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EQONEX Group announces the launch of EQONEX Lending and the execution of its first institutional crypto loan

August 17, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

Diginex Limited (Nasdaq: EQOS), recently rebranded as EQONEX Group (“EQONEX” or the “Company”), a digital assets financial services company, today announced the launch of its institutional crypto lending platform, EQONEX Lending, and the execution of its first crypto loan to a European crypto native institution.

The launch of the platform follows a licensing agreement with Lendingblock, a lending platform for cryptocurrencies and digital assets, under which EQONEX has integrated Lendingblock’s lending exchange technology.

EQONEX Lending brings a uniquely safe and transparent offering to the market, capable of transforming the institutional crypto lending landscape. By providing a lending exchange with an open order book, its approach differs from many other crypto lending transactions which are currently undertaken on an over-the-counter (OTC) basis with little transparency over rates – a practice that stifles competition and impedes efficient markets.

The new approach enables institutional lenders and borrowers to interact directly via a lending exchange. The open order book allows exchange participants to view market rates being offered, and establishes market-competitive terms for collateralized transactions, bringing much needed rate transparency to the market. In addition to exchange-based lending, EQONEX will also offer an OTC lending service, with prevailing rates visible on the platform.

EQONEX Lending will also provide an automated workflow that manages the entire loan lifecycle, eliminating settlement risk, actively managing collateral to protect the lender from default risk and substantially reducing the operational risks normally associated with manual loan processing. The increasingly prominent risks associated with re-hypothecation are also eliminated as collateral assets are held in fully segregated storage in our FCA registered custodian.

Following a soft launch last month, EQONEX Lending has successfully originated and completed its first transaction, providing a Bitcoin (BTC) loan backed by USDC collateral. The platform has already developed a pipeline of loans to institutional counterparties, denominated principally in USDC, backed by collateral in BTC and Ethereum. The loans will service the fast-growing lending market, providing efficient financing for a wide range of institutions including funds, market makers, proprietary trading firms and crypto-specific firms such as miners.

The crypto borrowing and lending market has increased tenfold over the past 12 months. In 2020, crypto-backed loan volumes grew to well over $10 billion from just $1 billion in 2019, driven by increased investment activity from institutions. Much of this is conducted through a small number of custodial lenders. EQONEX Lending enables market participants to lend and borrow with EQONEX, but also directly with a broad range of other counterparties.

The EQONEX Lending platform seamlessly integrates with the rest of the EQONEX ecosystem including digital custodian Digivault, which provides fully segregated custody for loan collateral from the lending platform. Digivault recently received approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority to register as a custodian wallet provider under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information of the Payer) Regulations. EQONEX Lending will also be integrated into the crypto exchange EQONEX to provide borrowing and lending services to both retail and institutional investors.

Richard Byworth, CEO at Diginex, said: “The crypto lending market is set to be one of the fastest growing segments of the industry in the coming months and years, as institutions look to manage their capital efficiently. Lendingblock’s technology is proven to provide state of the art settlement, collateral management capabilities, and transparent pricing. EQONEX Lending will be the only platform that provides the ability to view the whole loan book, allowing clients to have the full flexibility to set their own financial terms.”

Head of EQONEX Lending, Charlie Beach added: “We’re very excited to have launched what we think will be a transformational product for the institutional lending market, enabling a broad range of companies to come together across a safe and transparent venue that combines proven capital markets financial concepts with blockchain technology.”

Powerbridge Technologies Enters Strategic Partnership with Cryptodigital Holdings to Acquire Bitcoin and Ethereum Miners

August 17, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

Powerbridge Technologies Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq: PBTS) (“Powerbridge” or the “Company”), a SaaS solutions and Blockchain applications provider, today announced it has entered into a collaborative agreement (“Agreement”) with Cryptodigital Holdings Ltd. (“Cryptodigital”). Under the terms of the Agreement, Cryptodigital will provide related services to Powerbridge for acquiring a certain number of bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) miners and developing and managing the mining operations in Asia and North America.

Stewart Lor, President and Chief Financial Officer, commented, “We are delighted to have established a strategic partnership with Cryptodigital. We look forward to working with Cryptogital’s team of industry-leading professionals and leveraging their resources to consistently acquire miners. In addition, we will work closely to develop and manage our global mining operations. We believe that our partnership will substantially drive the Company to achieve a competitive level of mining fleet and hashrate.”

