Latest news with #R3
Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
The Solana Show Rolls Into NYC Challenging Ethereum's RWA Crown
The challenge for the RWA protocol crown is on getty Last week Solana Accelerate rolled into NYC, sold out and bursting at the seams, with a who's who of industry and government, and a deluge of big and exciting announcements for the digital assets community. Solana fired a shot across Ethereum's bow, planting the real-world-assets (RWAs) digital flag firmly on the protocol, and declaring that it is focused on institutional markets, intensifying the competitive dynamic between these one-two market leaders The big announcement that shook the TradFi world was the R3 Solana collaboration bringing together R3s private protocol for financial institutions (FIs) with Solana's high-speed low-cost network, uniting TradFi with DeFi. Dave Rutter, R3 chief executive officer commented, 'We're finally seeing the maturation on the DeFi and crypto space developing enough and clarity on the regulatory side that we can bring these amazing ecosystems together.' The collaboration sees Lily Liu, President of the Solana Foundation, join R3's board of directors. R3 has the world's largest collection of permissioned RWA networks, with over $10 billion in regulated assets on-chain across its platforms and now brings this to Solana. Adds Rutter, 'Yes, we can tokenize and move securities instantly, but tokenized cash doesn't exist yet in TradFi. So, by merging these worlds, it opens up a plethora of opportunities for both sides, both the DeFi and the TradFi players.' Sergey Nazarov, Chainlink co-founder commented 'Your ability to own certain equities, commodities, funds on chain will allow you to manage risk in a different way. It'll allow you to use them as collateral. It'll allow you to get yield from them in different ways. And you'll actually see a kind of explosion of innovative financial products that would have historically been built by banks or asset managers, but now can be built by startups like the ones at this conference.' Former CFTC Chairman Christopher Giancarlo predicted that within a decade, significant securities offerings would be tokenized on-chain stating, 'There won't be a security offering, debt offering, equities offering of any significance that is not tokenized onchain.' Solana was conceived by Anatoly Yakovenko, a former Qualcomm engineer, in 2017 and Solana mainnet beta launched in 2020 featuring basic smart contract support and Proof of History (PoH) integrated with Proof of Stake (PoS). From 2021, Solana experienced explosive growth in users, developers, and total value locked (TVL) and became a major destination for NFTs, DeFi, and Web3 apps, especially know for popular memecoins. The Total Value Locked (TVL) in Solana's DeFi protocols reached an all-time high of $7.8 billion, a 105% year-over-year increase. Decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes hit $107 billion last month, reflecting a 100% year-over-year growth. The U.S. policy and regulatory environment has changed with the new administration, now championing innovators of crypto a digital assets, and the genuinely positive excitement at the conference was infectious. Added Nazarov, Chainlink, 'I've never seen the U.S. government or other governments all over the world more positive on creating [a] permissive, proactive kind of acceleration of our industry…. That's going to unlock a lot of institutional capital, a lot of institutional great tokenized equities, commodities, funds. And that's going to be really the next iteration of our industry.' Senator Bill Hagerty used the conference to discuss frameworks like the GENIUS Act with a focus on government policy to modernize financial infrastructure, the blockchain payment system, and increased standards for efficiency and stablecoin regulation noting the maturing relationship between the blockchain ecosystem and Washington, D.C. Hagerty said, 'We started working on this to take the stablecoin industry into the modern era here in America. Today we've been relying on a system, a payment system, that was designed in the 1970s and the 1980s. It's clunky. It's inefficient. It takes days to clear a payment. If we're able to move this on to blockchain technology, it can be almost instantaneous. So we're going to take this outdated system in America, put it into the 21st century.' Added Rutter, 'We're finally seeing the maturation on the DeFi and crypto space developing enough and clarity on the regulatory side that we can bring these amazing ecosystems together.' The Solana ecosystem is intentionally courting regulatory clarity and legislative partnerships as DeFi takes a leap forward into maturing as a viable public utility. Solana Labs launched the Solana Attestation Service (SAS) — a decentralized identity and verification framework to support KYC/AML needs and enhance trust in on-chain applications, better aligning with regulatory requirements for robust identity tooling in DeFi and blockchain-based financial markets. There was a lot of talk in the private markets community on the conference fringes about fairmint's Open Captable Protocol (OCP) whitepaper, launched in advance of Accelerate. I sat down with Joris Delanoue, a co-author of the whitepaper, and the chief executive officer of fairmint, an SEC registered Transfer Agent processing over $1 billion of digital private markets securities a year. Delanou says, 'This protocol (standard) aims to provide a secure, compliant, and standardized foundation for on-chain equity management, enabling regulated intermediaries to enhance their service offerings.' Delanoue goes on to quote SEC Chair Paul Atkins' Keynote Address at the Crypto Task Force Roundtable on Tokenization earlier this month, "This movement of securities from off-chain to on-chain systems is akin to the transition of audio recordings from analog vinyl records to cassette tapes to digital software decades ago." The opportunity for firms in the Solana community to adopt the OCP standard for private markets securities is not lost on anyone in the ATS space as it is seen as a standard to (excuse the pun) accelerate the issuance and adoption of tokenized private market securities. Another big conference announcement catching the attention of the TradFi crowd sees Kraken, the crypto exchange, with plans to launch tokenized public market stocks to non-U.S. residents in partnership with Backed Finance, based in Zug Switzerland, and Solana. Backed is one of the OGs tokenizing U.S. stocks for non-U.S. residents, a growing market. Mark Greenberg, head of consumer business for Kraken said, 'Why can't I trade my equities on a Saturday or at 2 a.m.? Why can't I store it in a self-custodial wallet?.... All those are things that we've been thinking about how do we solve, and xStocks is our approach to actually doing that.' Time will tell whether Solana can successfully take on Ethereum's dominant market position as the public protocol of choice for TradFi players. Accelerate most certainly demonstrated the intent and the broad community support in a more collaborative U.S. policy and regulatory environment. Game on.
IOL News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- IOL News
Guests outraged after being asked to clean up after wedding reception
Guests had to clean up the hall. Image: Andrew Patrick Photo / Pexels Weddings are often seen as once-in-a-lifetime celebrations where couples go all out to create a memorable experience for themselves and their friends and family. A couple in their mid-40s hosted their wedding reception in a modest hall, opting instead for a completely DIY approach, rather than hiring a caterer or event staff. Friends and family were roped in to decorate the venue, and the evening's meal consisted of pizza and Chinese takeout, which was provided by some of them. Guests, who had come dressed for a formal evening and had generously prepared $200 (about R3,588) per person as wedding gifts, were shocked and disappointed by the lack of planning. While some guests took it in stride, many were caught off guard again when the bride and groom asked everyone to help clean up after the celebration. Women in gowns and heels quietly slipped out to avoid dish duty, while others stayed behind to help tidy up but drew the line at taking out the trash and doing dishes. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ The story, originally shared on Reddit's "weddingshaming" forum, left users shocked. Responses from the online community were blunt. One person wrote, 'If you cannot afford to get married, or pay for the wedding you want, without having your guests do any work, then you don't do it! I hope you took $100 out of that card back before you gave it to them.' Another added, 'No one should expect wedding guests to be janitorial staff after the wedding.' Sure, weddings are expensive, and not every couple wants, or needs, a black-tie affair. But when guests are dressing up, giving big gifts, and making time to celebrate you, the least you can do is feed them well, and let them sit back and enjoy the evening.
Eyewitness News
3 days ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
CoJ allocates R3bn to revamp CBD
JOHANNESBURG - The City of Joburg has now put plans to revamp the CBD on paper, with R3 billion allocated to improve conditions in the area. But this R3 billion is not exclusive to the city centre, as it will also go towards refurbishing other underdeveloped communities is Johannesburg. Finance MMC Margaret Arnolds announced during her budget speech on Wednesday that Eldorado Park, Lenasia South, Diepsloot and Orange Farm would also benefit from the money. Opposition parties in Johannesburg are concerned about the metro's efforts to revamp the CBD, arguing that the area needs a dedicated budget of its own. They believe the R3 billion allocated to underdeveloped communities was not enough, given the extent of decay in some areas. But Arnolds said city's departments also have their own individual budgets allocated specifically for the rejuvenation of the CBD. "These allocations include bulk infrastructure upgrades, human settlements support, and roads and stormwater systems linked to economic nodes." The Gauteng government is also running its own programme intended to rejuvenate Johannesburg's CBD.
