Duncan MacRae, Author at The Block

Manchester City unveils OKX as official cryptocurrency exchange partner

Jack Grealish playing for Manchester City.

Premier League champions Manchester City have partnered with the world's second largest crypto exchange, OKX, naming it the Club’s Official Cryptocurrency Exchange Partner.

OKX’s first venture into the world of sport and entertainment, the partnership will span Manchester City men’s and women’s teams, in addition to the Club’s esports operations.

OKX’s fast, secure and innovative cryptocurrency exchange is trusted by more than 20 million people in more than...

4 March 2022 | Cryptocurrency

Marc Blinder, Aikon: Making blockchain simple for businesses and consumers

Could you tell us a little bit about Aikon and what it offers?

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm one of the founders of the company, and also of a blockchain called ORE, which is the open record exchange. And four years ago we started this project, inspired by my original co-founder, Stefan Rover, who was an early encryption pioneer on the internet. Sadly, he has since passed away, but we're kind of continuing on with his original vision.

You probably remember that the US...

15 February 2022 | Blockchain

Alfa Romeo launches SUV with NFT linked to blockchain

Italian auto brand Alfa Romeo has unveiled the world’s first car to be equipped with an NFT (non-fungible token) digital certificate.

The Tonale, Alfa Romeo’s compact SUV, boasts “state-of-the-art technology, software and electrification systems created to serve the brand's DNA aimed at enhancing the driving experience, the customer experience and at protecting residual value,” the company said in a statement.

Alfa Romeo, owned by Stellantis (formerly Fiat...

9 February 2022 | Digital Assets

SEBA Bank makes it possible to digitally own physical gold

Digital assets banking platform, SEBA Bank, has launched a Gold Token, a regulated digital token for investment in and delivery of physical gold on-demand.

SEBA Bank issues a token backed by what it describes as responsibly sourced gold, providing a cost-effective access to the precious metal, and sets a new standard in the stablecoin sector.

The SEBA Bank Gold Token is a landmark development in investment products, enabling investors for the first time to own a...

16 December 2021 | Banking

Official Dalai Lama NFT collection launches for charity

The first official NFT (Non-Fungible Token) collection of the Dalai Lama is launching today to raise money for charity.

The series of 10 NFTs of His Holiness – created by artist Alex Echo and authorised by the office of the Dalai Lama, The Gaden Phodrang Foundation – each has 108 limited editions and will be released over the next 10 weeks exclusively on Hyprr, a new digital art platform.

NFTs are one-of-a-kind assets in the digital world (e.g. images or video) that...

8 November 2021 | Digital Assets

Open Rights Foundation unlocks 1.18 million ORE token community reward

The Open Rights Foundation (ORE), in partnership with AllianceBlock, has initiated a one-month liquidity mining campaign, with a total of 1,180,000 ORE ($ORE) Tokens to be distributed over 30 days.

The ORE blockchain is built for decentralised identities, assets and rights. ORE works cross-chain with Ethereum, Algorand, EOS and more to connect Web 2.0 identities to Web 3.0 — with the aim of allowing everyone, everywhere to easily use blockchain technology.

ORE is...

8 November 2021 | Blockchain

Blockchain Expo 2021: Crypto investors, CBDC, and retail participation

The global blockchain technology market is estimated to accumulate $20 billion in revenue by 2024.

According to a study by Transparency Market Research (TMR), this is largely down to the rapidly rising interest among several giant companies in leveraging the disruptive potential of blockchain.

This, in turn, has created an increasingly competitive vendor landscape. Furthermore, the continuous entry of new players capitalising on the use of the process for practical...

9 September 2021 | Banking

Is blockchain the key to trust in social media?

The Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018 drew massive attention to the way in which social media companies handle their users’ private data.

At the time, details regarding how Facebook had been providing users' personal information to third parties made the headlines around the globe, and caused the public to think more carefully about what happens to the personal data they offer social media firms.

Since then, it seems that trust in social media companies has...

30 August 2021 | Blockchain Applications

Advertising campaign launched to highlight cryptocurrency investment risk

UK-based money app Ziglu, which offers people access to a range of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, has launched a new advertising campaign in Edinburgh with the slogan ‘Scotland, Your Capital is at Risk’.

It will appear in more than 200 outdoor locations and will run until September 5, 2021. As more people start to invest in cryptocurrencies for the first time and the sector becomes more mainstream, Ziglu has launched its campaign to highlight how...

26 August 2021 | Bitcoin

British firm contracted to develop blockchain capabilities for EU

The EU has chosen London-based startup iov42 to help design and develop European blockchain solutions.

iov42 utlises AI and blockchain to accelerate financial and non-financial transactions. The company staved off competition from more established firms, such as Deloitte, EY and Vodafone, in order to win one of seven contracts handed out by the European Commision, the EU’s is the EU's politically independent executive arm. Collectively, the deals are worth €6.2m...