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3433 result(s) found.

SIMBA Chain Awarded $30M U.S. Air Force STRATFI

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South Bend, Indiana, 31st January, 2023, Chainwire

Leading enterprise blockchain solutions provider SIMBA Chain announces it has been selected for a $30M STRATFI with the U.S. Air Force (USAF), following up on multiple projects the company has completed for the military branch in recent years.

The USAF STRATFI is focused on identifying and advancing technologies that have the potential to secure its future dominance. The $30M investment reflects a significant budget increase compared to previous blockchain initiatives, and will focus on the development and deployment of blockchain applications in supply chain management. These programs are designed to be used by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research & Engineering, the USAF, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, and the Defense Logistics Agency.

Commenting on the new partnership, Stacy Betlej-Amodeo, Vice President of Government Operations at SIMBA Chain, elaborates “Our new project for the USAF will pave the way to more efficient and comprehensive management of assets within the Department of Defense supply chain. SIMBA is thrilled to build upon our existing partnership with the DoD to scale blockchain technology across the enterprise.”

Previously, SIMBA Chain has developed various blockchain applications to improve crucial USAF activities, including the tokenization of the organization’s budget to enhance accounting, as well as the tracking of critical components vital to the air service branch. The STRATFI will significantly accelerate development of the SIMBA Blocks platform while delivering in-transit visibility that supports the USAF strategic mission.

“Through STRATFI our Government partners are sending a strong demand signal for blockchain technology. Given the interconnectedness of the DoD supply chain, it also signals an opportunity to collaborate and increase adoption within the commercial industry,”  says Bryan Ritchie, CEO of SIMBA Chain, of the opportunity.  

About SIMBA Chain

Incubated at the University of Notre Dame in 2017, SIMBA Chain (short for Simple Blockchain Applications) is a fully integrated development platform that government agencies use to bridge and connect to Web3. SIMBA Blocks is at the core of this offering, abstracting the complexities of blockchain development to make Web3 accessible to all.

SIMBA Blocks is a fully integrated platform that addresses governments’ unique challenges when implementing blockchain-based solutions. From resilient information sharing and rapid decision-making to military supply chains, SIMBA’s exceptional network performance and robust security features safeguard government data systems.

The robust platform delivers a low-configuration environment that auto-generates REST APIs capable of connecting to smart contracts on multiple blockchain protocols. With the ability to choose and migrate between public, private, and hybrid chains, governments can optimize their blockchain applications while future-proofing Web3 investments. Most importantly, as a government-proven platform, SIMBA Blocks ensures blockchain-based applications interact seamlessly with legacy systems across public and private domains. Visit simbachain.com to learn more.

Contact

PR Manager
Simon Moser
simon@polygrowth-pr.com

Venom Ventures Fund Commits a $5 Million Strategic Investment in the Everscale Blockchain

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Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, 31st January, 2023, Chainwire

Venom Ventures Fund, a Web3 and blockchain innovation fund managed by Abu Dhabi-based investment fund manager Iceberg Capital Limited, has announced a strategic partnership with Everscale, a premier blockchain that aims to solve the scalability issues bogging down the Web3 industry.

Venom Ventures Fund has committed a $5 million investment in Everscale to help it further expand its development teams and boost the number of projects. The investment will be in stages, based on the progress and cooperation indicators.

Everscale has been diligently working on expanding its reach and integrating its technology solutions in Asian countries over the past two years, while also building a strong community. Its dynamic sharding technology enables it to efficiently adapt to varying workloads, thus making it an easy and practical option for creating large-scale Web3 and other types of applications.

The Venom Ventures Fund was launched by Iceberg Capital Limited in partnership with Venom Foundation, the first officially licensed and regulated Layer-1 blockchain operating within the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).

Venom Ventures Fund Chairman Peter Knez, ex-CIO of BlackRock, said, “For us, this is a strategic investment aimed at the technological development of projects and teams around technologies that we focus on and actively develop. In particular, we are talking about the Venom blockchain project and its ecosystem, which is planned to be launched soon and for which Everscale is a potential Layer 2 solution.”

