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This week's news: Blockchain in managing Covid, blockchain decentralised storage grows, crypto tops $1 trillion, PayPal and Mastercard extend into crypto and non-fungible tokens or NFTs really take off.

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California Schools Using Blockchain to Manage Covid-19

California’s Collaborative Charter Services Organization, which provides administrative support services to charter schools throughout the state, has tapped a blockchain solution to manage and track Covid-19 exposure among students and staff. The pandemic management system, named Team.Care Network, was developed by healthcare startup Solve.Care. It purports to protect citizens’ privacy while enabling a form of bio-surveillance to manage virus risk. (Cointelegraph) Read More

Denmark's digital COVID passports to restart travel by summer

Denmark is hoping to restart its travel industry as early as this summer 2021 thanks to its digital COVID passport initiative. IBM’s Copenhagen developers have already created a “Digital Health Pass” on blockchain to store information on new virus variants. The QR code on the pass can be scanned to reveal medical data as needed. (Matador Network) Read More

Blockchain domains now accessible via any web browser 

Blockchain domain registry Unstoppable Domains has expanded access to enable .crypto web addresses decentralised websites (of which there are roughly 500,000) to any internet browser and from any location. (Techradar) Read More

South Korean giant verifying unlisted investments as NFTs 

South Korean internet giant Kakao’s blockchain arm Ground X is now storing and verifying unlisted investments - shares of startups- as non fungible tokens (NFTs) on its public blockchain. These securities are not listed on formal markets, but rather are traded over the counter (OTC). (Coindesk) Read More

Nevada tycoon outlines plans for blockchain smart city 

Jeffrey Berns, CEO of Nevada-based tech firm Blockchains LLC, is planning to build a blockchain-based smart city in the Nevada desert where people 'not only purchase goods and services with digital currency but also log their entire online footprint'. The tycoon has outlined plans to break ground in rural Storey County, and to create a city wherein all records – from financial statements to personal data – is logged on a digital ledger. According to a filing made with state lawmakers, Blockchains LLC proposes to build 15,000 homes in a new ‘innovation zone’, with the company imposing its own taxes and infrastructure while managing decisions related to land and water. (Market Watch) Read More

Filecoin’s decentralized storage reaches 2.5 billion gigabytes 

Filecoin, the world’s largest distributed blockchain storage network has exceeded 2.5 billion gigabytes of storage capacity within its network. Filecoin incentivizes its users by providing a native cryptocurrency that can be traded for storage and thus provides the basis for an economy. (Silicon Angle) Read More

Blockchain .com Raises $120m in Latest Seed Round

$120 million of institutional funding has poured into Blockchain .com, with macro investors including Google Ventures, Moore Strategic Ventures and Access Industries. The London-based company has facilitated over $600 billion in crypto transactions since 2013, with its platform comprising a wallet, exchange and blockchain explorer. According to CEO Peter Smith, the company’s institutional business has become significant enough to cover the business’s entire global operating cost, while delivering additional profits. (Medium) Read More

Korea’s telecoms firm issues $2 billion digital currency 

South Korea’s second-largest mobile phone provider KT’s blockchain revenues in 2020 had grown sevenfold. KT issues local digital currencies to distribute COVID-19 relief in some areas and has partnered with several city municipalities aiming to boost small and medium-sized retail firms by offering government subsidised cash back on in-store and online local purchases. (Ledger Insights) Read More

Payments Firm Worldline to Lead EU Blockchain Project

Payments firm Worldline will lead the European Union’s TruBlo blockchain project, a research initiative tasked with exploring distributed ledger technologies in member states. TruBlo is particularly focused on using blockchain to ensure the exchange of trustworthy content on social networks, and will financially support 45 projects in total. The project is part of the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet initiative. (Ledger Insights) Read More

North Korean hackers charged in massive crypto theft plot

US Federal authorities have said three North Korean computer programmers were guilty of a series of cyberattacks to steal and extort more than $1.3 billion in cash and cryptocurrency from financial institutions and companies. They are accused of creating and deploying “multiple malicious cryptocurrency applications, and of developing and fraudulently marketing a blockchain platform,” according to a Department of Justice press release. Their Marine Chain Token supposedly allowed investors to buy fractional ownership interests in marine shipping vessels which allowed North Korea to “secretly obtain funds from investors, control interests in marine shipping vessels, and evade U.S. sanctions.” (CNBC) Read More

Canada Regulator Green Lights Bitcoin ETF

Canada’s financial regulator has paved the way for the world’s first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has green-lit the Purpose Bitcoin ETF, which is designed to replicate the performance of the cryptocurrency’s price. “The ETF will be the first in the world to invest directly in physically settled Bitcoin, not derivatives, allowing investors easy and efficient access to the emerging asset class of cryptocurrency,” Purpose Investments said in a statement. Subsequent to the approval, the regulator approved a second publicly traded ETF named Evolve Bitcoin. (Silicon) Read More

Market Share of Cryptocurrency Exchanges Passes $1 Trillion 

A new report by CryptoCompare Research indicates that the top 84 cryptocurrency exchanges – representing 85% of the total market share – have over $1 trillion in assets on their books. The figure represents more than two thirds of the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies. The six exchanges in the report to receive AA grades included Coinbase, Gemini, Bitstamp, Kraken, itBit, and Luno, and the top-tier exchanges were said to have gained 13% market share in the last four months. (Coin Telegraph)

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Coinbase Exchange Prepares for Public Listing

