It’s been a busy week for the blockchain industry, with adoption taking center stage once again. Global giants launched blockchain initiatives, seeking to take advantage of the technology to stay competitive. The week also gave renewed hope for a crypto ETF, with the SEC deciding to review the Bitwise ETF application. More exchanges and wallets also started supporting Bitcoin SV (BSV) this week, in line with the continued adoption of the leading cryptocurrency.
You will now be able to follow your salmon, from the egg to the store using blockchain. This is after Cermaq, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi, revealed this week that it had launched a project that puts salmon on the blockchain. The Norwegian firm’s blockchain-certified salmon will be sold by French retailer Labeyrie initially.
Lamborghini is also turning to blockchain for car authentication. The Italian luxury carmaker will use Salesforce blockchain to streamline the reselling process, improve its customers’ experience and maintain the value of its vintage cars. And while Lamborghini upgrades their sales processes, Hahn Air is taking blockchain to the skies, announcing this week that it would issue its tickets on the blockchain. The airline touted the project as the first time that air tickets have been issued using the technology.
Still in Europe, the Dutch soccer association is trialing a blockchain-powered ticketing app in one of its matches. The Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) seeks to use it to combat ticket counterfeiting and black market sales. In the neighboring Germany, Deutsche Boerse successfully traded tokenized shares against cash tokens with Swisscom in a proof-of-concept. The PoC involved a number of banks, including the Swiss National Bank and aims to prove the efficiency of blockchain in the securities market.
Over in China, one of the country’s provinces revealed this week that it had processed close to $6 billion via a blockchain-powered medical billing system. Zhejiang province has been using the platform, which was designed by Ant Financial for over a year. It allows citizens to effortlessly get prescriptions, make doctors’ appointments and record their bills online.
Still in China, Alibaba was involved in a mix-up with Lolli, a crypto startup which had indicated that the two had partnered in a rewards program. The e-commerce giant came forward and denied the partnership, blaming the mix-up on a third party. In South Korea, two of the country’s largest companies, LG and Kakao, announced this week that they have partnered to bridge public and private blockchains. The two will develop mutually compatible infrastructure through their blockchain-focused subsidiaries.
This week saw some more exchanges and wallets announce support for Bitcoin SV. The first was ViaBTC, a crypto wallet linked to one of the largest crypto mining pools in the world. NiceHash exchange also integrated BSV this week, stating that it was responding to the rising customer demand for the crypto. Singaporean exchange KuCoin is also now offering BSV trading for its five million users.
A report by the Nikkei Asian Review this week revealed that China continues to lead in the field of blockchain patents. The country has applied for over 7,600 patents since 2009, accounting for at over 60% of the patents applied during that time. Alibaba leads the pack globally, with nChain taking the second spot.
The week also had its fair share of bad news for the industry. In South Africa, the country’s second-largest bank decided to shut down all accounts belonging to crypto businesses, citing regulatory uncertainty. Chainalysis also revealed that most of the big crypto exchanges such as Bitforex are still faking their volume, despite the continued government efforts to discourage this.
One of these exchanges has been under fire lately, with reports emerging that police had raided the Shanghai offices of Binance. This comes just days after Binance had its Weibo account shut down after allegations of local laws violations.
In more positive regulatory news, England considers crypto as tradable property and smart contracts as enforceable agreements. In Ukraine, the government drafted a bill that seeks to introduce a 5% tax for crypto holders, way below the standard 18% levied on other assets. The New York Department of Financial Services also granted Fidelity Digital Assets a trust company charter this week. The license will allow the company to offer institutional crypto custody in the state of New York.
The week also saw the SEC announce that it will review the Bitwise crypto ETF application, a month after rejecting it. While the review could go either way, it’s still a positive sign for the industry.
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