Empeiria’s Post

The future of digital assets The key insight from one of the most valuable side events at #ADFW hosted by Standard Bank Ventures and #Hub71. The real-world adoption of digital assets begins with stablecoins and smart contracts. Instant settlements and trustless architecture are transformative for traditional finance. Eventually, all settlements will occur on the blockchain. The highlight for me was the discussion on digital assets, brilliantly moderated by Robbie Nakarmi, Digital Assets Fund Lead at SC Ventures with Peter Abou Hachem - Head of Growth & Strategy, Hub71 Nick Philpott - Co-Founder & Head of Partnerships, Zodia Markets Lily Liu - President, Solana Foundation Marcel Kasumovich - Deputy CIO, Coinbase Asset Management The conversation underscored the potential of digital assets to reshape financial services "#Stablecoins will be integrated into the regulatory mainstream much faster than people appreciate, and then the focus will be on what we will do with broader crypto as a general matter." Marcel Kasumovich Why: Regulations in the US are accommodating stablecoins already. Now, it is all about SEC execution. The velocity of stablecoins is so much higher than FIAT that the cash balances held might be far lower. The competitive advantage of stablecoins is so huge that we will see several jurisdictions like UAE, the UK, and Korea accelerating the adoption even before the US. Opportunity in the MENA is enormous. The region is open to innovation, and the regulatory landscape supports innovation. This event was about witnessing firsthand the future of finance through the lens of innovation and collaboration. Thank you, #Hub71, for the invitation. #DigitalAssets #SCVentures #Blockchain

Freedx, a recently launched cryptocurrency exchange, has completed a $50 million funding round, securing regulatory approvals in Panama and El Salvador. The investment highlights investor confidence in Freedx's user-focused platform, which offers advanced trading tools, intuitive design, and robust security features. Led by industry veterans from major financial and crypto institutions, Freedx aims to address a market gap by providing a transparent, efficient, and secure trading environment. The platform emphasizes seamless trading and continuous innovation to empower its community and drive industry progression. Freedx is a secure crypto exchange for Bitcoin and altcoins, enabling users to trade, manage, and grow their digital assets with ease on a trusted platform. The company recently completed a $50 million funding round, securing regulatory permissions in Panama and a BTC license in El Salvador, marking the first steps towards global compliance expansion. Freedx's platform emphasizes intuitive design and robust security features, aiming to address a crucial market gap by combining advanced capabilities like optimized order routing, real-time analytics, and frictionless execution with a sleek, user-friendly interface. The company was founded by a team of industry veterans from leading financial and crypto institutions, including Binance, Deutsche Bank, Upbit, and eToro, boasting decades of experience in trading, technology, and risk management. Since its inception, Freedx has grown to nearly 100 members committed to creating a transparent, efficient, and secure trading environment. Factacy.ai Congratulates and wishes them well. #innovation #management #digitalmarketing #technology #creativity #futurism #startups

🚨 Crypto News: Arthur Hayes is calling for a revival of ICOs, and he isn't holding back. The BitMEX co-founder critiques the headlock venture capital and centralized exchanges have on crypto, dubbing it a "CEXually transmitted disease." According to Hayes, the industry's original ethos of decentralization and retail empowerment has been sidelined in favor of inflated VC-backed projects that alienate everyday investors. Hayes advocates for a return to community-driven ICOs, where retail participants play a central role. Unlike today’s bloated tokens, ICOs offer grassroots innovation and speculative opportunities that defined crypto's early allure. While the 2017 ICO boom had its mishaps, Hayes sees it as a feature, not a flaw. It's time to embrace the spirit of high risk, high reward, and audacious bets. He outlines a pathway for reinvigorating ICOs, highlighting advancements like faster token issuance, blockchain scalability, and DEX-driven independence from centralized platforms. Hayes envisions a crypto ecosystem returning to its roots, where meme coins and innovation thrive on retail enthusiasm rather than institutional greed. As we eye a potential bull cycle, the question remains: Will the industry rally behind early-stage retail investment and decentralization, or will the VC narrative dominate? Either way, Hayes is clear—it's time to dream big again. #CryptoNews #ICOs #Decentralization

X10 raises $6.5 million for his revolutionary crypto exchange Ruslan F., Dmitrii Krasovskikh, and Stefano Franz, former employees of Revolut, secured a remarkable $6.5M funding round for their innovative crypto exchange, #X10. Positioned as a bridge between centralized and decentralized systems, X10 aims to revolutionize the #crypto trading experience for professional investors. Tioga Capital Partners led the funding round, with participation from Semantic Ventures, Cherry Ventures, StarkWare, and cyber•Fund. The backing of these prominent investors underscores the potential of X10 to address critical gaps in the crypto market. X10 represents a new breed of crypto exchange known as "selfcustodial," offering users the ability to hold their cryptocurrency in their own wallets while executing trades through a centralized system. This unique approach combines the security of decentralized exchanges with the convenience of centralized platforms, providing traders with enhanced control and peace of mind. Inspired by the aftermath of the FTX collapse, where billions in customer deposits were jeopardized, X10 aims to prevent similar catastrophes by leveraging blockchain technology for selfcustody. By empowering users with financial freedom and control over their assets, X10 seeks to redefine trust and transparency in the crypto space. With this new funding, X10 plans to bolster its trading platform, including the development of a mobile app to enhance accessibility for users. As the crypto market experiences a resurgence amid landmark regulatory developments and growing investor confidence, X10 is well-positioned to capitalize on the burgeoning demand for secure and user-friendly crypto trading solutions. The article on Sifted in the first comment. Want to stay up to date with the market? Here my newsletter: - Linkedin: https://t.ly/s541W   - Substack: https://lnkd.in/dzfGJzmW

