TheBlockchainExaminer.com – Page 82

TechX Technologies Signs Letter of Intent with CryptoBuddy

March 4, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

TechX Technologies Inc. (“TechX” or “the Company”) (CSE: TECX) (OTC: TECXF) (FRA: C0B:FF), a company focused in emerging technologies across growth sectors including: crypto, blockchain, AI and cloud technologies, is pleased to announce that it has signed a letter of intent (LOI) to exchange certain information in pursuit of a potential transaction involving the acquisition of all of the outstanding share capital of CryptoBuddy Technologies Inc.

CryptoBuddy.ai is a crypto signals platform that allows traders to safely navigate cryptocurrency market conditions and cut through the market noise with AI-generated future price forecasts and trade signals. By leveraging state of the art AI, CryptoBuddy is the first to provide the most comprehensive AI-generated price forecasts and trade signals to retail investors.

CryptoBuddy Key Features:

Leverages big data to find machine-recognizable patterns that are impossible for humans to identify
Easy-to-navigate dashboard that simplifies complex data and presents it in a user friendly and easy to understand way
Predictive analytics – Different charts and graphics for easy visualization on trends, current price, historical price, and forecasts
70-75% Accuracy AI
AI system ingests over 1 billion data points daily and analyzes over 1,000 features
Subscription model creates recurring revenue stream

“We are very excited to engage with CryptoBuddy, an AI solution that is helping novices and intermediate traders cut through the noise and generate a consistent and significant alpha,” said TechX CEO Peter Green. “With more and more retail investors turning their attention towards bitcoin trading, easy-to-navigate solutions that offer predictive, accurate analytics are essential. CryptoBuddy has the potential to provide crypto traders with a competitive edge, while bringing in a recurring revenue stream that will increase along with the market’s appetite for crypto.”

Readers are cautioned that the LOI entered into with Cryptobuddy does not set forth the terms of the proposed transaction, nor have such terms been finalized. Completion of the proposed transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including, not limited to, completion of due diligence, negotiation of definitive documentation and the receipt of any required regulatory approvals. The proposed transaction cannot be completed until these conditions are satisfied and there can be no assurance that the proposed transaction will be completed at all.

RedFOX Labs Acquires Video, Content and Streaming Platform

March 3, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

Vietnam based RedFOX Labs Joint Stock Company (‘RedFOX‘) has now acquired a next generation content and streaming platform to incorporate directly into the wider RFOX ecosystem.

This is part of an acquisition buying spree, to be built upon the latest acquisition of MYMEDIA Digital: a digital marketing platform that connects consumers directly to brands and influencers across food, fashion, sport, and entertainment and its advertisers include global brands such as Samsung, Huawei, Nestle, Lenovo, Grab, Realme, VIVO, and GrandRoyal who market directly to the 35 million users currently engaging in the platform per month.

The new video and streaming platform will plug straight into RedFOX Labs’ other ventures, and will be the backbone for bringing content creators and consumers together in an interactive way.

RedFOX Labs now has a direct avenue for thousands of influencers to market directly to the Southeast Asian population across digital platforms that will also encompass this new video streaming platform.

The Southeast Asian market has 360 million internet users, with almost a third – 104 million – aged between 25 to 34. They are young, highly platform-literate, and have a thirst for technology and digital inclusion.

The video and streaming platform has some of the most advanced features of any content distribution application, including live interaction with content, live and evergreen overlays, embeddable call to actions, optimisation for mobile networks including an advanced compression system for bandwidth optimisation and is content agnostic.

Ben Fairbank, CEO, and Co-founder of RedFOX Labs commented:

“This video and content platform is one of the most critical plug-ins we are bringing to the RedFOX ecosystem.

“This acquisition is a pure plug and play model for RedFOX Labs. Our expertise is in scaling technology and building integrations and interoperability to add exponential value to the platform.