Coinbase, the San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange, is gearing up to trade publicly in the coming months and has been valued at $77 billion based on trading of its privately-held shares on the Nasdaq Private Market. Reportedly, the shares are currently worth around $303 apiece, with weekly trade volume in the tens of millions. Coinbase, the dominant digital asset exchange in North America, submitted a draft registration document for an initial public offering (IPO) to the SEC back in December. (CoinDesk) Read More

Chinese Bank Creates Biometric Crypto Hardware Wallet

The Post Savings Bank of China has pioneered a biometric hardware wallet for the digital yuan. The wallet enables convenient identity verification via fingerprint sensors, and can also be used to access healthcare services. According to the designers, it has been created with elderly people in mind and as a user-friendly alternative to smartphones. Large-scale testing for China’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is ongoing, and like the wallet remains at the pilot stage. (NFCW) Read More

PayPal Unveils Plans to Offer Crypto Services in the UK

Having already rolled out its crypto services in the United States, PayPal says the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets will be available to UK customers in a number of months. The comments were made by Jonathan Auerbach, PayPal’s executive chief strategy and growth officer, during PayPal’s Investor Day 2021 event. Initially, the platform will support four digital assets, namely bitcoin, ethereum, bitcoin cash and litecoin. (news. bitcoin.com) Read More

Dubai Free Trade Zone Accepts Payment in Crypto 

Kiklabb, a free trade zone that helps businesses get a foothold in Dubai, has started accepting payment in bitcoin, ether and tether (USDT). Kiklabb issues trade and other licenses, as well as processing visas, and is a government-owned entity. Tasawar Ulhaq, CEO of Kiklabb, said the decision had been made due to “growing interest in cryptocurrency with several customers in blockchain and fintech (financial technology) sectors.” Ulhaq also stated his belief that cryptocurrencies are the payment method of the future. (news.Bitcoin.com) Read More

Mastercard Create Payment Card for Bahamas Sand Dollar

Mastercard is rolling out a prepaid payment card that can be loaded with the world’s first central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Bahamian Sand Dollar. The Sand Dollar was piloted in 2019 to cash during purchases and launched in October and fully backed by the country’s fiat, though it was previously available only via local payment service provider Island Pay. The new card allows the digital currency to be used with any merchant that accepts Mastercard allowing users to instantly convert the Sand Dollar.  Mastercard is in the midst of rolling out a testing platform for central bank crypto pilots, with its network gearing up to handle the direct processing of crypto payments later this year.

(FinExtra) Read More

BlackRock CIO Says Company is “Dabbling” in Bitcoin 

Rick Rieder, the chief investment officer of asset management firm BlackRock, says the company is “starting to dabble” in bitcoin. The comments came during an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box. Previous regulatory filings suggested that certain funds operated by BlackRock were on the verge of buying bitcoin futures. BlackRock’s assets under management hit a record $8.68 trillion in the final quarter of 2020. (The Block Crypto) Read More

Asset Manager Bitwise Unveils DeFi Fund

Crypto asset manager Bitwise has launched a DeFi Crypto Fund, offering accredited investors exposure to popular DeFi tokens. The fund aims to entice institutional investment in the DeFi sector, which has exploded in popularity over the last 12 months. The fund will provide a means by which retail investors can bet on DeFi through the structure of a security. (The Block Crypto) Read More

Bitcoin Miner Canaan Creatives Sees Shares Jump 41% 

Canaan Creative, a Beijing-based company that manufactures equipment for mining bitcoin, saw its shares jump by 41% on February 16, with 100,000 units sold in 2021 so far. A shortage of mining machines, coupled with bitcoin’s skyrocketing value, has seen the company’s stock soar of late. According to Canaan CEO Nangeng Zhang, increased revenue is helping to optimize the company’s cost structure and improve its customer satisfaction rate. (Business Insider) Read More

NFT Artwork to Go Under the Hammer at Christie's 

The NFT craze is picking up steam, with tokenized digital art set to go under the hammer at Christie’s auction house. Digital artist Mike Winkelmann, who goes by the moniker Beeple, will auction a collage of 5,000 pieces having sold 20 NFTs for $3.5 million on a digital marketplace in December. The auction will run from February 25 to March 11, with bids starting at $100. Amazingly, over $100 million worth of crypto collectible NFTs have sold in the past 30 days. (Ledger Insights) Read More

Over $100M In Crypto Collectible NFTs Sold Over Past 30 Days 

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are gaining momentum in crypto with over $100 million worth of crypto collectible NFTs sold in the last 30 days. NFTs provide a way for commodities like digital art, gaming collectibles and real estate to be tokenized and monetized. (Benzinga) Read More

The Chinese Tea Company Pivoting to Bitcoin Mining

Urban Tea, A publicly traded tea firm listed on the Nasdaq, Urban Tea is getting into crypto mining. Urban Tea isn’t the first tea company to try its hopes on blockchain. Long Island Tea Corp, a lemonade and non-alcoholic iced-tea company, rebranded as Long Blockchain Corp in December 2017 pumping its stock by up to 500%. Urban Tea (MYT) closed trading up 15% following news of its Bitcoin plans.(Decrypt) Read More

Bitcoin bunker hidden in the Swiss Alps 

Deep in the Swiss mountains in an undisclosed location is a decommissioned military bunker where private suites customized with state-of-the-art security features are rented out, including to clients who want to keep their bitcoin safe. Access is limited by security measures including visitors having to present their fingerprints and be photographed. The company won’t say how much bitcoin is stored in the vault which is actually three buildings constructed inside a hollow in the granite mountain. (Quartz)  Read More

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