A former campaign adviser to United States President Donald Trump is planning to release a stablecoin based on a fractional reserve. As Fortune reported on Oct. 21, Stephen Moore announced plans to launch a stablecoin dubbed Frax, which will be backed by a fractional reserve of U.S. dollars. As such, the planned stablecoin will not be pegged one-to-one to a reserve of dollars but is based on algorithms that will loan out its reserves and gain interest in order to make certain that the value of the coin remains fixed to the dollar. Moore and his business partner and co-founder …

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has postponed the hearing regarding the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) injunction filing against Telegram Open Network (TON) and its Gram token to Feb. 18–19, 2020. As Cointelegraph reported recently, following Telegram’s counterclaim on Oct. 16, where the firm argued that its native crypto is not a security and the preliminary injunction should be denied, the SEC has responded with a new filing in the New York Court on Oct. 17. Court hearing postponed to 2020 According to a TRO filed on Oct. 11, Telegram should have been …

United States-based crypto exchange Poloniex is spinning out from Circle to form a new exchange that will not support trading for customers based in the U.S. New firm receives backing from Asian investment group The new independent firm, called Polo Digital Assets, will free Poloniex from its parent company Circle, the firm said in an official announcement on Oct. 18. Per Poloniex, this will allow it to focus on the needs of global crypto traders with new features, assets and services to boost its competitiveness in the market. In a separate blog post, Circle said that Polo received backing from …

The CEO and founder of Canadian social media and messaging app Kik has vowed to fight U.S. regulators over the future of the native Kin (KIN) cryptocurrency “no matter how hard it is.” According to a Sept. 25 report from Global News, Kik CEO Ted Livingston told an audience the Elevate Conference in Toronto on Wednesday: “We have to keep going. Until that’s it, we don’t have a dollar left, a person left. We will keep going no matter how hard it is.” Taking on the SEC As reported, Kik has been mired in a costly legal battle with the …

63% of American consumers perceive blockchain tokens to be an easy form of payment, according to a new survey from “Big Four” auditor KPMG. VentureBeat reported the survey’s results on Sept. 25, citing an accompanying statement from KPMG’s United States blockchain leader Arun Gosh: “Tokenization [...] provides inspiring new ways to classify value, either by creating new assets or reimagining traditional ones [...] Businesses that take advantage of tokenization can open the door to entirely new process improvements, revenue streams and customer engagement opportunities.” 82% would use blockchain tokens in existing loyalty programs Based on the findings of its survey, …

Online retail giant Overstock filed an S-3 form for the registration of its blockchain-based digital preferred stock with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The news builds on previous reports that the firm was looking to liberalize its planned digital dividend shares trading. Investment news outlet MarketWatch reported on Sept. 24 that Jonathan Johnson, Overstock’s newly appointed CEO, announced the filing in a statement earlier today. He said: “This filing represents an initial step in the company's registration of the OSTKO dividend, and the company is engaged in active discussions with regulatory authorities to obtain approval of the …

On Sept. 17, the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s BZX Equity Exchange withdrew its VanEck/SolidX Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposal a month ahead of the review deadline. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — the regulator on the matter — had until Oct. 18 to greenlight or reject the financial product. As a result, the race for the first Bitcoin (BTC) ETF seems to be postponed once again. While the SEC is still reviewing two other proposals of this kind, the VanEck/SolidX Bitcoin ETF was generally perceived as the strongest contestant to get regulatory permission and debut this investment …

The United States Army Contracting Command (ACC) of New Jersey has issued a pre-solicitation notice for cryptocurrency investigation service providers. As a pre-solicitation, posted on July 25, the notice and the ACC’s responses do not bind ACC to solicit or award a contract. For use in criminal investigations According to the ACC, the cryptocurrency analytics solution is being sought for use by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (USACIDC) for use in criminal investigations and other missions. The notice outlines that the contractor must provide a cloud-based, online service — not reliant on hardware or software — that can assist …

United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has indicated it is considering the launch of an initial exchange offering (IEO) platform. The news was revealed by Coinbase’s head of institutional sales in Asia, Kayvon Pirestani during a panel at the Invest: Asia conference on Sept. 11, crypto media outlet Coindesk reports. IEO platform could be announced within months During the panel, Pirestani reportedly revealed that the exchange believes that an IEO represents a “really interesting opportunity” for the business, stating that: “In a nutshell, Coinbase is carefully exploring not only the IEO space but also STOs. But I can’t make any formal …

United States-based investment giant Charles Schwab is — for now — steering clear of cryptocurrencies, even as rivals such as Fidelity rush to embrace the new sector. Schwab — the U.S.’ largest investment brokerage firm, with $3.2 trillion in assets under management — will not seek to offer direct trading of cryptocurrencies for the foreseeable future, according to a Sept. 7 report from RIABiz. “Sleepwalking through innovation” Schwab’s managing director for corporate communications, Rob Farmer, told reporters that cryptocurrency trading services are not being pursued by the firm at this time. He cautioned that “investors should view these currencies as …

PNC — the United States’ eighth-largest bank, with almost $400 billion in assets — has become the country’s first to start using the RippleNet blockchain network for cross-border payments. Fintech Futures reported on Aug. 29 that PNC Treasury Management is now offering RippleNet-based cross-border payments solutions to its commercial clients, claiming that the blockchain solution will give them: “The ability to receive a payment from an overseas buyer against their invoices instantly, transforming the way they manage their global account receivables and allowing them to better manage their working capital.” Ripple: MoneyGram partnership bearing fruit As Cointelegraph reported previously, PNC …

Last week, the United States Internal Revenue Service sent another round of letters to crypto traders called CP2000. These notices were sent to traders of some crypto exchanges due to inconsistencies found in their tax reports. Using the information provided by third-party systems — such as crypto exchanges and payment systems — the IRS has been able to determine the amounts traders owe and included the amounts in dollars in the notices. Individuals who have received these notices are required to pay within 30 days, starting on the delivery date indicated in the letter. Related: IRS Crypto Reporting Letter: A …