We had an awesome Finance Yard event a week ago in Frankfurt, sponsored by MarketVector Indexes! 🚀🚀🚀 In the ever-evolving world of digital assets, picking the right coin or token can be quite a challenge for investors. One solution in this regard could be crypto ETPs. As the landscape of digital assets expands, selecting the right coin or token becomes an increasingly complex challenge for the average investor. Martin Leinweber, CFA, Digital Asset Product Strategist at MarketVector Indexes and co-author of the book “Mastering Crypto Assets”, demystified this process, offering a systematic methodology for engaging with the crypto market effectively and insightfully. Following this, Dominik Poiger, CFA, CPO at Deutsche Digital Assets, took the stage, providing a comprehensive overview of the crypto ETP market. This segment will shine a light on the strategic importance of exchange-traded products (ETPs) in democratizing access to digital assets, enabling investors to tap into the crypto space through conventional investment frameworks. Thanks go to Samuel Tucker MBA for moderating the event and TechQuartier and EDITH/EU for co-funding/supporting it. A big shoutout also to the Finance Yard partners Frankfurt School Blockchain Center, BLOCKSIZE, and WM InnoLab by WM Datenservice. See you soon at the next Finance Yard event in #Frankfurt, #Munich, #Berlin, or any other financial hub. Follow Finance Yard here on LinkedIn to stay in the loop and kindly recommend us to others. 🙏 #crypto #cryptodecoded #cryptoetp #digitalassets #investmentstrategy #financeyard #techquartier #fy #financialservices #bitcoin #btc

Hex Trust’s Managing Director Calvin Shen sat down with Xavier Segura (General Partner - Morgan Creek Capital Management, LLC) in a new episode of Digital Currents to provide high-level insights on the company’s strategic international expansion to new markets, and the critical role of regulatory oversight in the burgeoning digital asset industry. The conversation highlighted Hex Trust’s priorities around building a compliant and trusted digital asset platform, as well as the value of passion, persistence, and calculated growth when navigating the rapidly evolving blockchain sector. Calvin shared his perspectives on the evolving crypto landscape and the key factors driving mainstream adoption of digital assets. Key insights: -Calvin’s transition from traditional finance to fintech startups in 2018 -Advice for moving from TradFi to Web3 -Blockchain’s transformative potential beyond just financial services -Hex Trust’s regulatory ethos -From being a custodian to a leading financial service provider for digital assets -Lessons from the FTX collapse on the need for strong governance in crypto -Asia’s favorable environment for Web3 innovation -The impact of crypto ETF approvals on the market Listen in full here: https://lnkd.in/gCeUbkGH

Join us at our next #Blockchain Breakfast Briefing - ‘What’s at Stake: The Future for Institutional Crypto Asset Investing?' The institutional market for crypto assets has made huge strides in 2024. Staking has emerged as a popular yield-generation tool for investors with wider availability of staking-as-a-service, pooled staking and the growth of liquid re-staking. As awareness of the benefits of different types of staking has grown, more institutional investors are now seeking to explore its possibilities. This year several new Proof of Stake blockchains are also launching, including chains that facilitate restaking. Restaking enables staked cryptocurrency from one network to be used as security on other protocols, in exchange for protocol fees and rewards. In future, staking will increasingly become integrated with decentralised finance (DeFi) applications, allowing for more complex financial products and services. Likewise in 2024, the launch of multiple spot #bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds in the US and other cryptocurrency #ETFs and #ETPs in Europe has attracted enormous interest in the industry from financial institutions and professional investors. Crypto has arguably become more mainstream than ever before, as #TradFi and #DeFi continue to converge. Now staked ETH ETFs are also on the cards adding another attractive element to the ETF marketplace. In this breakfast briefing, our speakers explore the rise of staking, re-staking and its impact on cryptocurrency ETPs. They ask what’s at stake and what’s next for investors in #crypto? When? 8.30 – 11.00am, 19 November 2024 Where? Rosenblatt, 165 Fleet Street, London, EC4A 2DY Hosted by Laura Clatworthy, Partner, Rosenblatt Moderator: Jonny Fry, Group Head of Digital Assets Strategy, ClearBank Speakers: Eva Lawrence, Head of EMEA, Figment Helen Disney, Founder, Unblocked Peter Lane, Co-Founder/Chief Commercial Officer, Jacobi Asset Management Elise Soucie Watts, Executive Director, Global Digital Finance Register here (tickets are free): https://bit.ly/3NIhUWr

