. The San Francisco-based token issuance platform said in a press release on July 31 that the KYB feature was added in order to enhance customer due diligence (CDD) requirements in compliance with an amendment to the Bank Secrecy Act. Per the press release, the KYB test launched on the eve of the effective date of the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) CDD final rule. The CDD rule amended the Bank Secrecy Act in order to improve financial transparency and …

A new partnership between the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Mashreq Bank and fintech firm Norbloc aims to launch a blockchain-based Know Your Customer (KYC) data-sharing consortium in 2020. The official United Arab Emirates news agency, Emirates News Agency, reported on the new development on July 31. The DIFC, Mashreq Bank and Norbloc — a Stockholm-based blockchain project focused on KYC and a member of the Hyperledger consortium — are planning to jointly launch the consortium in the first quarter of 2020 to support businesses in Dubai. As part of the project, the parties will establish a consortium agreement to …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has cleared a crypto gaming company to issue blockchain tokens without registration, deeming the tokens to not be securities. Pocketful of Quarters (PoQ) was co-founded by George B. Weiksner, an eighth-grader who is listed as the current CEO. Weiksner apparently is a regular speaker about cryptocurrencies and games and has been published by Marketwatch and ICO Investor TV. The SEC published its determination on July 25 via the commission’s website, as a reply to an apparent inquiry from PoQ on its proposed “Quarters” tokens. Jonathan Ingram, the chief legal advisor of the …

David Marcus, CEO of Facebook’s crypto wallet Calibra, underlined that Facebook would not launch the Libra cryptocurrency project before they address all regulatory concerns. Marcus delivered his comments at a hearing on Libra with the Financial Services Committee of the United States House of Representatives today, July 17, as reported by a Cointelegraph correspondent. On the second day of hearings on Libra’s structure and management, Rep. Nydia Velazquez asked Marcus, “Will you commit yourself to not launch before all the concerns from the Federal Reserve and other regulators are addressed?” In response, Marcus said, “Absolutely.” Rep. David Scott followed up …

Facebook’s unveiling of its Libra cryptocurrency has generated a lot of attention in the financial world, as well as in the crypto space. So far, the company has announced that its Libra blockchain network will be launched in 2020 and backed by a separate entity, the Libra Foundation. The cryptocurrency is set to enable users to make faster and cheaper international payments online, using platforms such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. The Libra currency Just like any other cryptocurrency, Libra is set to have its own wallet called Calibra. Users would be able to send and receive Libra through this …

Polish cryptocurrency exchange BitMarket announced its shutdown on its official website on July 8. When trying to access the exchange through its website, users are instead greeted with the following text message in both English and Polish: “Dear Users, We regret to inform you that due to the loss of liquidity, since 08/07/2019, Bitmarket.pl/net was forced to cease its operations. We will inform you about further steps.” Leading cryptocurrency analytics website CoinMarketCap shows that the trading platform volume was relatively low — $850,080 in the past 24 hours. Still, it is unclear how trading is continuing while the exchange is …

Throughout May 2019, United Kingdom-based nonprofit organization Oxfam International executed a month-long trial that saw MakerDAO’s DAI stablecoin distributed as a means of exchange among citizens of Vanuatu. The Oxfam initiative, named UnBlocked Cash, was conducted in partnership with MakerDAO, ConsenSys and Australian tech startup Sempo. The Australian government also supported the program. Tsunamis, cyclones and volcanic eruptions comprise a constant concern for the citizens of Vanuatu, with WorldRiskReport describing it as the world’s most at-risk nation to natural disaster for five consecutive years. The month-long program saw 200 residents of the Vanuatu villages of Pango and Mele Maat issued …

Stablecoins have become rather frequently discussed in the news and social media over the past few weeks, especially with the news of the release of the Facebook-backed Libra coin. The current wave of stablecoin issuance could be attributed to the lack of liquidity in the cryptocurrency world. But even though the crypto market is now slowly recovering from a long bear trend, the ecosystem of stablecoins continues to expand even further. One of the most notable events in the stablecoin space was a recent announcement by Circle and Coinbase. After launching its own digital dollar — called USD Coin (USDC) …