The founder of Malaysian investment giant Country Heights Holdings is stepping down from his position to focus on issuing a cryptocurrency. According to a Sept. 28 article in news outlet The Edge Markets, billionaire Lee Kim Yew — also known as Lee Kim Tiong — will no longer be the executive chairman of Country Heights as of Jan 2021. “I am handing over the public-listed company’s business to the new directors and I will concentrate on cryptocurrencies,” said Lee. The 65-year-old announced in 2018 that Country Heights would be pursuing the development of an initial coin offering, or ICO, for …

After securing millions of dollars via an initial coin offering in 2017, decentralized data housing platform Filecoin now aims to launch its mainnet. Filecoin will move over to its own blockchain in stages, rather than all at once, according to a Sept. 27 blog post. "Launching a blockchain is an involved and lengthy process," the post said. "Like many other networks (including Polkadot, NEAR, and others), Filecoin is taking a phased approach to launching mainnet, with different groups and communities onboarding onto the network over a period of time, leading up to Mainnet Liftoff." Currently heading into its initial stage, …

Two major crypto bills were introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday. One aims to establish which cryptocurrencies are securities. The other looks to put regulation of exchanges in the hands of the country's commodities regulator. The securities bill The Securities Clarity Act, from the office of Representative Tom Emmer (R-MN) establishes a new distinction in securities law between an investment contract and the "an asset sold pursuant to an investment 22 contract, whether tangible or intangible (including an 23 asset in digital form)." The new bill is basically a direct response to recent controversy over the Simple …

The crypto industry has boasted tremendous growth over the past year, largely thanks to the decentralized finance, or DeFi, boom. Some believe that the DeFi sector resembles the initial coin offering, or ICO, bubble of 2017. Others disagree, noting that the two eras are demonstrably different. "At least in the 2017 ICO bubble there was effort made to come up with an idea to write a white paper on," derivatives trader, financial analyst, and YouTube host Tone Vays told Cointelegraph. "In the world of yield farming, you don't even need to do that, you just print money and give it …

The decentralized finance, or DeFi, sector of the crypto industry has been bursting with exuberance, innovation, and speculation in recent months. The niche is still very much in its infancy, however, according to Richard Byworth, CEO of digital finance company Diginex. "I do believe that DeFi is the future potentially down the road," Byworth said in an interview with Morgan Creek Digital co-founder Anthony Pompliano, posted on Sept. 18. "But it's very early," he added, elaborating: "It's like trying to fly to the moon in a cardboard box — I mean, you're going to get yourself into trouble along the …

Unikrn, an initial coin offering from 2017, faces action from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC has accused the startup of running its ICO without going through the proper legal channels, based on a statement Tuesday from the regulating body. The commission claims Unikrn offered an unregistered investment opportunity. "Unikrn agreed to settle the charges by paying a $6.1 million penalty, substantially all of the company's assets, to be distributed to investors through a Fair Fund," the statement said. "Unikrn also agreed to disable the UKG, publish notice of the order, and request removal of UKG from …

Of all the developments in blockchain technology over recent years, enterprise adoption has perhaps been the most anticlimactic. As the initial coin offering bubble started to inflate during 2017, blockchain entrepreneurs and commentators alike were hyping the technology as a solution for almost every industry and business problem in existence. Fast-forward to 2020, and progress in enterprise blockchain has been lethargic at best. Almost without exception, notable implementations of enterprise “blockchain,” such as IBM’s Food Trust or Maersk-led Trade-ins, have used distributed permissioned ledgers. Proponents of blockchain technology point to various reasons why businesses have been slow to adopt decentralized …

Over the years, we have seen a lot of trends such as initial coin offerings, initial exchange offerings, security token offerings, decentralized autonomous organizations and many more, but none of these have become the mainstream. The concept of decentralized finance undoubtedly has its merits, but as the factors that sank the predecessors remain, we have reason to conclude that DeFi is not for long. The window of opportunity has shrunk for several reasons: firstly, because of fraud within the space; secondly, the readiness of regulators to “save” the market from violators by imposing old-fashioned red tape and new restrictions; thirdly, …

Decentralized finance, in a nutshell, promises transparency and offers beneficial terms for borrowers. DeFi platforms are supposed to build an alternative financial system for offering/receiving loans, exchanging currencies, making payments, etc. There are no banks, brokers or trusted third parties, governments are not involved, and finally, notorious middlemen are eliminated. There is just secure, transparent software. DeFi allows borrowers to take hassle-free loans: You don’t have to worry about bank account creation, lengthy application reviews or paperwork. For crypto holders, DeFi offers an opportunity to lend their assets to other users, thus earning a profit of about 20%. Decentralized exchanges …

Ryan Selkis, founder of crypto data site Messari, predicted an upcoming demise for the decentralized finance, or DeFi, space — similar to what happened with initial coin offerings, or ICOs. "The DeFi bubble will pop sooner than people expect," Selkis tweeted on Sept. 10. "We're nearing the apex of Ponzi economics, rug pulls, and 'yield' hopping, and ETH fees are going to eat too heavily into non-whale profits." In recent weeks, numerous DeFi projects have seemingly popped up out of nowhere, offering significant interest and loans as part of a complicated ecosystem spurring compounded gains. Some of these project, however, …

If you ask people what they know about cryptocurrency, chances are you’ll hear the words Bitcoin (BTC) or blockchain — or even both. However, what many individuals aren’t aware of is that over 5,000 cryptocurrencies exist in the market today. This huge number makes things a little confusing for investors. With so many options to choose from, the task of choosing one to invest in can be challenging. At the same time, though, there are several potential opportunities for people to get scammed in the crypto space. You see, some bad actors have designed tokens in a bid to scam …

The three-year-long class action lawsuit targeting Tezos (XTZ) has come to a conclusion after Judge Seeborg approved Tezos’ $25 million settlement on Friday. According to the judgment, the funds will be distributed among “all persons and entities” who participated in Tezos’ 2017 initial coin offering from July 1 to 13 and sold their XTZ for a loss before Nov. 25, 2019, did not sell their tokens before Nov. 25, or are unable to access their XTZ due to lost passwords. Eligible parties must file a claim to receive a share in the settlement before Oct. 16, 2020. The plaintiffs’ counsel …