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Cryptocurrency self-custody, where the owner has exclusive control over their crypto holdings, is gaining traction with the introduction of a new wearable cold wallet.

On July 17, hardware wallet firm Tangem announced the Tangem Ring, a self-custodial crypto wallet designed as a ring.

Tangem’s chief technology officer, Andrey Lazutkin, explained that the Tangem Ring combines self-custody with wearables to promote daily cryptocurrency use. He said:

“We believe that cryptocurrency should bring daily benefits to humanity, not just sit in a bank vault.

“In other words, cryptocurrency should be used on a daily basis. And we in Tangem want to create a device for this daily use.”

The Tangem Ring raises questions about the security of carrying such a wallet in public.

Lazutkin assured that the ring has protections similar to Tangem’s Visa-integrated hardware wallet in card form.

He stated, “The ring, like the Tangem wallet in card form, is protected by an access code. Even if stolen, access to cryptocurrency will be blocked.”

He emphasized the ring’s security, noting it contains an EAL6+ secure element, making it nearly impossible to hack.

Alex Gomez, founder of CyberScrilla, highlighted the need for mobile wallets like the crypto ring, as crypto owners can’t always manage their holdings from their desks.

He added, “Even if you lose it, there are security measures in place to ensure that no one can access your crypto, even if they discover that the ring is a crypto wallet.”

Jennifer Ghelardini, a research analyst at KasMedia journal, supported the concept, mentioning other wearable self-custody wallets such as Ledger’s necklace pendants and keychains.

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She said, “I love the idea of having an inconspicuous way to carry your crypto with you, so you will be able to sell or trade when traveling.”

Regarding regulation, the Tangem Ring will initially launch without payment capabilities.

A Tangem spokesperson stated, “The crypto ring we are launching today will be available for pre-order and will begin shipping to users from the end of October.” Integration with the Visa payment chip is planned for 2025.

The Tangem Ring will be available in all countries where Tangem Pay operates, including Europe and the UK. European regulators have shown concern about self-custodial solutions and related payments.

However, a proposed $1,100 limit on crypto payments from self-custodial wallets was ultimately scrapped by the European Parliament.

This development coincides with major crypto payment firms embracing self-custody, launching solutions that combine self-custodial ownership with day-to-day payments.

Industry executives believe self-custody will drive the adoption of crypto payments.

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Confidential computing technologies have the potential to unlock the next $1 trillion in capital for the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Advances in privacy technologies, such as fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), could drive this growth, according to Remi Gai, founder of Inco.

Speaking exclusively to Cointelegraph during the FHE Summit 2024, Gai stated: “There’s the next trillion dollars of opportunities because if you think about what we’re building, it’s enabling creators to build more applications. So first, we’re growing the pie of what’s possible in Web3.

A lot of these use cases in Web2 just cannot work in Web3 because we’re missing this confidentiality aspect.”

Inco is a modular confidential computing network that builds FHE-based solutions, aiming to become the confidential computing layer of the blockchain.

For the crypto space to achieve mass institutional adoption, greater privacy is essential.

Mainstream institutions are often hesitant to join the decentralized finance (DeFi) space due to the lack of privacy in Web3. Confidential computing technologies could change this, as Gai explained:

“Institutions are still having a hard time entering the space because everything is transparent.

Now, if you enable an experience similar to what they’re comfortable with in Web2, suddenly this could bring a lot more liquidity, use cases, bigger participants, and money to enter the space.”

Gai emphasized that encryption is not about anonymity but about securing valuable information.

He likened it to the secure sockets layer (SSL) of the internet, saying:

“If blockchain is the value layer of the internet, then you need the SSL equivalent. A lot of people still think encryption means anonymity.

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“No, it just means that you need to take certain pieces of information that are valuable through encryption.

“And that is what we’re missing today.”

Advancements in confidential computing will not only attract institutional investors but also retail investors.

Gai mentioned that new use cases created by these technologies would bring additional liquidity from both sectors:

“If you think about the new use cases it will create, it will also attract net new users.

“That will also bring in liquidity. So it could also trickle down to retail. It doesn’t have to be just institutions.”

The influx of new liquidity will largely depend on the disruptive potential of the use cases introduced by confidential computing advancements.

These technologies promise significant benefits for financial institutions by enabling computations on encrypted data without decryption, exemplified by fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) solutions.

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Tokenized United States treasuries are projected to reach $3 billion by the end of 2024, highlighting the growing benefits and widespread adoption of financial asset tokenization.

To achieve the $3 billion mark by year-end, tokenized treasuries must nearly double their current value.

This growth is driven by decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) increasingly diversifying their holdings into tokenized US treasuries, says Tom Wan, a research strategist at 21.co.

The anticipated growth to $3 billion is supported by major players like Securitize and BlackRock. In a July 15 X post, Wan noted:

“With the two projects allocating to tokenized US treasury, we could be seeing the total market cap of tokenized US treasury increasing to $3B+ by the end of 2024.”

Data from Dune shows that tokenized US government securities have already accumulated over $1.6 billion in total assets under management (AUM).

BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, tickered BUIDL, has emerged as the largest tokenized treasury fund, surpassing Franklin Templeton’s fund.

In just six weeks, BUIDL reached over $375 million in market capitalization, now valued at over $528 million and holding a 28.8% market share.

Wan believes BlackRock’s fund will significantly boost inflows into tokenized treasuries.

