Circle Sells OTC Desk to Kraken, Major Asian Shipping Terminal Joins IBM and Maersk’s Blockchain Platform, Ripple Raises $200M

This week (16-21 December) in Blockchain & Crypto was yet another interesting one - Stanford funds blockchain startup touted as ‘the Microsoft for Blockchain', world’s largest diamond mining firm, Russia’s Alrosa, has partnered with Tencent on a new blockchain-based e-commerce project, Bitfinex now enables its users to purchase cryptocurrencies with both credit and debit cards, and much more!

About this and more, in the newest issue of Weekly Blockchain & Crypto Digest. Enjoy!

Stanford Funds Blockchain Startup Touted as ‘the Microsoft for Blockchain’

Blockchain infrastructure startup Alchemy has garnered investments from multiple notable mainstream entities, including Stanford University, as well as leaders from other top businesses. 

“Our vision is to push the entire ecosystem forward by providing core infrastructure and developer tools,” Alchemy co-founder and Stanford alum Joe Lau said on December 17.

Alchemy has amassed $15 million in contributions from influential mainstream business leaders, such as Yahoo’s co-founder Jerry Yang and LinkedIn’s co-founder Reid Hoffman, Bloomberg reported on December 17. 

Bloomberg also noted financial powerhouse Charles Schwab’s place on the list of entities investing in Alchemy as part of its Series A financing. 

Alchemy joins a number of other brick and mortar companies looking to help outfit interested parties with blockchain technology, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Oracle. 

Some of Alchemy’s clients include Augur, 0x and Opera, among others. 

Lau and fellow Stanford alum Nikil Viswanathan, Alchemy’s other co-founder, both have high hopes for their blockchain project in terms of adoption. 

Viswanathan told Bloomberg:

We want to be the Microsoft for blockchain.

Pointing back several decades, Lau mentioned the lack of computer usage seen during the technology’s early days, comparing the situation to that of blockchain technology at present.

“In the ’70s and ’80s only researchers used computers and today everyone uses a computer,” Lau explained to Bloomberg. 

Circle Sells OTC Desk to Kraken to Focus On Stablecoin

San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced that it has acquired Circle’s over-the-counter (OTC) desk.

In a December 17 blog post, Kraken said that the company has bought “one of the most recognized OTC desks in crypto.” Circle co-founders Sean Neville and Jeremy Allaire confirmed the sale of the Circle Trade OTC business to Kraken, saying:

We have known and admired Jesse and his team at Kraken for many years, and we have every confidence and expectation that Circle Trade customers and partners will continue to find best-in-class OTC liquidity service and responsiveness through Kraken going forward. Circle Trade represents an enormous success for the industry as well as for Circle, and we’re excited to see Kraken grow it further.

According to Neville and Allaire the sale of Circle’s OTC desk is part of its “sharpened 2020 product roadmap,” in which the company states that it needs to focus effectively on its stablecoin platforms by reducing complexity, tightening its product portfolio, and reorganize its teams to execute with greater agility. A Circle spokesperson elaborated:

It’s clear that there’s more interest than ever before in stablecoins and central bank digital currencies, in part because significant global technology companies like Facebook and major economies like China have advanced plans for creating digital currencies. Also, a factor is the significant growth of stablecoins like Tether, USDC, and others. All of these factors combined are forcing economic leaders around the world to grapple with the economic and societal implications of crypto assets—which is why 2020 is going to be the year for stablecoins.

Kraken expects this acquisition to “significantly bolster” its services, as it hopes to provide new global trading partners, deeper liquidity and tighter spreads across all supported assets, and improved trader tools that will help streamline the trade process from quote to settlement.

Alrosa, Tencent, Everledger Bring Diamonds on the Blockchain to WeChat

The world’s largest diamond mining firm, Russia’s Alrosa, has partnered with Tencent, the operator of Chinese social media app WeChat, on a new blockchain-based e-commerce project.

Together with blockchain platform Everledger, Tencent and Alrosa will launch a new diamond-focused retail mini-program targeted at WeChat’s one billion active users, according to a December 16 press release.

In a joint statement, the three firms said the program aims to improve transparency and consumer trust across the diamond supply chain, enabling social media users to purchase diamonds with full knowledge of their origin, characteristics and ownership history.

The three firms claim that the mini-program can help Chinese jewelry manufacturers and retailers to increase trust in their brand and differentiate themselves amid a highly competitive market. The lure is that consumers have access to an immutable blockchain ledger that accurately reflects the history of each diamond. 

