Latest Blockchain Privacy & Identity News

Tornado Cash sequel, Privacy Pools, aims to please US regulators

An ex-developer of Tornado Cash, the sanctioned crypto mixer that makes crypto assets harder to track, is working on a new platform that hopes to solve the service’s ties to illicit activity.

Ameen Soleimani believes that Privacy Pools, the working name for his new Ethereum mixer launched on GitHub, will nudge US regulators to reconsider their stance on privacy mixers.

In a lengthy Twitter thread, Soleimani discussed what he says as the “critical flaw” with Tornado...

6 March 2023 | Blockchain Applications

Chain Reaction to build cryptographic chips with fresh $70m

Chain Reaction, an Israeli startup designing semiconductors for blockchain and privacy hardware, has emerged from stealth following a $70 million (£58m) Series C funding round.

The Tel Aviv-based firm’s specialty chips and related architecture are designed to support cryptographic processes, most notably in the breakthrough field of homomorphic encryption, an approach to privacy that encrypts data as it is used.

Morgan Creek Digital led this third round, taking the...

23 February 2023 | Blockchain Applications

Blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs nets £60m in expanded Series B

Blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs has expanded its Series B funding round with a £60 million injection led by Thoma Bravo.

The intelligence company uses blockchain data and advanced analytics to detect and tackle financial crime.

The expanded round was led by global private equity firm Thoma Bravo, with Goldman Sachs and previous TRM investors Amex Ventures, Citi Ventures, and PayPal Ventures all participating.

TRM’s initial Series B kicked off in December...

9 November 2022 | Cryptocurrency

South Korea to launch blockchain-based digital ID scheme by 2024

The South Korean government is working on a blockchain-based digital ID for its citizens that could launch as soon as 2024.

According to Bloomberg reporting, South Korean citizens will soon have access to digital IDs embedded in their mobile phones to function in the place of physical resident registration cards.

The blockchain-based IDs would be fully decentralised so that the government cannot see how or when the ID is being used.

They are planned for a 2024...

17 October 2022 | Blockchain Applications

China’s digital yuan breaks £12.4bn in transaction volume

China’s CBDC project - the digital yuan - has seen more than 360 million transactions completed with a total value of 100 billion yuan (£12.4bn).

Although still in its pilot phase, such stats make the digital yuan, or e-CNY, the most widely adopted CBDC in the world.

The latest figures come from an official WeChat post by the Bank of China on October 10. Almost six million merchants are now supporting the digital yuan as legal tender across 15 provinces participating...

13 October 2022 | CBDC

Blockchain Expo: Maturing blockchain industry paves the way for enterprise adoption

A session at this year’s Blockchain Expo Europe highlighted that blockchain is reaching a stage of maturity that paves the way for enterprise adoption.

The session was presented by Pedro Lopez-Belmonte, Senior Manager of Web3 and Technology Innovation at Richemont, on day one of Europe’s leading blockchain conference.

One of the first charts presented during the session was Gartner’s hype cycle, which shows blockchain platforms now leaving the trough of...

20 September 2022 | Blockchain

Internet Computer Protocol achieves 1B blocks in just over a year

Internet Computer Protocol has achieved the milestone of processing one billion blocks in just over a year in production.

The project’s lead developer, Zürich-based nonprofit DFINITY Foundation, made the announcement earlier today.

“Internet Computer is a unique blockchain powered by game-changing ‘chain key crypto’. It runs at web speed, with web efficiency, can scale its capacity without limit and, uniquely, the smart contracts it hosts can serve interactive...

14 July 2022 | Altcoins

Massive data breach leaves OpenSea users’ email addresses vulnerable

OpenSea, the leading non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, has warned its users after discovering an employee of email management platform Customer.io has leaked OpenSea customer’s emails to a third party.

Any user who has their email address registered with OpenSea, whether it’s for the platform or its newsletter, has been affected by the breach.

OpenSea has since warned all of its users to watch out for potential phishing attempts and has reported the incident to...

30 June 2022 | Cyber Security

Cronos partners with Chainalysis for security and compliance support

Cronos, the native token of Crypto.com’s ecosystem, has partnered with leading blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis to bring security and data services to its token.

Previously known as Crypto.com Coin, Cronos (CRO) runs on the first Ethereum-compatible blockchain network to use Cosmos SDK technology. It fluctuates towards the end of the top twenty cryptocurrencies in terms of its market capitalisation.

The partnership has already added Chainalysis KYT (Know Your...

19 April 2022 | Altcoins

EU Parliament passes proposals to hinder cryptocurrency privacy

European Union (EU) lawmakers have supported controversial proposals to outlaw anonymous crypto transactions.

More than 90 lawmakers from the EU Committees on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) voted in favour of the measures.

The new rules would extend anti-money laundering requirements that apply to conventional fiat payments over EUR 1,000 to the European crypto sector.

However, they would also remove...