“The platform allows for live, on-demand, linear and scheduled broadcasts and content delivery, with the added bonus of having evergreen overlays, meaning that regardless of when a video is watched, there can be live price feeds or status updates being broadcast to the consumer that is relevant to the time they are watching. It is also content agnostic meaning we can utilise it for video, audio, photos, animations, interactive widgets, documents and even ecommerce plug-ins.

“We will now be able to roll out similar but enhanced versions of the platform across Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam and interactively connect a roster of blue chip clients to the tech savvy Southeast Asian audience.

“The demand for the service regionally is felt on both the client and user side and we will now fill that void as we bring the latest in influencer video content to the consumers, with a few upgrades and enhancements that encourage participation and provide user rewards.

“The token value of $RFOX will be further realised with these integrations and scaling advanced and proven revenue streams. What we are clicking together with these acquisitions is very exciting for the token holders and the community in general.”

X Financial Announces its Investment in a VC Fund Managed by Dragonfly Ventures II, L.P.

March 3, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

X Financial (NYSE: XYF) (the “Company” or “we”), a leading technology-driven personal finance company in China, today announced commitment to invest in an aggregate amount of US$10 million in a VC fund managed by Dragonfly Ventures II, L.P. (“Dragonfly”) for blockchain industry investment opportunities. Dragonfly is a venture capital fund focusing on the blockchain industry with its long-term value investment strategy and research-driven process. Dragonfly has made investments in some of the leading blockchain platforms including Maker, Compound, Celo, UMA, etc.

The Company believes that this investment can bring an opportunity of exploring innovative technologies and the potential for improved profitability in long term, which is in line with the Company’s business strategies.

Endera launches nation’s first Trust Exchange Network – a game-changer in the digital and gig economies

March 2, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

Endera, provider of the first continuous evaluation platform for post-hire workforce risk, has launched Trua, a user-centric, digital trust exchange network powered by cutting-edge, patented algorithms that facilitate a Trust Score based on an individual’s verified identity, publicly available court records, and other verifiable data. Users can share their TruaScore with potential employers to establish credibility and trustworthiness, ultimately replacing the need for traditional background checks and credit-score inquiries that require personally identifiable information (PII).

Trua puts individuals in charge of their own data by enabling users to generate a dynamic Trust Score that’s continuously monitored and updated. The score, ranging from zero to 360, is generated by verified and validated background information pulled from nationwide court and public records.

The score takes into account a person’s identity, credentials, criminal and civil records, education, watch lists, and sanctions without exposing sensitive personal information such as Social Security numbers as in a traditional background check.

Over 8 million computations are factored into Trua’s cutting-edge proprietary algorithms that simplify the typically arduous screening of an individual’s background information into an easy-to-understand, personal Trust Score. Users have complete control over who to share their score with and the length of time it can be viewed by explicit authorization.

Trua’s mission is to enable the exchange of trust for life’s transactions and to empower people to have a confident and secure relationship with the unknown. The TruaScore is now the way to prove trustworthiness in person-to-person transactions such as workplace hiring, in-home-care and service providers, tenant screening, or even dating.

“Trust within the gig and sharing economies can be difficult to measure, especially because studies show that two-thirds of people solely rely on peer references and word-of-mouth in decision making,” said Raj Ananthanpillai, CEO of Endera. “Many digital platforms that connect service providers with consumers cut the vetting process short, leaving consumers with little to no real trust in a provider’s identity and credibility, which can be a safety or liability risk.”

The nontraditional gig/share economy is dramatically expanding as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, fluctuations in the economy, and technological advancements that make remote hiring and work more efficient. In this market, there is currently no universal, standardized trust exchange method that gig and freelance workers can rely on to drive professional growth and personal protection.

“There is a clear need for a fast, reliable solution to assess trust without infringing on privacy or exchanging sensitive personal data,” Raj added.

By empowering people to take ownership of their data and personal information without compromising the integrity of the data, Trua allows users to prove their trustworthiness in person-to-person transactions without fear of identity theft or leaked PII. Unlike traditional background checks, the TruaScore is a non-biased trust exchange method because employers and hirers only see an individual’s Trust Score, not a lengthy document with underlying data and personal details.

