Microsoft, Nasdaq & Others to Set Global Tokenization Standards; Brave Browser Crosses 16M MAUs; Microsoft ID System Launches Beta on Bitcoin Network

June has been very interesting and really intense month in the Blockchain & Crypto world. Microsoft, IBM, Hyperledger and other technology and financial organizations have formed an alliance to develop global standards for tokenized ecosystems; Brave Browser, a cryptocurrency-powered web browser, announced that its monthly active user count increased 125% over the past year; Microsoft’s decentralized identity network ION, first announced in May is moving to beta testing on the Bitcoin network; more than 40 companies including Ripple, Brave and Huobi have joined forces to form the Open Payments Coalition and launch universal payments system PayID, to name just a few.

So without further ado, let us dive deeper into what was trending and hot in Blockchain and Cryptocurrency world past month.

$1.4B in Crypto Stolen in First Five Months of 2020, According to CipherTrace

During the first week of June, researchers say 2020 is on track to become a second-worst year for cryptocurrency-related thefts, hacks and fraud.

Digital asset intelligence firm CipherTrace released a report on June 2 revealing that in the first five months of this year so far, the value of ill-gotten funds siphoned through cryptocurrency crimes has reached almost $1.4 billion. This makes it possible that the amount of funds lost to bad actors in 2020 will outstrip the $4.5 billion lost in 2019, 

This makes it possible that 2020 will be the worst year for cryptocurrency losses to crime behind 2019, which saw net losses of $4.5 billion. CipherTrace then attributed the losses to an uptick of “insider jobs” at businesses such as crypto exchanges.

This year, CipherTrace notes that criminals are capitalizing on the coronavirus crisis to target more victims and are propagating new crypto-related phishing campaigns, ransomware and darknet marketplace fraud. 

CipherTrace has identified multiple scams this year involving email campaigns that impersonate coronavirus-related official groups in order to solicit personal information and/or payments in cryptocurrency. Mimicked entities have included the World Health Organization, the Red Cross and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Other COVID-19-related applications and sites include purported virus trackers for smartphones, which enable criminals to spy on users or to install ransomware and later demand payment in cryptocurrency to decrypt users’ files.

New darknet markets have also emerged requesting payment in crypto for COVID-19 diagnostic tests, ostensible vaccines and “cures,” or sought-after personal protective equipment.

Of the $1.36 billion in crypto stolen so far this year, 98% of the total value ($1.3 billion) was accounted for by fraud and misappropriation, rather than by hacks and direct thefts.

Microsoft, Nasdaq and Others to Set Global Tokenization Standards

Further, Microsoft, IBM, Hyperledger and other technology and financial organizations have formed an alliance to develop global standards for tokenized ecosystems.

Microsoft’s principal architect, Marley Gray, and Enterprise Ethereum Alliance’s former executive director, Ron Resnick, on Tuesday launched the InterWork Alliance, a nonprofit organization aimed at bringing global standards to the token-based ecosystem.

At launch, the IWA included more than 28 blockchain, technology and financial organizations from around the world, including Microsoft, Chainlink, Hyperledger, IBM, Nasdaq, Accenture and others. The IWA indicated that startups presently working on tokenized ecosystems are mostly focusing on their individual solutions and marketing their platforms to other businesses.

Setting global standards, it said, will help focus this wide-scale innovation to make a collective impact on businesses. Resnick, IWA's president, stated:

For this approach to work, standards are urgently needed around defining what a token is and how its contractual behaviors will work.

InterWork Alliance plans to work on three different frameworks of global standards for tokenized ecosystems. First, the Token Taxonomy Framework will provide a common language and toolset so that multiple parties can agree on the same terms that define a token and its use. 

The InterWork Framework will help businesses compose multiparty contracts from standard, globally recognized clauses set by the IWA. Lastly, the Analytics Framework will help businesses analyze multiparty contracts and utilize artificial intelligence services and market-driven data reporting.

With these, the IWA will eventually work on interoperability between decentralized applications from different blockchain networks. 

