Fortnightly Crypto Insights 6/9/24

Success of Swift Experiments

Swift announced the results of its recent experiments on the 31st of August, revealing that it was able to transfer tokenised value across private and public blockchains. For many, this is considered groundbreaking, as it mitigates many of the barriers in tokenising assets such as lack of interoperability or lack of liquidity. The experiments heavily featured Chainlink’s CCIP (Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol), which served as the bridge across networks.

Wordcoin Investigation

CNIL, a data regulatory body in France, conducted an unannounced inspection last week of a Worldcoin Orb centre in Paris’ 3rd arrondissement. The centre is just one of many worldwide, acting as a human verification method for the coin. Users must scan their irises for 15 seconds, with the scans then being stored by the company. This visit comes amidst CNIL’s collaboration with the Bavarian Data Protection Authority, a German data authority, to determine the company’s compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

X to Offer Cryptocurrency?

Rumours of X’s future involvement with the sale or the integration of cryptocurrency escalated last week as it was revealed that they had been issued a Rhode Island Currency Transmitter License on the 28th of August. This license will allow X to, among other things, “[maintain] control of virtual currency or transactions in virtual currency”, granting it permission to process cryptocurrency payments. 

Crypto Recycling Rewards

A cryptocurrency recycling rewards program has been launched by a prominent commercial bank in China. The program will enter users in a draw if they place their items in the appropriate government-assigned recycling bins. The winner of these draws will then be rewarded with digital yuan, the country’s CBDC. 

FTX Moves $10 million in Recovered Assets

$10 million worth of digital assets have been moved from Solana to Ethereum by an FTX-owned wallet, sparking concerns of upcoming selling pressure. However, the company has also recently suggested a bankruptcy plan for the sale of its $7.3 billion worth of recovered assets in partnership with Galaxy, and so some are speculating that this movement of funds is actually in preparation for the approval of this plan. 

New Way to Check Authenticity 

Prada Group has recently launched a new NFT authenticity service on Aura Blockchain Consortium’s platform. The initiative will allow users to scan microchips contained within their items with their phones before being provided with proof of authenticity and the origin of the item.