Venom and Everscale teams will be working together on the further development of the core and the ecosystem bringing the adoption of blockchain closer to real business use cases. Current initiatives such as digital asset tokenization platforms, a full framework for CBDCs and stablecoins and payment solutions with crypto to fiat gateways are already making good headway.

Commenting on the investment, Everscale Foundation Board Member Moon Young Lee said, “This is a milestone for both the Everscale and Venom networks. The technological capabilities of Everscale are immense but they have been underappreciated by a wider audience. Now, Everscale will be able to operate as an experimental network where updates and complex technical solutions can be introduced before they are brought to Venom. This investment will allow Everscale to gain the recognition that it deserves.”

Designed as a network of blockchains, Venom has no limit to the number of other auxiliary networks at the Layer 2 level and no limit to the economy type or operation at the Layer 2. This particular architecture means that mass adoption is now achievable on the Venom blockchain.

About Everscale

Powered by an infinite sharding mechanism, the Everscale network adapts to any workload it is tasked with, without the size of the load affecting transaction times or processing fees. This makes it the ideal blockchain for hosting high-scale web3 and other load-intensive projects. Over the past two years, Everscale has emerged as one of the leading blockchains in Asia, with a thriving community and robust ecosystem of DeFi platforms.

More About the Everscale network:

Website | Twitter | Whitepaper | Github | Telegram Ann | Telegram | Discord

About Iceberg Capital 

ICEBERG Capital Limited is regulated by FSRA as a Prudential Category 3C investment manager based in ADGM. ICEBERG capital is a fast-growing alternative asset management company that provides diversified investment management platforms that includes direct and private equity, venture capital, technology, and virtual assets. ICEBERG capital also offers traditional asset management services such as investment portfolios as well as specialized platforms for securities, and blockchain technology. 

For media inquiries, please contact: Abdullah Al Weshah, abdullah@icebergcapital.ae 

For more information about Iceberg Capital, visit: Website | LinkedIn

About Venom Foundation

Venom is the world’s first regulated blockchain. The decentralized network operates under the jurisdiction of the ADGM, with a license to issue utility tokens. The ADGM is an oasis for investors and financial services firms, positioning Venom as the world’s first compliant blockchain, affording authorities and enterprises the freedom to build, innovate, and scale.

A portfolio of in-house dApps and protocols has been developed on the Venom blockchain by various companies. It now harbors the potential to become a bridge for the adoption of CBDCs in the Middle East, North Africa, and worldwide.

For media inquiries, please contact: Adam Newton, pr@venom.ventures   

For more information about Venom Ventures, visit: Website  |  Twitter

For more information about Venom Foundation, visit: Website  |  Twitter

Contact

Adam Newton
pr@venom.ventures

Addressable raises $7.5M to enable Web3 companies to acquire users at scale

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Tel Aviv, Israel, 31st January, 2023, Chainwire

Addressable, an innovative end-to-end solution for Web3 marketing, announced today that it secured $7.5 million in a seed funding round, led by Viola Ventures and Fabric Ventures, with participation from Mensch Capital Partners and North Island Ventures. The funding will be used to accelerate adoption and expansion of Addressable’s best-in-class solution, including support for additional blockchains and social media integrations.

“Marketing is all about knowing your audience, but since crypto wallets are anonymized by design, Web3 marketers rarely know their audience’s age, country or purchasing history,” says Dr. Asaf Nadler, co-founder and chief scientist at Addressable. “In the face of anonymity, our solution allows Web3 marketers to associate anonymous blockchain audiences with social media activity, ultimately addressing the most significant barrier to Web3 growth today.” 

Addressable’s SaaS solution provides Web3 marketing teams with a powerful platform to launch campaigns and more effectively target new audiences by matching blockchain activity with social profiles. This precise targeting reduces cost-of-acquisition dramatically compared to the broad targeting of existing web2 tools. Leading Web3 companies like Polygon, Bancor, Immutable, and Kryptomon are already using Addressable’s technology to acquire new users in an era when traditional Web2 marketing campaigns are no longer effective. 

