Blockhead

Blockhead, a Singapore-based digital assets media publication, has announced the successful completion of its investment round. The investment is led by Franklin Templeton, (NYSE: BEN), one of the largest global asset managers with approximately US$1.5 trillion of assets under management. This investment round will enable Blockhead’s continued growth and innovation in products and services in the evolving landscape of blockchain technology and digital assets. Launched in 2022, Blockhead currently operates a news publication covering global stories from the blockchain and digital assets industry, with an Asian focus. The investment will also allow Blockhead to evolve its business model to become a leading #digitalassets research platform in the region. The research platform, dubbed BRN, augments their current media product offering and will serve as a comprehensive resource for institutional and high-net-worth investors, offering insights, analytics, and market intelligence on the digital assets and cryptocurrency landscape. Blockhead aims to become a trusted partner for those seeking in-depth digital assets-focused analysis and research. "Our position as a digital assets-focused publication gives us a unique view of the direction of the industry, where we are now able to develop our proposition to incorporate in-depth and market-leading research, tools, and capabilities. A strategic partnership with a legacy financial institution like Franklin Templeton is testament to the potential of our projects and will play a key role in the development and launch of our products and services this year," said Mark Tan, CEO of Blockhead. BRN distinguishes itself from more general market overviews or data services by offering insider perspectives that are not available through public channels, as well as independent market commentary and insights for institutional investors in the digital asset space, generally covering top tokens, big industry themes and the macroeconomic environment. “We are seeing high growth potential for digital assets in Asia and believe that Blockhead’s insights and future business plans are at a very exciting juncture. This investment is part of our efforts to foster a global ecosystem of digital asset operators that can capitalize on the multitude of benefits that blockchain technology offers,” said Kevin Farrelly, Director of Digital Asset Management at Franklin Templeton.

Hong Kong Virtual Asset Exchange (HKVAX) has officially received Type 1 (dealing in securities) and Type 7 (providing automated trading services) licenses from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), alongside the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO) license. HKVAX's core services encompass an OTC brokerage, a 24/7 trading platform, and comprehensive asset custody, which includes advanced security features such as multi-signature technology and wallet separation. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gmKSsCvn

On this week’s episode of Blockcast, we speak with Luca Prosperi, co-founder and CEO at M^0 Labs, whose man-bun and genial personality belies battle scars from almost 2 decades of traditional banking, helping to build MakerDAO and, a health scare. Luca dissects the concept of money creation and some of the foundations behind M^0’s quest to build infrastructure for a #crypto dollar. Privately issued #stablecoins are the OG of tokenised assets and have largely been a game-changer for crypto markets. The success of stablecoin issuers like Tether.io and Circle boil down to the inherent utility of stablecoins, which provide a fast, affordable and borderless way of transferring value. While this process of using crypto rails for money transfer is an exponential leap in efficiency and speed, it still fundamentally relies on legacy money infrastructure to function. Join us as we dive into how M^0 is gearing up to be an infrastructure layer that goes beyond wrapping real-world bank deposits or assets as a cryptographic token. Watch out, stablecoins - monetary stack reinvention incoming. Listen to the episode now: https://lnkd.in/ga9rbRcC

Binance Labs has invested in Sophon Labs' ecosystem of entertainment applications across gaming, social, AI, and prediction markets. Sophon's vision of transforming how users "live, play, create, and connect" is achieved through the use of ZK Stack, utilizing "native account abstraction" for a gasless experience. According to a release, the zkSync codebase is the most battle-tested zkEVM, demonstrating top level throughput and cost metrics across the entire Ethereum L2 stack. https://lnkd.in/dAwnZSQT

Dubai's new VARA rules force companies marketing virtual assets in the UAE to include a disclaimer stating that virtual assets may lose value and are subject to extreme volatility

Taurus SA, a Swiss-based provider of digital asset infrastructure, and blockchain abstraction layer Chainlink have announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the adoption of tokenized assets by global financial institutions. Through this collaboration, Taurus will leverage Chainlink's infrastructure to enhance tokenized assets with high-quality offchain data, robust proof of reserves, and cross-chain interoperability. By integrating Chainlink Data Feeds, Proof of Reserve, and Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), Taurus aims to address the critical challenges in the tokenized asset space, including security, data, and asset mobility, it said in an announcement on Wednesday. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gaxgGqJP

#DePin saw huge interest in 2024, highlighting the sector's potential to transform technology by creating decentralized solutions that prioritize user ownership and accessibility. With numerous projects gaining traction and significant announcements emerging from recent industry events

#Kishida is out, #Ishiba is in. But what does it mean for #crypto? And is Japan's new PM more akin to Trump or Harris?

ANZ is the latest entity to join the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)'s #ProjectGuardian. Through the deal, the Australian bank will partner with Chainlink Labs and ADDX to explore tokenised #RWAs in financial markets and interoperability between private #blockchains to exchange RWAs. https://lnkd.in/g-uTwaaC

Summer has come and passed but can #Bitcoin's rise ever last?