Shortlist of six semi-finalists announced in 4th Bitcoin SV Hackathon with USD $100,000 prize pool at stake

August 17, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

Bitcoin Association, the Switzerland-based global industry organisation that works to advance business with the Bitcoin SV (BSV) blockchain and digital currency, has today announced a shortlist of six semi-finalists in the 4^th Bitcoin SV Hackathon. The theme for this iteration of the competition is ‘peer-to-peer applications’, with a USD $100,000 (payable in BSV) prize pool staked for the winners.

One of the premier events in Bitcoin Association’s developer education programme, Bitcoin SV Hackathons are global coding competitions designed to challenge developers to both learn about the technical power of Bitcoin’s original protocol and innovate on the fly. Within a set time period, participants – either as individuals or as part of a team – are tasked with developing an application on the BSV blockchain within the parameters of an overarching theme announced at the start of the competition.

The theme for this iteration of the competition is ‘peer-to-peer’ applications – not just payments, but any type of application that involves direct interaction between participants on the Bitcoin network. This theme was chosen to refocus development of the ‘peer-to-peer’ aspect of Bitcoin’s original design; although ‘peer-to-peer’ is a key part of the title of Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper, the P2P elements of Satoshi’s design were disabled and de-emphasised on the Bitcoin Core (BTC) network. Therefore, entrants were tasked with leveraging the recently released SPV Channels service as part of their application to facilitate P2P communication across the network, as well as interacting with the Bitcoin network directly via the Merchant API (mAPI). Both SPV Channels and mAPI are tools uniquely offered on the BSV network.

The six semi-final entries are:

– Alien Wallet – an SPV wallet with its own pay-to-order hash function
[Tim Middleton – Australia]

– Bitcoin Phone – an app for broadcasting voice data over the Bitcoin network that leverages the non-finality of nSequence to enable close to real-time data streaming
[Joe Thomas – Canada]

– BitCommit – an application for trustless fitness competitions using micropayments and smart contracts
[Gary Miller and Vince Miller – United States]

– CATN8 – a micropayment-enabled online video platform with a full peer-to-peer SPV wallet implementation
[Marcel Gruber – Canada; Dave Foderick – United States; Thor]

– TimeKet – an SPV wallet combined with a reservation and payment validation system [Joonyeong Park – Canada; Youngjin Jang – Japan; Seyoung Jang]

– TKS Pnt – a point tokenisation system for use by merchants and their customers
[Meta Taro – Japan]

From this shortlist of semi-finalists, three finalists for the 4th Bitcoin SV Hackathon will be selected and announced on August 24.

The three finalists will be invited to present their projects at the upcoming CoinGeek New York conference, October 5 – 7. The Hackathon Final Round presentations will be on Day 1 (October 5) of the conference, with winners announced on Day 3 (October 7). The finalists will compete for a share of a USD $100,000 prize pool, paid in BSV – $50,000 for 1st place, $30,000 for 2nd, and $20,000 for 3rd.

Final placings will be determined by a combination of a final round judging panel and audience voting. To watch the final round presentations and have your say in who goes home with first prize and $50,000 in BSV, register to attend CoinGeek New York in-person or online at coingeekconference.com.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Bitcoin Association Founding President Jimmy Nguyen said:

‘This iteration of the Bitcoin SV Hackathon has once again turned in numerous strong entries, each with a unique take on how best to leverage the peer-to-peer aspects of Bitcoin’s original design and the BSV network’s new SPV Channels implementation of P2P capabilities. With a challenging theme and complex requirements to remind developers about the often-forgotten P2P aspect of Satoshi’s intended Bitcoin system, it’s been impressive to see the different approaches employed by our participants. I congratulate all the semi-finalists and look forward to seeing who are selected as the three finalists.’

Also commenting, nChain CTO Steve Shadders said:

‘Working with all-new technologies – just like we tasked participants in the 4^th Bitcoin SV Hackathon with doing with SPV Channels – is never an easy proposition. But challenging situations often lead to innovative solutions, which we’ve certainly seen with the standard of entries in this year’s Hackathon. Having worked intimately on introducing the Bitcoin SV implementation of SPV Channels, I’ve been intrigued to see how developers would approach it – and for a first foray with this new technology, I’ve been impressed with the early returns we’ve seen so far.’