Alrosa has pledged to provide full information on their diamonds’ extraction in Russia, thus providing users with a reliable measure for the sustainability and “ethical footprint” of their purchases. 

Major Asian Shipping Terminal Joins IBM and Maersk’s Blockchain Platform

Cái Mép International Terminal (CMIT), located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, announced December 19, that it had joined the TradeLens blockchain platform.

CMIT is one of the largest terminals in the Cái Mép-Th? V?i deep-water gateway port complex, providing a direct link from Vietnam to European, North American and Asian markets. CMIT general director, Jan Bandstra said that the decision to join the blockchain-based program was driven by customer demand for instant shipping data.

Having transparent, accessible cargo data is essential for the complexities of the global shipping industry, as CMIT deputy director Nguyen Xuan Ky illustrated:

A seafood container export from Vietnam to the U.S. has more than 30 shipping milestones and shipment data at more than 10 relevant entities with requirement of close tracking [...] real-time information sharing at different stages by different entities in global supply chain will increase considerable efficiency for global trade flows.

The TradeLens platform is quickly becoming the industry standard in the global shipping industry. Developed in partnership by IBM and Maersk, the open and neutral blockchain-based platform aims to streamline labyrinthine supply chains. 

It is now supported by over 100 diverse organizations within the industry, recently adding Global Container Terminals, a North American container terminal operator, and the Thai customs authority to its client base.

Ripple Raises $200M, Calls 2019 Its Strongest Year of Growth

Ripple, the blockchain payments firm behind XRP, the third biggest altcoin by market cap, has raised $200 million in a new funding round.

Led by closed-ended investment company Tetragon, the new Series C funding round was also joined by Ripple’s major Japanese partner SBI Holdings and venture capital firm Route 66 Ventures, the firm announced on December20.

The new funding will reportedly help Ripple to continue improving its global payments network and the broader utility of the digital asset XRP and the XRP Ledger, the announcement reads.

The new investment is claimed to mark a record year for the business as Ripple reportedly saw its “strongest year of growth to date in 2019.”

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that the company has continued to gain momentum and accelerate industry leadership, while “others in the blockchain space have slowed their growth or even shut down.”

To date, Ripple is claimed to have customers in over 45 countries and six continents, with payout capabilities in more than 70 countries. The company has reportedly seen a 10-fold year-over-year growth in transactions, while the firm’s global payments network RippleNet grew to more than 300 customers worldwide.

While Ripple claims that 2019 has become its strongest year so far, the company has seen a significant drop in sales in the third quarter of 2019. In mid-October, Ripple’s Q3 2019 sales were down over 73% compared to the record sale of $251.51 million in Q2.

Earlier this year, Ripple entered a partnership with the world’s second-largest remittances firm, MoneyGram, with Garlinghouse claiming that MoneyGram using Ripple’s xRapid liquidity product is a bigger deal than Facebook’s stablecoin project Libra. In late November, MoneyGram secured a $20 million equity investment from Ripple as part of its original $50 million equity investment commitment.

Bitfinex Now Enables Users to Purchase Crypto With Credit and Debit Card

Hong Kong-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex now enables its users to purchase cryptocurrencies with both credit and debit cards.

The exchange made the announcement on December 20, saying:

Buy cryptocurrencies with your debit or credit cards on Bitfinex. Whether it's Bitcoin, USDt, Ethereum, or any other ERC20 tokens, pick your favorite and purchase with your credit or debit cards directly.

December has witnessed a number of Bitfinex’s developments, with the exchange and crypto store Bitrefill partnered to allow the trading platform’s clients to shop with Bitcoin over the Lightning Network. The collaboration will allow customers to buy over 2,000 different prepaid vouchers with BTC. The vouchers can cover the costs of services and products relevant to gaming, dining, entertainment, travel and more.

New York-based blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis is set to provide Bitfinex with it Anti-Money Laundering compliance solution to use the real-time monitoring capabilities of Chainalysis’ technology to identify high-risk outliers amid a high volume of transactions

Bitfinex also revealed the first of two major upgrades it says will completely change user payments and spending habits, confirming that it would support BTC transactions on the Lightning Network.

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About: I am a business developer, sales professional, FinTech strategist, as well as Cryptocurrency and Blockchain enthusiast. I'm highly passionate about Financial Technology and Digital Innovation, and strongly believe that it will change the world for the better. Apart from my daily job at a global payments startup where I'm leading company's expansion into Europe , I'm an active member of FinTech community and a TechFin evangelist.

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