Monthly Archives: July 2018

Online banking service provider Swissquote has seen a 44 percent surge in profits in the first half of 2018, an uplift attributed to the “crypto boom” earlier this year, local news outlet Finews reports July 31. In July 2017, the Swiss-based online bank was credited by many with becoming “the first” European online bank to…

The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), the world’s fourth-largest bank by assets, has issued its first loan on blockchain, local news outlet Financial News reported July 31. State-owned ABC, which counts itself among China’s “Big Four” lenders, revealed it had issued a loan worth around $300,000 backed by a piece of agricultural land in the…

The Australian government has granted A$2.25 million ($1.7 million) to the Sustainable Sugar Project, Foodnavigator-Asia reports July 30. The Sustainable Sugar Project, led by the Queensland Cane Growers Organization, will use blockchain technology to track the provenance of sugar supplies to Australia. The initiative known as the Smart Cane Best Management Practice (BMP) is part…

A customer-owned utilities company in rural Washington has stopped accepting applications for electricity from crypto mining and similar blockchain operations, the Seattle Times reported July 30. The Franklin Public Utility District commissioners (PUD) have approved a moratorium that will allow time for staff to investigate the impact of cryptocurrency mining on the electrical system before…

Valve Corporation has removed a game from its video game marketplace Steam that allegedly hijacked users’ computers to mine cryptocurrency, Motherboard reported July 30. The Steam game store has delisted Abstractism, an indie game accused of deceptive practices and cryptojacking, and has banned its developer from the platform. Steam took action following complaints from a…