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CoinDCX exchange aims for IPO amidst the regulatory prevailing strictness

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Despite regulatory uncertainty, the Indian crypto ecosystem is flying high, as evidenced by the number of crypto companies achieving unicorn status in the last two years.

CoinDCX, one of India’s most popular crypto exchanges and the country’s first crypto unicorn, has announced plans to go public through an initial public offering (IPO). The crypto exchange’s co-founder, Neeraj Khandelwal, disclosed that the company is eagerly waiting for clarification over the government’s crypto law.

The cryptocurrency industry is eyeing the Indian market, which is scheduled to present its cryptocurrency bill in parliament today. The law will be presented before for discussion and vote during the ongoing winter session, and every crypto platform is hoping for a favorable outcome. 

CoinDCX awaiting government’s approval

“As soon as the government or the situation allows us, we will try for an IPO. An IPO gives legitimacy to the industry, just like the Coinbase IPO gave a lot of confidence in the crypto markets. Similarly, we want to instill a similar level of confidence with an IPO of CoinDCX.”

The co-founder further added

After a $90 million Series C investment in August, CoinDCX, with a $1.1 billion valuation, became India’s first crypto exchange Unicorn. Major venture capital firms have made significant investments in the Indian crypto ecosystem, with plans to continue doing so in light of the market’s immense potential.

Where is India in the Web 3.0 Crypto Race?

The Indian crypto market is known to be highly enthusiastic, and the country has the largest number of crypto investors in the world. 

Positive rules and regulations would pave the way for India to become a global force to be reckoned with in a decentralized environment, and it may be a significant player in the Web 3.0 race.

Khandelwal said that the bill coming out at this point signifies development and acknowledgment from the government side to solidify the crypto investment base.

India is already the world’s biggest cryptocurrency market with more than 100 million investors but the regulatory clearance is still missing from the nation. As the government aims at banning “private cryptocurrencies,” a clarity is missing.

BlockWRK partners with Key HR to bring daily crypto rewards to thousands of U.S. employees

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BlockWRK, issuer of the federally-approved WRK token, announces its partnership with Key HR, a Florida-based payroll and professional employer organization. The partnership grants Key HR’s B2B client base access to BlockWRK’s platform, which utilizes smart contracts to reward employees with crypto for meeting daily goals set by company management and features robust telehealth functionality for injuries and mental health counseling providing employers with a valuable suite of ancillary benefits.

As a professional employer organization, Key HR provides HR outsourcing, payroll processing, benefits, and insurance to thousands of employees at hundreds of companies across the United States. Together, blockWRK and Key HR are providing these employers and their employees with a never-before-seen suite of tools and benefits rolled into a single app that is set to revolutionize how employees are managed, incentivized, and retained in the post-COVID era.

In the wake of pandemic-induced lockdowns, there are multiple signs indicating the U.S. workforce is burned out and unmotivated, with research pointing at increased risk of severe stress and a decreased capacity for sustained attention. This problem is even more challenging with many employees working remotely. Some 4.3 million U.S. workers resigned from their positions in August, according to official figures released in October—the highest number on record, according to the Bureau of Statistics. The crisis leaves the employers under ever-growing pressure to retain their talent, motivate employees, and manage an increasingly decentralized workforce.

The BlockWRK platform helps to alleviate this employment crisis by leveraging blockchain technology and smart contracts to revolutionize employee retention and HR management.

Employers can use the BlockWRK platform to set up daily goals for employees, such as completing business-related KPIs, on-site safety assessments or logging 10,000 daily steps via FitBit, which researchers link with improvements in both mental and physical wellbeing. Every individual employer can customize the rewards programs to meet the bespoke needs of every business and role. Once the goal is met, smart contracts automatically reward the worker with the native WRK token, which can be optionally converted into USD through a Visa debit card. By using smart contracts, BlockWRK removes the key hurdle before businesses looking to launch such reward programs by sparing them the need for non-stop management oversight required for the implementation.

The app also allows the employee to access up to $200 from their next paycheck in advance for a flat $5 fee, with 0% APR, which positions it as a major alternative to the predatory paycheck loan industry. Instantaneous wages on demand at 0% APR reduce employee stress by providing them with a powerful tool for critical bills and other financial obligations in a timely manner. BlockWRK’s other features include an AI-enabled injury checker and a free 24/7 mental health counseling line. Additional features will be announced for 2022.