“In the Web3 era, the key barrier to growth is the inability of marketers to deliver their messages to their targeted audiences, simply because they don’t know much about them”, says Leon Stern, director of growth at Polygon – an Addressable customer. “Most users aren’t attentive on Discord – they’re on social media, and you need to effectively get their attention there. This is where the value of Addressable lies.” 

Addressable was founded by Tomer Sharoni, Tomer Shlomo and Dr. Asaf Nadler, data analytics veterans with more than 20 publications on blockchain, machine learning and big data.

“We are witnessing an increasing number of Web3 companies investing in meaningful and sustainable user growth through social media, where almost all users spend their time,” says Tomer Sharoni, Addressable’s CEO. “Our unique ability to pinpoint Web3 audiences on social media is the missing piece for mass adoption of Web3. In today’s blockchain ecosystem, we’re the only Web3 marketing SaaS platform addressing user acquisition at scale.” 

“Effective user acquisition became the major concern for Web3 businesses over the turbulent past year”, said Richard Muirhead, Chairman and Managing Partner at Fabric Ventures. “Addressable’s Web3 marketing platform combines a compelling go-to-market opportunity for any web3 business with a user-centric approach for which this sector craves. We are excited to take part in Addressable’s journey and to welcome them into the Fabric family”.

“Addressable is solving a huge problem for web2 and Web3 companies that want to understand their Web3 audiences”, says Omry Ben David, General Partner at Viola Ventures. “Its platform enables marketers to connect the dots between on-chain blockchain data with off-chain social media accounts and use precision targeting for a crisper value proposition and thus superior ROI and conversion. Coupled with an A-class founding team, we believe Addressable is best positioned to lead the marketing stack category in web3”.

About Addressable
Addressable is an innovative end-to-end Web3 marketing solution. The company’s best-in-class SaaS platform provides Web3 marketing teams with a powerful platform to effectively target new audiences by matching blockchain activity with social profiles. Addressable is a trusted partner of leading Web3 companies including Polygon, Bancor, Immutable, and Kryptomon. Founded by data analytics veterans Tomer Sharoni, Tomer Shlomo and Dr. Asaf Nadler, Addressable has raised $7.5 million in a seed funding round led by Viola Ventures and Fabric Ventures.

Contact

Co-Founder
Asaf Nadler
Addressable
anadler@addressable.io

Datamall Chain Foundation Announces Strategic Partnership with AlephCrypto.xyz

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Singapore, Singapore, 31st January, 2023, Chainwire

Datamall Chain (DMC) DMC Foundation announced today that it has formed a strategic partnership with AlephCrypto.xyz. DMC Foundation and AlephCrypto.xyz will cooperate in many aspects, including blockchain technology development and distributed storage.

Both parties will cooperate and support the development of quality projects in the blockchain industry, the Ethereum community, the DMC ecology, and the DMC community. The cooperation will accelerate innovation in the blockchain industry overall and significantly enhance the progress of Web3 technology worldwide.

“We’re very excited to have AlephCrypto.xyz as a strategic partner,” said Victor Chen, DMC Foundation Chair. “Both DMC Foundation and Aleph Crypto are firm believers in the potential and promise of Web3. Having Aleph Crypto as a strategic partner adds significant technical credibility and momentum to the DMC ecosystem.”

“It is our great honor to be one of the very first DMC Foundation strategic partners,” said Zainan Zhou, co-initiator of AlephCrypto.xyz and one of the key contributors of Ethereum open standard procedure Ethereum Improvement Proposals such as authoring the ERC-1202 Voting Standard. AlephCrypto.xyz also features a network of renowned technical advisors from the Ethereum developer community such as NFT (ERC-721) first author William Entriken to provide technical advisory and open standard review for its partners from an Ethereum compatibility point of view. “In order for Web3 to be successful, decentralized storage needs a highly efficient and fully decentralized marketplace. When we saw DMC’s technical architecture, we were super excited about the potential that it provides a much better solution for decentralized users than many of the existing options. We can’t wait to provide as much help and support as we can to DMC Foundation’s vision for Web3 and the blockchain industry, and we look forward to our ongoing collaboration.”

