Terra and Harmony announce DeFi partnership focused on UST stablecoin integration

July 7, 2021 Coin Telegraph

“Terra is excited to expand our growing portfolio of DeFi products to multiple chains and working with Harmony to bring UST and Anchor to another growing ecosystem,” said Do Kwon, co-founder and CEO of Terra.

Terra, an algorithmic stablecoin platform for savings, investments and payments, is joining forces with the Harmony blockchain to pursue new DeFi initiatives focused on programmable money and other so-called financial primitives.

Under the new partnership, which is described as a “deep integration” initiative, Terra will integrate Harmony on its Shuttle Bridge platform, a web front-end that allows users to send Terra’s UST stablecoin across supported blockchains. “This paves the way for UST to migrate to Harmony and to be used on applications in the Harmony Ecosystem,” Peter Abilla, Harmony’s VP of marketing, said in a Tuesday announcement.

TerraUSD is currently the fifth-largest stablecoin on the market, with a total capitalization of just over $1.9 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Terra enjoys the backing of several major blockchain firms, including leading venture capitalist Galaxy Digital. As Cointelegraph reported, news of Galaxy Digital’s investment in Terra sent the value of its LUNA token skyrocketing in February.

Harmony’s founder, Stephen Tse, said his company’s partnership with Terra supports its vision of building new products “in a multi-chain future.” He also touted Terra’s OneAnchor fixed-yield savings account, which will also be deployed on Harmony.

As a sharding protocol with a trustless Ethereum bridge, Harmony is tackling the scaling issue that is currently plaguing blockchain adoption. While Harmony pales in size compared with major competitors like Cosmos or Solana, the market capitalization of its network coin has more than doubled since February.

Under the details of the partnership, Terraform Labs will provide direct support to projects that are building UST directly on Harmony. Both Harmony and Terra will collaborate on Harmony’s upcoming “Bridging Wall Street to Web3” Hackathon.

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Crypto.com announces global partnership with Formula 1

June 29, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Business

The exchange said it will become the racing series’ official cryptocurrency sponsor and NFT partner, hinting at a crypto-themed award for one of the events.

Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has announced it will partner with Formula 1 in its racing series this year.

In an announcement today, Formula 1 said Crypto.com would be the new global and inaugural partner for its 2021 Sprint series, scheduled to begin on July 17. As part of the agreement — which CNBC reported to be $100 million — the exchange will become the racing series’ official cryptocurrency sponsor and nonfungible token, or NFT, partner.

“We will rely heavily on [Crypto.com’s] expertise as we explore the world of cryptocurrency, an area we are very interested in, and this will be the first time as a sport we are able to offer fans the opportunity to explore this exciting world as we further increase our digital presence,” said Formula 1’s director of commercial partnerships Ben Pincus.

Formula 1 hinted that race car drivers would have the opportunity to win a new potentially crypto-themed award, which will be announced prior to the Belgian Grand Prix event on Aug. 29. The racing series has also announced its intention to follow Crypto.com’s May commitment to become carbon negative within 18 months, saying it plans to be ”net zero carbon” as a sport by 2030.

“We are both, at the core, technology organizations focused on innovation,” Crypto.com CEO and co-founder Kris Marszalek told Cointelegraph. “It is in the DNA of organizations like ours to find smart, technological solutions to hard problems like addressing climate change.”

Crypto.com will already have its logo appear on Aston Martin’s team at Formula 1 events based on a partnership finalized in March. At the time, Marszalek said the exchange would be looking to leverage the collaboration to promote other cryptocurrency-related products.

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Crypto.com taps Circle for global dollar deposits

June 29, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Circle

Crypto.com and Circle's partnership enabled U.S. dollar deposits and receiving USDC for users in more than 30 countries.

Digital asset exchange platform Crypto.com opened a new U.S. dollar fiat on-ramp thanks to a new partnership with global payment provider Circle, according to a June 28 announcement.

The partnership between Crypto.com and Circle enables users in over 30 countries to deposit dollars from their bank account and receive USD Coin (USDC), a popular dollar-pegged stablecoin at a 1:1 ratio.

Crypto.com’s trading platform has over 50 pairs with USDC, which means that they will be able to buy Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and other cryptocurrencies with their stablecoin. Dollar withdrawals will be enabled in the near future, the announcement reads.

Crypto exchanges use fiat-to-crypto payment gateways, also known as onramps, to enable users to add funds from their bank accounts using fiat money like U.S. dollars and euros. Users can then use those funds to buy crypto on the platform.

Users need to transfer their dollars with a unique code provided by Circle when making deposits, the announcement details. “Circle will take care of the processing, storage, and USD-to-USDC conversion. Users will then receive their funds in their Crypto Wallet within three business days.”

