Cryptos Roundup
Bitfract acquired by Shapeshift
Bitfract is an Austin, Texas-based software firm which has recently developed a service allowing users to quickly swap one cryptocurrency into many others. The firm has now been acquired by Shapeshift AG. The firm’s functionalities won’t be altered in any way, but rather incorporated into Shapeshift’s core platform in the near future.
Erik Voorhees, Founder and CEO of Shapeshift said:
“The Bitfract team made expert use of ShapeShift’s open API to build a product that we ourselves were planning to build.” “This demonstrated a great alignment of strategy and thinking, and their execution was so exceptional that we wanted to bring their talented team and technology on board.”
Willy Ogorzaly, Co-Founder and CEO of Bitfract for his part said:
“When Erik asked if we wanted to join ShapeShift, the answer was immediately yes. We believe in a decentralized future where individuals freely control their digital wealth, and our team is honored to work alongside Erik and everyone at ShapeShift to make this a reality.”
The developer of the bitcoin mining hardware, Bitmain Technologies Ltd, made a seed investment of $3 million in Tribeos. Tribeos is a platform for digital advertisement that was built on Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Funds will be used for the formation of the company’s core team and final development of the ads marketplace, scheduled to be launched in 2019.
CEO Matt Gallant commented:
“When industry leaders like Bitmain invest in a blockchain-based advertising platform like tribeOS, it signals a paradigm shift, not only in ad tech, but for the entire online advertising industry.” He added: “Every company doing online marketing has lost considerable amounts of money to scammers on digital advertising platforms. Fortunately, we now see a growing awareness about ad fraud. It’s about time. This has been an invisible crime for far too long. Platforms like ours will mean that the world’s value creators will no longer need to fight their way to sustainability, hoping to be one of the fortunate few who survive. tribeOS will end ad-fraud, allowing advertisers to find their audience quickly.”
ICO Mogul buys soccer team
A Newspaper in Israel reported that the serial entrepreneur and cryptocurrency advocate Moshe Hogeg has agreed to buy a local professional soccer team. According to reports, he will take over the Israeli Premier League side, Beitar Jerusalem Football Club, after the group would have resolved its debts. 20 million shekels (about $5.4 million USD) is the set price for the purchase.
Hogeg raised $157.8 million in an initial coin offering last year. The purpose of the money was the launch of an “ultra-secure” cold storage crypto wallet-phone, promoted by Leo Messi. Reporst say that in June, he bought 5,000 square meters of private land to build his new house at a price of about $19 million, of which he paid 15% in crypto.
