We’ve rounded up some of the most interesting industry news from the month of May. As always, our goal is to focus on the sunny side of the crypto world by sharing positive (but realistic) insights as to how crypto is manifesting in our daily lives.
Digital Asset, Microsoft, Goldman, and Deloitte Launch Privacy-Enabled Blockchain Network Aimed at Financial Institutions
A conglomerate of firms in the finance and tech space, including Microsoft and Goldman Sachs, are launch partners for a new blockchain network called the Canton Network aimed at financial institutions. The network will be privacy-enabled and interoperable, allowing the synchronization of previously siloed financial markets.
Testing will begin in July, and the network will offer extensive privacy controls, aiming to service the scale and performance required by major financial institutions. Participants include BNP Paribas, Cboe Global Markets, Paxos, Digital Asset, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Deloitte and others.
Tether to Buy Bitcoin for Stablecoin Reserves Using Realized Profits, Reveals $1.5B in BTC Holdings
Stablecoin issuer Tether has announced a new investment strategy focusing on bitcoin as part of its plan to allocate profits for stablecoin reserves. Tether revealed 1.5 billion in BTC holdings and the company will use about 15% of realized profits from investments to regularly buy bitcoin, adding the tokens to the reserve surplus. The company will custody its own BTC stash without any third-party custodians.
Worldcoin Raises $115M in Series C Funding Led by Blockchain Capital to Support Development and Grow Ecosystem
Blockchain Capital has led a $115 million Series C funding round for Tools for Humanity, the technology firm behind Worldcoin. The funding will be used to support research and development for Worldcoin's alternative to CAPTCHA.
The technology allows applications to quickly identify the difference between humans and bots. This will address the ongoing issue of bots in blockchain and cryptocurrency projects.
Worldcoin is a co-project of Sam Altman, who is also the CEO of OpenAI.
EY Unveils Ethereum-Based Platform for Tracking Carbon Emissions and Credits
Professional services firm EY has launched an Ethereum-based platform designed for enterprises to track their carbon emissions and carbon credit traceability.
The platform is currently in beta mode and is available on the EY Blockchain SaaS platform. The system uses carbon emission tokens created by the InterWork Alliance, a standards body that is supported by Microsoft and is part of the Global Blockchain Business Council of which EY is also a member.
Tokenized Securities on Ethereum, Polygon, Gnosis Reach $225M Market Cap
The market capitalization for tokenized stocks and bonds on the blockchain has crossed the $220 million mark across six projects, according to a dashboard by Dune Analytics. The trend of tokenization, which involves issuing financial securities on the blockchain, is progressing rapidly; the only challenge that may obstruct its growth is unclear regulations.
Bitcoin Addresses Holding 1 BTC or More Passes 1 Million, Reports Glassnode
Bitcoin wallet addresses that hold one or more whole BTC have now exceeded a million, according to Glassnode data.
As the value of Bitcoin plummeted by over 65% last year, the number of addresses with one BTC or more surged. The biggest spikes were observed during a market crash in June and as a result of the FTX collapse on November 11.
Revamped Nintendo Game Boy Can Now Function as a Bitcoin and Ethereum Hardware Wallet, Thanks to Crypto Startup Keyp
Crypto startup Keyp is developing an offline cryptocurrency storage solution using Game Boy consoles. The console has been optimized by the small developer team at Keyp and renamed the Game Wallet.
Keyp is pitching it as more than just a hardware wallet with a Game Boy cover; the Game Wallet is intended to be a brand new console cartridge featuring random quests and interactions with NPCs that generate seed phrases through gamification.
Ordinals Craze Spreads to Litecoin and Dogecoin, Boosting Network Activity
The popularity of Ordinals, a project that uses the Bitcoin network to "inscribe" assets onto a blockchain, has spread from Bitcoin to Dogecoin and Litecoin. By creating NFTs and meme tokens with the same protocol used for BRC-20 tokens, the craze has led to high network fees and increased daily transaction totals.
This rapid growth in activity has seen all three chains reach recent all-time peaks. Inscribers have transformed Litecoin and Dogecoin with this trend, introducing meme coins to these unfamiliar places.
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NFA DYOR (Not financial advice. Do your own research.)