Crypto-Powered Brave Browser Reaches Over 15 Million Monthly Active Users

Finally, Brave Browser, a cryptocurrency-powered web browser, announced that its monthly active user count increased 125% over the past year.

According to a June 1 announcement, Brave Browser’s monthly active users reached 15.4 million by the end of May. Daily active users, on the other hand, reached 5.3 million after increasing by 165% over the past year.

According to May data only about 12.32% of Brave Browser’s total users use the software’s cryptocurrency features. The firm’s co-founder and CEO Brendan Eich explained at the time:

When we first released [Brave Browser] on desktop, it was 40% of the desktop browser share and as we added mobile we found people were less willing to use it, but we are working to make it more attractive to use by making it more convenient, making it reward the user more.

Brave Browser is an open source web browser created by Mozilla founder and JavaScript creator Brendan Eich that focuses on providing better privacy and blocking intrusive ads and trackers. The browser also provides an opt-in advertisement system powered by the Ethereum blockchain and the firm’s proprietary Basic Attention Token (BAT).

Brave Browser’s advertisement 90-day average click-through rate is 9%, much higher than the industry average of 2%, according to Brave. Notably, some firms using the service see up to a 15% click-through rate. There have also been over one billion ad confirmation events to date, a 930% increase compared to the 97 million reported in October 2019.

Bakkt and Galaxy Digital Partner Up on New Institutional Offering

The 2nd week of June began with the news from The Intercontinental Exchange’s digital asset custody and derivatives platform Bakkt that has partnered with crypto asset manager Galaxy Digital to launch a ‘white glove’ service for institutions seeking Bitcoin exposure.

The collaboration will see Galaxy Digital Trading’s (GDT) matching engine and trading platform offered alongside Bakkt’s digital asset custody services. 

“We designed this partnership to service the uptick in demand our two firms have received from traditional asset managers seeking access to physical Bitcoin,” said Galaxy Digital’s Tim Plakas.

“Together, Galaxy Digital and Bakkt offer a safe, efficient, and well-regulated route into physical bitcoin access,” Plakas added.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Bakkt’s custody head John Conneely said the partnership was established in response to strong institutional demand for crypto asset exposure

The partnership will see GDT source liquidity from over 30 market makers, with trading taking place 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. GDT generated over $1 billion in digital asset volume during the first quarter of 2020 spanning its spot, lending, derivatives, and structured crypto products.

“Asset managers and hedge funds considering this service can be assured by the high standards we hold as a publicly-traded company with audited, public financial statements and an institutional-sized balance sheet,” noted Plakas.

Since launching its ‘Bakkt Warehouse’ last year, the ICE subsidiary has on boarded over 70 clients for its custody services.

Bakkt uses a combination of warm and cold storage to secure funds, with the majority of capital stored offline. Funds stored in the Bakkt warehouse are covered by a $125 million insurance policy, with customers able to purchase more than $500 million in additional coverage.

Microsoft ID System Launches Beta on Bitcoin Network

Finally, Microsoft’s decentralized identity network ION, first announced in May is moving to beta testing on the Bitcoin network.

In a June 10 blog post, Daniel Buchner, a program manager for the Microsoft Identity team, said the open-sourced, layer 2 Identity Overlay Network (ION) had launched. The aim is to provide users with a decentralized identifier (DID) that could replace the need for usernames.

Developed in conjunction with the Decentralized Identity Foundation, ION was developed as a decentralized network to operate independently and doesn’t rely on “special utility tokens, trusted validator nodes, or additional consensus mechanisms”. 

“The core promise of DID technology is to empower all individuals and entities with ownership and control over their identities, which aligns well with our mission of empowering every person to work, play, and achieve more,” said Buchner. “To deliver on that promise, we have chosen a different path from some of the more centralized approaches to DID technologies—and we believe ION exemplifies that choice.”

Microsoft has not yet set a release date for the final version, but said it would be working on hardening the protocol and improving the ION reference implementation over the coming months. 

