TRM Labs, which is widely considered to be among the industry leaders in blockchain analytics and intelligence technology, has reportedly onboarded risk management tools for Binance Custody. The institutional-grade digital asset custody solution can now ensure risk management and regulatory compliance for client holdings via TRMs full-service platform thanks to the new integration.

TRMs comprehensive suite of tools for meeting AML and CFT regulatory requirements and managing risks like sanctions, stolen funds, and terrorist financing includes real-time transaction monitoring, wallet screening, forensics, and VASP due diligence.

Why does this matter?

Amid mounting institutional interest in digital assets, security concerns and issues related to custodial services continue to be a significant barrier in terms of broader institutional participation. Binance Custody, which launched in December 2021 to address such concerns, provides reliable security and integrated access to deep institutional liquidity venues through audited, insured, and compliant technology solutions.

Moreover, since its inception, the company has obtained ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 certifications along with SOC 2 Type 1 attestation, and is presently focusing its efforts on obtaining SOC 2 Type 2 attestation as well. This is important because as the crypto and blockchain sector continues to become increasingly popular, Binance would ideally want to maintain its position as the largest crypto exchange in the world which means that it must implement the best security measures to safeguard users at all times.

The top priority as an institutional custodian is to hence offer safe and compliant services which clients can regularly depend on, said Athena Yu, EVP of Binance Custody. Athena further stated that by using TRMs compliance and risk management solutions, Binance Custodys suite of custody solutions will be significantly enhanced which will allow clients to participate in this burgeoning digital economy in a safe and risk free manner.

What is next for Binance?

The aforementioned integration is the newest in a series of steps taken by Binance Custody to reduce its exposure to financial crime risk, especially after the recent hack. TRM is used by Binance Custody to monitor high-risk wallets and to oversee as well as examine fraudulent behavior. TRMs asset coverage, risk assessment, and forensics technology therefore equips institutions to handle regulatory and reputational risk associated with digital assets like cryptocurrencies.

As digital assets become more widely adopted, it is critical that institutions have the appropriate compliance measures put in place especially when selecting partners like custody service providers, said TRM CEO and Co-Founder, Esteban Castao. The CEO also claimed that by implementing TRMs compliance and risk mitigation tools, Binance Custody reaffirms its commitment to providing innovative services that prioritize safety and trust above all else.

South Africas financial markets regulator has officially decreed cryptocurrency assets to be financial products, laying the legal groundwork for cryptocurrencies to be regulated going forward.

The FSCA (Financial Sector Conduct Authority) recently stated that while cryptocurrencies are not issued by a central bank, they can however be traded, transferred, or utilized for payments. These assets were recognized by the FSCA as a digital representation of value on distributed ledgers.

Governments and regulatory bodies around the world have steadily increased their scrutiny of the digital asset class, a pattern which has accelerated since the monumental collapse of the Terra-LUNA stablecoin project earlier on in the year as well as the ongoing bear market.
 

Mastercard wants to bring crypto to the mainstream by making it easier for banks to participate in the burgeoning industry. The payments giant therefore intends to announce a program which will assist financial institutions in offering cryptocurrency trading capabilities.

Mastercard will thus serve as a bridge between PayPal and Paxos. According to the company, Mastercard and Paxos shall manage regulatory compliance and security, which are two of the main reasons banks typically avoid the asset class to begin with.

Despite the infamous volatility associated with crypto, Mastercards Chief Digital Officer, Jorn Lambert, stated that there is still significant demand for the asset, however it is also worth mentioning that about 60% of respondents want to test the waters a bit first before getting fully involved.

Lambert further indicated that numerous consumers have expressed a passing interest in crypto, but would feel more comofortable if those services were provided by familiar financial institutions instead of relatively unknown entities.

Both Mastercard and Visa have been making waves in the crypto space. Mastercard has already collaborated with Coinbase on NFTs and Bakkt to enable banks and merchants in its network to provide cryptocurrency-related services. Visa recently announced that it has over 70 crypto collaborations and has partnered with FTX to provide crypto debit cards in 40 countries.

Samsung has been implementing new technologies into their systems and services for the longest time, with the company announcing the creation of their own metaverse earlier on in the year. Most recently, the company unveiled Knox Matrix, a new security system that connects all user devices in a private blockchain.

The primary goal is to improve the security of a multi-device environment. Basically, if a solitary device has been compromised, the others instantly disconnect it from the network, thereby significantly enhancing security for both the users and the entire network itself.

Important details

The Knox Matrix shall reportedly function as a private blockchain system for the users, enhancing safety measures via multi-layered mutual monitoring of all connected devices. In this way, the new feature would then share credentials between the linked devices and safeguard sensitive information between them. Once again, the overall objective is to prevent any and all unauthorized access in addition to making the login process simpler and more convenient.

The utilization of the private blockchain concept to incorporate multi-layered mutual surveillance is anticipated to provide a local, dispersed method of maintaining safety. The Knox Matrix was introduced at the Samsung Developer Conference and while the new systems inner workings have yet to be revealed, there is no denying that Samsung has been among South Koreas most active corporations within the blockchain sector.