To watch the Hackathon finalist presentations and to learn more about exciting developments on the BSV blockchain, register to join CoinGeek New York live in-person or virtually on October 5-7.

Report Highlights The Dawn of Thailand’s e-Payment Era

August 16, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

The rapid development of Thailand’s e-Payment landscape has made it an essential part of modern Thai life, allowing unbounded global commerce and accommodating the rise of the “New Normal” during the COVID-19 crisis, while setting the scene for the Kingdom to steadily evolve into a “cashless society,” according to a report published on the Thailand NOW website.

The advances are the result of careful planning and development over the past six years of the rollout of financial technology services and systems, the report said. That level of preparation allowed the country to be ready to implement solutions needed when the arrival COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of technology by Thai consumers.

Thailand’s move towards e-Payment has been driven by the National e-Payment Master Plan, which was launched in 2015 with the aim to transition the Kingdom to a digital economy and to bring economic progress for all in the country.

The plan’s five core elements are the PromptPay system, launched in 2016 to allow real time transactions to take place using national ID or phone numbers; the multiplication of EDC networks and tools that eliminate the need for cash; the digitization of the tax system; the establishment of a state e-Payment system for efficient welfare distribution, and the promotion of electronic payment systems.

E-Payments are overseen by the Bank of Thailand, the country’s central bank, supports the National e-Payment Master Plan with its own Payment Systems Roadmap, which states, “Digital Payment is to be the most preferred choice in efficient, safe, low-cost payment systems that meets users’ needs.”

Arguably the greatest boost to e-Payment has been the proliferation of smart mobile phones, which placed access to fintech and digital money services in the pockets of everyday people. Further driving e-Payment has been the advent of the Quick Response (QR) code, a system invented in Japan in 1994, that allows for actionable data to be read by smartphones. Harnessing QR codes for e-Payment was spearheaded by Chinese e-commerce and social media giants Alibaba and WeChat and led to their popularity throughout Asia, the report said.

The mobile banking applications, that streamlined the myriad of financial services into safe and user-friendly interfaces, have all but replaced traditional in-person banking and pushed e-Payment into the Thai mainstream. The mobile banking apps, first introduced by Kasikornbank in 2010, then by Krungthai Bank and Siam Commercial Bank in 2012, had initially limited functionalities, but they have now effectively set the stage for Thailand’s present e-Payment landscape.

Users quickly started to adopt these new tools. Just one year after its launch, the PromptPay system had logged over 718 million transactions and, by December 2018, counted 46.5 million users, over half the country’s population, the report said, citing the National e-Payment Committee assessment.

Overall, electronic transactions rose from a share of 15.9% of the nation’s GDP in 2010 to 24.2% in 2019, according to Bank of Thailand data.

All of these developments proved especially valuable when the COVID-19 crisis started in early 2020, the report said.

Needing to distribute aid nationwide while maintaining social distancing, the Thai government was able to use the e-Payment infrastructure provided by programs such as PromptPay to effectively carry out its social services.

Using the e-wallet Pao Tang app, assistance programs Rao Chana and Mor 33 Rao Rak Gun provided direct monthly payouts to those in need during the pandemic. The Co-Pay program saw the government pay for half of purchases made by users who simply had to make their payments via the Pao Tang app, which also supports Ying Chai Ying Dai, another Government program, granting vouchers in users’ apps to stimulate commerce.

Furthermore, the “New Normal” realities of remote working and learning, food delivery, and online shopping affirmed the need for e-Payment as an element of app-based services, the report said.

Food delivery services provided in Thailand by operators such as Grab Food, Line Man, and Food Panda saw a massive jump once COVID-19 hampered dine-in eateries and necessitated contactless living, with food orders skyrocketing 100-300%, the report said, citing a United States Department of Agriculture report.

Conditions imposed by the pandemic even played a part in establishing Thailand’s first unicorn, e-commerce service provider Flash Group, which announced in June 2021 it had reached a valuation of over US$1 billion, as online retail soared due to COVID-19.

