Following the start of trading platform for selected investors in September, Börse Stuttgart Stock Exchange (BSDEX) has now opened to all interested users with residence in Germany. Börse Stuttgart made its announcement in a press release on Dec., 6. Trading venue open — under certain circumstances First of all, users will have to limit themselves to deposits and withdrawals as well as trading bitcoins against euros. In the future, BSDEX will also list other cryptocurrencies and digital assets like security tokens. Users will have to prove their identity digitally and fulfill certain requirements. To connect directly to BSDEX, users must …

Over the course of the past few weeks, the global cryptocurrency community bore witness to two major announcements related to stablecoins — with the first being the launch of Paxos’s gold-backed Ethereum token, PAX Gold (PAXG), and the other being the release of Binance’s cryptocoin backed by the United States dollar (BUSD). Paxos, a global digital asset trust firm, announced the launch of its PAXG token via a press release a few days back. In the document, the firm claims that its product is the world’s first crypto asset to be fully redeemable in exchange for physical gold. Not only …

European Union banks could have an instantaneous payments system in place by 2020, Reuters reports on June 26. Per the report, real-time payments have been possible in the eurozone since 2017, but only about half of the banks in the bloc adhered to the initiative. Still, Reuters notes that adoption may accelerate now that Facebook’s Libra stablecoin is shaping up to be a competitor to local banks. Director general of the European Payments Council (EPC) Etienne Goosse reportedly said that — regardless of the success of Facebook’s Libra’s project — competition from technology firms was here to stay, and banks …

European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi said that cryptocurrencies are not real currencies during the ECB Youth Dialogue meeting with the winners of the Generation €uro Students’ Award, as Cointelegraph Italia reported on May 9. During the meeting, Draghi answered a question about cryptocurrencies asked by one of the winners of the award: “Cryptocurrencies or bitcoins, or anything like that, are not really currencies — they are assets. A euro is a euro — today, tomorrow, in a month — it’s always a euro. And the ECB is behind the euro. Who is behind the cryptocurrencies? So they are …

The Universal Protocol (UP) Alliance, a coalition of blockchain firms including crypto exchange Bittrex and decentralized browser Brave, will launch its own euro-pegged stablecoin in April, according to a press release on March 28. The UP’s stablecoin, dubbed the Universal Euro (UPEUR) will be pegged to the euro on a 1:1 basis and will reportedly allow customers to earn up to 8 percent interest. The Universal Euro will purportedly be available directly on digital money platform Uphold and participating exchanges, as will be accepted by crypto custodian and device providers such as BitGo and Ledger. The new stablecoin targets residents …

Popular stablecoin Tether has announced 1:1 redemptions of USDT to fiat, while affiliated crypto exchange Bitfinex added two new Tether-fiat trading pairs, according to announcements from both firms Tuesday, Nov. 27. Tether announced the direct redemption of Tether to fiat along with a major redesign of its platform for the verification of new customers. According to the official announcement, the update allows users to redeem their tokens on the Tether.to platform at a USDT to fiat ratio of 1:1. All Tether deposits and withdrawals are zero-fee, while fiat transfers are are subject to commissions. Tether customers will be limited to …

Global crypto wallet Abra has enabled the direct purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies for European bank accounts, according to a press-release published by PR Newswire Tuesday, September 4. Abra, which offers 28 cryptocurrencies for consumers worldwide, will now support Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) bank accounts. As the company’s official Twitter states, the launch of in-app European bank purchases of digital currency has already started. Customers can now transfer euros or several other national currencies directly to their wallet which can, in turn, can be converted into the 28 cryptocurrencies offered by Abra including Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Ripple …