The SBK sportsbook app “combines industry-disrupting odds” with a “social-focused interface” for offering a “fair and fun app” for betting on sports events and politics. Prices on SBK are the same as those on the Smarkets exchange that runs on a peer-to-peer model and proprietary technology.

The SBK is promised to benchmark its prices directly against a wide range of bookmakers and show users how often they are getting the best odds with the SBK Price+ feature, which will initially compare odds on football before incorporating the app’s entire event offering.

Registration for the app starts tomorrow — 9 August, Friday —, which day marks the commencement of betting on the platform after a private test mode that has run for the past 12 months.

“By combining innovative technology with transparent and fair odds, I believe we are able to offer a product like no other in the market, which will help us continue to have an impact in an industry dominated by a few big players who do not seek to give customers the best value,” Smarkets CEO and Founder Jason Trost said.

“While some bettors prefer the advanced features of Smarkets, we created SBK for those customers that want the better pricing of an exchange with the cleaner interface of a sportsbook,” the CEO added.

Founded in 2008, Smarkets is a sports betting company headquartered in London, with offices in Los Angeles and Malta. “We are very committed to the Maltese market. We have had an office there for several years,” Pascal Lemesre, Public Relations Manager of Smarkets told Business Malta.

“In the first instance, SBK will launch in the United Kingdom before being rolled out to other regulated markets, including Malta. I cannot say exactly when SBK will launch in Malta but we are currently seeking approval and we hope it will be in the very near future,” Mr Lemesre added.

The post Smarkets launches sportsbook app SBK, keeps commitment to Malta first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Mr Chao joins Binance to oversee its global strategy, ranging from the company’s venture capital (VC) arm, Binance Labs, to its strategic fiat-to-crypto gateways, including the creation of new partnerships and banking relationships.

“We are thrilled to welcome Gin as our latest leadership hire to strengthen our business ventures and strategy across our global ecosystem,” said CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ). “He will play a key role in driving our strategic business goals that span across the globe, and we are confident that he will help realize new avenues of opportunities alongside the core executive team.”

Mr Chao brings an extensive background of developing and managing strategic investment opportunities as well as overseeing cross-regional business growth opportunities in Asia and the US.

As former Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development at the National Basketball Association (NBA), Chao led new asset and investment opportunities, including scalable business models, and will leverage his previous experience for Binance.

“I am honoured to be joining CZ and the team during this incredibly exciting time for the industry,” said Gin Chao, Strategy Officer at Binance. “I’ve followed the growth of the senior executives at Binance over the years and it’s a testament to CZ’s vision and leadership to have formed such a talented and accomplished group. I’m looking forward to working with the team on building and providing sustainable blockchain-based services that accelerate cryptocurrency adoption and support our overall mission.”

The post Binance names new strategy officer first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“We are excited to finally launch Binance.US and bring the security, speed, and liquidity of Binance.com to North America,” said Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance. “Binance.US will be led by our local partner BAM and will serve the U.S. market in full regulatory compliance.”

BAM Trading Services will support Binance.US to launch, with a focus on the trading of mainstream cryptocurrencies with liquidity.

“It is an honour to partner with Binance to launch the U.S. extension of Binance, leveraging its tier-one security and technology in tandem,” said a representative from BAM Trading Services. “We are committed to providing a secure and compliant platform, and beginning the start of a fruitful alliance with Binance.”

The post Binance partners with BAM to launch US exchange first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

ALLIVE is an “intelligent healthcare ecosystem based on blockchain technology”, which aims to provide standardised formats for health data integration, to support high user concurrency, to protect data privacy via decentralised and encrypted storage, and to support extension compatibility, the press statement describes.

The ALLIVE team has been in partnership with Ontology since August 2018 to facilitate inter-business collaboration and data sharing. Such partnership aims to develop a decentralized healthcare ecosystem and a smart blockchain network, according to the company.