The development of Thailand’s digital economy e-Payment involves cooperation with regional partners, and the central bank has moved to establish cross border arrangements with its counterparts in Malaysia and Singapore to facilitate retail e-Payment transactions for consumers and businesses in Thailand with their counterparts in both countries.

Also, in a forward-looking initiative, the Bank of Thailand has since 2019 worked on a joint research project with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, regarding the development of central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and block-chain technology.

More broadly, the supply chain and logistics sector is seeing exciting developments in blockchain adoption for greater transparency, traceability, and automation in the production cycle. For instance, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has partnered with impact tech firm Diginex Solutions to better protect migrant workers in Thailand’s garment industry using labour management facilitated by blockchain technology.

This ultimately benefits companies looking to improve their ESG disclosure as well as investors wishing to build socially responsible portfolios, which are known to out-perform the market.

All combined, e-Payment thoroughly deserves the attention and support it is receiving in Thailand, offering ease and financial empowerment to individuals and a world of potential for businesses at the national and regional levels, the report concluded.

SOURCE Thailand NOW

Galaxy Digital Announces Second Quarter 2021 Financial Results

August 16, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. (TSX: GLXY) (“Galaxy Digital” the “Company” or “GDH Ltd.”) today released financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021 for both itself and Galaxy Digital Holdings LP (the “Partnership” or “GDH LP”).

“While the second quarter included significant volatility and macro-related headwinds to near-term results, our core operating activities including providing liquidity and execution services for clients and counterparties, and our strategic investment portfolio, delivered another quarter of rapid growth consistent with the pace of adoption of the crypto economy,” said Michael Novogratz, Founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital.

“Even with the broad-based digital asset market declines within the quarter, Galaxy again demonstrated strong counterparty trading volume growth and continues to add more blue-chip partnerships across the firm, most recently with Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs,” Mr. Novogratz added.

Quarter-to-date Market and Company Updates, Third Quarter 2021:

Since the end of the second quarter, total cryptocurrency market capitalization has increased 33%² and institutional adoption trends have remained positive, reinforcing our long-term thesis about the value and growth potential of this asset class.
Total value locked in decentralized finance (or “DeFi”) for the sector has increased over 30% quarter-to-date in the third quarter 2021³.
The 2021 Fidelity Digital Assets Institutional Investor Study in July showed 71% of institutions expect to invest in digital assets in the future, and 91% of those expecting to invest believe it will be part of portfolios within the next five years.
The Company continues to invest to drive growth through ongoing product launches across the platform, including the Galaxy Vision Hill Venture Fund-of-Funds I, the Galaxy Interactive Strategy, and the live launch of Prime Services for select clients.
As of July 31, 2021, Galaxy Digital Asset Management reported preliminary AUM¹ that surpassed $1.6 billion.
In June, the Company announced that it is serving as liquidity provider for Goldman Sachs’ Bitcoin futures block trades on the CME Group, as Goldman expands its cryptocurrency offering.
The Company has now deployed over $52 million of strategic capital into 14 different NFT-related companies with direct investments and through Galaxy Interactive Fund strategies.
Key recent hires to fuel expansion include Tim Grant as Head of Europe and Jennifer Lee as Chief People Officer.

______________________________
¹	AUM is inclusive of sub-advised funds, committed capital closed-end vehicles, seed investments by affiliates, and fund of fund products associated with the Vision Hill acquisition. Changes in AUM are generally the result of performance, contributions, and withdrawals.
²	Represents coinmarketcap.com total cryptocurrency market capitalization quoted price.
³	Represents total value locked in DeFi according to defipulse.com.

