With the recent increase in Bitcoin adoption, the Texas Department of Banking has confirmed that Texas state-chartered banks will now be allowed to store BTC and other cryptocurrencies for their clients.

Texas Banks to Hold Bitcoin

In an official notice issued Friday, the regulator noted that state-chartered banks can provide crypto-related services to their clients as long as they have “adequate protocols in place to effectively manage the risks and comply with applicable law.”

The financial agency also explained that since these digital currencies exist on the blockchain, holders will have to access them using private keys.

As a result, banks can either store clients’ private keys for them or hold the crypto assets in the bank’s custody, with total control over its new private keys. Whichever way, the decision is entirely up to the bank.

“As with the method of custody services, several secure storage options are available to the bank, each of which has distinctive characteristics pertaining to the level of security and accessibility. The bank will have to determine which storage option best fits the circumstances.”

Banks Can Partner Crypto Exchanges

The agency also stated that the bank needs to confirm the existence of adequate coverage with its insurance carrier to guarantee the safety of clients’ crypto assets.

To be on the safe side, banks are advised to seek professional knowledge of the risks associated with dealing with cryptocurrencies.

The Texas Department of Banking also said that banks can partner with cryptocurrency exchanges to help them provide these services to their clients.

While crypto businesses might see this as a new and welcome development, the agency noted that it is not entirely new within its department.

“Texas state-chartered banks have long provided their customers with safekeeping and custody services for a variety of assets,” the regulator wrote.

“While custody and safekeeping of virtual currencies will necessarily differ from that associated with more traditional assets, the Texas Department of Banking believes that the authority to provide these services with respect to virtual currencies already exists pursuant to Texas Finance Code § 32.001.”

Anthony Di Iorio, a Canadian entrepreneur and the co-founder of leading smart contract platform Ethereum, said that he believes in the potential of Cardano (ADA) and Polkadot (DOT).

In an interview with crypto proponent Anthony Pompliano, Di Iorio, who is also the CEO and founder of Canadian blockchain startup Decentral and crypto wallet Jaxx, revealed that he has a diversified investment portfolio featuring several top projects, including Cardano and Polkadot.

A Big Fan of Cardano and Polkadot

He said:

“Now I’ve kind of fallen back to just simplicity. I’m in a number of different projects, but the majority of my stuff is in the top projects. I’m a big fan of Polkadot, I’m a big fan of Cardano.”

Di Iorio went on to narrate why he was so sure of the future of these two projects. He had joined the Ethereum development team earlier in 2012 when he met Vitalik Buterin at a Bitcoin conference.

He has formed strong relationships with other co-founders of Ethereum, including Vitalik Buterin, Cardano’s founder Charles Hoskinson, and Polkadot’s current CEO Gavin Wood.

Di Iorio admitted that while he worked with these men, he knew that they were goal-oriented and would help push these projects further.

He continued:

“Big fan of Charles, let’s say that. You know, taking some different approaches in the way that they’re doing things, much more on the academic side of what he’s done and bringing stuff forward. Real big fan of Gavin Wood… Knowing those guys from the days back at Ethereum – and knowing their drive and knowing their competitiveness and their smarts – I was able to see those projects for the last few years and know that they were gonna get to where they’ve gotten up to.”

Not Getting Lost in DeFi

Despite all the recent hype about DeFi, Di lorio pointed out that he is keeping his investments simple and investing in larger projects.

“Most of my stuff is in the top few things, Ether, Bitcoin, Cardano, Polkadot. I like Cosmos as well. And there’s a few others, but I’m not getting lost in all the DeFi stuff. I just think there’s not enough time, not enough energy. It’s a full-time gig to be running a lot of that stuff and keeping on top of stuff, so I’ve simplified my life quite a bit over the past few years.”

Featured image courtesy of Business Insider

[PRESS RELEASE – Please Read Disclaimer]

11th June 2021, Dubai, UAE — Pioneering Football Fantasy Blockchain platform  FootballCoin has launched the new version of its game for EURO 2020. The announcement comes with increased prizes for all daily contests and a 100.000 XFC prize for the top managers in the game.

EURO 2020 Fantasy Football

For anyone who is either getting ready to watch the Euro 2020 matches, enjoys fantasy football or is passionate about cryptocurrency and the exciting world of NFTs; there could be no better entertainment than FootballCoin this summer.

Euro 2020 Fantasy is a free-to-play game with NFT Player cards, and includes every match from the tournament in the FootballCoin daily contests. Players can register and play for free for the chance to win prizes in the platform’s native XFC coin, or convert those prizes into fiat currency.

NFT Player Cards & XFC Coin

NFTs player packs containing NFT player (and stadium) cards can be purchased in the game for as little as $12.00 USD. NFT Cards can be bought, sold and even loaned (just like real players) on the vibrant FootballCoin marketplace. All fantasy cards are visible and registered on the blockchain, giving FootballCoin NFTs a real utility to earn more XFC coins.

XFC, is the game’s native cryptocurrency but is also tradable against fiat on crypto trading platforms, with most of the XFC trading volume taking place on centralized exchange Whitebit. XFC can also be purchased safely on the FootballCoin platform with a credit card.

How To Play FootballCoin

Interested parties can enter the fantasy football contests by registering for free on the FootballCoin signup page. After signup, users simply select a contest to compete in, and then create a draft of 11 players + 5 subs from a roster of real footballers.

XFC winnings are determined on how well the players perform in their real games. This is determined by real data to score player performances. Each Euro 2020 game gives users the opportunity to select a new draft composed of players taking part in the competition. Choose the ultimate fantasy football draft and win.

FootballCoin: Changing the NFT game

2021 has seen a rise in sports-related NFT and blockchain projects. NBA Top Shot, and other football NFT sports projects have taken off, and FootballCoin is set to be the next NFT sports platform to explode in the space.

While NBA Top Shot focuses on collectibility in typical sports card fashion, FootballCoin allows users to not only build their sports card collection but become ‘managers’ and use their cards to compete each day for rewards and prizes in real football fantasy contests.

Other fantasy football games using cryptocurrency to buy NFTs sometimes charge hundreds or thousands of dollars, and also have other limiting aspects to the fantasy game experience.

By contrast, FootballCoin has been using NFTs as the central pillar of the concept for over four years, with player card NFTs starting at a price of around $3, and no additional fees for selling, trading or Leasing.

Interested parties can sign up for free at FootballCoin and start collecting NFT cards for the EURO 2020 Fantasy game.