Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 21 November 2017
From major crimes to KYC times. Our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up features Tether, Metal, Deutsche Bank and IBM.
Digital currency firm Tether is feeling under the weather as it has reported that “funds were improperly removed from the Tether treasury wallet through malicious action by an external attacker”. The amount is a rather large $30.9 million in USDT tokens, its cryptocurrency that is pegged to the US dollar. The money was sent to an unauthorised Bitcoin address.
As Tether is the issuer of the USDT managed asset, it says it will not redeem any of the stolen tokens, and it is in the process of attempting token recovery to prevent them from entering the broader ecosystem.
Metal moves into China
Metal, a blockchain-based system using proof-of-processed-payments to identify users, has entered the Chinese cryptocurrency market in collaboration with Singapore-based Bitcoin exchange Huobi. This marks the first time its MTL token has been listed on a cryptocurrency exchange in China.
Metal also recently launched Metal Vault, a crypto wallet for storing MTL, Ethereum, ERC20 and Bitcoin. MTL joins Huobi’s roster of sixteen cryptocurrencies, which include Ripio, Kybr, 0x, and Airswap in addition to the initial offerings of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and BitConnect.
Deutsche Bank has revealed that it is part of a group of organisations that partnered with IBM on a blockchain-based shared know your customer (KYC) proof of concept (POC). IBM announced the “successful completion” of the POC in Singapore. Other companies involved include HSBC, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and the treasuries of Cargill and IBM.
According to the bank, the current KYC process requires customers to submit information to different banks each time they start a new relationship, which includes opening an account, taking out a loan or buying an insurance policy. It says the shared KYC platform provides a decentralised method for banks to collect, validate, store, share, and refresh trusted KYC information. In a media briefing, IBM explained that banks can use the platform to “automate mandatory processes, which will result in operational savings and reduce operational risk over time”.