Samsung continues to gain ground

Between September 2021 and mid 2022, Samsung made investments in 13 different companies including but not limited to Animoca Brands, Sky Mavis, and Yuga Labs. What may be more impressive is that, according to Blockdata, Samsung was among 40 companies which invested approximately $6 billion in blockchain startups during this time period.

Furthermore, the majority of the tech titans investment efforts are likely to have been carried out through Samsung Next, which is an innovation group that works within Samsung Electronics and is entirely focused on AI, blockchain, the metaverse, and other related emerging technologies. Lastly, it was reported that Samsung Securities, the companys investment division, plans to launch its very own crypto platform in early 2023. Given the companys track record, it does not look like the tech behemoth is going to stop investing in these new startups and technologies anytime soon.

The Firozabad Police Department in India has announced its intention to utilize the Polygon blockchain to register complaints in order to speed up the resolution process regarding public complaints, inqueries and other related matters.

As such, the system shall reportedly use the OxPolygon modular blockchain, with the department citing benefits such as a tamper-proof system which will not interfere with logged complaints, according to a statement issued by the department on October 10th.

Polygon Co-Founder Sandeep Nailwal asserted that the new system will certainly help uncover cases of corruption. The system, according to the Indian national, will be critical in dealing with sensitive cases such as domestic abuse and sexual assault which often go undocumented in the country.

It should be noted that Polygon has received countless use cases in administration across India and its influencing is steadily growing worldwide. The Maharastra government, for example, officially confirmed the use of the Polygon blockchain to issue credible caste certificates and Disney had even selected Polygon for its 2022 Accelerator Program earlier on in the year.

Google has announced a new partnership with Coinbase that will enable a select number of customers to pay for cloud services through digital currencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). The new feature will reportedly be available early next year.

The tech behemoth also intends to investigate the use of Coinbase Prime, a custodial service for trading and storing various cryptocurrencies. Moreover, crypto addresses are also now searchable on Google. Coinbase also announced that it shall migrate some of its data-related applications Amazon Web Services to Google Cloud.

According to Amit Zavery, Vice President, Platform Head, and General Manager at Google Cloud, crypto payments will initially be accepted only a select group of clients who are already active in Web3 through the Coinbase Commerce integration. Amit also stated that the service will be made available to more of its customers in the future.

Lastly, although the specifics of the deal are unknown, Coinbase will reportedly take a portion of the transactions it facilitates, like it does with other Coinbase Commerce agreements.

Another major hack occurred in the crypto space, as the worlds biggest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume was recently targeted. By exposing a vulnerability on the cross-chain bridge, hackers reportedly drained 2 million BNB, the Binance network's native token, which resulted in a loss of $570 million.

The initial report stated that the estimated losses were about $100 million, but this figure quickly increased as aforementioned. The hack occurred on a cross-chain bridge, where users transfer digital assets from one blockchain to another, according to Binance CEO and Co-Founder, Changpeng Zhao.

The hackers had apparently created 2 million BNB tokens out of thin air by exploiting a vulnerability in the Binance Bridge to send themselves one million BNB tokens twice in a row. The hack occurred due to a bug in the smart contract, which allowed the individuals responsible to forge transactions and subsequently transfer funds into their respective wallets.

As a result of the hack, all validators were requested to temporarily suspend BSC (Binance Smart Chain), which helped to keep the problem under control. When BSC discovered what had transpired, it immediately shut down the entire blockchain, and validators reportedly acted quickly to contain the issue.

Grayscale Investments is giving investors the chance to invest in Bitcoin (BTC) mining hardware during the ongoing bear market. Essentially, this will be a private, co-investment opportunity in BTC mining hardware. Foundry, a digital asset staking and mining infrastructure firm, shall reportedly manage daily operations for the company.

Important details

The Grayscale Digital Infrastructure Opportunities LLC, also known as GDIO, is now accessible to skilled and experienced retail and institutional investors. Furthermore, Grayscale will distribute a portion of the proceeds from its endeavors to GDIO investors on a quarterly basis. Grayscale will therefore use GDIO investor capital to purchase mining hardware for at least three years. It shall mine and then sell BTC using the hardware.

For those who may not know, Bitcoin mining is the time-consuming and energy-intensive process by which a computer network creates and verifies a new transaction block. A miner is the node in the network which creates that block. Typically, a miner is compensated in BTC for his efforts, which usually necessitate substantial amounts of electricity as well as computing power.

Grayscale still involved with crypto despite ongoing bear market

It is no secret that Grayscale has been interested in crypto for a long time, and many would agree it is among the main companies responsible for pushing the flagship crypto further into the mainstream. As such, Grayscales unique role at the heart of the crypto ecosystem allows the company to create offerings which enable investors to utilize capital in order for it to work across market cycles, according to Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein.

GDIO is hence yet another attempt by the company to supply investors with some much needed exposure to BTC without actually holding the digital asset directly. Investors may additionally buy shares in Grayscales GBTC trust and gain exposure to the worlds biggest crypto by market capitalization through the companys legally regulated business in the United States.

