The rapid growth of the decentralized finance space, the rise in demand, the improvement of its protocols, and the breadth of offered services and opportunities will provide retail users with the options they are sorely lacking in the existing financial system. And it will enable institutions to move real-world assets onto the blockchain, generating untold cost-savings and improved efficiencies. But it doesn’t have to be a violent revolution. DeFi doesn’t necessarily need to overthrow the incumbent system. I believe that DeFi will complement traditional finance, force it to do better, and, more importantly, allow for financial inclusion of the world’s …

One of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in India, WazirX, today said they are gearing up to develop and launch their first decentralized finance product in partnership with the Matic network. In an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, the company said they will launch an automated market maker (AMM) protocol. Nischal Shetty, the CEO of WazirX, shared that the product was currently under development, and they plan to launch a testnet version by the end of September this year. An automated market maker protocol is a form of smart contract meant to replace order books used in traditional exchange marketplaces. They create …

Persol Group, one of the largest human resource companies in Japan, has partnered with major Japanese IT and electronics company, NEC Corporation, to build a new blockchain-powered recruiting platform. Persol Group is one of the largest staffing companies in the country, with 32,000 employees and a market cap of $5.7 billion as of 2017. According to the announcement, the two companies have begun working on a Proof-of-Concept to test a direct recruiting service that utilizes blockchain technology to securely manage personal data, prevent falsification of information, and ensure authenticity. This new platform is expected to target the shortage of IT …

The Southern Indian state of Telangana may soon develop and test a blockchain-based electronic voting system to facilitate remote voting. Speaking at a webinar conducted by the Election Commission of India and Tamil Nadu E-Governance Agency, the Principal Secretary of Information Technology Jayesh Ranjan suggested that the state may initially experiment with blockchain e-voting on a small scale and later widen the implementation. Members of the Election Commission of India, Ministry of Electronics and IT, India’s citizen engagement platform MyGov and blockchain industry leaders were also a part of the webinar. The members of the webinar discussed the possible use …

India is the hub for call center scams. Call it a lack of strict regulatory measures to stop such activities or the scammers’ resilience to start over every time their business is busted, but call center scams have only grown more prevalent in the country. With cryptocurrencies slowly gaining ground in the subcontinent, groups of scammers are also taking advantage of Indians’ increased interest in digital assets. The founder and CEO of a blockchain and cryptocurrency research company Crebaco, Sidharth Sogani, told Cointelegraph that so far, multi-level marketing schemes and “fixed return” crypto investment schemes are the most common. Sogani …

A new cryptocurrency scam in India is targeting wealthy individuals using a fake mobile app. According to India TV News, cybercriminals are targeting high income individuals across India. Victims receive messages through social media groups asking them to sell and buy Bitcoin through a mobile app. This app, which supposedly acts as a crypto exchange, is actually entirely fraudulent. Once a user’s Bitcoin is deposited on the fake exchange, the scammers stop responding to queries from the victim and disappear. Manan Shah, founder and CEO of Avalance Global Solutions, said that an unidentified man lost over $50,000 while dealing with …

Cryptocurrency exchange OKEx has announced a new peer-to-peer trading platform launching Aug. 5, which allows users to buy digital currencies with zero transaction fees using Indian rupees (INR). The announcement comes hot on the heels of reports that the Indian government is planning to pass a law making cryptocurrency trading illegal in the country. Easy fiat onramp supports major Indian payment platforms At launch the platform is offering Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT) pairs for INR, with support for further cryptocurrencies promised soon. OKEx describes the platform as a marketplace for traders to make fiat-to-crypto transactions via escrow. Users may …

An Indian government official has claimed that two ministries and the Reserve Bank of India are actively working on a legal framework to ban cryptocurrencies on the subcontinent. According to an Aug. 4 report from Indian news website Moneycontrol, authorities in India are making preparations to pass a law banning cryptocurrency trading. The site quoted an anonymous official as saying that consultations between the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Ministry of Law and Justice, and the Reserve Bank of India had begun regarding the framework of such a law. “Once Parliament resumes for the session, we are hoping …

Cryptojackers are hitting pay dirt in India, according to Microsoft's newly released Security Endpoint Threat Report 2019. The report states that web users in India encounter crypto mining malware attacks at a rate 4.6 times higher than the regional and global average. India experiences the second-largest number of cryptocurrency mining attacks in the Asia Pacific region, lagging only behind Sri Lanka. A cryptocurrency mining attack, commonly called cryptojacking, is an attack where hackers secretly install cryptocurrency mining malware on someone else's computer to use its computing power to mine cryptocurrencies. Attackers’ sentiments are pegged to crypto prices Cryptojacking practices saw …

Garrick Hileman, the head of research at Blockchain.com, shared in an interview today that Indian banks are showing interest in cryptocurrencies but are also skeptical of heading further into this space due to the regulatory uncertainty. While speaking to Data Quest, Hileman also hinted that Blockchain.com still does not have a payment gateway in India for the same reason. But it is a goal for the firm, he added. Earlier last week, during a webinar on Indian regulations, the CEO of WazirX exchange Nischal Shetty also highlighted that Indian banks were interested in getting involved in the blockchain and cryptocurrency …

The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, has endorsed blockchain as an ‘opportunity in frontier technology’, renewing hopes that the country is warming to cryptocurrencies. In a keynote address at the India Ideas Summit, hosted by the US-India Business Council on Wednesday, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched the country as a haven for multinational investors. Big Opportunities in Blockchain Part of the speech included an endorsement for blockchain as an investment opportunity among these ‘frontier technologies’. “Opportunities in technology also include opportunities in the frontier technologies of 5G, Big data analytics, Quantum computing, Blockchain and Internet of things,” Modi …

Half a dozen emerging markets have established new records for weekly peer-to-peer (P2P) Bitcoin (BTC) trading, including India, Ghana, the Philippines, Argentina, Mexico and Egypt, according to data published by Useful Tulips. India comprised the strongest market to post a new record for trade activity, with $3.4 million worth of BTC trading hands over the past seven days. India’s P2P markets began gaining significant momentum from the second quarter onwards, with Indian volume beating out its December 2017 all-time high of $2.95 million last month before consistently rallying above $3 million this month. African P2P markets continue to show strength …