Select Financial Highlights for the Second Quarter 2021, compared to Second Quarter 2020

Net comprehensive income⁴ decreased to a loss of $175.8 million, from a net comprehensive gain of $35.3 million in the prior year period.
- During the quarter, our results were impacted by a 34%⁵ decline in overall digital asset prices and a 41% decline in the price of Bitcoin, relative to the end of the first quarter.
- While our core digital asset holdings experienced a market-driven net loss during the quarter, these impacts were offset in part by a combination of elevated counterparty trading activity, gains in derivatives from hedging and other activities, as well as continued strong growth across our operating businesses, led by our market-neutral trading and liquidity provisioning.
- Furthermore, gains from our Principal Investments segment increased to $214.1 million in the quarter, and contributed significantly toward offsetting the impact from broader digital asset price declines.
Partners’ Capital increased 320% to $1.5 billion, from $356.6 million at the end of the prior year period.
- During the quarter, Partners’ Capital declined to $1.5 billion, from $1.7 billion, due to losses on our core long digital asset positions. The 11% decline in Partners’ Capital compared favorably to short-term broader digital asset market declines and was offset in part by gains in our investment portfolio, which grew to $613 million from $351.6 million in the prior quarter.
- As of June 30, 2021, the Partnership had a material net holding in Bitcoin of approximately $550 million, excluding non-controlling interests, versus $133.9 million at the end of the prior year period. The increase in the value of holdings was primarily driven by the increase in price, from the prior year end. As a reminder, we actively manage our core digital asset holdings, including our material net Bitcoin holding, to participate in the upside from favorable asset price changes, and mitigate the impacts of adverse movements.
- During the quarter, the Partnership grew Cash holdings⁶ to $410.2 million from $93.2 million in the first quarter, as the firm realized gains from select investments, and as short-term market declines allowed more asset-intensive businesses to return liquidity to our core treasury.

________________________________
⁴	Excluding non-controlling interests (“NCI”).
⁵	Represents coinmarketcap.com total cryptocurrency market capitalization quoted price.
⁶	Cash holdings reflect Cash subject to trade settlement, as of June 30, 2021 in the amount of $30 million.

Operating Highlights for the Second Quarter 2021, compared to Second Quarter 2020

Galaxy Digital Trading (“GDT”) results reflected a solid quarter, with continued growth in trading volumes and gross counterparty loan originations in a period that included significant volatility in digital asset prices.
- Counterparty trading volumes continued to experience significant growth, increasing 90% from the quarter ended March 31, 2021, and increasing over 560% year over year.
- Our electronic and derivatives liquidity provisioning, as well as our quantitative trading strategies, demonstrated rapid growth in-line with our counterparty-facing businesses, and delivered increased profitability in the quarter amidst volatile market conditions.
- While the Company’s counterparty loan book decreased in the quarter ending June 30, 2021 by 15% to approximately $370 million due to lower asset prices in the quarter, the Company grew gross counterparty loan originations in excess of 130% since March 31, 2021 to approximately $1,560 million. The Company also experienced zero defaults and continued to operate with an average collateralization of over 100%, demonstrating consistent institutional-grade risk management practices.
- GDT also onboarded 64 new counterparties to our trading platform and continues to support additional tokens. We now provide liquidity in 100 cryptocurrencies.

Galaxy Digital Asset Management (“GDAM”) reported preliminary assets under management (“AUM”) of $1.42 billion as of June 30, 2021, a 12% increase from the quarter ended March 31, 2021. AUM consisted of $933.0 million in GDAM’s Galaxy Fund Management products, and $489.6 million in the Galaxy Interactive funds.
- Recent product launches include: Galaxy Vision Hill Venture Fund of Funds I and the second Galaxy Interactive Fund.
- Galaxy Bitcoin Fund, LP, Galaxy Institutional Bitcoin Fund, LP, and Galaxy Institutional Bitcoin Fund, Ltd. (collectively the “Bitcoin Funds”) track the Bloomberg CFIX pricing of bitcoin (“XBT”), and the XBT has returned 20.37% on a year-to-date basis through June 30, 2021.
- Galaxy Benchmark Crypto Index Fund LP (the “Index Fund”) is a passively managed index fund that tracks the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index (the “BGCI”). The BGCI has returned 90.58% on a year-to-date basis through June 30, 2021.
- In May 2021, Galaxy Digital acquired Vision Hill, a premier investment consultant and asset manager in the digital asset sector, to create Galaxy Vision Hill. This adds multi-manager, fund of fund offerings to the Company’s institutional asset management platform through the Galaxy Vision Hill product suite. At acquisition, Galaxy Vision Hill has one fund with $30 million in AUM.

