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

Adoption news

Securitize, a security token platform, said it has facilitated the “first-ever” investment into a security token offering (STO) from an individual retirement account (IRA). By directly integrating Securitize’s DS Protocol, AltoIRA, an automated process for investing IRA savings in alternative assets, has facilitated the acquisition of security tokens issued by venture capital firm CityBlock Capital for its flagship private fund, the company said.

OneGold, an online marketplace where investors can buy, sell, redeem, and manage digital precious metals, announced that they launched a mobile app for Android and iOS, and that through an established partnership with major crypto payments processor BitPay, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and various stablecoins are accepted through the app.

Twitter is still considering adding a tipping feature, The Information reported, citing two people familiar with the company’s decisions. It’s not yet known when the feature might be launched or if the social media giant will work on this with Square, the payments company founded by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Twitter and Square have already partnered to enable users to make donations to politicians through tweets. Twitter spokesperson denied that the company is developing a tipping feature and is cited saying that Twitter explores many ideas.

The National Basketball Association is reviewing a revised plan by American professional basketball player and point guard for the Brooklyn Nets, Spencer Dinwiddie, to sell a tokenized investment vehicle based on his future earnings. According to Bloomberg, Dinwiddie has been talking about creating the “Spencer Dinwiddie Bond” for several months, but he said the NBA threatened to throw him out of the league for doing some “fun stuff with his contract.”

EbixCash, a subsidiary of international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services Ebix, Inc., partnered with major money transfer company MoneyGram , co-owned by Ripple, to bring their services to millions of consumers across India, says the announcement. The strategic partnership aims to service inward remittance volumes of USD 3 billion annually by targeting remitters in key sending markets outside India, and EbixCash expects net revenues to be USD 20-35 million annually once the partnership is fully rolled out.

Blockchain news

Factom Protocol, an enterprise-grade platform for building blockchain solutions, has announced that Off-Blocks, the digital signature provider, has launched its platform on the Factom blockchain. Off-Blocks is a platform for digital signatures – it uses blockchain-based IDs to interact with any digital file so to expand the concept of a signature beyond documents and forms.

A South Korean financial regulator, the government-run internet security agency and 15 domestic banks have signed an agreement that will see them use a blockchain-powered solution to fight bank-related fraud and illegal loan advertisements. The group includes most of the country’s top commercial banks, reports Bloter, as well as the Korea Internet & Security Agency and the regulatory Financial Services Commission. The parties say the solution will help nix loan-related spam and ensure customers are not targeted with fraudulent loan offers.

Watch the latest reports by Block TV.

Spain’s fintech association says it experienced a 20% rise in membership in 2019. The claim was made in an official blog post

from the Asociacion Fintech, which claims it now has 142 members across 13 verticals, including cryptocurrencies, crowdfunding, personal finance, and payments.

A Beijing-issued blockchain app reportedly has 5 million downloads and 80,000 daily users, reports Baijiahao. The Beijing Tong app, issued by the city’s Bureau of Economics and Information, allows users to interact with a large range of city-run public services, allowing them to store documentation online, make payments and book appointments at Beijing-run civil servants’ offices. The city says it wants the app to cover 50% of its public services by 2021.

Exchanges news

The self-regulating Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA), a group comprising all of the nation’s licensed crypto exchanges, has released trading statistics for the period October 2019 to the end of November 2019. The figures show, per Fisco via Gentosha, that user deposits were up to record-breaking levels of USD 120 million, although spot transaction figures were down to their lowest levels for 12 months. Bitcoin remains Japanese traders’ token of choice, followed by XRP. Ethereum placed third.

Regulation news

The head of the parliamentary commission charged with drafting Russia’s long-awaited crypto laws says he is “99.9%” certain that the second draft reading of the bills will be ready in time to pass through the Duma’s 2020 Spring Session. Per news agency Tass, commission chief Aleksey Aksakov conceded that “the business sector is in need of a [cryptocurrencies] law.”

Investment news

Regulated capital markets platform iSTOX has secured a USD 5 million investment from Hanwha Asset Management, a South Korea’s comprehensive asset management company. Per the announcement, this follows similar partnerships with Thailand’s Kiatnakin Phatra Financial Group and Japan’s Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings, while other key shareholders include international multi-asset exchange Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Heliconia, a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings focused on investing in fast-growing companies.

Legal news

Major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has settled a class action lawsuit filed by users of the Cryptsy exchange after three years and has agreed to give USD 962,500 to an escrow agent in charge of class action claims related to a previous lawsuit against Cryptsy, according to court documents from November 27 and December 10. An additional hearing will be held on April 17 to approve the preliminary settlement agreement or to further modify it.

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