IDEX 2.0 Revealed, Corda’s XDC Exchange Token Launched + More News

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.

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Exchanges news

• Decentralized cryptocurrency exchange (DEX) IDEX launched IDEX 2.0 – a new version that, according to them, addresses the user experience issues slowing down DEX adoption, including front-running and failed transactions. The new version offers traders the same user experience as a centralized exchange but without taking control of user’s funds, they said. Following its update, IDEX 2.0 will continue to add new features and upgrades in three phases. In its next phase, IDEX will roll out a layer-2 scalability solution that will virtually eliminate gas fees, they promised. Also, as part of the IDEX 2.0 launch, IDEX will be switching domains from IDEX.MARKET to IDEX.IO.
• Binance to shut down its subsidiary, Binance Jersey. This was confirmed by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who said that the reason is that “better fiat gateway” is already supported by Binance.com, adding that there is “no loss of features to users.” Today, Binance.com experienced “temporary difficulties.”

DeFi news

• The first Corda Network digital currency called XDC has been launched by Cordite Society Ltd, a UK-registered co-operative society leveraging the existing UK legal structure for mutual societies to operate a digital currency, and providing the first onshore legal structure for decentralized finance (DeFi). XDC is an exchange token released onto the Public Corda network, and it enables users to buy and sell goods within the network, while each node represents a legal entity, identified by a trusted identity certificate. Financial institutions are enabled to build enterprise-grade DeFi platforms, such as decentralized exchanges or automated liquidity provision, similar to Uniswap, while XDC case study demonstrates Corda’s suitability for building central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins, they claimed.
• A holder of 28,050 tokens from DeFi platform Aave mistakenly sent this nearly USD 1m worth of the token to its smart contract address, permanently locking them on the blockchain, meaning it’s now reportedly impossible for the owner to get it out, as was discovered by a service called TokenOops. Etherscan shows that the transfer went through on October 3, with a fee of USD 4.38.

CBDCs news

• The chat app Line, an affiliate of South Korean web giant Naver, is set to launch a CBDC development platform, per Chosun. The firm has some 81m active monthly users in Japan, and also operates a blockchain subsidiary, two crypto exchanges, and a listed token. But now the company – which should merge with Yahoo Japan next year – is already working with an unnamed nation on issuance. The media outlet quoted a Line spokesperson as stating, “We cannot reveal the identity of the country where we are holding discussions.” But the spokesperson stated that “it is a major Asian country that is focusing on the development of a CBDC for micropayment solutions.”

Adoption news

• 43% of surveyed companies based in Mexico want to use blockchain and/or crypto in some form in the future, per a new study conducted by researcher Ponemon. The researcher spoke to 353 company executives in Mexico and found that of the blockchain-keen firms, 71% were “thinking about” launching cryptoasset-related business interests.

Investments news

• The Netherlands-based fiat-to-crypto gateway BTC Direct has raised EUR 11m (USD 13 million) in a series A funding round led by undisclosed, private investors. Per the press release, this is “the first significant financial injection for the company that has been almost entirely bootstrapped by the early founders.” The team’s focus is on product development and broadening their marketing efforts, and they also expect their team of 50 to double in the next 18 months.

Fraud news

• Major hardware wallet producer Ledger warned its users that phishing attempts have been reported (through social media, emailing and text messaging), by pretending to be Ledger customer support. “If you receive a communication that looks like it came from Ledger asking for your 24 words, you should definitely consider it a phishing attempt,” the company said in an email to their customers.
• An alleged crypto-themed Ponzi scam is sweeping across Cuba, with “thousands” investing, per Cubacute. The media outlet said that the NGO Bitcoin Chile has placed the alleged scam operator, Trust Investing, on its list of potentially fraudulent crypto firms. The media outlet stated that a number of inconsistencies can be found on the various Trust Investing websites. The firm appears to have lured thousands of Cubans in with promises of twelvefold investment returns and pyramid-like recruiting methods reminiscent of ventures such as OneCoin.

Regulation news

• The Swiss Federal Department of Finance said it initiated the consultation on the blanket ordinance in the area of blockchain. It will run until 2 February 2021. On 25 September 2020, the Swiss Parliament adopted the Federal Act on the Adaptation of Federal Law to Developments in Distributed Ledger Technology, thereby amending specific provisions in ten existing federal acts.