Noting that transferring fiat money into crypto exchanges has been an arduous process, Crypto.com co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek said that the partnership with Circle aims to provide smoother money transfer solutions to the platforms' users.

“This partnership will fuel crypto adoption globally and is another example of how innovators continue to break down barriers between traditional finance and the future of payments,” Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire added.

Circle recently started a new initiative called The Circle USDC Institutional Trading Program, which allows high-volume trading firms, crypto exchanges and market makers to access Circle APIs for automated infrastructure to issue and redeem USDC.

Last year, Visa picked Circle to make USDC transactions compatible with certain credit cards and facilitate USDC transactions between cross-border Visa-friendly companies.

Winklevoss’ Gemini buys carbon credits to cut Bitcoin’s CO2 footprint

June 24, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin mining

Gemini has partnered with a non-profit to purchase carbon permits from government-related cap-and-trade markets and erase them from circulation.

Gemini, a major cryptocurrency exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, is responding to Bitcoin’s (BTC) environmental issue by purchasing carbon credits.

On Thursday, the company announced its long-term initiative to incorporate climate-conscious measures into its business, launching a collaboration with Climate Vault, a non-profit founded at the University of Chicago.

Through the initiative, Gemini plans to purchase carbon credits for nearly 350,000 metric tons of carbon to offset non-renewable energy consumed by Bitcoin miners and help decarbonize Bitcoin on the BTC network.

According to the announcement, the partnership will have Gemini purchase carbon permits directly from government-related cap-and-trade markets and erase them from circulation. In doing this, Gemini prevents other market players from using these carbon credits to emit CO2 and thus cuts the overall supply of carbon permits. According to Gemini, the resulting reduction in allowed emissions is equivalent to almost a billion miles driven by a passenger car.

Gemini will keep working with Climate Vault in an ongoing campaign to cut and ultimately remove the carbon emissions of the Bitcoin that Gemini custodies, the announcement notes. Gemini has also allocated $1 million through the Gemini Opportunity Fund to support sustainability-focused companies and projects as part of its environment-conscious program, Gemini Green.

“As Bitcoin emerges as a dominant store of value, it's imperative that we incorporate sustainability for future generations. We are proud to team up with Climate Vault to offset our exposure to non-renewable mining and contribute to the decarbonizing of Bitcoin,” Gemini CEO Tyler Winklevoss said.

Earlier in June, crypto-focused hedge fund One River Digital said that over 75% of assets in its Bitcoin private fund committed to shift to its new carbon-neutral share class in a move to offset Bitcoin’s environmental impact.

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Gold-backed digital tokens to hit Turkish market following new partnership

June 8, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Agabullion

The partnership enables investors to purchase grams of accredited gold as ERC-20 tokens.

Gold wholesalers are starting to find new ways to expand their businesses to retail, thanks to blockchain-based tokenization. International bullion trading company AgaBullion and United Kingdom-based fintech Aurus Technologies have signed a partnership to offer gold-backed tokens in the Turkish market.

The partnership will see investors own grams of LBMA-accredited gold via AurusGOLD. As a gold-backed ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, AurusGOLD (AWG) is minted and distributed by precious metals dealers using Aurus’ blockchain-based solution.

“Gold is the oldest decentralized finance system in the world,” AgaBullion chairman Gökhan Yılmaz said, “It has become a globally recognized and established ecosystem.” He added that since the lack of underlying assets and high volatility renders other cryptocurrencies unreliable, a physically-backed token makes sense.

“We see a huge potential for digital precious metals,” AgaBulllion CEO Sarp Tarhanaci stated. “By partnering with Aurus, we can now use their blockchain platform to facilitate fractional gold ownership in Turkey.”

Turkey’s history in investing physical gold, along with the high adoption rate of crypto as an alternative way to protect wealth, makes the country an attractive market for digital gold, AgaBullion told Cointelegraph.

Speaking on the opportunities in the market, AgaBullion explained that the COVID-19-related lockdown in Turkey made it impossible for citizens to access physical gold:

“People in Turkey are looking for something reliable and sustainable. Due to its centralized structure, it’s not efficient for consumers to buy gold from online platforms provided by banks. For AgaBullion, the most logical next step is a digital product.”

Turkey is known as one of the largest gold markets globally, where the precious metal is widely recognized as a form of wealth. Aurus business development manager Mark Gesterkamp said:

“AgaBullion is an approved member of Borsa İstanbul, offering the infrastructure, market knowledge, and network of clients for us to expand further the usability of digital gold and other precious metals in Turkey.”

Aurus told Cointelegraph that the ultimate goal for AWG is to position it as a means of payment. The team does not want to compete with fiat currencies, but they aim to offer a reliable and stable alternative.

Blockchain technology allows for an inclusive and efficient system, the firm said. "It makes precious metals accessible to ordinary people and not just the privileged sophisticated investors that largely dominate the market currently."

Partnership