With the constant risk of data breaches that leave personal information vulnerable, TruaScore does not require companies to collect an individuals’ PII and then outsource background checks to a third party. Instead, Trua lets individuals assemble their own background profile and enables the evaluator to verify them through the Trua Trust Exchange. This transformation allows Trua to reduce significant regulatory burden and liability risk for employers and better protects sensitive data.

“Employers should no longer have to bear the overwhelming responsibility of safeguarding every applicant’s or employee’s PII, especially as company data breaches are on the rise,” said Raj. “Trua takes that burden off of employers and allows them to hire smarter, safer and much faster.”

TruaScores are continually updated as new public information becomes available, eliminating the need for employers to run periodic screenings as they would with a traditional background check. It also provides situation-specific scores for employers interested in relevant history and credentials.

Trua users are able to review and dispute any incorrect data affecting their score, which is atypical during a traditional background-check process; applicants are merely informed that a background check is being performed on them and it ends there. Whereas Trua provides a dashboard of information on how to improve their score over time, similar to how individuals monitor and work to improve their credit scores.

Banking and financial service institutions will benefit from utilizing the holistic Trust Score, as Trua quickly verifies an individual’s identity, criminal and civil issues, watch lists and sanctions, and financial compliance without the need for third-party background checks or storing an individual’s personal documents.

“We are disrupting the archaic method of verifying a person’s identity and background in order to adjust to the realities of the new digital landscape of our lives,” said Raj. “Millions of people are renting vacation homes, hiring care givers and home services, ordering cars through rideshare, and meeting people from dating apps without confidently knowing if these individuals are safe and trustworthy. It’s time that we drive a societal change in terms of safety, security and personal responsibility, and provide a turnkey digital trust exchange, putting individuals back in control of their personal data.”

Trua Trust Exchange is based on blockchain technology and holds six patents for its proprietary processes, visual display and scoring technology. An individual’s records are verified by multiple sources to ensure legitimacy, and are cryptographically signed and stored on a blockchain to provide a chain of custody of all data sources applied in the validation.

All user data is encrypted and accessible only by multifactor authentication by the individual. When users no longer want to use a Trust Score, their data is deleted and never sold to third parties as it is when using traditional background checks and credit bureaus.

Trua is powered by facial recognition technology and backed by 15 years of research and product development on behalf of major corporations and U.S. intelligence agencies such as Homeland Security.

Hut 8 Mining: Officially Repays Loan in Full, Saves Company US$1.6M

March 2, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

Hut 8 Mining Corp. (TSX: HUT) announced that it has paid back its US$20M loan with Genesis Global Capital LLC (“Genesis”) as planned, in full. The repayment of this loan means an extra $U2.4M for Hut 8, driven by the savings from interest expenses of US$1.6M.

“Hut 8 initially took out this loan with Genesis in November 2019 when bitcoin was close to US$7,000. This loan provided Hut 8 additional leverage to significantly benefit our balance sheet, as our bitcoin (which now sits at 3012 Bitcoin on balance), has more than doubled its previous all time highs in 2017″ said Jimmy Vaiopoulos, Chief Financial Officer of Hut 8. “Hut 8 is now well capitalized. This full repayment of debt shows our position of strength in this fast growing industry.”

“The benefits of this loan and it’s repayment for Hut 8 signal the execution of our multi-pronged strategy to grow shareholder value,” said Jaime Leverton, CEO, Hut 8. “We look to reduce expenses without reducing the bitcoin on our balance sheet. We look for revenue diversification strategies to provide increased downside risk protection. This is what Hut 8 is about and what we intend to keep doing as we grow.”