“As always, OK Jumpstart weighs the potential of each supporting projects and ALLIVE simply captures the essences of blockchain technology by applying it to new use cases. It sets a good example in demonstrating how the technology can transform healthcare procedures and improve our lives, such as making electronic medical records more readily available for doctors to access without sacrificing the security of our personal data,” said Andy Cheung, Head of Operations of OKEx.

“We have experienced tremendous growth that the blockchain technology brings to our financial system, but the power of blockchain is limitless. We can also use it to establish a sustainable smart health community to enhance the healthcare ecosystem so it can be more accessible and more affordable for everyone,” the OKEx chief added.

The companies say that the ageing population faces a greater prevalence of chronic diseases or new diseases, and costly medical solutions or targeted treatments might not be an affordable option for everyone. With the ever-rising healthcare cost, the companies hope that by adopting blockchain technology can effectively minimise the struggle of managing medical and financial challenges.

The post OKEX teams with ALLIVE for 2nd OK Jumpstart project first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The IEO will officially start at 14:00 GMT on Tuesday, 21 May, and end at 14:00 GMT on May 22, 2019 unless sale supply is reached. Vodi X will be listed on Bittrex International on May 22, 2019 at 17:00 GMT, according to the press release.

Authorised Bittrex International users will be able to purchase VDX tokens using bitcoin (BTC) directly on Bittrex International, a digital asset platform based in Malta. In preparation for the IEO, Vodi X completed an evaluation process that included technical, compliance and regulatory reviews, the press statement says.

“We are excited to partner with Vodi X on their IEO on Bittrex International. The funds raised will help them build out their smart contract technology and operations for a series of innovative use cases,” said Bill Shihara of Bittrex International. “Incubating projects like Vodi X is why we started Bittrex International in the first place and why the IEO platform is such a promising development in the blockchain industry. We look forward to this partnership and introducing our user base to Vodi X along with other exciting projects driving the blockchain revolution to the next level,” he added.

The mentioned improvements will be built around their existing infrastructure of over five million existing Vodi users in over 200 countries worldwide.

Vodi X says it is seeking to overhaul the micro-work industry by positioning their project on the blockchain. Job creation is particularly important for Vodi X, the firm says. Strategically positioned on the blockchain, with the leveraging of smart contacts, Vodi X hopes to foster equal wealth distribution.

Bittrex International operates a digital asset platform built on own technology. Their mission is to be “a driving force in the blockchain revolution, increasing adoption of this innovative technology around the world”. Their international trading platform operates within the regulatory framework established by the European Union and Maltese Government, including the Malta Virtual Financial Assets Act. The company will apply to the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) to become a regulated Virtual Financial Asset exchange.


The post Bittrex International partners with Vodi X on IEO first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The breach was discovered May 7, 2019 at 17:15:24 (UTC), caused by hackers using a variety of techniques, including phishing, viruses and other attacks.

Binance says all the 7,000+ bitcoin was compromised in one transaction, being the only affected transaction. “It impacted our BTC hot wallet only (which contained about 2% of our total BTC holdings). All of our other wallets are secure and unharmed,” the press statement says.

“The hackers had the patience to wait, and execute well-orchestrated actions through multiple seemingly independent accounts at the most opportune time. The transaction is structured in a way that passed our existing security checks. It was unfortunate that we were not able to block this withdrawal before it was executed. Once executed, the withdrawal triggered various alarms in our system. We stopped all withdrawals immediately after that,” the press statement adds.

Binance said after the incident that they will conduct a thorough security review, which will include all parts of their systems and data. The review should take a week, according to Binance’s estimates. During this period, deposits and withdrawals will need to remain suspended. “We beg for your understanding in this difficult situation,” Binance says. Trading remains enabled, though.

“Please also understand that the hackers may still control certain user accounts and may use those to influence prices in the meantime. We will monitor the situation closely. But we believe with withdrawals disabled, there isn’t much incentive for hackers to influence markets. In this difficult time, we strive to maintain transparency and would be appreciative of your support,” the Binance press release says.

The post Hackers steal BTC 7,000+ from Binance, exchange promises to recover lost funds first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“Poor regulation enables corruption to flourish,” the Nauticus chief says, directing special attention to Pyramid and Ponzi schemes. “Unregulated exchanges are often hacked or shut down without returning the funds of users,” the chief warns.

