Socios.com, a blockchain startup aiming to tokenize the sports industry, has secured a major regulatory license allowing it to issue its own payments and loyalty card. Issued by the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit, or FIU, the new license has been granted to the new Estonia-based entity called Socios Entertainment OU. Announcing the news on July 30, Socios’ partner project Chiliz.net noted that the FIU is the responsible authority for licensing crypto-related firms in the country. Socios’ prepaid fiat-crypto card is “due in the very near future” The new license allows Socios to provide virtual currency and fiat exchange services and …

As blockchain adoption continues to garner mainstream traction across the private sector, an increasing number of government agencies are too looking to explore the potential of the technology. For example, the United States Food and Drug Administration recently released an elaborate blueprint as to how it plans to deploy blockchain for food safety-related purposes. According to the FDA, the agency will combine the use of blockchain with other advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things to enhance the traceability of food sources as well as for the creation of novel platforms through which preventing and managing …

Maybe it’s time to start talking about boring Bitcoin. The dollar price has moved barely half a percentage point over the last week, remaining around the $9,200 mark. Bitcoin’s holders, though, don’t expect the coin to remain a boring store of value forever. A survey by Bitcoin IRA found that 42 percent of the crypto custodian’s customers expect the price to reach $15,000 by the end of the year. Even that might not prompt sales though. Some 57 percent said they were holding for the long term. Those optimists might be wrong, though. SteveCrypt0, a popular trader, has suggested that …

Estonian exchange, CoinMetro, has chosen to make their crypto sentiment analysis tool available to common users. This is the same tool that is used professionally by crypto hedge funds. Although the tool appears rather simplistic, CoinMetro CEO Kevin Murcko told Cointelegraph that the key here is that regular traders get access to exactly the same data that institutions have: “This data that we're displaying is the same exact data viewed at the same exact time as the institutional player. So while it may like every indicator lag price, you're getting it in the exact same form and the same time …

Back in 2017, the Estonian government rocked the legislative side of the crypto world when they introduced a raft of new laws designed to support crypto projects. These licenses split into two different categories: those looking to operate a crypto exchange and those looking to undertake an initial coin offering. Both company types stood to benefit from the first “real” cryptocurrency licenses anywhere on the planet. As a result of these licenses, entrepreneurs digitally flocked to the small but great Baltic nation. The Estonian government was ahead in a number of ways. Not only was the country a trailblazer with …

A crypto exchange says it is focused on offering the best experience possible in the European market. Cryptocurrency exchange EXMO now offers trading pairs that combine popular cryptocurrencies with the British pound and the euro — a refreshing change from many rival platforms that focus on dollars. Users are given the freedom to make deposits and withdrawals, using familiar methods, including Visa and Mastercard, as well as SEPA and SWIFT transfers. British traders can also benefit from Faster Payments, and as the name suggests, this allows transactions to be completed much quicker than conventional methods. Although the company acknowledges that …

At the height of the unprecedented crypto boom of 2017, Estonia emerged as the digital trailblazer of the European Union, issuing hundreds of licenses to crypto companies. The country’s regulators moved to authorize the issuance of operating permits to crypto companies back in 2017 under Estonia’s e-Residency permit program. The e-Residency program is a government-issued digital identity and status that allows entrepreneurs, freelancers and digital nomads to run and manage paperless companies while living or traveling abroad. The lax rules at the time even enabled companies with no physical presence in the Baltic state to receive licenses. As a result, …

Estonia, one of the European Union’s most crypto-friendly countries, is cracking down on hundreds of licensed crypto companies in response to a $220 billion money laundering scandal, according to Bloomberg. Estonia was among the first EU countries to license crypto companies but has been forced to clamp down after hundreds of billions of dollars of dirty money was detected in the Estonian unit of Denmark’s largest lender Danske Bank A/S. It’s put the country at the center of Europe’s biggest money laundering scandal. License to ill Madis Reimand, Head of the Baltic country’s Financial Intelligence Unit revealed that regulators suspect …

Indian crypto exchange BuyUCoin has sealed regulatory approval from Estonia’s financial watchdog to expand its services abroad. Speaking to Cointelegraph, the exchange’s CEO Shivam Thakral revealed that the platform had received its crypto-fiat license in late 2019, followed by a crypto wallet license this year. In tandem, BuyUCoin also announced its partnership on March 31 with Indian mobile-based payments system and digital wallet provider Mobikwik, which has a reported reach of 107 million users and 3 million merchants. Estonia’s compliance requirements Securing the licenses required to offer a full scope of fiat-crypto and custodial services in Estonia posed a challenge …

Estonia-based cryptocurrency BitBay went offline for more than 18 hours citing problems caused by a third-party service provider. On March 26, BitBay tweeted that it was struggling with a “network problem” resulting from their “external service provider.” The exchange stated that it had contacted the provider and was working on resolving the problem. Founded in Poland in 2014, BitBay claims to be the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange in Europe with more than 800,000 users. At 2.56AM (UTC) today, BitBay announced it was back online and would resume trading at 9AM. BitBay suffers outage for a day Four hours after going offline, …

Although some people in life do an extremely convincing job of indicating otherwise, all humans have an identity. This identity comes in many forms, and as modern life has progressed, the ways in which people can identify have multiplied. Technology has now made it easier for people to explore and share their identities. But, at some point in the not-so-distant past, the internet overtook people’s ability to manage their identities online. Companies, notably the big data giants, have become the new gatekeepers. As the world enters a more data-conscious era, innovators in the tech industry believe that blockchain technology could …

Chile’s crypto trading platform CryptoMarket has obtained a license issued by the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), allowing it to provide services for the purchase and sale of crypto assets. Founded in 2016, CryptoMarket joins a select group of Latin American crypto companies operating in the region, with Bitso (Mexico) and Mercury Cash (Venezuela) obtaining licenses from Gibraltar and Estonia respectively. The exchange, which has 150,000 users and operations in Chile, Brazil, Argentina, and Europe, had to incorporate a representative in Estonia to obtain the license. It was subject to an internal audit, underwent a criminal background check and had …