As one of North America’s most innovative, oldest and highest installed capacity Canada-based Bitcoin miners, a summary of recent announcements are:

As of February 17, 2021 Hut 8 has 3,012 bitcoin on its current balance sheet, 1,000 of these bitcoin are in a Genesis yield account generating a 4% yield paid out in USD.
Hut 8 holds more self-mined bitcoin than any other publicly traded bitcoin miner in the world. This is a tremendous benefit as investors seek assets such as bitcoin as an inflationary hedge.
Hut 8 attained its goal of 1.0E/H earlier last year and is on track for a 30%+ increase in energy capacity-maintains its position as leader in installed mining equipment and capacity.
Hut 8 currently has 1,073 petahash per second (PH/s) installed with an anticipated increase to 1,300+ PH/s as new equipment comes online.
Hut 8 ranked 11th out of 10,000 in the 2021 OTCQX® Best 50, a ranking of top performing companies traded on the OTCQX Best Market last year
Hut 8 recently achieved its goal of Investment Banking research and earned a (BUY) rating from HC Wainwright investment bank. This is paramount in achieving our objectives of greater institutional investment and capital inflows.
Hut 8 signed a Global and Canadian First: Bold Energy and Blockchain Innovation Play Through an Exclusive MOU with Global Energy Partner Validus Power Corp. with the intention to secure further capacity expansion and greater energy flexibility.

Wanxiang Blockchain Forms RISC-V International Blockchain SIG with Ecosystem Partners

February 26, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

On Feb. 23, 2021 at MWC Shanghai, Wanxiang Blockchain and aitos.io announced they joined RISC-V International as strategic members and have formed RISC-V International’s new Blockchain SIG (special interest group) in collaboration with LeapFive, StarFive and SiFive. This group will help integrate blockchain technologies with RISC-V solutions, and promote the development of trusted blockchain databases.

Tu Wenhui, Senior Director of Blockchain + Technology Department at Wanxiang Blockchain, and Gary Xu, CTO of aitos.io, will take the positions of Acting Chair and Vice Chair of the Blockchain SIG, and will be in charge of the preparatory work for the official launch of the group.

RISC-V is a free and open ISA enabling a new era of processor innovation through open standard collaboration. The RISC-V ISA delivers a new level of free, extensible software and hardware freedom on architecture, paving the way for the next 50 years of computing design and innovation. RISC-V International is a global nonprofit association based in Switzerland. Founded in 2015, RISC-V International now has over 1,200 members around the world.

Vincent Y. Wang, Executive President of Wanxiang Blockchain, said that the RISC-V International Blockchain SIG initiated by Wanxiang Blockchain, aitos.io, LeapFive, SiFive, StarFive and other important partners will promote the integration of blockchain technologies with the RISC-V community. Wanxiang Blockchain has been committed to building a trusted database and collaborating with PlatONE, a next-generation blockchain consortium supporting privacy-preserving computing developed by Wanxiang Blockchain and Juzix. With its open and extensible architecture, the RISC-V ISA supports cryptographic algorithms and enables developers to create secure, trusted solutions. In the future, these companies will continue to build solutions to integrate different technologies so that more developers can take advantage of blockchain, which promises to help empower digital transformation across key industries and market segments like the Distributed Cognitive Industrial Internet, Digital Cities, Asset Digitization, etc.

“Our new Blockchain SIG will give the RISC-V community the opportunity to collaborate on blockchain technologies in order to enable the best performance and functionality in the RISC-V ISA and software ecosystem. Blockchain is already a big disruptor for the silicon industry, and we are committed to helping our members take advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead,” said Mark Himelstein, CTO, RISC-V International.

“Joining RISC-V International is in line with our innovative strategy of integrating IoT applications with blockchain. By creating the Blockchain SIG and rolling out an in-depth cooperation with the RISC-V community, we will optimize our BoAT blockchain application framework to provide better support for RISC-V solutions, accelerate the application of IoT devices in blockchain-based services and build a trusted IoT database to make this data valuable and open,” said Leo Lin, CEO of aitos.io.

Aglaia Kong, CTO of LeapFive, mentioned that as blockchain is used to track value of data, it is getting more important to ensure the origin of data is from a trusted source. By placing root of trust, ensuring each SOC having a unique DNA, having dedicated compute optimized for blockchain of where data is originated become super important. With RISC-V open and extensible architecture, combining blockchain and LeapFive’ s SOC design capabilities, we are working together with Wanxiang Blockchain and aitos.io to build the “Chinese TEA ( Trusted Embedded Architecture)”, so one can ensure the data origin is known, data usage is tractable and trust worthy.

