The exchange added the stablecoin enjoyed «unparalleled» support from more than 100 companies and 60 exchanges in the crypto industry. «In December, USDC became the second stablecoin to ever have its market cap cross $500 million,» according to an official blog post. «The market cap has since fallen below $500 million, which is a function of market dynamics.»
Kraken has listed the USD Coin, which it described as the «world’s fastest-growing stablecoin,» the day after rival Binance removed certain trading pairs for the same coin claiming «low liquidity.»
Kraken said deposits and trading would go live Wednesday for USDC trading pairs with bitcoin, ether and tether, as well as the U.S. dollar and euro.
Binance said Tuesday it would delist certain USDC trading pairs including ALGO/USDC, FTM/USDC, ONT/USDC, XLM/USDC, USDS/USDC. «Nothing personal, just low liquidity. No one’s trading it,» tweeted founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao.
Binance launched its own dollar-backed BUSD stablecoin in September. Compared to the $500 million worth of deposits for USDC, BUSD has so far attracted approximately $25 million. Tether remains by far the most popular stablecoin with a market capitalization of over $4.6 billion.
USDC was a joint venture of Circle and Coinbase that launched in October 2018. Available in 86 countries around the world, accounting firm Grant Thornton audits the stablecoin’s deposits on a monthly basis. In Bermuda, where Circle is headquartered, the government started accepting USDC for taxes as well as for payment of public services.
Last April, Kraken followed Binance in delisting Bitcoin SV, claiming the project was «completely antithetical to what this community is about.”
Korean Banks Back $7.4 Million Funding Round for Blocko
Blocko, a South Korean blockchain firm working on enterprise applications of the tech, says it’s raised 9 billion Korean won (around $7.44 million) in an Series B+ round.
According an announcement on Thursday, Blocko said Korea’s oldest bank, Shinhan, as well as KEB Hana Bank, LB Investment and Dadam Investment took part in the round. The investment brings the firm’s total funding to date to over $20 million, according to CoinDesk Korea.
Blocko is working to build business-focused blockchain services, and has been working in conjunction with several national institutions such as the nation’s stock exchange, the Bank of Korea, Hyundai and the Korea Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute.
In May, the firm launched a blockchain platform dubbed Aergo Enterprise, aiming to address the “growing need for data sharing between industries and companies in areas such as identity verification, document management, and the Internet of Things”, the firm told told CoinDesk Korea at the time.
Aergo Enterprise has since been deployed by more than 10 companies and institutions at home and abroad.
In the latest update, Blocko CEO Won-beom Kim said that aside from its enterprise work, the firm aims to “showcase various blockchain-based solutions that can be used in areas that have been difficult to implement, such as smart grids and dark data.”
Kik (Again) Asks for Trial in Legal Tussle With SEC Over Token Sale
Kik is hoping to go to trial against U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allegations that the company conducted an unregistered securities offering with its 2017 kin token sale.
The SEC filed a status update on the legal battle Thursday, providing a tentative schedule for the proceedings and detailing the parties’ plans for scheduling some remaining depositions.
«Kik requests that the Court set a trial date. The SEC takes no position on whether setting a trial date would be helpful at this stage and submits that the matter can and should be resolved by dispositive motion,» the filing reads.
The tentative schedule, assuming all depositions are able to be completed by the end of January, would be:
Kik has been looking to hold a trial in the case since the summer of 2019. CEO Ted Livingston told CoinDesk in August that Kik was hoping for a May 2020 trial date, but that the SEC had pushed for a later timeline.
At the heart of the case is whether kin tokens, which Kik developed, were securities in 2017 during the ICO. Kik raised $100 million from the sale.
The company has complained of a heavy financial burden since the case began, selling off its original Kik messaging platform and pivoting to focus solely on its cryptocurrency ecosystem.