About DMC Foundation

DMC Foundation was founded in Singapore in 2020. With the technical R&D team from Silicon Valley, DMC Foundation has developed Datamall Chain (DMC), an open-source public blockchain. Datamall Chain is based on the Cyber File System (CYFS), an open-source, next-generation protocol that enables development of completely decentralized applications. 

Datamall Chain is a decentralized storage marketplace that provides users with secure, efficient, and authenticated decentralized storage services. DMC aims to promote the development of next-generation Internet infrastructure and blockchain technology, focusing on building the underlying storage architecture in Web3. DMC adopts a unique Proof of Storage Service (PoSS) consensus mechanism to incentivize nodes to improve their own storage capacity and ensure DMC is a high-performance public chain.

The DMC ecosystem consists of three layers: the storage transaction layer, which matches decentralized storage supply with decentralized storage demand; the storage service layer, which helps enforce storage deals; and the storage application layer, which consists of applications that use decentralized storage. One of the first applications on DMC is Foggie, the world’s first all-in-one Web3 virtual appliance from Fog Works. With Foggie, users can obtain additional storage capacity via DMC, or they can share idle storage on DMC capacity and earn crypto rewards. 

For more details, please visit the DMC official Twitter and DMC official website.

Twitter | Discord | Website 

About AlephCrypto.xyz

Aleph Crypto is a series of initiatives rooted in Silicon Valley. It is initiated by Zainan Zhou (author of ERC-1202 Voting Standard) and co-founded by several seasoned investors and entrepreneurs of Web1 and Web2 Internet. AlephCrypto.xyz focuses and services three areas of interest: Blockchain Infrastructure Layer, “Blockchain+” of Traditional Web, and New Applications Exclusively Enabled by Blockchains.

In May 2022, a key contributor to the Ethereum ecosystem, lead author of NFT (ERC-721), William Entriken, also joins AlephCrypto.xyz as its Technical Advisor.

The founders of AlephCrypto.xyz deeply believe Web3 will advance humanity by improving the collaborations of people through communities. AlephCrypto.xyz champions the spirit of community by establishing its own, including Builder Club, Investor Network, and Media Hub, to support and service everyone who is interested in building Web3 in all the ways we can. The Aleph Crypto also features an early-stage investment fund for angel and seed rounds.

Contact

DMC Press Inquiries
DMC Foundation
support@dmctech.io

South Korea Launches Tracking System to Tackle Crypto Cybercrime

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South Korea’s Ministry of Justice announced plans this week to launch a tracking system for cryptocurrencies. The initiative aims to fight money laundering and recoup stolen funds from cybercriminals, reports showed on .

According to a report from khgames, Seoul’s “Virtual Currency Tracking System” aims to provide oversight for transaction histories and end-to-end fund source monitoring.

The report added the authorities would deploy the system in the first half of 2023, with a further independent system for tracking and data analysis opening in the second half.

According to the Ministry, authorities responded to a rise in sophisticated cybercrime by improving forensic infrastructure. It aimed to build criminal justice tools to meet global standards.

The report continued that South Korean police struck a deal with five national crypto exchanges to work jointly on tackling crime. With collaborative investigations, the initiative aims to build a safe and reliable trading environment for investors of cryptocurrencies and digital assets.

Bithumb Legal Woes

The news comes amid a series of crackdowns on cryptocurrency markets, namely after the collapse of the disgraced trading exchange FTX. Investors lost billions in what has arguably become one of the biggest cases of financial fraud in decades.

Regarding South Korea, its Supreme Court ordered Bithumb to pay investors damages for fintech service failures in November 2017.

The platform had experienced service outages for an hour and a half, leaving investors without access to critical funds. This cost the platform payouts ranging from $6 USD to up to $6,400 USD to 132 affected investors.

Bithumb’s troubles continued after Lee Jung-Hoon, former company chairman, may face up to eight years imprisonment on crypto fraud charges valued up to $70 million USD.

The chairman of the BK Group, Kim Byung Gun, slammed the former executive with defrauding investors, leading to a case at the Seoul District Court.

