Another Listed Company to Invest in Bitcoin + More News

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.

Bitcoin news

• Mogo Inc., a listed financial technology company that also operates MogoCrypto, a Canada-focused bitcoin (BTC) trading service, said that it plans to make an initial corporate investment of up to USD 1.5m in BTC and will consider additional investments in 2021 as it monetizes its USD 17m investment portfolio. The initial purchase would represent approximately 1.5% of Mogo’s total assets as of the end of the third quarter of 2020. “We believe bitcoin represents an attractive investment for our shareholders with significant long-term potential as its adoption continues to grow globally,” Greg Feller, President and Chief Financial Officer of Mogo was quoted as saying.
• The American crypto exchange giant Coinbase said that it has awarded two developers with grants via its Crypto Community Fund. The fund will provide resources to developers 0xB10C and João Barbosa, who will work with “an initial focus in Bitcoin Core development.” The exchange said that both will be “funded to work on Bitcoin for all of 2021,” adding that their grants would be funded in bitcoin (BTC) or USD, “based on the recipient’s preference.” The former will work on open-source solutions, while Barbosa is “hoping to improve the Bitcoin Core UI on Android and iOS,” Coinbase wrote in a blog post.

Blockchain news

• The so-called “Free TON” network has launched a mainnet, its masterminds announced in a YouTube broadcast. The network is an unofficial offshoot of the failed Telegram TON network, involving some developers who claim they worked on the chat app operator’s ultimately doomed attempt to launch a cryptoasset. The Free TON team claimed they had reached the point where decentralization was “sufficient” and that 400 validators were now in place, with native TON Crystal tokens distributed to contributors.

Mining news

• The Abkhazian police force claims it has closed down 12 crypto mining farms and pulled the plug on 3,783 ASIC mining rigs, per reports from Forklog and Sputnik Abkhazia. The crackdown comes after the de facto state’s government reintroduced a “temporary” ban on crypto mining after a massive surge in small-scale crypto mining led to anarchic scenes of public unrest, power outages and a blazing fire that melted an electricity substation.

Regulation news

• The US Securities and Exchange Commission said it issued a statement and request for comment regarding the custody of digital asset securities by broker-dealers in order to encourage innovation around the application of Securities Exchange Act Rule 15c3-3 to digital asset securities.

Career news

• Kraken announced that Miha Grčar will be joining this major exchange as Head of Business Development. “For the better part of the last decade, Miha has helped Bitstamp gain recognition as a licensed financial institution in Europe, experience that will prove integral as he helps Kraken build critical banking relationships and forge new partnerships with essential stakeholders,” the company said.