GDIO would be using invested capital to buy mining equipment, which will be readily available in the coming months at likely discounted prices, said Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, Grayscales Managing Director and Head of Investor Relations. She further stated that GDIO will then use this equipment to mine BTC, sell it on a daily basis, and then distribute the proceeds to investors as aforementioned, thereby generating income. Lastly, according to the company, GDIO will only accept investments from eligible retail and institutional accredited investors.

Several notable companies like Samsung, Emirates, and Nike have already started using the metaverse, with many more expected to follow suit as the emerging technology continues to gain mainstream attention and funding.

In fact, JPMorgan recently described it as a $1 trillion-per-year opportunity, prompting the company to open the first ever virtual bank. This is a significant indicator of the possibilities for brands and businesses to enter the growing decentralized metaverse economy.

An increasing number of brands are thus actively viewing the metaverse as a kind of extension of the Internet or even its evolution, said Yonatan Raz-Fridman, CEO of Supersocial and host of the Into The Metaverse podcast.

The CEO further stated that although there is a lot of work yet to be done, the potential is massive and the main point of attraction is about inviting consumers in to experience different brands in a fresh and innovative way.

With technologies like VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality) steadily becoming more accessible, many believe that it is only a matter of time before the metaverse is thought of in the same way as social media is in this day and age. Notable celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, and Reese Witherspoon have also previously endorsed the metaverse concept alongside crypto, blockchain, and NFTs.

The Plan ₿ Foundation, a collaboration between the Swiss City of Lugano and USDT stablecoin issuer Tether, recently unveiled a new partnership with payment facilitator GoCrypto to bring Bitcoin, Tether, and LVGA payments to Lugano. This will reportedly allow locals to use their wallets at McDonalds as well as a slew of other merchants.

As such, citizens may utilize their wallets to pay through either USDT, BTC, or the local payment token LVGA at these locations. It has also been reported that Lugano shall try to usher in additional businesses to this new arrangement over the next month or so.

The Plan ₿ Foundation hopes to have more than 2,500 merchants accepting these three currencies by the end of next year. Meanwhile, they anticipate serving more than 2,000 customers at the upcoming Plan Forum, which is a Bitcoin conference taking place from October 28th-29th in Lugano, Switzerland.

Oklahoma Senator James Lankford has recently proposed legislation to ensure that Americans can continue using physical bills and coins regardless of whether the United States adopts a digital dollar.

Lankford stated that he introduced the No Digital Dollar Act in response to residents' concerns that cash would be phased out once the US created a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency).

Lankfords bill follows the signing of Executive Order 14067 by President Joe Biden, which instructs the government to investigate the potential dangers and advantages of digital assets.

Lankfords proposed legislation, if passed, would prohibit the US Treasury as well as the Federal Reserve from meddling with Americans who tend to favor paper currency irrespective of whether a digital currency already exists. Lastly, the legislation also seeks to ensure that people can retain their privacy while transacting with cash and coins.

BlackRock, the worlds biggest asset manager, is rapidly increasing its exposure to digital assets by launching a new European blockchain ETF (Exchange Traded Fund). The company, which manages approximately $10 trillion in assets, announced on September 29th that it had successfully added the iShares Blockchain Technology UCITS ETF to its product suite, thereby providing European clients with exposure to an ETF after launching one earlier this year within the United States.

What to expect?

The BlackRock team firmly believes that digital assets and blockchain technologies will become increasingly relevant for clients as use cases grow in complexity, scale and scope, said Omar Moufti, Product Strategist for Thematic and Sector ETFs at the company.

Moreover, BlackRock has recently increased its exposure to the world of digital assets, initially launching its U.S. focused blockchain and tech exchange traded fund earlier on in 2022, and then partnering with Coinbase to provide its customers with indirect access to a wide range of cryptocurrencies through its Aladdin trading platform. Additionally, it even launched a spot Bitcoin (BTC) private trust in August, which is available to institutional clients residing in the United States.

The future looks bright

Although we are still in the midst of an ongoing bear market, this has not deterred institutional investors from regularly expressing their interest in crypto, blockchain, NFTs, and the metaverse. In fact, BlackRock is not the only financial services titan entering the fray. Banks such as JPMorgan and Nomura, as well as asset managers such as Fidelity and Abrdn, have recently launched digital asset offerings as well, and analysts predict that even more big names in the traditional finance sector are likely to follow suit.

Furthermore, BlackRocks European blockchain ETF, which has 35 holdings and is traded on Euronext, has a total expense ratio of 0.5%. Its biggest investments are presently in Coinbase, trading titan Galaxy Digital, and BTC miner Marathon Digital. IBM, Nvidia and Paypal are also on the list with more expected to join before long.

The continued spread of blockchain technology highlights its potential across several industries, Moufti added. He further stated that the iShares Blockchain Technology UCITS ETF exposure shall provide clients with the chance to participate in globally recognized companies that are actively leading the development of the burgeoning blockchain ecosystem.