“With this partnership, BlockWRK is taking tangible steps to revolutionize the future of payroll, and we couldn’t be more excited to have Key HR as a partner in this endeavour,” says George Mylonakis, CEO and Founder of BlockWRK. “BlockWRK gives employers a turn-key solution to revolutionize employee incentivization and maintain a happy and healthy workforce. Our partnership with Key HR allows us to rapidly onboard tens of thousands of employees as new users, and serves as the model for how blockWRK intends to grow our user base through industry partnerships moving forward.”

“We believe that BlockWRK’s solution sets the new benchmark for the entire payroll services industry,” says Scott Hanson, HRO Executive at Key HR. “BlockWRK offers companies a fair and transparent rewards model built on an advanced technological stack and bringing a robust set of extra features to the table. We can easily imagine a platform like this used to manage the agile workforce of the future.

Polkadot [DOT] Sears on Thursday as Altcoins Hold Crypto Fort Strong

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Thursday saw a new movement in the cryptocurrency market after the bull lifted several price supports. After days of suffering under the red line, Bitcoin and a majority of altcoins surged on the Baird to clock decent numbers. The biggest winner in the new leap was Polkadot [DOT] after cruising to a 19 percent rise over the past 24-hours.

Polkadot’s latest gains also allowed it to climb to rank eight while its nearest competitor USD Coin slipped to rank nine. At press time, DOT was trading for $41.4 while its market cap increased to $40.87 billion. The 24 percent weekly gain further allowed the cryptocurrency’s daily volume to rise to a 7-day high of $5.64 billion.

Polkadot has been on a green tear since the announcement of the Parachain auction process. Slated to begin in November, the process will allocate multiple slots for building on the Polkadot blockchain.

This will be part of the vision to create an interconnected blockchain framework. The latest milestone comes five years after the vision of a heterogeneous multi-chain framework was first concocted.

The latest price hike witnessed large swathes of users enter the Polkadot industry, trusting the bullish market. Buying pressure touched the overbought threshold as money coming into the market shot up. Analysts predict another spike if the wave of new buyers continues to crest.

A look at the market’s numbers indicated a revival in its peripherals. Just today, the global cryptocurrency market cap jumped by more than 2 percent to settle at $2.38 trillion. At the same time, the total trading volume received a 10 percent boost.

Robinhood includes crypto into its 24/7 phone support feature

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Robinhood, a prominent trading application has been in the news for multiple reasons. While some were good, a lot of them showed the platform in a bad light. Robinhood went on to be one of the most valuable companies in the US to have gone public. However, it was time and again called out for its antics which included leaving out users from amassing gains while volatility was at its peak in the crypto-verse.

Now, after an array of controversies, Robinhood was back with crypto and even revealed that it garnered immense profits via crypto in the first quarter of the year. Further elevating its presence and interest in the crypto-verse, the platform decided to include crypto into its brand new feature.

In a recent blog post, the trading platform revealed that it had rolled out around-the-clock phone support for its customers. After listing out the feature of its latest addition, the platform noted that users could “get any help with any issue, including crypto.”

Furthermore, the platform claimed to be the first major platform to entail 24/7 phone support for its crypto wing.

Robinhood’s latest move towards crypto

The blog post noted that users of the application could call up this 24/7 phone support any day of the year. The company would render to the needs of the customers every day of the week irrespective of holidays. In order to employ this service, users are required to go on to the trading application and request a call. Soon after which they will receive a notification revealing their slot for the phone conversation. The customer service representative would then call the user.

While noting that the trading platforms’ “top value is Safety First”, it hopes to formulate more resources that help its users. The blog post read,

“We are on a mission to make investing accessible to everyone. Expanding access means making sure we’re there for you when you need us. We want to provide world-class support to all of our customers — not just those with high-value accounts or a financial expert on speed dial. Our team of customer support representatives are here to support you on your journey, no matter who or where you are.”

Paychecks in crypto? Coinbase says ‘why not?’

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The crypto business is booming and prominent exchange, Coinbase is leading this fervor. The exchange was seen adapting to the suddenly increased demand for cryptocurrencies and making new additions to its system. Its latest development was yet another update to the surging adoption rate. The United States-based platform seemed to have adhered to the needs of the public and included the paychecks in crypto feature.

Coinbase made news for an array of reasons this year. From going public to raging their customers over missing funds, the exchange had its own share of highs and lows. The platform endured multiple glitches which undoubtedly angered its users, however, the exchange made up by releasing timely updates.

