A subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom called T-Systems has become a Chainlink (LINK) node operator. Deutsche Telekom is one of Germany’s leading companies, employing over 200,000 people and has a market capitalization of $80 billion. The fact that one of its subsidiaries is to become a provider of decentralized data feeds that are rewarded in cryptocurrency is significant. T-Systems’ announcement calls this arrangement "generalized mining": “By providing real-world data to the Chainlink network, T-Systems MMS engages in a so-called ‘generalized mining’, where it provides an IT service to a blockchain network while getting paid in digital assets for reliably doing so. …

European Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Northern Data has seen its stock fall 40% in days amid claims that it committed fraud. Data from Bloomberg showed the company’s NB2 stock trading at under €47 ($53.70) at the end of July 17, down from €79 ($90.30) on Monday. Northern Data: “We’re as transparent as it gets” Northern Data, the product of a 2019 merger between U.S. company Whinstone and Northern Bitcoin, claimed to offer High Performance Computing/Artificial Intelligence (HPC/AI) solutions. While touting the scale of its computing capacity to investors and analysts, including well-known German bank researchers, one critic in particular argued …

Three global industry leaders in telecommunications — Spain’s Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom, and British provider Vodafone — have jointly finalized a trial blockchain solution for the settlement of roaming discount agreements. Developed by blockchain startup Clear, the solution is expected to reduce capital costs for telcos, support faster revenue recognition, and provide more efficient settlement for their inter-company deals and workflows. Both Telefónica Innovation Ventures and the Telekom Innovation Pool of Deutsche Telekom had participated in a $13 million Series A investment for Clear earlier this year to support the startup in developing its blockchain settlement system. The finalized trial solution …

Ideas Are Like Flames, a collective based in Germany, launched a campaign to dismantle misconceptions regarding Bitcoin (BTC). The group has incentivized people to place Bitcoin-related stickers in cities around the world. According to the initiative’s official website, named “Bitcoin Awareness Game,” the campaign seeks to change the public perception that Bitcoin is related to criminals and scams. Stickers aim to create awareness The stickers — which contain messages such as “fix the money,” “fix the world,” “B the change,” “can’t tread on me,” “exit fiat,” “Inflation,” among others — began appearing in the streets of Munich at the beginning …

21Shares, an asset manager specialized in cryptocurrencies, has chosen the custody service offered by crypto exchange Coinbase for its Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded product. According to a Wednesday Coinbase announcement, 21Shares will use Coinbase Custody to secure the Bitcoin backing the ETP launching Thursday. The derivative will launch on Deutsche Borse’s Xetra — Germany’s second-largest stock exchange. The product is purportedly the first physically backed Bitcoin ETP in Europe. Cryptocurrency derivatives see explosive growth Cryptocurrency derivatives are seeing new developments increasingly often. In late February, 21Shares also launched an inverse Bitcoin ETP called Short Bitcoin on Xetra. In January, the same …

A major Turkish bank completed the country’s first-ever international trade finance transaction based on distributed ledger technology, or DLT. This adds another milestone to the country’s increasing blockchain efforts. İşbank, the first Turkish bank to join R3’s Corda platform earlier this year, now became the first bank in Turkey to use blockchain technology on trade finance transactions, Cointelegraph Turkey reported on Jun. 5. Using Corda blockchain technology, İşbank and Commerzbank secured payments by digitally processing the related data transfer. The transaction took place on 27 May 2020 between İşbank, Şişecam, Kuraray Europe GmbH, and Commerzbank AG and supported the trade …

With Germany aiming to decommission all nuclear power generation in the country by 2022 and all coal-fired stations by 2038, myriad disparate renewable energy producers of various sizes are stepping up to meet demand. Distributed ledger technology is increasingly underpinning the architecture for many systems being designed by the country’s innovative renewable energy providers. Cointelegraph spoke to Richard Lohwasser, the co-founder and CEO of Lition Energie — a Berlin-based greentech startup that has launched a blockchain-based marketplace allowing consumers to choose between multiple energy providers — to discuss how DLT is being used across Germany’s evolving energy sector. A blockchain-powered …

Experts predict that Bitcoin ATMs (BATMs) will face stricter regulations worldwide, with countries including Canada and Germany already moving to tighten up anti-money laundering requirements. A June 2 report from CipherTrace estimates that 74% of transactions made from U.S.-based Bitcoin ATMs were sent out of the country during 2019. The report also found that 88% of funds sent from U.S. crypto ATMs to virtual currency exchanges were transferred overseas. The figure has seen exponential growth over recent years, doubling annually since 2017. In an interview with Law360, CipherTrace CTO John Jeffries predicted that BATMs will become “a greater point of …

Equigy, a blockchain platform for managing batteries connected to the electric grid, is expanding its operations in the European Union. Ecologic technology news outlet, Green Tech Media, reported on May 29 that three major European Union’s electricity transmission system operators, or TSOs, joined Equigy’s platform. More precisely, TSO with operations in Germany and the Netherlands TenneT, Swiss TSO Swissgrid and Italian TSO Terna all joined the network. According to company data website Owler, TenneT has an estimated annual revenue of $1 billion, while Terna $2.3 billion. Furthermore, Energinet — a Danish TSO with an estimated annual revenue of $8.6 million …

Ontology recently partnered with German digital identity and cloud wallet provider, Spherity, to collaborate on expediting development on digital identity solutions for products and enterprises. The partnership will see Spherity’s Cloud-Edge wallet integrate with Ontology’s (ONT) blockchain, and allow Ontology to use Spheriy’s Decentralized Digital Identity solutions. The two firms will work together on creating proof-of-concept pilots demonstrating applications for digital identity within the context of supply chain, mobility, and pharmaceuticals — leveraging Spherity’s existing customer base. Ontology and Spherity will also collaborate on research and marketing initiatives. Identity solutions target the supply chain Spherity CEO, Dr. Carsten Stöcker, told …

German blockchain banking firm Bitwala has partnered with pioneering decentralized finance, or DeFi, platform Celsius to offer annual interest on Bitcoin (BTC) holdings of up to 4%. Funds deposited from customers who opt to use Bitwala’s Bitcoin Interest Account will be loaned to institutional borrowers via Celsius, earning weekly interest on their Bitcoin in the form of BTC. German blockchain bank integrates Celsius Bitwala frames DeFi as “a new way to generate wealth,” emphasizing the opportunity for passive income to be generated from crypto holdings. Users can deposit from $12 worth of Bitcoin into Bitwala’s interest accounts, and are able …

Ten31, the FinTech arm of Germany’s WEG Bank, has partnered with Singaporean technology incubator, Anquan Capital. While the entities have yet to detail the specific projects they’ll work together on, a press release announced that the partnership will involve exploring blockchain applications within the context of banking and financial services. Anquan Capital has launched a number of distributed ledger technology, or DLT, firms, including Zilliqa and Anqlave. Ten31 chief executive, Matthias von Hauff, stated: “With Anquan as a shareholder, we have added yet another ideal partner to our network. Not only do we benefit from their excellent technologies, but we …