The Block
Quick Take Major South Korean bank, NongHyup Bank, is working on a crypto prototype to tokenize its VAT and other tax refund processes. It has tapped Fireblocks as an infrastructure provider, according to a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday.
Quick Take Though Kevin Mirshahi had been suspected dead since at least August, police have now found and identified his body. Mirshahi and three others were initially kidnapped in late June, but only Mirshahi remained missing.
Quick Take Coinbase updated its asset listing roadmap to include WIF, which jumped about 21% around the time of Coinbase’s announcement. Earlier today, PEPE surged after Robinhood listed it and Coinbase announced its intent to add the coin.
Quick Take Smart Transactions will unlock a so-called “time machine” — a way to develop smart contracts that respond to future events — to enable consumer-grade “hybrid applications.” The project comes out of research from Ethereum pioneers Vlad Zamfir, Anuj Das Gupta and Boris Mamlyuk.
Quick Take President-elect Donald Trump made DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency, an official administration division. Billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead DOGE, which has had a massive impact on the Dogecoin memecoin.
Quick Take The firms signed a Letter of Intent to pen an all-equity deal. Both the business units of the companies will transition into a unified brand, though BlockTower Venture Capital will stay independent.
Quick Take Phantom users who did not back up their seed phrase have lost access to their funds after downloading a recent update that caused an “app reset.”
Quick Take Hut 8 holds 9,106 Bitcoin in reserve, HIVE Digital holds 2,604 Bitcoin and Bitfarms holds 1,188 BTC.
Quick Take Rep. Hill sent a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra, among others. “It is in the interest of all Americans that this agenda be halted immediately,” Hill said.
Quick Take Tokenization is anticipated to reshape various industries, including finance, commodities, intellectual property, and real estate, by enabling more efficient, secure, and accessible markets, with a projected $16 trillion market by 2030 and endorsements from industry leaders like BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink. The Elastic Chain offers a limitlessly scalable, multi-chain network that is well-suited to facilitating institutional-grade tokenization activities. By integrating customizable architecture,