As the entire globe has been exploring the crypto market and is keen on investing in it, Coinbase made it easier for its users by rolling out the paychecks in crypto service. With this, users could ask their respective businesses to directly deposit an individual’s paycheck into the crypto account.

Coinbase’s latest feature to boost crypto adoption

In a recent blog post by the crypto exchange, it was noted that employees who would like to use their paychecks to purchase crypto could now employ the exchange’s latest feature. This feature allows users to purchase crypto with their paychecks with zero transaction fees after setting up a direct deposit system. Users could do so by contacting the human resources department of their respective companies.

Revealing the reason behind this latest feature, Prakash Hariramani, Senior Director, Product, Coinbase stated,

“There are many reasons why customers make frequent transfers into Coinbase: to make short or long-term investments, to earn interest on yield-generating assets, and to fund everyday purchases with Coinbase Card. However, customers tell us that making frequent transfers is time-consuming and inconvenient.”

Additionally, the exchange has already partnered with several platforms like Fortress Investment Group, M31 Capital, Nansen, and SuperRare Labs, to put its latest feature into use. While the exchange affirmed that this list would increase in the near future, it plans on sprucing up the “future of payroll.”

Hong Kong’s regulatory heat forces crypto exchange FTX to move

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Hong Kong’s latest regulatory turnover has caused an array of platforms to flee from the region. Prominent cryptocurrency exchange, FTX was the latest to move away.

This year was all about regulations in the crypto-verse. Even though the crypto market started out to steer away from the harsh regulatory system put forth by centralized entities, the digital asset market succumbed to this regulative society. Just as the value of the market began surging, regulators across the globe started taking a keen interest in the industry. This further pushed several crypto platforms to shut shop or even turn into a centralized firm.

Hong Kong was one such region that began overseeing its crypto scene. With newly established regulations, crypto platforms in the region were obligated to abide by it or close shop. Crypto derivative platform, FTX took another route and decided to relocate from HK.

Hong Kong bids adieu to FTX

In a recent tweet, Colin Wu Chinese crypto-journalist revealed that FTX had shifted its headquarters from Hong Kong to Nassau in the Bahamas. The tweet read,

This moe was directly linked to the harsh regulatory climate in the region. Nassau which is the capital of the Bahamas is reportedly more crypto-friendly and the chances of FTX thriving in the Bahamas was higher.

Just a couple of days ago, the crypto exchange noted that its subsidiary, FTX Digital Markets had garnered a registration from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the region. Not only did this open the doors for new opportunities but it also paves the way for the crypto platform’s growth.

Ryan Salame was appointed as FTX Digital Markets’ CEO. Salame was previously serving as the Head of OTC at Alameda Research. Speaking about this shift and his new position, Salame said,

“I’m excited to plant the flag for FTX in The Bahamas. The relationship we have fostered with local regulators culminating with us being authorized under the framework offered through the DARE Act, gives me confidence that we’ll be able to work closely with regulators to make sure our offerings are compliant in multiple jurisdictions.”

Coinbase declares $1.5 billion bond sale to bolster its balance sheet

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Prominent cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase made immense news after it managed to get itself listed on Nasdaq. With an array of developments, the exchange managed to stay relevant and on top. Once again, the crypto platform has made it to the headlines after revealing that it intends to raise a whopping $1.5 billion through a debt offering.

Throughout the year, Coinbase was seen making the rounds on Twitter following its tiff with its own customers. Despite this, the crypto platform continued to jump on the progress train. Even though several platforms have come under the scrutiny of regulators, Coinbase has retained itself as the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States.

The Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] of the US did not spare anyone. Just last week, the SEC threatened the exchange. The SEC revealed that it wants to press legal charges over its latest crypto lending feature. While the fervency around this persists, the exchange went on to move to the next level.

Coinbase intends to raise money via a debt offering

In its most recent announcement, the platform stated that it hopes to raise capital in order to bolster its growth as well as its balance sheet. While this move would aid its general corporate purposes, it would also pose beneficial for future investments as well as acquisitions, products along technology of other platforms.

A private offering memorandum would be offered to qualified institutional buyers. The post further read,

“The notes and the related guarantee will only be offered and sold by means of a private offering memorandum to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers. [..] Neither the notes nor the related guarantee have been, or will be, registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any other jurisdiction, and unless so registered, may not be offered or sold in the United States, except pursuant to an applicable exemption from such registration requirements.”