Nauticus, however, mentions in its press statement that a handful of countries, including Switzerland, Malta and Australia, have embraced “well-designed regulations” for encouraging innovation while also protecting users.

“Verifying every user helps to fight corruption and criminality, and not only protects the business but protects our users themselves from fraudulent practices,” says Jonathan Chang, Chief Operating Officer of Nauticus, underscoring the gravity of know-your-customer (KYC) protocols.

Melbourne’s Nauticus Exchange is a digital financial marketplace offering 17 currencies and the Australian dollar. Nauticus is registered with the Australian Government’s AUSTRAC as a Digital Currency Exchange and an Independent Remittance Dealer. Headquartered in Melbourne, the company is a registered representative of an Australian Financial Services Licensee enabling it to tokenise assets in the form of security token offerings.

The post Nauticus CEO says good legislation can protect users from scams first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Users of the platform can now place orders with self-selected exchange rates and payment methods to buy or sell virtual financial assets with fiat currencies. OKEx C2C trading service offers a decentralised platform for the buying and selling of bitcoin (BTC), tether (USDT), ether (ETH), and litecoin (LTC).

“We strive for building a robust crypto ecosystem, that’s why we will never stop expanding and pushing crypto adoption forward. We are so thrilled about the expansion as our C2C platform is fostering the buying and selling of digital assets across Europe with the newly supported currencies,” said Andy Cheung, Head of Operations of OKEx.

“This is a big step forward. Given the recent Bitcoin price rally, the whole crypto market is giving a strong signal. We have good faith in the growth and development of blockchain technology under this bullish trend,” he added.

OKEx listed the British pound (GBP) and the Thai baht (THB) as two new currencies for trade on its over-the-counter (OTC) platform in late-January. The company also expressed commitment to the UK market despite Brexit woes. Very recently, OKEX unveiled its initial exchange offering (IEO) platform, dubbed “OK Jumpstart”. The platform also recently announced the launch of Turkish lira.

The post OKEx introduces euro and ruble to its C2C platform first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

With their initiative, XDAT aspires to create a new wave of cryptocurrency adoption among users. “A bullwhip initiates a ripple effect, and in XDAT’s case this would be the first step towards achieving their vision of ‘Crypto for All’,” the company says.

XDAT’s new movement wishes to build a community where users earn while trading. If a user, for example, becomes a “Node” and helps XDAT propagate the movement by adding new users through their referral link, they will receive Community Token (XCTY) when they achieve €1,000 cumulative trading from their referred users, in return for their participation. A “Node” can earn incentives of up to €2,000 through KYC [know-your-customer] and transaction incentives, by encouraging participation on the platform.

“In this bearish market, crypto needs as many ambassadors as we can gather to increase participation in this space,” said Prashanth Swaminathan, Founder and CEO of XDAT. “To manifest this belief, XDAT is investing over €1m to create the world’s largest inclusive crypto ecosystem. Through this initiative, we want to create a positive wave that leads to an amplified nature of adoption and trading,” he added.

XDAT stands for Exchange of Digital Assets with Trust, a global cryptocurrency trading exchange that allows users to transact fiat-to-crypto-to-fiat and also crypto-to-crypto. Based in Malta, XDAT hosts bitcoin, ether, litecoin, ether classic, bitcoin cash, EOS, ripple, dash, TrueUSD, and euro. XDAT is the creation of Prashanth Swaminathan, an investment banker who spent over a decade with Morgan Stanley London.

The post Malta’s XDAT launches Bullwhip Movement first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The most recent introduction comes as part of Binance’s mission to become a crypto wallet app of choice for using the top 20 cryptocurrencies in the world by market cap, the press statement says.

In addition, Trust Wallet has launched support for four more cryptocurrencies: Aion (AION), Kin (KIN), Nimiq (NIM) and Thunder Token. Here are more details about these additions.

The post Binance’s crypto wallet adds Stellar Lumens first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.