Ripple, Brave and Huobi Join Instant Global Payments Network PayID

During the third week of the month, more than 40 companies including Ripple, Brave and Huobi have joined forces to form the Open Payments Coalition and launch universal payments system PayID.

Reaching more than 100 million consumers, the new payment process will allow users to send or receive money anywhere in the world across any payment network in real time.

Users can provide an email address or a phone number linked to their bank account to instantly receive money without requiring complicated bank account numbers, international codes, routing numbers or SWIFT IDs. 

Cryptocurrency and blockchain companies involved include BitGo, BitPay, Bitrue, Bitso, Bitstamp, Blockchain.com, Brave, BTC Markets, CipherTrace, Coinone, Crypto.com, Huobi, Independent Reserve, Liquid, Ripple and many more.

Ripple’s Ethan Beard said PayID aims to make global payments simple and fast. “If sending a payment were as seamless as sending an email or text, we would all send more payments quickly and easily around the world,” he said.

Liquid Group Inc. CEO Mike Kayamori said cryptocurrency would be a key component:

Payments will need to be interoperable between fiat and cryptocurrency, and easy to send and receive across the globe.

PayID is already in wide use in Australia, where it was progressively introduced over the last three years. The majority of bank and crypto exchange users in the country can send and receive instant money transfers at any time, 24/7.

Caroline Bowler, CEO of Australian-based exchange BTC Markets, said that the global PayID system followed Australia’s 2018 introduction of the New Payments Platform:

PayID is a crucial next-step in infrastructure that will bring ease of payments to an international audience.

Ernst & Young Release Crypto Tax App

Further, multinational professional services firm Ernst & Young have released a crypto tax app called EY CryptoPrep. It’s a fully automated, web-based Software as a Service (SaaS) product to assist clients with U.S. tax filings.

EY CryptoPrep takes data from numerous exchanges and major cryptocurrencies, automatically applies relevant tax rules and completes Form 8949. Clients can choose to use the program themselves or have it as part of a managed service.

EY America’s Vice Chair of Tax Services Marna Ricker explained that the application was a direct response to growing interest in cryptocurrencies: 

Our clients increasingly hold and trade crypto assets, creating the need for an innovative solution to address the evolving complexity around filing crypto taxes.

Cryptocurrencies have caused confusion and difficulty for many users due to stringent recording requirements for traders in addition to somewhat opaque tax regulations in certain cases.

The application arrives just in time as the IRS looks as if it’ll be cracking down on non-compliance in cryptocurrency tax. In May this year, they sent out a Statement of Work (SOW), soliciting private contractors to aid in auditing tax returns related to virtual assets.

The IRS has not further clarified its 2019 crypto tax guidelines except to see that U.S. citizens are required to disclose their cryptocurrency holdings including any gains or losses.

Ontology and Bitcoin Suisse Partner to Strengthen European Ecosystems

Finally, the week was closed by blockchain platform Ontology and Swiss crypto-financial service provider Bitcoin Suisse that have partnered together in an effort to grow their respective ecosystems in Europe and Asia. The partnership sees Bitcoin Suisse list the Ontology token and the Ontology wallet adding support for the CryptoFranc stablecoin.

Co-founder of Ontology Andy Ji explained the significance of this partnership in relation to the firm’s European growth strategy: 

The timing of this is significant, given our imminent plans to establish an office in Berlin and to expand our European footprint more broadly.

In recent months, Ontology has received token listings from European platforms eToroX and Bitpanda and has signed an MOU with Berlin’s Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft University.

Big Four Auditing Firm KPMG Launches a Crypto Management Suite

During the last week of the month, Big four auditing firm KPMG launched a cryptocurrency management suite with analytic features.

According to a June 22 announcement, the new KPMG Chain Fusion suite is meant to allow financial technology companies to more easily offer crypto asset services on an institutional scale. The news follows a KPMG report which suggested that institutional custody services are of the utmost importance.