🌏 🌐 Being part of the organising team for Devcon 2024 in Bangkok has been an absolute pleasure. It's been an opportunity to immerse myself in the vibrant Ethereum ecosystem, connect with passionate individuals at the Ethereum Foundation, engage with the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance at the EEA industry day and collaborate with so many inspiring minds at the frontier of technology and finance. If you're not already engaged in this space, here are 3 reasons why now is the time to start paying attention 👇 📚 - The UK's ground-breaking "DIGIT" announcement: the UK is introducing a digital GILT instrument, leveraging distributed ledger technology. UK Finance and EY have even published a roadmap, signalling major institutional momentum. - Regulatory clarity is on the horizon: a pro-industry administration is coming into office in the US and the incumbent SEC chair, Gary Gensler, is set to resign. This marks a turning point for the blockchain space in the US and the world. - Major players like Goldman Sachs and BlackRock are now driving adoption, holding c.£550m and c.£73m worth of exposure respectively. In fact, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF now holds more assets than its iShares Gold Trust ETF, totalling c.£43Bn currently. This saw a record net inflow milestone of c.£1.4 billion daily on the 7th of November. Finally I wanted to give a special shout out to Dune — thanks for the awesome hat! After years of working on on-chain metric dashboards, it was such a joy to finally meet the team in person. Do you have any questions regarding the space? Let me know below or drop me a note and I will be happy to get in touch. Check out my sources here for further reading: https://lnkd.in/ec9Xc5sB #DevconSEA #Devcon2024 #DigitalAssets #Ethereum #Web3 #Blockchain #Bitcoin #Crypto #DeFi #CryptoNews #Tokenization #Trading

Kaiko agrees to acquires Vinter, a Kaiko company, Europe's leading crypto index provider #Kaiko, a prominent player in #cryptocurrency data and analytics, has acquired #Vinter, a regulated European crypto index provider, solidifying its position as a leader in the U.S. and European crypto index and analytics markets. Founded by Ambre Soubiran, Kaiko’s acquisition of Vinter—led by CEO Jacob Lindberg—marks a strategic expansion in the rapidly growing exchange-traded product (ETP) markets across Europe. This deal aligns Kaiko with key exchanges like SIX, Nasdaq, Euronext, and the Deutsche Boerse Xetra, alongside Vinter’s benchmark services for crypto ETPs. With a $200 million valuation, Kaiko aims to enhance value through synergies between the asset management and derivatives sectors, leveraging Vinter’s extensive benchmarks expertise and its own specialized derivatives data services. This acquisition is Kaiko’s third, following prior deals with Kesitys, a quantitative decision tools provider, and Napoleon Index from CoinShares, strengthening Kaiko's comprehensive analytics capabilities. Kaiko’s confidence in the European market, where ETPs are valued at $13.64 billion in assets under management (AUM), reflects a strategic move to meet growing demand for crypto indexing and analytics solutions, especially in light of Europe's increasingly favorable stance on crypto-related financial products. The article on Cointelegraph in the first comment.

We're excited to share that Fortuna Custody Solutions is now a Polymesh node operator! Founded in 2021 by a team with 12+ years of experience in #blockchain, Fortuna empowers exchanges, VC and hedge funds, asset managers, and other FIs along with innovative #Web3 projects to participate securely in digital assets. The Polymesh ecosystem will benefit from exposure to Fortuna’s growing network of existing and potential clients while the bespoke custodian expands its institutional-level custody and treasury management into the Irish 🇮🇪 and European 🇪🇺 regions. Fortuna is among the elite group of 12 businesses to be approved for a #VASP registration by the Central Bank of Ireland. As a licensed VASP in Ireland, Fortuna provides trusted custody and transfer of #VirtualAssets services to its clients with a focus on security, transparency, and compliance that greatly aligns with the key pillars underpinning Polymesh’s purpose-built infrastructure. “Becoming a Polymesh Node Operator was an immediate next milestone for Fortuna in our commitment to enabling an innovative blockchain ecosystem of compliance-focused connectivity,” says Brian Elders (布萊恩) 🇮🇪🇭🇺🇭🇰🇪🇺🌍, Co-Founder and CEO of Fortuna. “We firmly believe the Polymesh blockchain will play a pivotal role in tokenization and are excited to join the network at a time when projects begin trickling on before the big wave comes.” Fortuna’s platform currently supports 3000+ digital assets covering #cryptocurrencies, tokens, and #NFTs across various protocols including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polkadot, Solana, and EVM-compatible chains, with new chains added monthly. The team anticipates future support for Polymesh. “As jurisdictions begin grasping digital asset technology, it’s great to see early companies under these new VASP frameworks such as Fortuna join Polymesh and affirm its suitability for regulated assets,” says Graeme Moore, Head of Tokenization at Polymesh. “Fortuna can now begin adding value to its clients by using Polymesh.” #BlockchainNews #CryptoNews #DeFi #DigitalAssets