Review of the Month: August 2020

Review of the Month: August 2020

September 2, 2020

It’s been a busy August for Hex Trust with several exciting developments, new partnerships, and strategic investors we’ve brought on board. Here’s an overview of what’s been going on plus key industry highlights including the rise of DeFi.

Hex Trust Announcements

Hex Trust Receives Strategic Investment From Leading Asia Blockchain Firm, Kenetic

Kenetic is an early pioneer of digital asset investments and one of the leading blockchain-focused investment firms in Asia. With extensive experience in the digital asset space and investments in over 130 leading blockchain companies globally, Kenetic is a key pillar of Asia’s blockchain industry. Jehan Chu (Kenetic’s Co-founder and Managing Partner) also joins our Board of Directors to bring his industry knowledge and connections to scale our enterprise adoption.

Hex Trust selected as INX’s Asia-based custodian for US$117M IPO

Hex Trust now offers custodian services for the INX token in Asia in advance of INX Limited’s upcoming US$117 million security token IPO, and the launch of its exchange for security tokens and cryptocurrencies trading. The IPO is potentially one of the largest registered securities sales by a blockchain company. INX registered with the SEC to be able to solicit the general public for the fundraise, which took the company two years to complete.

Hex Trust partners with Fidinam to provide digital asset custody, compliance, accounting and tax services

The partnership enables FIDINAM Group Worldwide, a global consultancy firm providing corporate tax & accounting services for digital assets, to provide digital asset services to their global clients leveraging our platform. While our clients can now access specialized digital asset compliance, tax, and accounting services via Fidinam’s global team.

Product Updates

We continue to enhance our Hex Safe platform with secure connectivity and integration to both the DeFi and CeFi ecosystems.

Here’s a live example which shows how we enable our clients to stake Tezos within Hex Safe.

Hex Trust In The Media

IBM, Intel, AMD take different routes to hardware-based encryption

Publication: CSO
Our Co-founder & CTO, Rafal Czerniawski, was recently interviewed about how we’re working with IBM for hardware encryption.

Ep. 26 | US Fed taps MIT for CBDC research as China intensifies DCEP testing. YAM protocol soars before crashing
Publication: Forkast News
Forkast News features our latest investment from Kenetic in their top blockchain news.

Blockchain a potential game-changer in asset management, but cost and regulatory issues may be hurdles
Publication: Asia Asset Management
In Asia Asset Management’s latest issue, they interviewed Sam Ameen from our Hex Trust team on his insights on how the Asset Management industry is adopting blockchain technology.

Youtube Interview: Alessio Quaglini CEO Hex Trust — Institutional Crypto Demand — Bitcoin, Tezos, R3 XRP
Channel: Thinking Crypto
Our CEO, Alessio Quaglini, was interviewed on the ‘Thinking Crypto’ YouTube Channel. The topics discussed include institutional and banking demand for digital assets rising, Ex-HSBC Head of Custody — Colin Brooks, joining our team, our integration with Tezos, and how we’re working with R3.

Industry News

If you’re in the blockchain world, you’ll know that Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has been the hottest topic of conversation in August.

Total Value Locked (USD) in DeFi Doubles in August

The amount locked in DeFi platforms over the last month has more than doubled from US$ 4.2 billion in July to US$ 8.8 billion (at the time of writing).

Decentralized Exchanges (DEXes) Trading Volume Doubles

Volumes are reaching nearly US$11 billion, more than double July’s figures. In August alone, the total trading volume on DEXes quadrupled compared to the trading volumes for the entire 2019. Uniswap, the most popular DEX at the moment, has eclipsed Coinbase Pro’s daily trading volume.

Lending and Borrowing Protocol, Aave, issued UK license

Aave’s U.K. business entity has been issued an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license. It’s a major step for DeFi and will increase retail and institutional investor interest in the sector. Aave is now the no.1 ranked DeFi project according to DeFi Pulse and has US$1.6 billion locked up in their protocol.

Banks & Crypto Custody

The announcement of the OCC declaring that U.S banks can custody cryptocurrencies has accelerated the interest levels of global banks looking to enter the space. We’re no longer seeing banks debating whether to enter the space or not, the conversations are now based around the best strategies and timing.

Central Bank’s Digital Currencies Accelerate

The Bank of International Settlements published a report in August finding:

  • Three countries at least have completed a pilot for retail CBDCs
  • Six more countries are ongoing testing
  • 18 countries have published research about retail CBDCs
  • 13 more have announced they’re researching or developing wholesale CBDCs
  • The BIS found that now more than 80% of the world’s central banks are thinking about launching their own digital currency

Want to learn more about Hex Trust?

If you’d like to learn more about our digital asset custody services, schedule a demo, or explore partnering with us, please reply to this email or reach out at enquiries@hextrust.com

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