The eToro trading platform suddenly stopped leveraged trading in European countries due to “extreme market volatility”. On January 8, eToro’s clients in European countries where CFDs are allowed to trade received an email from the company. It stated that if traders did not increase their margin to 100%, then their positions would be closed at 21:00 GMT. Clients with an available balance can keep positions open by adding funds, while clients with no available balance

The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) and Bangladeshi City Bank have completed a letter of credit deal on the Contour blockchain. The transaction was carried out in accordance with Sharia law. The cross-border L / C transaction was facilitated by the ITFC unit specializing in trade finance under the Murabaha agreements. The letter of credit was issued on behalf of Debonair Group, a Bangladeshi apparel manufacturer, with Hong Kong-based trading company Apparel Link. The

Auto parts manufacturer Hyundai MOBIS, a subsidiary of Hyundai, has launched a new artificial intelligence and blockchain-based MAPS parts authentication system. The MAPS platform will be used to distribute parts for Hyundai and Kia vehicles. Up to 100,000 people, including 16,000 dealers in more than 200 countries, will have access to the system throughout the supply chain. The system supports three million different parts for 300 car models. Blockchain is used to verify the originality

Shinhan Bank, a major commercial bank in South Korea, has invested in the Korea Digital Asset Trust (KDAC) to offer a crypto asset custody service to its clients. According to inews24, the bank announced an investment in KDAC, a joint venture between the local cryptocurrency exchange Korbit, Blocko and Fair Square Lab. KDAC offers custody solutions for cryptoassets. A Shinhan Bank spokesman said the upcoming cryptocurrency services “will help the bank provide effective custodial solutions

Non-custodial cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift has announced the integration of DeFi apps Uniswap, Balancer, Curve, Bancor, Kyber, 0x and mStable. This will allow ShapeShift clients to avoid the KYC procedure. ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees said the integration with Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols will ensure liquidity, competitive pricing, availability and security of digital assets. Plus, ShapeShift customers no longer need to be authenticated. Previously, ShapeShift required its customers to pass KYC, since the exchange acted as a

The National Bank of Kyrgyzstan submitted for public discussion two draft laws “On the turnover of cryptocurrencies” and “On amendments to some legislative acts in the field of virtual assets”. The new legislation aims to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges. According to the new rules, such sites must be managed by legal entities licensed by the country’s central bank. The draft laws provide reporting requirements to reduce the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing. The updated

The Office of the Comptroller of the United States of America (OCC) has allowed U.S. banks and federal savings associations to use open blockchains and stablecoins to process payments. According to the OCC notice, banks are allowed to use their own node on open blockchains to validate, store funds and maintain transaction records. Such payment transactions must be carried out in accordance with applicable law. OCC believes that the use of blockchain within the federal

Tetragon Financial, one of the key investors in Ripple, has filed a lawsuit against the company demanding the redemption of its preferred shares. In 2019, the financial group Tetragon took part in a series C funding round, during which Ripple raised $ 200 million. Tetragon’s management filed a lawsuit in the Delaware court, demanding that Ripple fulfill its contractual obligations and redeem preferred shares held by Tetragon. The plaintiff seeks to freeze all of Ripple’s

Cryptocurrency exchange OKEx announced the launch of its own blockchain OKExChain. At the initial stage, 10 million OKT tokens will be issued. The project has been in development for three years, and 10 test versions of OKExChain were worked through before the launch of the main network. The deployment of the core network will take place in four phases. The current phase of “genesis” will last until January 13, 2021. At this stage, the network’s

The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine signed a memorandum with the Stellar Development Foundation for the development of the digital assets industry and the development of the Central Bank cryptocurrency. First of all, the cooperation of the Ukrainian government with Stellar is aimed at creating conditions for the further development of cryptocurrencies. The memorandum also implies support for projects working with digital assets, the introduction of stablecoins and their regulation, as well as the