Galaxy Digital Investment Banking (“GDIB”) was instrumental in Galaxy Digital’s acquisitions of BitGo Inc. and Vision Hill, Inc., both of which were announced during the quarter.
- GDIB is currently working on seven active mandates in various stages of execution, with an active pipeline including many more potential deals.
- Key activities as of June 30, 2021 include efforts primarily in capital raising, given the significant amount of fundraising activity occurring throughout the cryptocurrency and digital assets sector.
- Notably, GDIB won its first buy-side M&A engagement during the quarter.

Galaxy Digital Mining (“GDM”) continued to expand both its proprietary bitcoin mining operation and Mining Finance (“MiFi”) offerings to support the full breadth of the mining ecosystem, while publicizing ongoing commitments to managing its carbon footprint and increasing the use of clean energy.
- GDM demonstrated continued business model flexibility through both the execution of a resale agreement for its proprietary mining equipment, and the development of a sale-leaseback offering for large mining clients.
- GDM closed an additional bitcoin-based loan facility, its third bitcoin-collateralized corporate loan to large public miners, for Argo Blockchain.
- Proprietary mining operations in the second quarter of 2021 benefited from a decrease in network difficulty relative to the first quarter of 2021.
- Based on forward purchase commitments, GDM continues to expect to achieve up to 1,995 Petahash per second (PH/s) of mining capacity from monthly deliveries through the end of 2022.
- GDM made public a dedication to managing its carbon footprint and increasing the use of clean energy. As of June 30, 2021, GDM is utilizing sustainable electricity power mix in excess of 69% and has a three-year target to achieve an over-80% sustainable power mix.

Principal Investments: The Company now holds 84 total investments across 68 portfolio companies.
- The Company made 14 new investments during the quarter, adding new portfolio companies like Ramp, Tokemak and Aleo, all of which we believe can be category-defining.
- Strong fundraising trends within the sector continue to provide the company with flexibility to realize gains opportunistically. In the quarter, the company realized an investment gain of over $2 million from dividends received from portfolio company Bullish Global in advance of its merger with Far Peak Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company, in July 2021.

Corporate Updates

Effective August 4, 2021, the Company has successfully exited the TSX Sandbox program, having met the applicable exit condition of no significant compliance issues for a 12-month period.
On August 12, 2021, the Company announced the hiring of Tim Grant as Head of Europe. Tim joins Galaxy from Swiss Exchange SIX Group, where he was CEO of their digital asset exchange SDX. Tim brings 20 years of experience across crypto, fintech, and capital markets, and joins the Company to lead international expansion efforts.
The Company announced the hiring of Jennifer Lee as Chief People Officer. Jennifer will join Galaxy Digital on September 27, 2021 from BlackRock, where she most recently served as Managing Director and Global HR Business Partner for Technology and the Chief Operating Officer. Jennifer brings over 20 years of people management, benefits, and strategy experience, and joins the Company to lead talent management and human resources globally.

Earnings Conference Call

An investor conference call will be held today, August 16, 2021 at 8:30 AM Eastern Time. A live webcast with the ability to ask questions will be available at: https://investor.galaxydigital.io/ or directly at: http://public.viavid.com/index.php?id=145822. The conference call can also be accessed by investors in the United States or Canada by dialing 1-877-407-0789, or 1-201-689-8562 (outside the U.S. and Canada). A replay of the webcast will be available and can be accessed in the same manner as the live webcast on the Company’s Investor Relations website. Through September 6, 2021, the recording will also be available by dialing 1-844-512-2921, or 1-412-317-6671 (outside the U.S. and Canada) passcode: 13721694.

Online Blockchain plc: Umbria’s Cross-Chain Narni Bridge is Now Live

August 16, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

Umbria Network is pleased to announce that its highly anticipated Narni ‘Insta’ Bridge is in Beta and available to the public.

Users of the bridge – bridge.umbria.network – can now transfer $UMBR (Umbria’s governance token) between the Ethereum Mainnet and Matic Mainnet quickly, easily and cheaply. Imminently the bridge’s functionality will extend to see it compatible with a universe of other assets and integrating with a host of different blockchains.