The Citizen
3 days ago
- The Citizen
Locals fell prey to fraud worth thousands of rands
Fraudsters over the past weekend left more than three locals stunned after scamming thousands of rands through electronic transactions. According to the police, the scams varying from digital theft to in-person deception, have robbed individuals of their hard-earned money, proving that fraudsters are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their tactics. 'To protect yourself from fraud and cyber threats, never respond to emails or phone messages claiming to be from your bank that request personal details, as legitimate banks will never ask for this information via email. Never share your online ID, password, or PIN with anyone, and avoid writing them down or saving them on your desktop. Always ensure you log off or sign out after completing an internet banking session, and never leave your computer unattended while logged in. Avoid doing online banking in public areas or on computers accessible to strangers. Regularly change your PIN and passwords, set reasonable transaction limits on your accounts, and only provide credit card details to trustworthy companies. Lastly, if an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is – always remain cautious and vigilant when dealing with financial transactions,' said Captain Eddie Hall, spokesperson of SAPS Witbank as he warns the public against cases like this. For one unsuspecting victim in Watermeyer street on May 23, a simple phone notification turned into a nightmare. According to police a man was woken up by the sound of his phone beeping, and checked his account only to find that R18 700 had been withdrawn via a PayShap transaction—an app he never authorised for such use. The realisation was sudden as the reality of cyber fraud hit home. On May 22, there were a few cases reported. In Strydom Street a man encountered three individuals – two women and one man – who claimed to be employees of a national fuel company. They assured him they were assisting customers with their points cards for petrol purchases. Trusting them, he allowed them to take his picture and handed over his ID details. What followed was financial devastation – R81 000 was withdrawn from his bank account across multiple locations. In another incident in Uthingo Park, Tasbet Park, a woman found herself unknowingly tricked by a scam that exploited trust and familiarity. According to police she received a message on WhatsApp, supposedly from her pastor, requesting an urgent money transfer due to a network issue. Without questioning the legitimacy of the request, she transferred R3 000 to the provided account number, only to later receive confirmation that her pastor's number had been hacked. 'I never suspected it was a scam – I genuinely believed I was helping my pastor. My trust in him made me certain that his request was genuine, and I acted with a kind heart, simply wanting to support someone in need. It never crossed my mind that I could be deceived,' she said. In another incident, a resident in Bankenveld Estate fall prey to an attack which came in the form of unexpected online money transactions. On May 14, he noticed unusual deductions from his Absa account. Upon contacting the bank's fraud helpline, he was informed that his account had been cloned, resulting in a staggering loss of R39 524.64. Breaking news at your fingertips … Follow WITBANK NEWS on our website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or TikTok Chat to us: info@ At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
IOL News
4 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Is eThekwini Municipality's R3. 6 million fan park expenditure justified?
Over 10,000 people gathered at the Durban beachfront fan park to watch the Nedbank Cup final on Saturday. eThekwini Municipality's R3.6 million fan parks draw criticism from ActionSA. The eThekwini Municipality splurged big on the Nedbank Cup Final on May 10 with two free fan parks which cost R3,6 million. Albert Park and the Durban beachfront were chosen as sites, and the municipality said these were chosen due to their proximity to the Moses Mabhida Stadium where the sold-out football match took place. According to the municipality, the procurement process for the company that provided the service involved the Section 36 process. Section 36 deviates from regular procurement techniques by allowing the city to acquire goods or services in an emergency or when competitive procurement rules are unrealistic or impossible to follow. The approach allows it to pick a company without pursuing more bidders.
