Hong Kong-based blockchain remittance startup Bitspark has abruptly announced its closure, citing internal restructuring issues. On Feb. 3, Bitspark co-founder and CEO George Harrap officially announced the platform’s plans to shut down its services on March 4, 2020. According to the statement, Bitspark users will be able to withdraw their cryptocurrencies from Feb. 3 to March 4 as the platform’s functionality will stay intact over the period. After March 4, account logins will be disabled for a period of 90 days, with users being able to withdraw their funds via Bitspark customer support, the announcement reads. Harrap emphasized that the …

Hong Kong-based money transfer platform Bitspark has launched what is reportedly the first stablecoin pegged to the Hong Kong dollar (HKD), local tech and finance news outlet Fintech Hong Kong reports Jan. 29. Bitspark, which has positioned itself as a platform where stablecoins form the medium of value transfer, launched the Sparkdex.HKD stablecoin as a feature on its SparkDEX decentralized exchange. “Until now, US Dollar stablecoins have dominated the market but there are other national currencies in the world, like the Hong Kong Dollar,” the publication quotes CEO George Harrap as saying. Bitspark, he added, “anticipate[s] that this will lead …

Bitcoin is the fastest growing sector for startup investment; Keybase raises over 10 million in investment round Led by Andreessen Horowitz; Singapore-based Bitcoin exchange Coin Republic looks to be in acquisition talks, and more top stories for July 20. Bitcoin the Fastest Growing Area of Venture Capital Funding According to Mattermark data, Bitcoin is the fastest growing sector for startup investment. Each year, starting in mid-2012 through mid-2015, the Bitcoin industry has grown its investment dollars by 151%. However, it should be noted – of course – that Bitcoin still only represents a minuscule fraction of the total invested dollars. …