In addition to asset transfers between networks, users can now ‘pool and earn’ – that is provide liquidity to the bridge – to receive fees (bridge.umbria.network/pool). Whenever someone bridges assets between two cryptocurrency networks using the Umbria Narni Bridge, the liquidity providers receive a share of a 0.2% fee. Liquidity providers can provide a single asset to the bridge and earn interest in the native asset they supplied. This facility is currently available for UMBR on both the Ethereum and Polygon networks and will quickly be extended to other assets. Stablecoin farmers should find this function particularly profitable. Stablecoins are likely to be the assets most frequently bridged due to their common use in arbitrage and trading and are therefore expected to accrue higher fee generation for the liquidity providers. Unlike in traditional liquidity provision and farming, stablecoins offer a high yield.

Umbria has also launched its Connect Portal, which enables anyone to very quickly and easily connect their Metamask wallet to any EVM compatible chain. By using the connect portal, users can configure their wallet to interact with their assets on the desired network at the click of a button instead of having to manually configure RPC connections.

“We’re delighted to bring a game-changing product to the DeFi community and are looking forward to developing Narni into a main hub for cross-chain transactions,” said Barney Chambers, Co-lead developer of Umbria. “We believe Narni will be a gateway for introducing a large audience to the Umbria ecosystem.”

Indicio and Liquid Avatar Technologies Launch Canada’s First Privacy-Preserving Decentralized Technology for Sharing Health Data

August 11, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

Indicio, the leading developer of decentralized identity blockchain networks and software, in partnership with Liquid Avatar Technologies, a publicly listed global blockchain, digital identity and fintech solutions company, and Vector Laboratories an Ontario Canada licensed laboratory healthcare verification organization, have launched the first Canadian blockchain-based decentralized identity solution for issuing and verifying COVID test results.

Supported by Indicio’s credential exchange tools, the Liquid Avatar Verifiable Credential Ecosystem (LAVCE) enables people to collect digital credentials from Vector Labs confirming their COVID test result. Credentials can be presented for verification without an individual having to share personal data. LAVCE can integrate with healthcare facilities, testing labs, government agencies, schools, sports arenas, transportation, trade shows, and workplaces to confirm health status and assist efforts to reduce new outbreaks. It combines a mobile app from Liquid Avatar for individuals, a SaaS model platform for healthcare issues, and a software development kit (SDK) to power mobile apps, corporate portals, and government websites.

“Liquid Avatar Technologies shares Indicio’s vision—the world needs technology that delivers real privacy and security,” said Heather Dahl, CEO of Indicio. “When we launched the Indicio Network, we saw the need for a space for innovative companies to collaborate and change how we manage identity, enable verification and create trust. Our partnership with Liquid Avatar Technologies, one of many, shows what happens when innovators solve pressing problems with ground-breaking technology.”

Both Indicio and Liquid Avatar are steering committee members of the Linux Foundation Public Health‘s Cardea project, designed to provide public health agencies around the world with open source interoperable privacy-preserving technology to manage COVID testing and vaccination. LAVCE also aligns with the Global COVID Credential Network and the Good Health Pass Collaborative.

“LAVCE is leading the market for interoperable, privacy-preserving identity that provides a flexible yet uniform approach to revealing health and other verifications when necessary,” said David Lucatch, CEO. “Privacy and security of personal data is essential to a ‘return to normal’ and a host of other activities. Having a patchwork of systems can quickly get out of hand. Supported by the expertise of Indicio, LAVCE makes it quick and easy to handle test data and other verifiable credentials in a way that earns people’s trust, keeps them safe, and helps open up society.”

Monaco Market Launches the First NFT Marketplace for Real World Goods

August 9, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

Monaco Market is launching the first marketplace that combines non-fungible token (NFT) technology with real world collectible goods. NFTs offered on the platform will represent ownership of sports memorabilia, jewelry, fine art and other collectibles. These collectibles will be authenticated by industry leading professionals, curated into collections, and digitally tokenized for sale on the marketplace.

Recent hyper volatility in cryptocurrency markets has compelled blockchain investors to diversify their portfolios with more stable assets. Monaco Market seeks to create a bridge for these investors into the world of investment grade assets with established value. Historically these items have been commoditized, but for the first time, they are being tied to NFTs for easy trading.

Each NFT is minted specifically for the collectible it represents. Investors may trade the assets without physical possession – removing barriers currently existing in the market. Additionally, buyers may elect to redeem physical rights to the underlying goods and have it delivered to them.

