FreeCryptoCurrency.Me

BBVA is poised to enter the cryptocurrency trading and custody space, according to two people familiar with the plans.

The Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX) is planning to give banks full access to digital assets through a partnership between its digital asset arm, SIX Digital Exchange, and Swiss custody firm Custodigit .

The partnership is still subject to regulatory approval, but there are plans to release “complete investment value-chain” in Q1 2021, according to an announcement from SIX.

Banks and their customers will be able to take advantage of trading, smart order routing, settlement and custody for cryptocurrencies, as well as access to secondary markets using the so-called Institutional Digital Asset Gateway. 

SIX made a major stake investment in custody firm Custodigit to bring about the partnership. Custodigit’s creators are Swisscom, a leading IT company, and Sygnum, a regulator-recognized digital asset bank — the first to receive a nod from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). 

Together SIX Digital Exchange and Custodigit will create the Institutional Digital Asset Gateway on Custodigit’s platform. The two are launching the initial version in the coming Q1 with plans to grow the capabilities throughout 2021, promising “yet to be imagined products around cryptocurrencies and digital assets.” 

SIX previously took other steps into crypto by listing bitcoin, ether, tezos and XRP-based exchange trade products (ETPs), as well as Binance’s BNB tokens. 

SIX Digital Exchange Chairman Thomas Zeeb said the Gateway is the most impactful move into the digital asset space since Switzerland’s towards a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Swiss central bank and SIX said a Swiss CBDC is near completion, announcing a successful experiment done in partnership. 

“Coupled with our recent CBDC announcement with the SNB and BIS, this is potentially one of the most significant shifts in the digital finance space right now. Custodigit is a functioning operator for digital asset servicing – not just an idea to be realised.”

© 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Alexander Vinnik was sentenced on Monday to five years in prison for money laundering charges in France, where Vinnik allegedly participated in an organized criminal group.

French prosecutors also named Vinnik as one of the creators of ransomware that demanded that victims pay Bitcoin to free their computer. The crimes took place in Paris and other cities in France, in addition to the United States, according to the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and AFP.

Vinnik, a Russian citizen, was accused of a $160 million cryptocurrency fraud campaign and is still wanted in the United States and Russia, reports The Associated Press. Vinnik was cleared of extortion charges linked to a criminal enterprise, Vinnik’s lawyers say, and Vinnik denies any wrongdoings. 

In 2017, U.S. federal prosecutors charged Vinnik for stealing Bitcoin from exchanges. The United States sued Vinnik and BTC-e, a crypto exchange he co-owned that is now defunct, for $100 million after the exchange allegedly violated the Bank Secrecy Act last year, as The Block reported.

© 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Abra is expanding its crypto marketplace to dozens more countries through partnerships with four fiat-to-crypto gateways.

Singapore is funding blockchain R&D. Germany’s second-largest stock exchange’s crypto app saw $1.21 billion in trading volumes this year. Grayscale is seeing a growing number of “Ethereum-first” institutional buyers.

Blockstack’s Stacks tokens could soon no longer be a security in the US and become available to US investors.

The U.S. Treasury Department issued a statement following a virtual call with other G7 members.

Central bank officials and finance minister from the Group of 7 nations discussed crypto assets during a meeting, the Treasury Department said Monday.

According to a readout from U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, the conversation primarily focused on the coronavirus pandemic but touched on other topics, including crypto assets.

As the statement noted:

“They also discussed ongoing responses to the evolving landscape of crypto assets and other digital assets and national authorities’ work to prevent their use for malign purposes and illicit activities.  There is strong support across the G7 on the need to regulate digital currencies.  Ministers and Governors reiterated support for the G7 joint statement on digital payments issued in October.”

The Treasury Department under Mnuchin has pursued a number of crypto initiatives, primarily through the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

In February, Mnuchin said that additional regulatory releases were in the works, and recent comments from Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong indicated that exchange firms are aware of additional regulatory guidance on the horizon. 

© 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

MobileCoin, which has been a bit of a white whale since the initial coin offering (ICO) era of 2017, announced a mainnet launch on Monday.

The company acquired nearly 18,000 new ASICs in an all-stock transaction.