SEC chair claims crypto regulations should become more focussed

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The tussle between the cryptocurrency market and regulatory authorities has been ongoing since the creation of the ecosystem. With each passing year, digital assets took forward steps to enter the good books of most overwatch bodies. The United States Securities and Exchange [SEC] had been on top of crypto from the very start with its Chairman making new comments recently.

During a discussion with the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, SEC chairman Gary Gensler shared his views on cryptocurrency regulations. Gensler spoke about the new avenues being opened up due to the effectiveness of financial technologies. He went on to say that the current digital revolution has the potential to become as game-changing as the internet in the ’90s.

According to the SEC honcho, the cryptocurrency world was a system that constantly chugs along 365 days a year. It was no wonder that the $2.1 trillion value market was being watched by a lot of interested parties. Pro-regulation discussion aside, Gensler also pointed out the drawbacks connected to the cryptoverse.

The SEC chair cited reports that touched on Bitcoin mining’s impact on the environment. After the revelation that Bitcoin mining generated more emissions than some countries, it was clear more needed to be done to curb the problems. This was not to say Bitcoin did not have its merits as it set the foundation for the growth of new Proof of Stake [PoS] blockchain. Gesler added that the privacy of the user was of top priority with bodies like the SEC looking out to reassure that fact.

During the meeting, the SEC official also gave his two cents on stablecoins and their impact on today’s economic climate. He pointed out that stablecoins were just a medium for people to sidestep some economic policies under other banners. Gesler asked for the committee to draw up more solid regulations that will make virtual asset transactions safer and more transparent.

Coinbase bags new chief marketing officer from Facebook

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Prominent cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase has been under fire following its recent tiff with its users. This did not stop the exchange from moving forward and making progress. In a recent development, the exchange went on to hire its latest chief marketing officer.

Coinbase was called out by an array of users after their funds disappeared without an explanation. Despite this abrupt loss of funds the lack of customer support was what angered the users. The crypto exchange received a lot of backlash for this move. Moving on and focusing on the marketing side of the company, Coinbase decided to recruit Kate Rouch, who was previously working for Facebook.

The exchange welcomed Rouch and revealed her role in the potential development of the platform.

Coinbase recruits former Facebook exec

In its latest blog post, Emilie Choi, the platform’s chief operating officer, went on to welcome Rouch into the company and noted that she would be responsible for looking after the platform’s global brand. Along with this, product, as well as performance marketing, would be overseen by Rouch.

Rouch served Facebook for over 11 years. Now bidding adieu to her role as the global head of brand and product marketing at the social media platform, she was hired by one of the USA’s most prominent exchanges.

Speaking about her latest position, Rouch stated,

“I am so inspired by what I’ve learned about crypto, and the vast ecosystem it is helping to usher forth. At its core, Coinbase is about creating more economic freedom for people. It is a mission I feel passionately about. I can’t wait to get started helping to introduce millions more people to the benefits of crypto.”

Additionally, Rouch hopes to bring millions of more people into the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Several people from prominent firms have been venturing into the crypto space. This further points out the rate at which the crypto-verse is growing.

Crypto not a financial asset, suggests potential Korean financial regulator

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While the entire world has started to view crypto as a promising industry, the nominee for the Korean Financial Service Commission [FSC], Seung-beom Koh,  believed otherwise.

Cryptocurrencies caught the eye of many this year. The industry was seen trying to successfully cut off ties with the dark web as it garnered recognition in the real financial world. With people pouring into the industry, the government began laying its focus on the crypto market while trying to regulate it. Some governments were glad to welcome digital assets into the monetary sphere, however, a few others continued to express distress over these assets.

Seung-beom Koh, the potential chair of the Korean FSC, suggested that it would be challenging to recognize crypto as a financial asset.

Crypto fails to meet the standards of a financial asset?

Addressing a recent press meet, the FSC chair nominee pointed out that officials from organizations like the International Monetary Fund [IMF], G20, and a few others wouldn’t categorize crypto as a financial asset. Koh stated,

“I understand that the Group of 20, the International Monetary Fund, other international agencies and a considerable number of experts find it difficult to see virtual currencies as a financial asset, and think they could not function as a currency.”

The interest in digital assets has surged in almost every region. In Korea, young people have reportedly been pouring funds into the market with hopes of achieving high returns. This is in light of the increasing household credit which has been showing the Korean economy in a bad reflection.

Koh with his potential take-over as the FSC chair hopes to diminish this surge in household debt. Speaking about the same Koh added,

“The FSC will push ahead with existing anti-debt measures and come up with additional steps, if needed, by mobilizing all available policy means.”