The US is reportedly pushing G7 nations to confiscate $300 billion in Russian assets that were frozen in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. America, backed by the UK, Japan and Canada, want to have a proposal on how to take the assets ready in February at the two-year anniversary of the conflict in […]
The post US Pushing To Confiscate $300,000,000,000 After Freezing Assets Owned by Russia’s Central Bank and Members of the Russian Elite: Report appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
European Union (EU) negotiators have agreed on rules for new legislation that will allow governments to freeze and confiscate so-called “unexplained wealth” that’s believed to be connected to criminal activities. Council Members have agreed on mandatory rules for the tracing, identification, freezing, confiscation and management of assets deemed as criminal property in an enhanced effort […]
The post Government Can Freeze and Confiscate ‘Unexplained Wealth’ At Will, According to Newly Passed Rules in EU – Here’s How appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
Blockchain tokenization provides an alternative means for SMEs to raise capital and liquidity while building diversified investment opportunities.
Teylor, a German-based fintech firm specializing in digitizing small business loans, has joined forces with digital asset infrastructure provider Taurus to turn small and medium enterprise (SME) loans into tokenized assets and provide tokenholders with monthly cashflows.
In the partnership, Teylor originates and manages SME loans through its Teylor credit platform. By tokenizing part of this credit portfolio on the Taurus infrastructure and TDX-regulated marketplace, professional private debt investors could participate in the returns through a secure blockchain-based secondary market.
Blockchain tokenization provides an alternative means for SMEs to raise capital and build liquidity while building diversified investment opportunities. In 2021, Italy’s Azimut group tokenized its first portfolio of loans to Italian SMEs through Sygnum Bank.
The U.S. FASB has decided that crypto assets will be represented at their fair value in accounting beginning late next year.
Crypto companies and institutions holding crypto assets have gotten some good news about accounting practices. They will be able to record the value of their crypto more realistically under rule changes in the United States.
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) finalized the new rules on Dec. 13. The FASB is the organization that sets accounting and reporting standards for the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). GAAP-standard financial reports are required from companies that trade on public markets in the United States.
Related: New crypto accounting guidelines could ‘smooth the way’ for adoption
The Iota Foundation wants to capitalize on institutional demand for real-world asset tokenization, which reached $342 billion in September.
Open-source blockchain developer Iota has taken another step to meet institutional demand for asset tokenization by integrating its Shimmer Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible chain with Fireblocks.
Data from VanEck Research shows the total market capitalization for tokenized real-world assets (RWA) reached $342 billion in September despite the bear market and the crypto industry's headwinds. According to Dominik Schiener, co-founder of Iota, the network is building infrastructure and solutions to address the escalating demand for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.
“We can expect many large institutional investors and financial institutions to give their public support for digital assets in 2024. With clear regulations and newfound public support through these institutions and the imminent ETFs, we are well on our way to make institutional investors the dominant market participants,” noted Schiener.
Bakkt is expanding its custody services shortly after its quarterly earnings report showed assets under custody declined 28%.
Crypto firm Bakkt appears to be returning to digital asset custody as its primary business, adding support for six new coins, according to an announcement on Nov. 15.
Aside from Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), Bakkt will expand its custodial support to include Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Litecoin (LTC), Shiba Inu (SHIB) and USD Coin (USDC). The company expects to add more coins to its custodial services in early 2024.
The custody of digital assets focuses on the safeguarding of cryptographic keys, which are crucial for accessing and transferring assets. Various security measures are employed by custodians, such as Bakkt, to protect assets, including cold storage of coins and multisignature technology that demands multiple approvals for access.
The announcement follows Bakkt’s release of its quarterly earnings report on Nov. 14, when the company disclosed an adjusted EBITDA loss (non-GAAP) of $21.6 million, a 30% decrease year-over-year due to a reduction in compensation and benefits.
According to the report, Bakkt saw its crypto revenue reach $191.8 million in the third quarter of 2023 thanks to the acquisition of Apex Crypto in April. Over the quarter, the company generated a total of $204.8 million in total revenue. In terms of assets under custody, Bakkt reported $505.7 million, a decrease of 28% over last year.
To strengthen its crypto custody arm, Bakkt is also developing partnerships. According to the company’s quarterly report, it plans to offer clearing and custodial services for the Wall Street-backed crypto exchange EDX Markets, initially serving as a backup qualified custodian. Among Bakkt’s new clients on custodial services are Bitcoin platform Unchained and LeboBTC, a crypto consulting firm for institutional investors.
