Europe
Welcome to our weekly roundup of all important blockchain and cryptocurrency news from around the world. Follow the latest developments in the cryptocurrency space continent by continent, country by country.
United Kingdom
Financial regulator remains committed on international regulatory network: The UK’s Financial regulator Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is keen on setting an international standard for crypto regulation as it has just announced the establishment of a Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN).
The latest efforts evident in the form of GFIN are an effort to create a global sandbox for collaboration between different fintech entities. There are 11 collaborators working under the umbrella of GFIN right now. The sandbox effort was in response to a host of inquiries from blockchain projects for a collaboration-based regulatory effort.
Mining company listed on London Stock Exchange now active: Cryptocurrency mining company Argo Mining, the first to be listed on the London Stock Exchange is now active according to the market index.
The company, which specializes in accessible crypto mining via subscription, had previously raised over GBP 25 million (about USD 32.5 million) through a traditional Initial Public Offering (IPO) held at the London Stock Exchange.
Over 156 million shares priced at GBP 0.16 each will now be available for trading in the LSE for the mining company, thus bringing a new era in the operations of the stock exchange.
According to Executive chairman Jonathon Bixby:
“Argo’s admission to the London main market is a major step in the company’s development and will put us in a strong position to execute our long-term growth strategy. We are delighted with the strong response from investors which will enable us to grow our business in multiple jurisdictions.”
Other mining companies also look to become a part of the LSE in the near future.
Germany
Biggest blockchain meet to run directly on Dapps: Germany’s biggest Ethereum startup ETHBerlin announced that the entire event will be run with the help of decentralized apps or Dapps.
The event will be held in the Factory Berlin in two venues simultaneously starting from September this year. The move to use Dapps for all purposes is a big initiative for the crypto community as Dapps are struggling to maintain their momentum in the crypto circles right now.
The Dapps include Ethereum-based video streaming app, decentralized hotel and apartment booking platform that accepts Ether, raffles, ticketing and event management is also expected to be covered by Ethereum Dapps as well. The ETHBerlin team says:
“ETHBerlin stands strong, we think that Dapps are the future, so we’ll do whatever it takes to push adoption, and inspire you to build more of them. There is room for all… As a responsible, global community, in constant evolution, as is our ecosystem, we need to understand that it is not enough to absorb these teachings and foundations and just replicate.”
While Ethereum blockchain is facing scalability issues, its use in organizing big events is one of the reasons why it is part of a wider future success story.
Second-largest German stock exchange continuing towards crypto: Boerse Stuttgart, the second largest stock exchange in Germany, has taken yet another step forward to host coin offerings in the future. The move came following its recent announcement of a new app called Bison that was developed in partnership with fintech company Sowa Labs.
The primary aim of these efforts is to create a platform from which tokens can be issued in the future. The CEO of Boerse Stuttgart Alexander Hoptner said:
“At the trading venue tokens issued via our ICO platform can be traded on the secondary market. This is an important success factor for ICOs. At the same time, we are responding to demand from both retail and institutional investors for a regulated and reliable environment for trading cryptocurrencies.”
Russia
44% of Russians know about crypto: The Russian cryptocurrency revolution is showing remarkable growth as a recent survey of Russian citizens show 44% Russians admitting they know about Bitcoin while 13% went on to say they have a good understanding of them.
The survey done by a local Russian firm interestingly showed that 31% of the respondents who know about cryptocurrencies belonged to the middle class and lower middle-class households with incomes less than RUB 10,000 (USD 150) per family member. The higher group with RUB 25,000 mostly didn’t know about cryptocurrencies at all. Some 76% of the respondents said that they were in it to make profits.
Bitcoin remained the cryptocurrency of choice.
Ukraine
Ukraine conducts election trials on NEM blockchain: A Ukrainian election official has stated that the Election Commission is undertaking experiments on the NEM blockchain on a trial basis for the country’s future elections.
Oleksander Stelmakh, the head of the voter registry in the Central Election Commission of Ukraine, praised blockchains for their immutability and other benefits of decentralized data on social media. His communique also included news of the commission truing a series of trials to apply blockchain technology for electoral voting.
Netherlands
Half a million Dutch households hold crypto but central bank remains wary: The cryptocurrency revolution has a deep penetration in the Dutch market with over 500,000 Dutch households currently holding Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency despite skeptical behavior of the central bank.
A Dutch central bank spokesperson said that Bitcoin was still too volatile for savings and only the fiat value equivalent could be termed as real value and not the cryptocurrencies themselves. But despite these concerns, the central bank has no plans to impose a ban on Dutch cryptocurrency holders and traders.
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