Blockchain startup Chainalysis targets London with $30m raise from Accel February 12, 2019 Crypto compliance startup Chainalysis has raised $30m (£23.3m) from venture capital giant Accel to open an office in London's Soho. The US firm's series B round was supported by existing investor Benchmark, which upped its stake in the company after funding Chainalysis' $16m series A last year. Chainalysis said it will use the proceeds from the round to open [...]
DEBATE: As London Blockchain Week kicks off, will people ever feel safe buying their groceries in bitcoin? February 11, 2019 As London Blockchain Week kicks off, will people ever feel safe buying their groceries in bitcoin? Dr James Smith, co-founder and chief executive of Elliptic, a cryptocurrency intelligence agency, says YES. Cryptocurrencies are in still their early stages, used more as an investment and tradeable asset than as a form of money, and a lot [...]
Crypto exchange Kraken buys London trading firm in nine-figure deal February 4, 2019 San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has finalised a deal to buy London trading firm Crypto Facilities. Kraken said it was one of the industry’s largest deals to date, valued at nine-figures. Though Crypto’s 25-strong team will remain in London, they will all become Kraken employees and expand the US firm's commitment to expanding its European [...]
Nvidia slashes its fourth quarter guidance, sending its shares into a downward spiral January 28, 2019 Chipmaker Nvidia has cut its fourth quarter revenue estimate by $500m (£379.7m) after its performance in China slowed, causing its share price to spiral down more than 18 per cent. Chief executive Jensen Huang said the firm had suffered an "extraordinarily, unusually turbulent and disappointing quarter", as Nvidia forecasted revenue of $2.2bn for the quarter ending in [...]
London startups take the lead in Tech Nation’s fourth Upscale accelerator January 25, 2019 City startups have landed more than two thirds of the places available on Tech Nation’s fourth Upscale acceleration programme, beating out over 100 applicants. The digital entrepreneur network, which also runs a fintech accelerator backed by the Treasury, has selected 30 startups as “ones to watch” in 2019. The fast-growing tech firms will enter the programme’s [...]
FCA says UK firms need ‘clarity’ on cryptoassets as it consults on regulation January 23, 2019 The UK financial watchdog has called for further clarity in the regulation of cryptoassets, as it launches a consultation on guidance applicable to the wide sphere of crypto. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said firms will have a better understanding of whether their activities with cryptoassets such as bitcoin are compliant with regulation as a result of [...]
Lots of minuses for Plus500 as shorters dig in their heels January 17, 2019 Four funds have upped their short positions against online trading platform Plus500 so far this month, despite the firm’s upbeat ending to 2018. Twelve funds overall are betting that the Israeli firm’s share price will fall, with stakes worth hundreds of millions against it. Together, around 12.4 per of the firm’s shares are declared as [...]
Chevron and Total join new Blockchain venture for oil trading January 16, 2019 Chevron, Total and Indian refiner Reliance Industries have joined their rivals in a new venture to bring blockchain into energy trading. The oil majors will become users of Vakt, a London-based platform for trading Brent crude oil using the technology behind bitcoin. Read more: Blockchain is changing finance forever – it will do the same to [...]
Ethereum hard fork: What is it, when will it happen and what will it do to prices? January 15, 2019 Tomorrow marks the first major event in the world of cryptocurrencies in 2019, which could bring about a range of consequences from price swings to falling user numbers. But what do analysts think will actually happen? The so-called hard fork, which will see the Ethereum network upgrade its code to sit on a new version [...]
EU banking watchdog calls for fresh cryptoassets regulation January 10, 2019 New rules may be needed to stop existing regulation on cryptocurrencies and digital assets from getting too diverse across the European Union, the bloc's banking watchdog said yesterday. Cryptoassets such as bitcoin, ether and tokens created in initial coin offerings (ICOs) typically fall outside of the scope of EU financial legislation, which makes it hard to [...]