The use of blockchain to cement ownership rights for real estate and business has been ongoing since 2016, when the technology was first used to organize new forms of registries and registration of transactions. The blocks are used to record information onto the blockchain system, which can then certify the process of transfer of ownership of the property or entity. This process excludes intermediaries that collect commissions in the process of, for example, conducting real estate transactions while also lowering the risk of fraud. Specialized blockchain platforms can prevent data forgery and simplify the process of checking real estate objects …

Ripple’s investment arm and tech incubator Xpring has invested in Swedish cryptocurrency self-custody startup Towo Labs to build hardware wallet firmware. Xpring announced the news in a blog post on Oct. 16, stating that the startup plans to develop a new version of the XRP Toolkit and hardware wallet firmware supporting all XRP Ledger transaction types, as well as a non-custodial web interface. In a parallel announcement, Towo Labs said that the firmware will support signing cross-currency payments, escrows, orders, and trust lines, among other things. It will also enable users to prepare transactions from untrusted devices prior to auditing …

The head of Sweden’s Riksbank has characterized Facebook’s Libra project as “an incredibly important catalytic event” that is spurring the world’s central banks to ready themselves for digital transformation. In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe on Oct. 15, Riksbank Governor Stefan Ingves said: “It has been an incredibly important catalytic event to sort of shake the tree when Libra showed up out of the blue, and that forced us to think hard about what we do.” Private vs. public, not digital vs. physical Speaking as the head of the central bank in a country where the cashless revolution …

Database issues at the Swedish digital currency exchange QuickBit resulted in a breach of sensitive user data, according to an official announcement published on July 22. In the announcement, QuickBit revealed that personal data such as names, addresses, email addresses and card information of 2% of its customers was exposed. QuickBit said that no passwords or social security numbers, complete account or credit card information, cryptocurrency or private keys, or financial transactions were exposed or affected. QuickBit initially published its suspicions about the data incident on July 19, stating that their internal investigation indicated that neither QuickBit nor the company's …

Italy, Sweden and the Czech Republic will share the next one-year presidency of the European Blockchain Partnership, Cointelegraph Italy reported on July 9. Following a meeting of the European Blockchain Partnership today in Brussels, the three countries took on the one-year presidency, which will last from July 2019 to July 2020. Marco Bellezza, Legal Advisor to Minister Di Maio for communications and digital innovation and Coordinator of the Italian delegation of the EU Blockchain Partnership, said: "The Italian Presidency of the EU Blockchain partnership is a first acknowledgment of the activity carried out on this front on the impulse of …

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) believes that central banks may issue digital currencies in the future, according to a report by the IMF on June 27 According to the full paper, the IMF and World Bank conducted a survey on fintech that solicited answers from financial institutions within all member countries, and has based its conclusions in part upon the 96 received responses. According to the paper, several central banks in different countries are considering implementing some form of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Uruguay has reportedly launched a CBDC pilot program already, while the Bahamas, China, Eastern Caribbean Currency …

Swedish crypto-powered mobile refill service Bitrefill has closed a seed round of $2 million to expand its services, crypto media outlet The Block reports on June 13. The Stockholm-based company offers mobile service top-ups in bitcoin (BTC), enabling users to recharge their mobile subscriptions using the major cryptocurrency. Following the new funding round, led by United States-based bitcoin startup Coin Ninja, Bitrefill is reportedly planning to expand its services outside the U.S. and Europe, as well as launch new products. In March 2019, Bitrefill enabled crypto payments for reservations on popular accommodation booking service Airbnb, allowing users to pay for …

Börse Stuttgart (SWB), the second-largest stock exchange in Germany, has listed two crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs), according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on May 13. Based on two major cryptocurrencies, XRP and litecoin (LTC), and issued through XBT Provider, the ETNs can now be traded against the Swedish krona (SEK) and euro (EUR) on Börse Stuttgart, Europe’s tenth-largest exchange, the announcement says. The SWB’s crypto ETNs listing purportedly allows investors to track the future price developments of XRP and LTC through exchange-traded securities, which is the first initiative of its kind in Germany, Boerse Stuttgart executive Jürgen Dietrich …

New exchange-traded products (ETPs) that track the value of XRP and Litecoin (LTC) are now available for trading on the Boerse Stuttgart-owned Swedish exchange Nordic Growth Market (NGM). The news was revealed in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on April 4. Boerse Stuttgart is Germany’s second-largest stock exchange, reporting trading volumes of 71.2 billion euros in 2018. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, NGM, is an authorized exchange with operations across Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. The newly-listed products are available for European investors and are issued by XBT Provider, a CoinShares company that is domiciled in Sweden and has previously brought …

Swedish digital marketing company Tradedoubler has launched a blockchain-based platform to connect publishers with advertisers, according to a press release published on Feb. 27. The digital ad network, which will serve as a decentralized data storage, enables automated and more transparent interactions between advertisers and publishers, or websites looking to host ads. The platform is scheduled to launch on March 20, 2019, with other functionalities to be introduced in the second half of 2019. The publisher’s interface, which will be the first solution available, includes such features as product feeds, deeplink generator, support center and a streamlined report generator. Tradedoubler …

The Android version of major web browser Opera now integrates a function that lets its users purchase Ethereum (ETH) through the browser, a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Feb. 6 reveals. According to the press release, the new service is available to users based out of Sweden, Norway and Denmark due to Opera’s new partnership with brokerage firm Safello. Safello, according to Opera, is registered with the Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) in Sweden. Julia Szyndzielorz, senior PR manager at Opera, told Cointelegraph in an email that Opera’s addition of ETH purchasing through its browser allows users to immediately buy …

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has said that he sold all of his Bitcoin (BTC) when the currency hit $20,000 in December 2017. Financial media outlet Business Insider Nordic reported on Wozniak’s comments on Jan. 24. Speaking at the Nordic Business Forum in Stockholm, Sweden, Wozniak said that he first bought an undisclosed quantity of Bitcoin when the crypto was at about $700 because he “wanted to experiment with it.” He then explained what he planned to do with it: “My goal was to travel to a place like Stockholm, and go to restaurants and hotels that only accept bitcoin, and …