Day: April 10, 2025

Jack Dorsey’s Block fined $40M for compliance failures

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Key Takeaways Block will pay a $40 million penalty due to compliance failures in its Cash App platform. The investigation revealed weak anti-money laundering practices and inadequate monitoring of suspicious Bitcoin transactions. Share this article Block, Inc., the fintech giant led by Bitcoin advocate Jack Dorsey, has agreed to pay a $40 million penalty to the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) to settle an investigation into compliance failures tied to its Cash App platform, as detailed in a Thursday press release. According to a consent order issued…

AI-generated content needs blockchain before trust in digital media collapses

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Opinion by: Roman Cyganov, founder and CEO of Antix In the fall of 2023, Hollywood writers took a stand against AI’s encroachment on their craft. The fear: AI would churn out scripts and erode authentic storytelling. Fast forward a year later, and a public service ad featuring deepfake versions of celebrities like Taylor Swift and Tom Hanks surfaced, warning against election disinformation.  We are a few months into 2025. Still, AI’s intended outcome in democratizing access to the future of entertainment illustrates a rapid evolution — of a broader societal…

What’s next for the crypto industry

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The crypto industry has welcomed the confirmation of American businessman and former US Securities and Exchange Commissioner Paul Atkins as chair of the agency. Atkins’ approval has taken months. He appeared before the Senate on March 27 to explain his intended approach to securities regulation in the United States, as well as his views on digital assets.  Atkins will replace acting chair Mark Uyeda as head of the agency, which began unwinding a number of court cases and enforcement action against cryptocurrency firms when President Donald Trump took office. However,…

Standard Chartered and OKX pilot crypto, tokenized fund collaterals

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Standard Chartered and cryptocurrency exchange OKX are piloting a new program allowing institutions to use crypto assets and tokenized money market funds (MMFs) as collateral. Announced on April 10, the collateral mirroring program enables off-exchange collateral usage while enhancing security by placing custody with a globally systemically important bank, according to a joint statement from the companies. The pilot has been launched under the regulatory oversight of the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority, with Standard Chartered acting as a regulated custodian in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The program…

India’s Leading Bitcoin And Crypto Exchange Unocoin Integrates Lightning

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Unocoin, one of India’s longest-standing bitcoin and crypto exchanges, has announced the successful integration of the Lightning Network, a second-layer protocol designed to enable fast and low-cost bitcoin transactions. The integration is powered by Voltage, a U.S.-based infrastructure provider known for its enterprise-grade Lightning solutions. This development marks a significant step forward for bitcoin utility in India, especially in the context of rising demand for scalable and cost-effective transactions. By adopting the Lightning Network, Unocoin aims to offer its users instant bitcoin settlements and, in the near future, Tether (USDT)…

Trump’s tariff escalation exposes ‘deeper fractures’ in global financial system

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Escalating trade tensions and renewed uncertainty in global markets are driving investors toward alternative assets, including Bitcoin and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), as concerns mount over the long-term stability of the financial system. Global trade tensions continue pressuring investor sentiment despite US President Donald Trump announcing a 90-day pause on higher reciprocal tariffs on April 9, reverting the tariffs to the 10% baseline for most countries. At the same time, Trump escalated his tariffs on Chinese goods from 104% to 125%, the Financial Times reported on April 9. “President Trump’s…

Israel’s New Study Shows 51% Of Public Is Interested In Adopting CBDC (Digital Shekel) – Is That So?

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On April 1st, at the KPMG offices in Tel Aviv, several dozen people gathered for a meeting of the “CBDC IL Forum” to hear representatives from academia, the Bank of Israel, and KPMG present findings from a study conducted by the Bank of Israel through “Roschink” research institute. The study included around 1,000 participants, and the results were published on the Bank of Israel’s website. In this article, I will review key points from the meeting, comment on the research published by the Bank of Israel, and share what I had said…

Top Bitcoin miners produced nearly $800M of BTC in Q1 2025

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The largest publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies produced nearly $800 million worth of Bitcoin in the first quarter of 2025, reflecting continued growth across the sector as Bitcoin prices held near record highs. According to publicly available data compiled by Cointelegraph, the top Bitcoin mining companies produced over 9,700 Bitcoin (BTC) in the first quarter. With Bitcoin trading at around $81,600 at the time of writing, the total production was valued at around $800 million.  Marathon Digital, the biggest Bitcoin mining company by market capitalization, led the pack with 2,285…

Cosmos launches Eureka to connect Ethereum and IBC networks

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Cosmos, a blockchain network aiming to become the “internet of blockchains,” has launched Eureka, an interoperability layer designed to link its inter-blockchain communication (IBC) protocol with Ethereum. According to an April 10 announcement, Eureka has expanded the Cosmos IBC protocol, changing IBC from an ecosystem standard “to a universal interoperability protocol,” setting the hub on a course to become the home of multichain apps. Cosmos projects are integrating into IBC Eureka. Source: Cosmos With the introduction of Eureka, many Cosmos-based applications and blockchains are now accessible to more users by…

Nasdaq files to list VanEck spot Avalanche ETF

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American stock exchange Nasdaq has filed an application with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list and trade shares of the VanEck Avalanche Trust, a proposed exchange-traded fund (ETF) designed to offer indirect exposure to the AVAX token. The filing, signed by Nasdaq’s executive vice president and chief legal officer John Zecca, requests approval to list and trade shares of the VanEck Avalanche ETF under the company’s Rule 5711(d), which governs the trading of commodity-based trust shares.  If approved, the VanEck Avalanche ETF would allow investors to…