The Daily: Hodl Hodl Launches OTC Desk, Decentraland Votes on Land Sales

In this edition of The Daily, we cover the launch of an OTC trading desk by P2P exchange Hodl Hodl and news about a Belarusian exchange trading cryptocurrencies out of New York. We also take a look at Decentraland’s new voting platform that allows members of the community to express their opinions on future development of the virtual reality project.

Also read: SEC Ramps Up Enforcement, 60% of Smart Contracts Are Dormant

P2P Exchange Offers Non-Custodial OTC Trading

Peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange Hodl Hodl has launched an over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk in partnership with Tenbagger, a brokerage company licensed in the European Union. The new platform will allow clients to buy and sell large amounts of cryptocurrency with same-day settlement. It will also operate independently from Hodl Hodl’s existing P2P platform that currently supports purchases and sales of BTC and LTC.

Latvia-based Hodl Hodl has also developed a non-custodial cryptocurrency escrow service for the new OTC platform to ensure high level of security and transparency. According to an announcement on Medium, the exchange will create a unique multisig escrow account on the bitcoin core blockchain for each trade.

Last month, the no-KYC trading platform introduced a new type of multisig escrow account for contracts that requires two out of three keys to make a release. The system provides buyers with more control over the funds locked in escrow – they have one of the keys while the other two belong to the seller and the exchange. Hodl Hodl also recently announced it’s working to offer peer-to-peer bitcoin futures contracts.

Belarusians Launch US-Based Cryptocurrency Exchange

A new cryptocurrency exchange, founded by Belarusian immigrants, is now offering trading services out of New York. The team behind Crexby insists theirs is the first major Belarusian project in the space since the decree “On the Development of the Digital Economy” signed by President Alexander Lukashenko entered into force on March 28 this year.

“Crexby is a revolving door for Belarus to the outside world, and for the global community to Belarus,” they said, noting that in addition to providing exchange services, the platform can also facilitate the implementation of unique projects, from charity fundraising initiatives to attracting large investments to crypto-friendly Belarus.

Crexby, whose office is registered at 30 Wall Street in Manhattan, is focused on both crypto-to-crypto and crypto-to-fiat trading. It supports 13 cryptocurrencies, including some of the leading coins by market capitalization such as bitcoin core (BTC), ethereum (ETH), and litecoin (LTC) as well as popular altcoins such as monero (XMR). The company claims it stores 90 percent of the digital assets in cold, multi-signature wallets and promises to expand the listings in the future taking into account requests and interest from its customer base.

Decentraland’s New Voting Platform Is Now Live

Virtual reality project Decentraland has recently launched version 2.0 of its voting platform, Agora, that will allow holders of mana tokens to express their will on important matters. According to an announcement published on Decentraland’s website, the first two public polls on Agora concern key development questions.

The community has been asked: “Should we remove the ability to pause mana transactions?,” a question addressing a security feature built into the smart contract for mana that enables all transfers of the token to be halted. Developers say the feature is no longer needed as mana has been in circulation for over a year and they feel confident in removing the pause function.

The answer to the second question, “When should the next land auction be held?,” must determine when 9,000 unowned parcels of land will be made available to the community, the two options for holding Decentraland’s second land auction being Q4 of 2018 and Q1 of 2019. So far, the community has voted overwhelmingly, with 95 percent in favor of Q4 of 2018.

Officials Detained for Selling Passports for Bitcoin

Bulgarian law enforcement have arrested several officials who allegedly accepted bribe in cryptocurrency to issue passports to citizens of Ukraine, Moldova and Macedonia. The three countries are home to Bulgarian ethnic communities whose members are eligible for citizenship provided they prove their Bulgarian ancestry but the application process can take months on end and even years. Passports issued by Sofia have become attractive since the country joined the EU in 2007.

Among the accused are Petar Haralampiev, head of the state agency for the Bulgarian diaspora, its secretary, Krasimir Tomov, and one of its employees, Marko Stoyov, who remain in custody. Their lawyers insist authorities have no proof the defendants accepted any unauthorized payments. Representatives of the Prosecutor’s office claim, however, that investigators found bitcoin wallets used to facilitate the illegal transactions. Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov, who is responsible for the agency, rejected calls to step down.

What are your thoughts on today’s news tidbits? Tell us in the comments section.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

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