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He explained:

“As the strategy laid out by Securitize and Blackrock, they intend to provide diversification for the crypto ecosystem to access risk-free US treasury yield without needing to leave the blockchain ecosystem.”

Tokenization is seen as a potentially massive market opportunity.

According to the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA) and Boston Consulting Group, the global value of tokenized illiquid assets could grow to $16 trillion by 2030.

Citigroup analysts offer a more conservative estimate, predicting that an additional $4 trillion to $5 trillion worth of tokenized digital securities will be minted by 2030, as stated in a 2023 report.

Major companies are increasingly recognizing the potential of tokenization. For instance, Goldman Sachs plans to launch three new tokenization products later this year, driven by rising client interest.

To submit a crypto press release (PR), send an email to sales@cryptointelligence.co.uk.

Ava Protocol has successfully launched its mainnet on Ethereum, positioning itself as an EigenLayer Actively Validated Service (AVS) that facilitates smart contract automation. This significant development introduces enhanced transaction automation, privacy, composability, and cost-efficiency for developers integrating Ava Protocol into their decentralized applications (dapps), ensuring extensive compatibility across the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) ecosystem.

The protocol’s event-driven activation model is designed to simplify complex on-chain operations by autonomously executing “super-transactions” when specific predefined conditions such as time, price, and smart contract updates occur. This innovation not only minimizes friction for developers and users but also addresses a major hurdle in web3 adoption by offering a user-friendly solution comparable to Stripe. Notably, these super-transactions do not require custom code, simplifying implementation for developers.

Ava Protocol, as an AVS on EigenLayer, benefits from not being confined to the limitations of the Ethereum Virtual Machine’s architecture. This allows it to extend new capabilities to developers that are not inherently possible on Ethereum and other EVM-compatible chains. It supports a variety of applications, including scheduling future and recurring payments, stop-loss and limit orders, streaming rewards, dynamic NFT minting, and more, making it a versatile tool for dapps.

Chris Li, the founder of Ava Protocol, expressed his enthusiasm about the launch: “With the support of our partners and community, we’ve reached a pivotal moment in our mission to deliver automated super-transactions on Ethereum. The launch of Ava Protocol’s mainnet will unlock new use cases for autonomous transactions that power smart contracts. We’re excited to showcase the versatility of EigenLayer’s AVS technology while addressing critical web3 automation challenges.”

Ava Protocol is among the first 15 projects to deploy an AVS, leveraging pooled security from Ethereum validators through EigenLayer’s innovative restaking mechanism. The protocol has commenced operations with 20 EigenLayer operators sourced from the top 100 by Total Value Locked (TVL), including EigenYields, InfraSingularity, Kukis Global, Coinage, and Staking4All.

Alex from EigenYields commented on the collaboration: “We see immense potential in Ava Protocol’s automated super-transactions, and are thrilled to provide a secure and resilient foundation for this innovative technology. This aligns with our mission to maximize value for our delegators by pushing the Ethereum ecosystem forward.”

Sam Shev, Head of Marketing at Ava Protocol, highlighted the significance of the mainnet launch: “We’re excited to bring Ava Protocol’s technology to a live environment for the first time and to see what our community will build using super-transactions. Thanks to the EigenLayer operators who have joined us on this mission, Ava Protocol will launch with a strong foundation to anchor everything that comes next.”

Following a successful testnet that engaged 10,000 wallets and facilitated over 1,000 automated transactions daily, Ava Protocol is gearing up to announce a detailed plan for AP token incentives aimed at initial operators.

John Bigatton, a prominent promoter of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange Bitconnect, has been convicted by the Sydney District Court for providing unlicensed financial advice.

Between August 2017 and January 2018, Bigatton promoted Bitconnect through seminars and social media without the required financial services license, as reported by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Due to this conviction, he is now disqualified from managing corporations for five years.

Bitconnect, founded in 2016, offered a digital token called BitConnect Coin, which could be exchanged for Bitcoin.

Bigatton made bold claims during seminars, suggesting that BitConnect was superior to traditional term deposits and predicting that BitConnect Coin would reach a value of at least $1,000.

ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court highlighted the gravity of Bigatton’s actions, stating, “The unlicensed financial advice provided by Bigatton undermines trust in Australia’s financial services industry.”

In 2020, ASIC banned Bigatton from providing financial services for seven years due to his misleading promotion of Bitconnect.

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BitConnect has had a tumultuous regulatory history. Its founder, Satish Kumbhani, was sued by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2021 for fraudulently raising around $2 billion from investors.

Despite the US District Court for the Southern District of California ordering the restitution of $17 million for fraud victims, Kumbhani’s whereabouts remain unknown as of 2024.

In a significant move in 2018, ASIC applied to the Federal Court to freeze Bigatton’s assets, including his cryptocurrency holdings, marking the first instance of the Australian regulator obtaining freezing orders over digital assets.

On May 17, Bigatton pleaded guilty to his role in promoting BitConnect, admitting to providing financial advice without proper authorization or the necessary license.

ASIC stated that Bigatton had advised on six occasions across different locations in Australia, noting that he “undertook promotional activities for BitConnect and the Lending Platform.”

Bigatton’s conviction underscores the importance of regulatory compliance in financial services, serving as a reminder of the consequences of providing unlicensed advice.

To submit a crypto press release (PR), send an email to sales@cryptointelligence.co.uk.