Monaco Market offers a secure environment and only a 1.5% sales fee to sellers by partnering with CollectCoin (CLCT), a BEP-20 token built on Binance Smart Chain. Additionally, Monaco Market redistributes 33% of all fees to CLCT holders. Conversely, traditional marketplaces have failed to accommodate cryptocurrency customers, leading to risky independent deals with high fees.

By removing traditional avenues that enable fraud, Monaco Market assures that buyers will get what they paid for, and that sellers will be paid. Monaco Market vets and approves each seller individually, ensuring security for all buyers on the platform. Once an NFT is minted, the owner may sell or hold that asset on the blockchain, providing users with a permanent and transparent log of ownership.

OKEx lists Efinity’s EFI, furthering support for NFTs following March listing of Enjin

August 9, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

OKEx (www.okex.com), a world-leading cryptocurrency spot and derivatives exchange, is pleased to announce the listing of Efinity’sEFI, the first paratoken on the Efinity network. EFI is specially designed to be the next-generation blockchain solution for NFTs. EFI deposits, withdrawals and spot trading for EFI/USDT are all now available on the OKEx platform.

Efinity, launched by Enjin, is an NFT blockchain built on Polkadot, which aims to make the increasingly popular NFT marketplace accessible and scalable for its users. Enjin pioneered the development of NFT platforms in 2017 when they created the advanced ERC-1155 NFT standard. Announced back in March, Enjin was launched after an $18.9 million private sale. Designed to provide a seamless experience for the end-user, a special algorithm was set in place to enable the game-channel network to process transactions every six seconds, and it can scale up to 1,000 transactions per second.

On the listing of Efinity, OKEx CEO Jay Hao commented:

“We are extremely excited to be adding Efinity to our growing portfolio of tokens. As the NFT markets continue to gain momentum, we are pleased to see wider adoption of blockchain technology across mainstream activities, with gaming being one of the fastest-growing sectors.”

MiFinity integrates Cryptopay, a new cryptocurrency solution!

August 6, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

MiFinity, the global payment provider, today has announced the roll out of Bitcoin, BitCoin Cash, Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin as additional funding and withdrawal options within the MiFinity platform. The solution is powered by Cryptopay, a 3^rd party cryptocurrency payment service provider that enables Bitcoin, BitCoin Cash, Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin holders to convert cryptocurrencies real time into Fiat currency. The equivalent Fiat or cash amount is then credited to the users eWallet. This balance can then be used to fund transfers to Merchants or consumers real time. Furthermore, consumers can now also withdraw funds in fiat converted to equivalent value in cryptocurrency from their MiFinity eWallet to their crypto wallet.

This two-way solution will allow all global Crypto users to maintain their ‘wallet’ of choice. This meets the demands of the crypto community and provides additional funding and cashout options to these users. It also enhances the overall MiFinity offering and recognises that crypto is becoming one of the most popular “alternative payment methods” on cashiers across the world. This new payment solution will provide a higher acceptance rate for consumers.

Some key benefits of integrating Cryptopay include:

Ability to convert Bitcoin, BitCoin Cash, Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin into Fiat real time
Ability to convert Fiat into Bitcoin, BitCoin Cash, Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin real time
Extensive global coverage
Low fees – no expensive FX conversion fees and charges when settling like for like
Provides MiFinity consumers with additional loading and withdrawal options
Convenient, fast, secure and seamless across borders
Simple to use with customer friendly interface

The MiFinity eWallet is a fast, simple and secure way for customers to perform payment transactions. Enhanced additional local payment options will support deposit, withdrawal and transfer functionality in different currencies across the platform.

“We are super excited about this latest payment partnership. This additional payment option, which supports both payin and payouts, will complement the MiFinity payment platform and allow our Merchants to better target their client base with this global solution. This latest product release coupled with the weekly onboarding and rollout of new Merchants onto the platform have helped move the MiFinity offering onto a new level. We fully appreciate and acknowledge the belief shown by our current and future Merchants and payment partners in our product and look forward to the continued roll out and evolution of the platform “, said Kieron Nolan, Chief Financial Officer, MiFinity.

Author: TheBlockchainExaminer.com

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MiFinity integrates Cryptopay, a new cryptocurrency solution!

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