Crypto assets function very differently compared to traditional assets when it comes to technology infrastructure, operational mechanics, and inherent risks. Those differences translate to challenges in data management which are sufficient to meet customer account management, anti-money laundering, and security requirements.

KPMG Chain fusion is meant to address the issues caused by the ways crypto assets are compared to their traditional counterparts. Director and co-lead of the firm’s crypto asset services team Sam Wyner pointed out:

Regulators and auditors expect fully implemented controls and processes within and across a cryptoasset business — whether they are cryptoasset or traditional systems or anything in between.

KPMG is increasingly investing in blockchain-related services. As reported at the end of 2019, the firm launched a blockchain-based track and trace platform in Australia, China, and Japan.

In January, KPMG also predicted that internet-of-things and blockchain technology will be jointly used to manage the fallout of climate change.

Bithumb Exchange to Reportedly File for IPO in South Korea

Further, major South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb is planning to hold an initial public offering (IPO), according to reports from local media. 

As reported by MoneyToday on June 24, Bithumb Korea, the trading platform’s operator, has begun preparing for a stock market launch, tapping Samsung Securities as its underwriter. 

Bithumb is reportedly facing a number of potential obstacles that could prevent it from successfully filing an IPO in South Korea, namely recent crypto taxation issues.

Earlier this month, the South Korean Finance Minister, Hong Nam-Ki, announced plans to impose a tax on cryptocurrency, saying that more details will be revealed in July. 

Notably, in early 2020 Bithumb filed a complaint with the National Tax Service, suggesting that the imposed $69 million tax bill is baseless, given that cryptocurrencies are not legally recognized in the country.

Current regulatory uncertainty surrounding digital assets might prevent local regulators from green lighting Bithumb’s IPO application in the near future, the new report alleges. 

Moreover, MoneyToday notes that Bithumb’s current “opaque” composition of shareholders might also raise questions. The largest investor of Bithumb Korea is Bithumb Holdings (former BTC Holding Co.), with a reported stake of 74.1%. According to local reports from December 2019, Bithumb Holdings executive Lee Jung Hoon was sued for economic fraud as a result of several entangled acquisitions involving a Singapore subsidiary called BTHMB Holdings.

Coinbase Welcomes Compound DeFi to its Platform

Finally, Coinbase announced support for COMP, the token of decentralized finance, or DeFi, project, Compound. 

"Coinbase customers can now buy, sell, convert, send, receive, or store COMP. COMP will be available for customers in all Coinbase-supported regions, with the exception of New York state," the exchange said in a June 25 blog post announcement. 

The company has listed the token on Coinbase.com, with compatibility for iPhone and Android mobile application usage, the announcement detailed. 

Built on Etheruem's blockchain, Compound offer's another option for crypto-based lending within the industry. 

Coinbase Pro, the trading arm of the crypto exchange giant, listed COMP on June 23, based on a June 18 announcement.  

Coinbase holds close ties to Compound, as the outfit invested in the project in 2018, and still holds a bag of COMP as of June 25, the blog announcement detailed. 

The post noted:

Coinbase intends to maintain its investment in Compound for the foreseeable future and maintains internal policies that address the timing of permissible disposition of its digital assets, including COMP tokens.

??Subscribe?? to my weekly newsletters (followed by ??85,000+?? people) about FinTech and Blockchain & Crypto:

?? Weekly FinTech Digest

?? Weekly Blockchain & Crypto Digest

Also, don't forget to ??subscribe?? to my monthly series and always stay up-to-date:

?? Month in FinTech

?? Month in Blockchain & Crypto

P.S. You might enjoy my earlier pieces as well:

?? These are the Best Performing Stocks of the Last Decade

?? Welcome to the Google Bank - Your Everyday Banking from Google, NOT a Bank.

***

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.

If you've enjoyed this piece, don't hesitate to press like, comment what you think and share the article with others. Let's spread the knowledge together!

For more, hit the subscribe button, follow me on LinkedIn & Instagram. I'm building the best community the social world has ever seen!????