“In the current AIoT era with massive data being produced, processed and analyzed, data and computing security becomes one of the main driving forces of choosing the open and modern RISC-V ISA. It is an inevitable trend for RISC-V to enter blockchain, a promising industry.” StarFive CEO Thomas Xu emphasized with confidence, “The scope of blockchain applications is expanding. Many applications are unexpectedly innovating because of the adoption of blockchain. No matter it is cloud computing of big data, or end to end computing applied to IoT, there is no doubt that RISC-V’s diversity and outstanding functions will even flourish to the blockchain industry.”

“The adoption of RISC-V to develop blockchain technologies, and the use of RISC-V International working groups to encourage broad industry collaboration, demonstrates the power and flexibility of the freely available and open specification ISA,” said Dr. Chris Lattner, President of Engineering and Product, SiFive. “Blockchain is an area where optimized hardware and software designed together can provide tangible benefits for secure, fast processing for supply chain, logistics, or financial operations, improving efficiency and accuracy. This demonstrates the potential for members of RISC-V International working groups to develop and build industry-wide specifications that can be broadly implemented.”

Wanxiang Blockchain made its debut at MWC Shanghai 2021 with CT Wing, UNISOC, LeapFive, Fibocom and aitos.io in Hall N4. On the Leader Stage, these companies discussed IoT and blockchain trends from the perspective of blockchain companies, chip and module manufacturers, operators and platform service providers.

Earlier in 2020, Wanxiang Blockchain kicked off its efforts to build comprehensive solutions based on the integration of blockchain and big data, cloud computing, 5G, IoT, AI, and other digital technologies and successfully hosted the Sixth Global Blockchain Summit in Shanghai with the theme of Integrated Innovation.

In January 2021, Wanxiang Blockchain established the Biological Asset Financial Service Platform with Sancai Digital Technology and Foidn Technology based on the BoAT + PlatONE IoT Data Platform developed by Wanxiang Blockchain and aitos.io. This platform was the first in China to integrate blockchain modules into biological asset monitoring for IoT devices, assigning blockchain IDs to 1000 cows at the Ashili Farm in Changji, Xinjiang, a province located in northwest China.

The Biological Asset Financial Service Platform can collect key data about the whole process of beef rearing in real time, and encrypts the data and records it on blockchain to make the data tamper-proof and traceable. This allows key data about the beef rearing process to be turned into valuable digital assets that can be shared among participants across the whole industry to improve operational efficiency.

This blockchain+IoT based platform can improve the efficiency of government regulation on biological assets, beef slaughter, transactions and the settlement of insurance claims, and more importantly, make beef produced in this process traceable for safety purposes. Supported by Wanxiang Trust, this platform can also make it easier for farmers to get financial support and increase their production thanks to this trusted database powered by blockchain and the IoT.

With all these benefits, the Biological Asset Financial Service Platform will help accelerate the digital transformation of the traditional animal husbandry industry by building a trusted database and inspiring financial institutions to drive economic growth in new and innovative ways.

SOURCE Wanxiang Blockchain

The9 Appointed Cai ZhiFang as the CEO of NBTC Limited to Lead the Development of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Business

February 26, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

The9 Limited (Nasdaq: NCTY) (“The9”), an established Internet company, today announced the appointment of Cai Zhifang as the Chief Executive Officer of NBTC Limited (hereinafter referred to as “NBTC”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of The9, to lead the development of blockchain and cryptocurrency business in NBTC. Mr. Cai has been on board.