Kim failed to list the Blockchain Exchange Alliance token on the Bithumb exchange, leading to a massive legal row between the two executives.

The news comes after a CertiK report found that 2023 would continue ongoing trends in cybercrime, phishing, ransomware, and other offences. Last year’s crimes cost cryptocurrency investors $3.7 billion USD, up from $3.2 billion USD in 2021.

FBI Dismantles Hive Crypto Ransomware Group in Major Crackdown

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A key member of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) stated authorities cracked down on the Hive crypto ransomware collective.

In a 26 January statement, FBI Director Christopher Wray stated the FBI in Tampa, Florida had received “clandestine, persistent access to Hive’s control panel.”

This allowed authorities to exploit access to Hive’s data, identifying victims and providing more than 1,300 of them keys to decrypt their ransomware-infected networks. To date, the recovered networks total more than $130 million in ransomware payments.

FBI agents also secured additional ghost servers on Wednesday evening. The operation included US personnel, the German Federal Criminal Police, German Reutlingen Police Headquarters, the Netherlands National High Tech Crime Unit, and Europol.

The teams tracked ransomware payments, recovered the assets for victims, and dismantled Hive’s networks, the statement added.

“So, a reminder to cybercriminals: No matter where you are, and no matter how much you try to twist and turn to cover your tracks—your infrastructure, your criminal associates, your money, and your liberty are all at risk.  And there will be consequences,” he said in his statement.

Stirring up the Hive

The comments come after Hive launched several cybercrime offences, including attacks on Costa Rica’s Public Health Service and Social Security Fund. Taking place from April to May last year, Hive criminals seized infrastructure with a $5 million Bitcoin ransom.

This caused roughly 4,800 people to miss critical doctors appointments. Wray explained that over the past seven months, victims only reported around 20 percent of attacks.

The news comes after a CertiK report that outlined potential cybercrime set to take place in 2023, where it expected the number of crimes to remain consistent.

Last year, online criminals such as hackers, phishers, scammers, and others stole up to $3.7 billion, with $595 million in thefts taking place in November.

Former UK Chancellor Hammond Steps in As Copper Crypto Chair

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Former British Chancellor Philip Hammond has cautioned investors that European Union competitors were outpacing the United Kingdom in digital financial assets.

Hammond commented as he stepped into his role as chairman of cryptocurrency enterprise Copper.

The news comes as the fintech company aims to close a fresh round of funding, raising the company’s total value to roughly $2 billion USD.

Hammond continued: “The UK needs to be leading in this area post-Brexit. It’s allowed itself to slip behind. Switzerland is further ahead. The EU is also moving faster. There has to be appetite to take some measured risk.”

He also urged Westminster to expedite regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrencies and digital assets as other nations had already kicked off such processes.

The Copper Key to Britain’s Fintech Bid

Copper, a digital asset firm for institutional crypto acquisition, trading, and storage. It registered in Switzerland after being forced to withdraw its application from the UK.

Hammond blamed the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for its slow response, which may have triggered a loss of customers after its temporary registration expired in March last year.

Hammond said he hoped that “UK authorisation will be forthcoming in the future”.

“We are very much hoping to migrate back to London. Post-Brexit, the UK needs a strong financial services sector. We need to work out how to become the location of choice for trading in new asset classes.”

Adding, Copper chief executive Dmitry Tokarev said that Hammond’s public advocacy for “connecting traditional finance with distributed ledger technology comes at a time when it is needed more than ever.

The news comes as the UK aims to reposition itself as a major crypto and fintech hub for global markets. Currently, HM Treasury has posted job applications for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) team to build a sovereign digital currency.

The LinkedIn advert called for a head of digital currency to lead a team of roughly 20 people, leading to the creation of a digital pound. The initiative aims to create the CBDC as an alternative to paper and banking payment systems.

Hackers Tweet Support for RBH ‘Scamcoin’ on Robinhood Twitter Account

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Unknown suspects have hacked Robinhood’s Twitter account to promote a scam crypto token. The 25 January tweet urged over a million Robinhood followers to buy the RBH token.