“The events of the past year have revealed why qualified crypto custody is so necessary,” Gavin Michael, CEO of Bakkt, said in a statement.
Expanding custody services is also an important aspect of Bakkt’s strategy for targeting business-to-business clients. In February, the company announced that it would sunset its consumer-facing app launched in 2021 in order to focus on institutions amid the crypto winter.
Many traditional financial institutions are also targeting the custody of digital assets. In 2022, BNY Mellon, the oldest bank in the United States, launched a digital custody platform to safeguard ETH and BTC holdings for selected clients. DZ Bank, Germany’s third-largest bank, also began offering crypto custody to institutional investors earlier this month.
Magazine: Ethereum restaking — Blockchain innovation or dangerous house of cards?
Sanjay Raghavan believes that the tokenization of real estate could bring Web3 adoption and provide a diversification alternative for crypto natives.
The tokenization of real-world assets has been tipped as a major use case of blockchain technology that could drive Web3 adoption. In episode 35 of Cointelegraph’s Hashing It Out podcast, host Elisha Owusu Akyaw interviews Sanjay Raghavan, vice president of Web3 Initiatives at Roofstock onChain, about tokenized real estate on the blockchain and how digital real estate investing interacts with the nonfungible tokens market and the decentralized finance landscape. Raghavan also talks about fractional nonfungible tokens (NFTs), regulations and the risks related to Web3 real estate platforms.
Raghavan explains how real estate is sold on the blockchain using NFTs. Companies that sell real estate on-chain must first purchase the property and create a limited liability company (LLC). An NFT is then created, which is associated with the ownership of the LLC. When users buy the NFT, they buy the LLC, which means they have purchased the property.
Raghavan tells Hashing It Out that regulations for tokenizing real-world assets can be complex. In the United States, for instance, various states have rules on the sale of assets, meaning that com navigate separate compliance requirements across 50 jurisdictions.
Beyond bringing people from the traditional real estate market to Web3, Raghavan believes that crypto natives may see real estate tokenization as a diversification tool. He explains that most investment alternatives in the industry may be highly correlated to the Bitcoin (BTC) price, and having another stable and less correlated asset could be a reason for exposure to real estate NFTs.
Raghavan also talks about the fractionalization of assets, including NFTs, which may require running a securities program that makes it unattractive for companies working in the United States. On the other hand, non-U.S. citizens may be able to access fractional NFTs in the future if firms outside the jurisdiction buy properties and sell the NFTs in other markets.
Magazine: Beyond crypto: Zero-knowledge proofs show potential from voting to finance
Listen to the full episode of Hashing It Out, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or TuneIn. You can also check out Cointelegraph’s full catalog of informative podcasts on the Cointelegraph Podcasts page.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
The SEC charges for the world’s largest asset manager came on the same day as a DTCC listing of its spot Bitcoin ETF was spotted, however, a spokesperson from DTCC confirmed that the listing has been there since August.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has fined investment adviser BlackRock Advisors, LLC $2.5 million, accusing it of failing to accurately describe investments in the entertainment industry that comprised a significant portion of a publicly traded fund it managed.
According to the SEC's filing, between 2015 and 2019, BlackRock Multi-Sector Income Trust (BIT) made sizeable investments in a print and advertising business called Aviron Group, LLC, that worked on one to two films annually, through a loan facility.
The SEC alleged that BlackRock incorrectly referred to Aviron as a company that provided "Diversified Financial Services" in a number of BIT's annual and semi-annual reports that were made available to investors publicly. The SEC also alleged that BlackRock misrepresented Aviron's interest rate by claiming that it was higher than it actually was. However, the asset manager discovered these errors in 2019 and corrected information about Aviron's investment in the following years.
Andrew Dean, Co-Chief of the Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit at the SEC said that the investment advisers have a responsibility to provide accurate vital information about the assets of the funds it manages, and “BlackRock failed to do so with the Aviron investment.”
BlackRock agreed to pay a $2.5 million penalty for the incorrect investment disclosure agreement. Although the investment was unrelated to the crypto ecosystem, the world’s largest asset manager has been in the crypto limelight for its proposed spot Bitcoin ETF.
