Cryptocurrency exchange Rakuten Wallet launched spot trading services for crypto assets from Monday. It will initially support only three crypto assets - Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). The exchange said users can conduct spot trading of the crypto assets against the Japanese yen through a dedicated smartphone app.
MasterCard is building its own cryptocurrency team, according to a report by New York Post. The recruitment listing reportedly says, "Do you have the desire to work at the cutting-edge intersection of payments and cryptocurrencies?" MasterCard is already trialling blockchain and crypto products. It recently teamed up with crypto loans company Nexo to roll out a co-branded crypto credit card.
Coinbase Custody, the U.S.-based crypto exchange Coinbase's crypto custody service for institutional investors, acquired crypto wallet provider Xapo's institutional custody business. The transaction value was not disclosed by Coinbase. But Fortune, quoting a person familiar with the matter, said Coinbase paid $55 million, higher than what Fidelity had proposed.
Maryland Securities Division is now participating in the nationwide coordinated cryptocurrency crackdown dubbed "Operation Cryptosweep." This was announced by the Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh in a press release after the division initiated their first enforcement action against a Bitcoin trading platform.
American professional basketball team Dallas Mavericks has become the second NBA team after Sacramento Kings to accept cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) as an additional method of payment for match tickets and merchandise. The Mavs, as they are popularly known as, has teamed up with Bitcoin payment processor BitPay to process all the payments using Bitcoin.