Following a $ 16.5 million token sale, geolocation startup Foam may have found a token-curated registry model that works.
CoinDesk
Court Grants QuadrigaCX Bankruptcy Protection
Today, February 5, 2019, a court in Nova Scotia, Canada, granted bankruptcy protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) to the embattled Vancouver-based cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX. The court appointed Ernst & Young as monitors to help the exchange locate any funds it could use to reimburse users and ordered a 30-day stay of proceedings.
The exchange initially made the news on January 14, 2019, when the company announced its CEO Gerald Cotten had died in India on December 9, 2018, from complications from Crohn's disease. News website CoinDesk obtained what appears to be a copy from the Indian government of Gerald Cotten’s death certificate, although his name is misspelled.
Singapore Grants RMO License for CapBridge to Operate New Security Exchange
Global private capital platform CapBridge Pte. Ltd. has garnered a license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to operate a security exchange known as 1exchange (also called 1X), which became operational on November 21, 2018. The exchange is designed to organize liquidity for private companies prior to exit events like an M&A (merger and acquisition) or an IPO (initial public offering).
In an interview with Bitcoin Magazine, CEO and founder of CapBridge Johnson Chen said that the process of obtaining the license took nearly two years. Steps included identifying the business case and ensuring IT systems were in place that included proper risk management and strict governance.
Gibraltar’s Regulator Grants Full License to the Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange
The Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange (GBX) has been granted a license from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) required to operate a regulated blockchain exchange.
The exchange was granted the Distributed Ledger Technology License Category 3, which represents the “highest category that can be awarded” within the DLT regulatory framework by the GFSC.
“Securing authorization as a DLT provider here in Gibraltar is affirmation of our tireless efforts to position the GBX among the premiere Digital Asset Exchanges globally. Today’s announcement renews our ambition to create a world leading, institutional-grade token sale platform and Digital Asset Exchange,” Nick Cowan, CEO of the GBX, said in a statement.
Here’s How Ethereum Grants Work
The Ethereum Foundation, the team behind Ethereum, led by the famous Vitalik Buterin, have recently published a blog post that discusses the methods behind the Ethereum Foundation grants programme, a system that has been established to offer grants to people who require funding to complete certain blockchain based projects.
According to the post:
“Our goal on the grants team is to be faithful stewards of Ethereum community resources. As part of the Ethereum Foundation’s ongoing effort to diffuse power throughout our community, we give grants that we believe will return the highest impact on the Ethereum ecosystem over the long-term.”
Coinbase Lawsuit at a Standstill as Judge Grants Motion to Dismiss
The judge presiding over a class action lawsuit against Coinbase over allegations of insider trading has approved Coinbase’s motion to dismiss the suit.
In March of 2018, Jeffrey Berk filed a class action lawsuit in the Northern District of California on behalf of himself and other investors against Coinbase. Specifically, the suit alleges that Coinbase had engaged in insider trading by alerting its own employees that Coinbase would fully support Bitcoin Cash at a later date, after publicly stating that they would not.
Ethereum Foundation Grants $120K to Philly Data-Transparency Startup TrueBlocks

TrueBlocks received the award to continue working towards a “fully-decentralized way to access data from any Ethereum address or smart contract.” The money will support the project over the next six months.
Transparent Future
Company founder, Thomas Jay Rush, envisions a world where transparency is king. To the point where anybody could check an organization’s accounts… in real time.
I’m fascinated by what it means to be that transparent and hopefully we can help that happen.
Ethereum Foundation Issues $3 Million in New Grants
The Ethereum Foundation has awarded a total of $ 2.86 million to 20 different projects in Wave IV of its Grant Program.
Announced at the beginning of 2018, the foundation began the new year with a resolution to fund promising projects that develop on Ethereum. Since the program’s launch, the foundation has committed over $ 14 million to 72 projects, the majority of which has gone to startups focused on scaling, with security and user experience receiving the next most in funding.
U.S. Court Grants CFTC Request to Sue $6 Million Crypto Fraud
A U.S. district court on Wednesday gave leave to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to proceed with the lawsuit against Nevada-based My Big Coin Pay Inc. who had allegedly been operating a $ 6 million fraud, per the court’s Memorandum of Decision. The federal judge who presided over the case affirmed that the cryptocurrency in question
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New York State Department of Financial Services Grants Virtual Currency License to BitPay
Global blockchain payments provider BitPay has announced the company has received its Virtual Currency License from the New York Department of Financial Services which governs rules for virtual currency business activity in New York. The virtual currency License enables BitPay to transact business with companies and consumers based in New York. Businesses based in New York can use BitPay to accept Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash for purchases from users globally. In addition, residents with Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash are able to make purchases.
The Department of Financial Services conducted a comprehensive review of BitPay’s application, including the company’s anti-money laundering, know your customer, anti-fraud, capitalization, and cybersecurity policies.
‘Precursor of Price Going Up’: Tether Grants Another $250M in USDT Tokens

Controversial stablecoin Tether (USDT) has issued $ 250 million dollars worth of tokens — which Litecoin creator Charlie Lee sees as a bullish sign.
‘Precursor of Price Going Up’
Tether has issued 250 million tokens (worth US$ 250) on June 25, according to Omni explorer.
This follows its previous grant issued on May 18 of another $ 250 million dollars in USDT — which some speculated caused Bitcoin’s price to rise by about $ 300 in the following three days. However, the general downtrend resumed as the short-lived bull run fizzled out towards the end of the month.
Announcing May 2018 Cohort of EF Grants
Thank you all for applying, and we’re excited to announce the latest Ethereum Foundation grants! We funded 22 recipients for a total of $ 2.84M.
Apply here for the next round! 🦄
Background
The Ethereum project seeks to support useful dapps and smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain, and the goal of the Ethereum Foundation is to empower developers with best-in-class R&D, developer experience, and education. Despite the early promise of the ecosystem, we still have a long way to go, and we are here to work with the community to drive concrete progress.
Announcing Beneficiaries of the Ethereum Foundation Grants
We’re excited to share the results of the first wave of grants from the Ethereum Foundation.
As a reminder, the Ethereum project seeks to support useful dapps and smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain, and the goal of the Ethereum Foundation is to empower developers with best-in-class R&D, developer experience, and education. Despite the early promise of the ecosystem, we still have a long way to go, and we are here to work with the community to drive concrete progress.