Related: Bitcoin ETF to trigger massive demand from institutions, EY says
The SEC charges against BlackRock for investment discourse failure came on the same day as its spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) was noticed listed on the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) listing prompting many to believe the spot Bitcoin approval is near.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas called DTCC listing “all part of the process” of bringing a crypto ETF to market. However, within hours of the DTCC listing, the spot Bitcoin ETF was removed from the platform and reappeared within hours, creating confusion among the crypto community, However, a DTCC spokesperson later confirmed that iShares Bitcoin ETF has been listed on the platform since August, and said the move is not indicative of any regulatory approval.
Magazine: Blockchain detectives — Mt. Gox collapse saw birth of Chainalysis
The platform enables the conversion of traditional assets into digital assets and makes way for faster and more secure settlements on-chain.
American banking giant JP Morgan debuted its in-house blockchain collateralization platform called Tokenized Collateral Network (TCN) on Oct. 11, reported Bloomberg. TCN settled its first trade for asset management giant BlackRock.
Tokenized Collateral Network is an application that allow investors to utilize assets as collateral. Using blockchain technology they can transfer collateral ownership without moving assets in underlying ledgers.
The TCN network in its first public collateralized trade between JP Morgan and BlackRock turned shares of one money market fund into digital tokens, which were then transferred to Barclays Plc as security for an over-the-counter derivatives exchange between the two companies.
The first internal test of TCN was conducted by JPMorgan in May 2022 and has a pipeline of other clients and transactions now that TCN is live. JP Morgan’s tokenization network was launched with the aim to streamline and scale the process of settling traditional settlements on a blockchain. The use of decentralized technology made the process faster, more secure and more efficient.
According to Tyrone Lobban, head of Onyx Digital Assets at JPMorgan, the new TCN platform unlocks capital that has been locked up and allows it to be used as collateral in ongoing transactions, the technology would boost efficiency at scale. The platform makes it possible to create, transfer, and settle tokenized traditional assets. The tokenization platform allows for the movement of collateral nearly instantly as opposed to other methods used earlier.
The blockchain platform makes way for clients to access intraday liquidity through a secured repo transaction using tokenized collateral, rather than depending on expensive unsecured credit lines. External clients who agree to the blockchain trade have their own node using which they can settle the trade and access other reports.
Related: JPMorgan Chase enters generative AI race with IndexGPT trademark
The American banking giant has come a long way from its early days of criticism for the decentralized world and is currently actively involved in testing and launching various blockchain and crypto-centred services amid growing demand. The bank used a blockchain-based solution to settle trades with Indian banks in June earlier this year.
Magazine: Bitcoin is on a collision course with ‘Net Zero’ promises
Asset tokenization has been in the works for a year. The ambitious project has also included investor citizenship and an island in the metaverse.
The Central African Republic (CAR) has extended its Sango blockchain project to tokenization of its land and natural resources. The country, one of the poorest and most crypto-friendly in the world, is one of the most active in crypto innovation.
According to an announcement posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), the CAR National Assembly passed a law on tokenizing land and natural resources on July 24. Among other provisions of the law, it will make it possible to obtain business visas online and allow citizens and foreigners to set up businesses “easily” and obtain licensing in real estate, agriculture, natural resource exploitation and forestry. The statement said the law was "unanimously approved."
The CAR had announced its intentions to tokenize its natural resources last year, not long after the launch of Project Sango in May 2022. The Sango Project also called for the creation of its own Crypto Island Metaverse.
Related: Commodity tokenization is the economic aid Africa needs
The CAR’s efforts to position itself in the vanguard of crypto adoption has faced significant obstacles. The CAR was the first country in Africa, and second country worldwide, to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as a national currency in April 2022. It reportedly repealed its status in May of this year. The country also launched its own cryptocurrency, the Sango in an effort to displace the CFA (Financial Community of Africa) franc. The Sango was not intended to be a central bank digital currency.
The Sango faced several obstacles before its launch, including the rejection of the Sango-linked citizenship program by the Constitutional Court. Nonetheless, the citizenship program, which costs $60,000 in Sango, remains on offer on the Sango Project website. The country is also considering the introduction of other cryptocurrencies.
The International Monetary Fund, which opposed the CAR’s adoption of Bitcoin, estimates the country’s GDP growth at 2.2% this year.
The SANGO Project's Next Chapter
— Sango (@sangoproject) August 21, 2023
Exciting news! The Central African Republic is ushering in a new era of #financial empowerment through #blockchain technology.
Guided by the visionary leadership of President Professor @FA_Touadera , we're ready to make a global impact. pic.twitter.com/m1jYjsvc0q
Magazine: Bitcoin in Senegal: Why is this African country using BTC?