The anonymous poster urged people to pay for RBH at $0.0005 each token, which uses the Binance Smart Chain. According to Conor Grogan, Coinbase’s head of product business operations, roughly 10 people had purchased around $1,000 USD of the fake crypto tokens.

Grogan said at the time: “Looks like Robinhood’s social media was hacked. They only got ~10 people to bite on the scam token before the link was taken down. So far the token has only seen <$1000 in purchases. I imagine people crowding in now saw the volume spike and ar looking for a thrill.”

Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao added his company’s security teams had locked the account of the tweet and it had launched pending investigations.

He said in a tweet at the time: “Looks like Robinhood account got hacked and was promoting a coin on BNB Chain. Always have critical thinking even [if] the account looks or is real.”

Currently, Robinhood does not facilitate RBH purchases, but investors can purchase exposure by buying HOOD shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

The news comes after a major CertiK report in early January, which stated 2023 would continue ongoing trends in hacking, fraud, and other cybercrime.

The report found malicious attacks, hacking, scams, and phishing incidents were set to increase over this year, with last year totalling $3.7 billion in losses. November cost markets roughly $595 million USD in token scams, becoming the worst month of the year.

Genesis Sues ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Roger Ver over $21m in Unsettled Crypto Options

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Genesis, the bankrupt cryptocurrency lending firm linked to the ongoing FTX crisis, has sued Roger Ver, a key Bitcoin Cash (BCH) backer, due to claims of unsettled cryptocurrency options.

GGC International filed the lawsuit against Ver in the New York State Supreme Court revealed. GCC is a subsidy of the now-defunct crypto firm. It alleges that Ver failed to settle transactions for the crypto assets which expired in late December.

Named “Bitcoin Jesus,” Ver took to Reddit to explain his reason for the incident.

He said in his post: “I have sufficient funds on hand to pay Genesis the sums allegedly owed, and I’m happy to pay what I actually owe. However, Genesis was required by our agreement to remain solvent — as Genesis can’t ask its clients to play a ‘heads clients lose, tails Genesis wins’ game.”

Explaining further, Ver said that Genesis “dipped under the solvency line” and that he asked the firm for solvency assurances. Genesis provided financial information that “had been called into question by recent events,” he added, referencing the recent bankruptcy.

He added: “When I asked Genesis to clarify the financial information they had provided me, they refused, and instead chose to file suit.”

Lawsuit Details

According to the lawsuit, Ver must answer the summons after the required 20-day period. He has not responded to the matters and will be forced to pay the entire sum for failing to do so.

The news comes after CoinFLEX chief executive Mark Lamb alleged Ver had defaulted on $47 million in USD Coin (USDC). Ver indirectly denied the accusations in late June.

The news comes after Genesis’ parent company, the Digital Currency Group (DCG), declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this week.

It also launched restructuring efforts for its crypto operations amid a massive row with Gemin’s Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who slammed Genesis over the collapse of its Earn programme.

Uniswap v3 Rollout to Shift from Ethereum to BNB Chain Network

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Uniswap’s version 3 (v3) protocol is set to shift from the Ethereum network to BNB Chain following a majority vote from governor forums.

The “temperature check” proposal passed after 80 percent of voters approved the measure to deploy v3 on the BNB Chain.

Ilia Maksimenka, chief executive of decentralised finance protocol Plasma Finance, explained his reasoning for the network swap in a 17 January post.

He said: “We believe this is the right moment for Uniswap to deploy on BNB [proof of stake] Chain, for many reasons (one of them is License expiration).”

Adding, he said the BNB chain had “a large and growing user base, providing a potential new market” and offered “high transaction speeds and low fees.”

BSC to Provide ‘Secure’ DeFi Exchange

Cameron O’Donnell, a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) governance strategist at ConsenSys, explained why his firm backed the measures.

He said in a statement: “Regardless of personal views, Uniswap entering the BSC market will provide current and future users with a secure and established medium for decentralized exchange.”

The company also supported a “chain agnostic” platform to help people in the Web3 space. The process may require five to seven weeks to deploy smart contracts.

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