Mr. Cai is an early pioneer in the blockchain industry. In 2013, Mr. Cai co-founded YiBit Digital Technology Company Limited, one of the earliest integrated platforms in blockchain industry in China. In 2015, Mr. Cai served as the general manager of WeiTui Technology Limited Company, which self-operated Bitcoin mining by the purchase of AvalonMiners from Canaan. The peak hash rate managed by Mr. Cai at that time accounted for nearly 4% of the global hash rate of Bitcoin. Afterwards Mr. Cai established a strategic partnership with Canaan, responsible for assisting its customers in establishing, operating and maintaining AvalonMiners. At that time Mr. Cai managed and operated more than 300,000 AvalonMiners, with an accumulative hash rate exceeding 5,000 PH/S, accounted for nearly 5% of the global hash rate of Bitcoin at that time.

After joining the NBTC team, Mr. Cai will be responsible for leading the expansion of NBTC blockchain and cryptocurrency business, making full use of his industry experience and resources to formulate and execute NBTC’s business strategy, and to implement the cooperation between NBTC and worldwide cryptocurrency ecosystem partners with the goal to accelerate the establishment of The9’s global leadership in the cryptocurrency industry.

In January this year, The9 announced the establishment of the wholly-owned subsidiary NBTC to engage in blockchain and cryptocurrency related businesses. Immediately within two months, Bitcoin and Filecoin mining machines had been acquired as the first step to build The9’s cryptocurrencies mining business.

TD Holdings, Inc. Obtains Dangerous Chemicals Business License in China to Speed Up the Strategic Application of IoTs Technology in the Chemical Energy Field

February 25, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

TD Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: GLG) (the “Company”), a commodities trading service provider in China, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Hainan Jianchi Import and Export Co., Ltd. has been granted the Dangerous Chemicals Business License by The State Administration of Work Safety of China. Such license will accelerate the Company’s strategic expansion of its business in the energy commodities field.

The license covers the handling of hazardous chemicals and energy products such as petroleum, chemical, fuel, etc. With this license, the Company is now qualified to provide commodity services to clients in the chemical and energy sectors.

Ms. Ouyang Renmei, CEO of TD Holdings Inc., said: “Our goal is to become a leading commodity platform service powered by blockchain technology. Our expansion into the field of the hazardous chemicals and energy products sector is part of our long-term growth strategy. The letter of intent previously announced by the Company to purchase eight registered blockchain software is part of our strategy to speed up the application of blockchain technology. We strive to promote the application of blockchain technology in our commodities platform as well as our digital iCloud warehouses in order to provide more efficient and convenient commodity trading and supply chain solutions to our clients. We anticipate that our e-commerce platform will continue to add more categories of commodities and apply blockchain technology to provide high quality services for global commodity trading.”

Evolve Announces Bitcoin ETF Begins Trading on TSX

February 19, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

Evolve Funds Group Inc. (“Evolve“) is pleased to announce the launch of the Bitcoin ETF (“EBIT“). EBIT has closed its initial offering of units and will begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX“) today under the ticker symbol EBIT.

“The recent institutional adoption has helped further legitimize the progress of bitcoin,” says Raj Lala, President and CEO at Evolve. “Being able to offer an ETF which holds physical bitcoin is a real game changer in Canada. Now investors may participate in bitcoin via their brokerage accounts within their RRSP and TFSA. Bitcoin has proven to be a store of value that is uncorrelated to other major asset classes – and has now emerged as an asset class itself.”

EBIT will provide investors with exposure to the daily price movements of the U.S. dollar price of bitcoin by utilizing the benefits of the creation and redemption processes offered by the exchange traded fund structure. Investors in EBIT will directly own bitcoin on the Bitcoin blockchain in a cold wallet. Gemini Trust Company, LLC will act as the Sub-Custodian in respect of EBIT’s holdings of bitcoin.

“We are proud to be working with Raj and Evolve ETFs on the launch of one of the first true Bitcoin ETFs in Canada,” says David Abner, Head of Business Development at Gemini Trust Company, LLC. “Crypto presents unique challenges for fund issuers and utilizing Gemini for fund services like custody, execution and clearing provides real comfort to investors. We have a unique understanding of both the ETF and Crypto ecosystems and bring this knowledge to every product we support.”

EBIT will not seek exposure through derivatives or futures contracts. The daily NAV will be based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate, a once-a-day benchmark index price for bitcoin denominated in U.S. dollars.

“We’re proud to partner with the world’s first regulated crypto benchmark administrator, CF Benchmarks, that offers a fully transparent methodology and relies on real-time data from five Bitcoin exchanges including Gemini, itBit, Coinbase, Kraken and Bitstamp,” says Elliot Johnson, Chief Investment Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Evolve ETFs. “The world’s leading crypto currency continues to gain momentum and legitimacy as more and more institutions embrace its value and potential every day.”

EBIT is available in Canadian dollar denominated unhedged units (TSX Ticker: EBIT), and U.S. dollar denominated unhedged units (TSX Ticker: EBIT.U).

Bitcoin ETF	TSX Symbol
Unhedged Units	EBIT
USD Unhedged Units	EBIT.U

Bitwise Launches World’s First Decentralized Finance (“DeFi”) Crypto Index Fund

February 17, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

Bitwise Asset Management, creator of the world’s largest crypto index fund, the $800 million AUM Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (OTCQX: BITW), today announced the launch of the Bitwise DeFi Crypto Index Fund.

Decentralized finance (“DeFi”) refers to the emerging category of digital, peer-to-peer financial services technologies that enable trading, loans, interest accounts, and more. Using public blockchains and cryptoassets rather than legacy systems, DeFi services aim to cut out traditional Wall Street intermediaries, allowing for the potential to facilitate faster operation, 24/7 availability, no minimums or paperwork, full transparency, and auditability.

“DeFi is the story of 2021,” said Matt Hougan, chief investment officer for Bitwise Asset Management. “The growth and activity in the market is incredible. Today there are decentralized trading venues handling over $30 billion in volume per month; automated lending programs making individual loans as large as $200 million; and the total estimated value of funds currently locked into DeFi-related contracts recently crossed $40 billion.”

The new Bitwise fund holds a portfolio of cryptoassets that power these DeFi services, and seeks to track the Bitwise Decentralized Finance Crypto Index. Holdings are screened for important risks, weighted by market capitalization, and rebalanced monthly.

The formal index methodology is public, and is overseen and adjusted on an ongoing basis by the Bitwise Crypto Index Committee.

The Bitwise Crypto Index Committee is supported by the Bitwise Decentralized Finance Advisory Council, a group of industry-leading DeFi experts who provide insights on the emerging sector.

The Advisory Council features:

Michael Anderson, Managing Partner, Framework Ventures
Ben Forman, Managing Partner, ParaFi Capital
Avichal Garg, Managing Partner, Electric Capital
Aleks Larsen, Venture Investor, Blockchain Capital
Scott Lewis, Founder, DeFi Pulse

Initial constituents and weights of the Index as of 4 p.m. ET on Feb. 16, 2021, were:

Asset	Ticker	Category	Weight
Uniswap	UNI	Exchange	25.14%
Aave	AAVE	Lending	23.37%
Synthetix	SNX	Derivatives	11.80%
Maker	MKR	Lending	10.67%
Compound	COMP	Lending	8.73%
UMA	UMA	Derivatives	6.16%
Yearn.Finance	YFI	Asset Management	5.47%
0x	ZRX	Exchange	5.07%
Loopring	LRC	Exchange	3.60%

The Fund’s custodian is Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A., which became the first federally chartered digital asset bank in U.S. history in January, and today secures over $5 billion in cryptoassets.

“DeFi is happening now, every day, and the growth is exponential. As the first national digital bank, we’re here to enable its broader adoption as a qualified custodian. We’re happy to enable more DeFi participation through Bitwise’s new fund,” said Diogo Mónica, president and co-founder of Anchorage Digital.

The Fund’s expense ratio is 2.5%, which includes costs related to custody, tax, accounting, and management fees. In the future, the fund may seek to facilitate public trading of shares in a secondary market.

Author: TheBlockchainExaminer.com